Using The21st Century Teens Newspaper To Improve Students Reading Competence In Senior Middle Schools

As we all knowt reading is one of the basic skills of learning English and plays a very important role in language learning. On account of the back of authentic English learning environment in China, supplementary reading material selection has long been one of the controversial issues in the teaching of reading.Based on Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, Swain’s Output Hypothesis, reading strategy and Schema Theory, the writer of present paper expects to improve senior high school students’reading ability through21st Century Teens (Senior2Edition) reading instruction.The aim of this paper is to explore and apply English newspaper to the teaching of reading in senior schools and to verify its effectiveness and feasibility. The experiment was carried out among ninety-nine students in senior grade two from Gutian No.2Middle School of Ningde to investigate the effect of English newspaper reading instruction on students. Three instruments were used in the research:the pre-test and post-test, questionnaires and talking method. From the experiment, we could draw a conclusion:1) The21st Century Teens Newspaper is excellent teaching and reading resource.2) The application of the21st Century Teens Newspaper to the reading teaching has contributed to the improvement of the reading abilities.3) English newspaper reading can enlarge the students’ vocabulary.4) English newspaper reading has changed the students’ attitude to learning English and strengthened students’ learning interest.Although some limitations still exist in the current study, it is hoped that this paper will offer a teaching method to enhance the English learning of senior students. Through English newspaper reading and encourage more teachers to apply English newspaper to their own classroom teaching practice.