Application Of Discourse Genre Analysis To English Reading Teaching In Senior High School

It is known that English reading occupies a very crucial place in English learning and it helps individuals to obtain the information to perceive the world. Therefore, English reading plays an important role in English learning in the senior high school and much attention should be paid to English reading. However, the traditional reading teaching method in senior high school concentrates on solving the problems of language knowledge points, which fails to promote the development of student’ abilities to read effectively. How to teach reading effectively has been the hot issue that multitudes of researchers focus on.Since the mid-1980 s, the related research of discourse genre analysis theory has enjoyed popularity all over the world. Discourse genre analysis theory provides a new view for English reading teaching in senior high school. The discourse genre analysis theory which is based on the theories of genre and genre analysis of discourse emphasizes genre structures and features of various texts and studies the usage of the genre knowledge in English reading comprehension. The final goal is to improve students’ abilities to read effectively.The aim of this research is to study the feasibility and necessity and explore the effects of applying the discourse genre analysis theory to the reading teaching of senior high school. This research reviews the relevant theories of genre, genre analysis, reading at home and abroad, and current teaching situations. Based on the literature review and the experiment, the research attempts to find out answers to the following research questions:1. Can discourse genre analysis theory improve students’ reading strategy use effectively?2. Can discourse genre analysis theory improve students’ reading comprehension ability?The research subjects are 82 students who come from two classes of Grade 2 in Jinzhou No.2 Senior High School. Class 8 is seen as the control class(CC) which has 40 students. Meanwhile, class 3 is regarded as the experimental class(EC) which has 42 students. This experiment lasts one term. During the experiment, the traditional teaching method is used to teach students reading in the CC. However, discourse genre analysis theory is employed to teach English reading in the EC, which makes students realize and grasp genres and features of different discourses. Then, the experimental instruments, procedures and teaching samples are presented. According to the results of reading comprehension tests, the reading comprehension achievement of the students in experimental class is improved obviously by the training of applying the discourse genre analysis theory to English reading teaching. On analyzing the results of the questionnaires and interview, applying the discourse genre analysis theory to English reading teaching can improve students’ reading strategy use and develop their awareness of genre effectively. The research proves that applying the discourse genre analysis theory to English reading teaching has the positive effects in senior high school English reading teaching.