The Application Of Multi-modal Theory In Junior High School English Reading Teaching

Reading is the foundation of English learning, reading skill is one of the most important skills for junior middle students to master. However, the present teaching method of English reading neglects the students ’ability to use language and their learning interest. Therefore, it is necessary to explore some more effective English reading teaching methods.So based on the previous studies, this research intends to apply the multi-modal theory into English reading teaching in junior middle school.The research is based on Halliday’s multi-modal discourse analysis theory and Kress&Van Leeuwen’s visual grammar theory. 107 minority students of two classes in Grade 8 from No.66 Middle School of Urumqi are selected as the research objects. Using multi-modal teaching mode in the experimental class,collecting research data by questionnaires, reading tests, interview. All data collected from the teaching experiment are analyzed by SPSS to compare the teaching effects of two reading teaching model on reading comprehension. Finally, a questionnaire survey and interviews are used to explore the students’ attitude to the two reading teaching mode.The results show that multi-modal reading teaching is helpful for improving students’ reading comprehension. In terms of stimulating student interest, focusing the attention of students, improving students’ participation in classroom, the multimodal reading teaching takes larger advantage than traditional teaching. This study also has some limitations, due to the limited number of subjects and the research time of only three months, so the findings are not convincing and deep enough.