On The Application Of Text Cohesion Analysis Approach In The Teaching Of English Reading At Senior High School

The economic globalization has been developing more quickly in recent years, which makes English assume greater importance. In fact, instead of being a simple communication tool as in the past, English has turned into an important information resource. And since reading is one of the most important ways to obtain information, it always plays an important role in improving learners' language ability. With the in-depth reformation of quality education and senior high school English reading teaching, the focus of English teaching has been transferred to language communication and expression. Reading is naturally an important way to achieve such goals.However, the current situation of English reading teaching in senior high school is not that optimistic. Teachers these days are paying much more attention to vocabulary and grammar teaching, and the whole teaching process is centered on large amount of vocabulary and grammar practices, while the role of textual integrity is neglected. This traditional teaching model isolates the words, phrases and sentence patterns, frustrates students' enthusiasm in learning English and hinders the improvement of students' learning proficiency. Hence, it is of great urgency to meliorate the current teaching method and find a new way to improve students' reading ability.The text cohesion analysis approach is a new approach in teaching based on cohesion theory. Different from the traditional way, teachers analyze the relations among different semantic units on the basis of students' acquaintance of the text structure. For one thing, it can help students grasp the cohesive ties in the text and understand how these units achieve coherence with cohesion; for another, it helps to cultivate students' ability to understand the details accurately according to their comprehension of the main idea. So, this study intends to apply the text cohesion analysis approach to the teaching of English reading in senior high school and explore its efficiency in improving students' reading proficiency, increasing students' learning interest and meliorating students' attitude towards English reading.122 students of two classes in Grade One from Bowang Senior High School of Kaifeng are selected as the subjects of this experiment with one of the class being chosen as the experimental class(EC) and the other as the control class(CC). This experiment starts from September 1st, 2015 to November 30 th, 2015, lasting for three months. The author adopts the text cohesion analysis approach in the experimental class and applies the traditional method in the control class. Through this empirical research, the author aims to investigate the answers to the following questions:i. What problems are found in students' English reading in senior high school?ii. What influences does the text cohesion analysis approach have on students' learning interest and attitude?iii. What impact does the text cohesion analysis approach have on students' reading abilities?Instruments of this research are mainly tests, questionnaires, interview and major parts of the research process are as follows:Firstly, the author conducts the pre-test and pre-questionnaire to all the students in both classes to know their learning ability, interest in and attitude towards English reading before the experiment. These experimental data can provide an effective basis for the following teaching practice.The second step is the teaching experiment. Different teaching methods are applied in different classes with the text cohesion analysis approach being used in the experimental class and the traditional one in the control class. It lasts for almost three months.Then, after the teaching practice, the post-test and post-questionnaire are conducted to all the students at the same time with the purpose of getting information on students' learning ability, interest in and attitude towards English reading after the experiment. Besides, the author interviews some students from the experimental class to get more information and feedback. 20 students altogether are randomly selected as the interviewees.Finally, the SPSS software is used to make comparisons of the experimental scores of both classes in the tests. This is for testing the effect that different teaching methods have on students. Major findings of this research are as follows:i. Students' unawareness of the integrity of the text, which makes it hard to grasp its general idea, hinders the improvement of their reading ability.ii. The text cohesion analysis approach can effectively increase students' learning interest and meliorate students' attitude towards English reading.iii. The text cohesion analysis approach can effectively improve students' reading proficiency.Obviously, there are still some deficiency in this study, such as the inadequate subjects and the limited time. However, it achieves the research objectives and proves the feasibility of the text cohesion analysis approach in the teaching of English reading at senior high school. Besides, the author puts forward several suggestions for future researches and hopes they can provide some help for the future study on the teaching of English reading.