Newspaper Reading: A Supplementary Means In Teaching English At Junior Middle Schools

In English teaching, in addition to the use of text books, we should combine the use of other resources especially radio and television programs, recordings, video materials, visual aids and multi-media CD-ROM, various forms of network resources, newspapers and magazines. As a component of the requirements in the new curriculum, newspaper reading as one of the teaching resources is more accessible and practical in the junior high school where the author teaches. It is claimed by many people that English newspapers and selected reading courses can not only improve students' reading ability but also help develop students' English learning ability. The major objective of reading is to obtain information. Students can better understand the rich, vast and constantly changing world through reading. At the same time, reading English paper is one of the primary ways of improving a foreign language. In modern teaching, teachers should encourage students to read more to develop the English language sense. Students' language output should be supported by sufficient language input. Therefore, we should improve students' reading ability through reading which plays an important role in the development of students' listening, speaking, reading and writing ability, thus enabling students to conduct real communication in the language they are learning.It is widely understood that learning a foreign language is not only for mastering the language but also for understanding and appreciating the culture of other countries laying a foundation for effective cross-cultural communication. Reading English newspapers and magazines can enhance students' comprehension of the target language resources. At the same time students can also learn some useful words not commonly seen in their textbooks, such as words relating to politics, military affairs, diplomacy, economics, legal issues, religion, cultural matters, science and technology. These words are necessary in their future study. Reading newspapers can also enable students to fully understand cultural differences and diversity in the globe and people's different values, thus increasing their cross-cultural communication awareness.