A Tentative Discussion Of The Factors And Strategies Affecting Reading Comprehension On The Basis Of Reading Speed Improvement

With China's entering WTO, there has appeared a new upsurge of learning English, but only a few of the learners can step abroad, having the opportunities to communicate with native speakers directly. Reading is still an important way for us Chinese learners of English to get to know about the world.The syllabus for high-school English (2000) and the new English curriculum for high schools (2003) definitely stipulate that the purpose of teaching is to strengthen students' reading comprehension. Taking a broad view of NMET in the last few years, we can see over 45% is designed to examine it. By reading a lot, students can broaden their horizons and enrich their knowledge to understand the language better. We may say, "No reading, no learning." Of course, reading can't go without knowing a certain number of words, grammar and sentence structures. Reading, however, is a process in which we should focus as much on the language as on the non-verbal ability such as reading habits, cultural background knowledge of the related countries, reading skills and so on.Based on surveys and analyses, this paper states the present situation of English teaching in rural areas and the common factors that affect the reading speed and the accuracy of reading comprehension. What's more, some advice on how to improve the teaching of reading is also provided. It is hoped that the paper can help the students realize how important it is to foster good reading habits and that English teachers ought to pay close attention to the teaching of reading strategies so as to enhance the students' ability of reading.