An Experimental Study On Senior High School English Critical Reading

In recent years, critical reading has received more and more concern fromlearners and scholars both in China and abroad. Critical reading highlights the activeinvolvement of readers. It advocates that readers apply logical inference and analysisto synthesize and evaluate what they read with "questioning" eyes. By dipping intothe deep level of information and connotation, readers can have a thoroughunderstanding of the text. Moreover, they can practice their critical reading skills andfurther foster critical thinking ability.Reading is one of the most important parts of English teaching in senior highschool. It is the most important skill for students to acquire information andknowledge to master English. However, at present, English teaching pays moreattention to explanation of vocabulary, presentation of grammar and understanding atliteral level of texts, which neglects the subjectivity of students, hinders the students’interests in learning English and deviates from the true sense of students’ Englishlearning. With the increasing competition in the present world and development ofEnglish as the premier international language, the requirement for the highly qualifiedEnglish talents becomes higher, which is a big challenge for English teachingespecially in high school. So the critical reading in English teaching in high schoolaims to improve the current state and meet the challenge of the future.Based on the critical reading and related theories, an experiment was conductedaiming at exploring the practicability of the application of critical reading in Englishreading class and check the results of students’ performance after the integration ofcritical reading, in which124students from two classes from Grade Two in WeichangNo.1Middle School were selected as subjects. The experiment lasted three months,during which critical reading was employed in the experimental class and traditionalteaching method was kept in the control class. Critical reading was applied accordingto the following steps:(1) warming-up;(2) reading the content;(3) reading thestructure;(4) reading and thinking;(5) reading the language;(5) responding to the text, which was based on the model proposed by Fan Li. Tests and questionnaireswere conducted to collect data which was statistically processed and analyzed bySPSS21.0. The results of the experiment indicated that critical reading not onlyimproved students’ reading ability but also strengthened the use of critical readingskills, fostered Students’ critical thinking ability and increased their interest inlearning English. Critical reading is practicable in senior high English reading class.Therefore, the author considers that there is a long-term positive significance toapply critical reading to English teaching in high school. Students firstly learn to readand then read to learn. Critical reading equips the students with different perspectivesto read the words and then to read the world. In the process of critical reading,students’ critical thinking ability is cultivated, critical reading skills is strengthened,reading ability and interest in learning are eventually promoted, all of which lay asolid foundation for their college life and future work.