Application Of Genre-based Approach To English Reading Teaching In Senior High School

Reading ability is the key to improve the comprehensive linguistic application ability in foreign language learning. So reading is very important in English learning and English teaching. In the College Entrance Examination, reading comprehension occupies nearly one quarter of the total score, so reading has become more and more important in senior high school. Although English teachers pay much attention to the cultivation of students’ reading abilities, the actual teaching effect is not ideal. Some English teachers just focus on the explanation of words, sentences, and grammar. In fact, students can not fully understand the reading materials by just learning language points, because different genres have different features. Therefore, it is also important to cultivate students’ abilities of genre analysis. Genre-based approach which is based on genre and genre analysis theories started from 1990 s. It focuses on genre structure of discourse. And it aims to improve students’ reading abilities by understanding communicative purpose, structural framework and linguistic features of different genres. Genre-based approach is popular in foreign countries, particularly in North America and Australia. And it has had a great impact on teaching. However, there are few studies on this teaching method in China. So the author hopes that the study of genre-based approach will improve students’ reading abilities.The thesis aims to prove that genre-based approach has a positive effect on English reading teaching in senior high school. So on the basis of a great variety of relevant materials, classroom observation, questionnaires, pre-test and post-test, the author conducts a research on eighty students from Class One and Class Two of Grade Two in Northern Art Senior High School of Dalian. Class One adopts conventional English reading teaching, and Class Two adopts genre-based approach. After four months of experiment, the English reading scores of the students in Class Two have been promoted obviously. Though analyzing and discussing the experimental results, it verifies that genre-based approach not only improves the reading abilities of students but also stimulates students’ reading interests.In summary, the application of genre-based approach to English reading teaching in senior high school is feasible.