This paper intends to critically review and reflect upon the origin and development of Intensive Reading, an English course that has been designed and taught as the leading or 'core' course among all the cours...This paper intends to critically review and reflect upon the origin and development of Intensive Reading, an English course that has been designed and taught as the leading or 'core' course among all the courses related to the training of the English language at tertiary level in China during the past fifty years. This course came into being under the influence of the former Soviet model of foreign language teaching introduced at the end of the 1940s — a shift away from the content-based to skill-based approach. Since the very beginning, the course has seen arguments over its overall objectives, content selection and methodology. Many believed that the development of all the basic language skills — listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation should be incorporated in the objectives of this single 'core' course. Inevitably there have been arguments over the allotment of time for each skill and methodology to be adopted. Such shift occurred partly due to changes in English teaching in high schools. Since mid 1980s, EFL practitioners and researchers in this country have begun to reexamine and reflect upon this model of English teaching against the overall achievement of our students as students' dissatisfaction grew. As a result, opinions against this conventional approach have been voiced. Although being under different names, the course is still listed in the new syllabus in China, with more emphasis on discourse competence. The confusion over its course objectives, however, and difficulty in teaching methodology for the training of so many skills will remain as ongoing reforms in high schools keep posing new challenges.展开更多
How to have a successful Intensive reading English class? The teacher should possess a lot of practice based on the theory of second language acquisition and teaching strategies. This paper mainly discusses the way of...How to have a successful Intensive reading English class? The teacher should possess a lot of practice based on the theory of second language acquisition and teaching strategies. This paper mainly discusses the way of how to manage Intensive English classes in the perspective of teaching approach, class design and teaching procedure, etc. The three aspects are associated with each other very closely. If the teacher can combine these three factors successfully, he can be regarded as a competent teacher.展开更多
文摘This paper intends to critically review and reflect upon the origin and development of Intensive Reading, an English course that has been designed and taught as the leading or 'core' course among all the courses related to the training of the English language at tertiary level in China during the past fifty years. This course came into being under the influence of the former Soviet model of foreign language teaching introduced at the end of the 1940s — a shift away from the content-based to skill-based approach. Since the very beginning, the course has seen arguments over its overall objectives, content selection and methodology. Many believed that the development of all the basic language skills — listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation should be incorporated in the objectives of this single 'core' course. Inevitably there have been arguments over the allotment of time for each skill and methodology to be adopted. Such shift occurred partly due to changes in English teaching in high schools. Since mid 1980s, EFL practitioners and researchers in this country have begun to reexamine and reflect upon this model of English teaching against the overall achievement of our students as students' dissatisfaction grew. As a result, opinions against this conventional approach have been voiced. Although being under different names, the course is still listed in the new syllabus in China, with more emphasis on discourse competence. The confusion over its course objectives, however, and difficulty in teaching methodology for the training of so many skills will remain as ongoing reforms in high schools keep posing new challenges.
文摘How to have a successful Intensive reading English class? The teacher should possess a lot of practice based on the theory of second language acquisition and teaching strategies. This paper mainly discusses the way of how to manage Intensive English classes in the perspective of teaching approach, class design and teaching procedure, etc. The three aspects are associated with each other very closely. If the teacher can combine these three factors successfully, he can be regarded as a competent teacher.
