Research on British and American Literature Teaching Based on Cognitive Poetics

The gradual implementation of the new curriculum reform has led to a particularly severe challenge in the teaching of English and American literature,which still adopts the traditional teaching mode.Interpretation of text is the focus of cognitive poetics,which can effectively combine people’s daily cognitive ability and literary ability,thus enlightening the teaching of British and American literature.Incorporating the concept of cognition into English and American literature textbooks can completely subvert the traditional evaluation and teaching mode in the past.It is also an effective way to improve students’humanistic quality and improve the communication between students’literary cognition and daily cognition experience.

Perspectives for Teaching Reading in a College English Classroom

English, has not only become the international language as it is spoken by a large number of native speakers of other languages and serves as a language of wider communication but also achieved a genuinely global status owing to its special role recognized in every country. Under such circumstances, greater importance has been attached to English teaching of which reading has been given some privileges at the tertiary level in China. Hence, it is very essential for language teachers to have a good understanding about how to teach reading in a college English classroom. This article discusses what reading is, the important issues in teaching reading, and gives some proposals for how to teach reading efficiently in a college English classroom, aiming to give an idea that reading can be learnt effectively if students are motivated, exposed to English language and given chances to use English.

Cognition-Based Interactive Phases and Strategies in Teaching Academic Reading

Academic English reading requires deeper cognitive involvement in addition to language proficiency and plays a vital role in moulding a critical mindset. However, cognitive progress is seldom targeted in classroom teaching. This study proposed a teaching method of three reading phases in terms of cognitive mechanism and communicative teaching approach.Ninety university freshmen of non-English major participated in the study, who were taking the course of Academic English Reading in the 2nd semester. The data were collected from self-report Research Skills Assessment twice and semi-structured interview, and analyzed with paired sample t test and Pearson correlation. The results showed that 1） “critical thinking”, “organizing ideas”, and “finding information” were believed to improve significantly at the end of the course; 2） reading skill was associated with writing skill and the sense of “big picture” in self perception; 3） the cognition-based interactive reading instruction was acknowledged to be conducive to academic reading. It complements Academic English reading pedagogy by juxtaposing the need for both individual cognition and group interaction in classroom teaching.