Communicative Approach in Teaching Reading in Chinese EFL Classrooms

薛玲

Abstract： How to teach reading has become a cornerstone of teachers in China as they develop overall teaching strategies in EFL classrooms. In this paper， firstly the author will introduce the context of teaching reading； thereafter clarify the concept of communicative language teaching （CLT） and its implications in EFL teaching； next illustrate the teaching context in China where CLT is encouraged to be implemented in classrooms； furthermore， reading with a purpose and the relevant teaching techniques will be introduced， in line with the important characteristics of communicative tasks. Finally the author will demonstrate some communicative tasks for purposeful reading in the EFL classroom of a senior high school in China.

Key words： CLT； Chinese EFL classrooms； communicative tasks； reading with a purpose

[中图分类号]G63

[文献标识码]A

[文章编号]1006-2831（2013）02-0086-6 doi：10.3969/j.issn.1006-2831.2013.01.021

1. Introduction

With the development of information age and global economy， a higher level of reading skills are demanded for high school students to meet the social needs of the target language in communities. Many researchers and educators interpreted reading as a social process. For example， Wallace （2003） looked at reading more as social interaction and processes， which involved readers in participation as members in communities. Therefore， teaching reading successfully to Chinese EFL learners can have profound effects both in education and in society.

However， in many countries， high school teachers traditionally view teaching reading only as an instruction of literature， grammar and composition. Though teachers often complain about their students lack of reading skills， they have been keeping themselves outside the teaching of reading with the assumption that students coming to high school classes know how to read （Ericson， 2001）. Similarly， Zhang （2009） claims that Chinese high school teachers are not certain about what elements should be involved in actual reading strategies and the teaching of reading is not situated in the awareness of explicit approaches. Consequently， both the academic and social need call for high levels of students reading proficiency as well as teaching techniques. Thus， as an EFL teacher， I have been always concerned about how to teach the students to read with effective purposes and how to help students to achieve their goals through communicative tasks. In the following section， I will first clarify some features of CLT and some pedagogical issues involved in communicative tasks.

2. Literature review （Background of CLT in EFL teaching）

Over the last few decades， the contributions of communicative language teaching （CLT） to second language （L2） learning has been a hot issue among educators and researchers since it has a large range of definitions and interpretations in various perspectives. Consequently， there are some misconceptions of CLT and the effect of implementing this approach is therefore undermined （Spada， 2007）. Nevertheless， the approach of CLT is accepted by educators such as Lightbown & Spada （1999） as an ongoing transmission process from its exclusive focus on meaning of language to the combination of both meaning-oriented approaches and increased attention to language forms in L2 teaching. As a matter of fact， CLT approaches play a very important role in achieving reading purposes in light of their focus on communication through learners interaction in the target language（Nunan， 2004）. Therefore， communicative abilities can be assessed by virtue of “the contextualized performance and interpretation of socially appropriate illocutionary acts in discourse” （Bachman， 1992： 252）.

In line with these points， teachers should focus on the function of learner-centered interaction in the L2 classroom （Spada， 2007）， and take the individual differences such as motivation， interests， strategies and learning styles into consideration when they organize communicative activities. Furthermore， when CLT approaches focus on the fluency of language speaking， it should also involve the quality such as exploring ideas and generalizing arguments in a speech （Wallace， 2003）. Finally， the communication stimulated by the task should be negotiated rather than predicted. In other words， tasks must allow speakers to make adaption to the feedback they receive. As a whole， CLT has developed a comprehensive teaching methodology， which will have a reflective effect on EFL classroom teaching and reading （Chen， 2005）.

3. Teaching context in China

Having clarified some characteristics of CLT， I will illustrate the problems which currently exist in Chinese EFL classrooms. In reality， CLT methodology has undergone a period from tentative trials to relatively prevailing practices in China during the last ten years. In the current round of reforms to the English curriculum， one of the highlighting renovations is to develop the approach of CLT. Within the box of CLT， particular emphasis is put on the TBL （Taskbased Learning）. With this in mind， teachers should organize reading activities effectively to enable the students participate actively and complete the tasks， learning and using English to solve problems or fulfill their learning targets through thinking， gathering information， discussing， communicating and cooperating（Education Ministry of the PRC， 2005）.

However， over the last few decades in Chinese classrooms， traditional practices in English reading have over emphasized the transmission and explanation of knowledge about grammar and vocabulary but neglected to develop students ability to use language for real communication. Some teachers find it hard to shift abruptly from the old dominant teaching practice to the high order requirements for the new situation （Paul， 1993）. On the other hand， there are some misconceptions about CLT such as taking communicative teaching only as pouring listening and speaking to the students and neglecting the importance of other language skills （Spada， 2007）. Unfortunately， they take the conversations as their ultimate teaching goals， which eventually make students fail to achieve the reading purposes. In this case， Chinese teachers should initially be trained to reach a higher level where a systematic and effective language teaching methodology can be fully understood and effectively used in their teaching practices.

4. Reading with a purpose and the relevant teaching techniques

Having clarified the teaching context in China， I will present an important approach in teaching reading： reading with a purpose. Reading with a purpose has been defined as“reading texts in different ways at different speeds， depending on the information needed and the task to be carried out” （Knutson， 1998）. Recently， teachers in Chinese EFL classroom came to realize that reading with a purpose should be concluded in a whole communicative task； furthermore， tasks in the classroom should have clear and available aims and objectives， which can benefit the development of studentsreading proficiency and the ability to use the target language for real communication. Therefore， instructing the students to read with a purpose should be crucial in the communicative approach in EFL teaching.

5. Communicative tasks in teaching reading

In this part， I will first demonstrate several techniques in line with purposeful reading to elucidate the nature of CLT； thereafter， these techniques will be demonstrated with examples in the following section.

First， I will illustrate the pre-reading technique. This method presents a series of debatable statements which often focus on a critical argument or controversy background generalized from the target reading text. Students are supposed to give response to these statements individually or in a group discussion （Ericson， 2001）. The significance of pre-reading technique is that discussion or reflection involved in the task can elicit studentsanticipation towards the text， stimulate their previous knowledge on the similar topics and develop their personal views on the arguments（Knutson， 1998）.

The other approach I will demonstrate is to use a collaborative task in the academic context to involve students in a reading process as well as communicative conversations （Bruffee， 1984）. In this area， we should first make it clear that academic tasks refer to “the work the student must accomplish， including the content covered and the mental operation required”（Anita， 2007： 396）. Pursuing this further， Graff（1992） makes a strong claim for the contextual importance of the academic course， where the students are asked to read from a specific perspective or with a particular argument in mind. In his view， reading activities can be both a cognitive and social progress.

Another crucial approach to reading in EFL classrooms is textual analysis. Recent researchers such as Long and Crookes （1992） state that drawing students attention to formal features of written language should also be included in a communicative approach. With this in mind， Wallace （2003） strongly recommended the great importance of textual analysis in teaching reading. In my limited teaching experience， I indeed found the significance of appropriate emphasis on the textual analysis. Usually， if the process of reading can be successfully deduced in a dynamic interaction between the producer， the text and the reader， then the literacy knowledge and the reading strategies involved in the task will be more sustainable for students.

6. Teaching implications for using communicative tasks in the EFL classroom

In this section， I will cite some examples to show how these techniques can be practiced in the classroom of the senior high school in China in terms of my limited understanding of the relevant techniques mentioned above.

6.1 Example 1： the pre-reading technique

First， I will take the topic of Love & marriage as an example. The target passage is from the book of Active Skills for Reading（Anderson， 2003）.

This technique used here will emphasize the students anticipation， which stimulates students background knowledge by asking them to make connections and comparison to the arguments from the text （Ericson， 2001）.

Before students read the passage， I present five relevant statements on marriage， asking students to give their personal views on each statement individually. The five statements are as followings：

1.Although two people have different life goals， they still have a good marriage.

2.Its important to be able to share all of your feelings with your partner.

3.If two people have different personalities， their marriage probably wont work.

4.You should never marry someone who is selfish or unkind.

5.Its okay to marry someone who has qualities you dont like. If you love the person， you will be able to change her or him.

While presenting the statements， I ask students to have a discussion in small groups， sharing their points of view based on their own social and literacy knowledge about the topic. Some students are nominated to state the main points from their group discussion. Pursuing this further， I ask the students to think about the relevant issues in the reading passage and predict what arguments the author will state. In this stage， students are supposed to discuss in small groups. Thereafter， I will ask each student to write down their predictions based on previous activities and then change their paper across different groups. This task involves students desire to communicate ideas in writing （Ericson， 2001）. Consequently， students can have the opportunity to share knowledge and understandings with their peers and each individual is supposed to have an overall and impressive prediction towards the target passage. As a whole， this task will facilitate students reading the whole text since the main arguments involved in the text have been mostly covered and understood in previous activities.

6.2 Example 2： the collaborative reading in an academic task

In this teaching project， the topic is from SEFC 5A， unit 2 （Wang， 2005）. The reading text contains the opening speeches from a television debate on environmental issues. In this topic， the students are supposed to support or counter the critical arguments elicited from the text and then present a debate with their own arguments in mind （Graff， 1992）. Eventually， each student is asked to write a report about their reflection on the debating results.

First， I present a debate question for the students： The Economy or the Environment—must we choose？ Then I give some time for them to look through the text first and decide which point they prefer to support. Thereafter the class is divided into two debating teams： one is for the environmentalist， and the other is for the economist. At the same time， cooperative reading is carried out to gather useful information and arguments for their tasks. In this stage， each student assumes the role of an environmentalist or an economist， the students motivation is aroused because they realize a real stake in the debating issues（Stepien & Gallagher， 1993）. Furthermore， students in the cooperation learn to negotiate meaning and solve the complex language problems from the text. In the following stage， the students are instructed to have a debate. In this communicative context， both meaning and literacy knowledge can be employed through active conversations and real discourses， thus， students can remember what they have achieved to a best extent （Segalowitz& Lightbown， 1999）. Finally， the students are required to write a short report with a deep understanding towards both the literacy knowledge from the text and the issues from the communicative activities. To sum up， I think this reading task is quite effective because it not only reflects the social and textual nature of literacy work， but also puts emphasis on the importance of reading and talking with others（Knutson， 1998）.

6.3 Example 3： textual analysis

I use a poem from SEFC 8A， unit 1 as an example here. The title is A Red， Red Rose， written by Robert Burns. This topic is in a unit which covers many topics about literature such as poems and novels. Therefore， textual analysis will be used with the emphasis on meaning of the poem and the contextual understanding towards the theme. First， I try to engage the students in the genre analysis since this task can help students find the coherence of approaches across the whole unit （Wallace， 2003）. I present the questions of how to find an image in a poem and how the author makes comparison. Not surprisingly， the studentsawareness of genre is activated while they are in a process to integrate previous knowledge across the course. Thereafter， discussions in small groups are required to negotiate the meaning of difficult segments between lines（Spada， 2007）. In this way， the meaning of the content will not be an obstacle for students to understand the structure and more complicated elements in the theme （Wallace， 2003）. With this in mind， students are encouraged to investigate how the text structure contributes to establish the theme. Students are supposed to reflect on the context involving the content of the poem and the authors background information. Naturally， when the students present their opinions， variables between the answers indicate different situational elements of readers. Finally I combine read-aloud technique with this task. The choral music matching the poem is provided when students are reading the poem aloud in front of the class. Stressed syllables and rhythms should be noted but fluency is the most important. Consequently， students motivation and confidence in performing as a successful reader will be improved （Ericson， 2001）. As a result， students positive response and attitudes to the tasks can be established in the communicative and contextual atmosphere （Wallace， 2003）.

7. Conclusion

As a whole， there is no golden principle in pedagogical reading area where some specific approaches can definitely be used or not. Reading as a social process should be characterized in consideration of numerous variables in particular reading situation and social contexts （Wallace， 2003）. With this in mind， students in China need to have more exposure to communicative language situations where their confidence and attitudes will be stimulated in achieving target language. Currently CLT approach is popular especially in most Chinese high schools where teachers employ the communicative tasks with different interpretations. The new English curriculum has been undergoing a challenging reform with various dynamic teaching implications but still highlight the importance of using CLT in Chinese high school classrooms. Therefore， in my view， purposeful reading is the recommended teaching approach because it guided the teachers to reflect on the new curriculum， as well as the relationship between the texts and the readers when they design their teaching tasks and set goals for the EFL class. In the meanwhile， teachers using this approach should try to help students perform their roles as active members of communities. In my limited teaching experience， I appreciate the concept of engaging textual analysis in CLT which help draw the teachers back from going far away from the target texts and contents， giving too much emphasis on casual talking and discussion without explicit goals for teaching reading.

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