Getting Chinese Students Involved in Reading Activities – Some Modifications and Techniques for Improving Intensive Reading

Abstract

This article reviews the background and problems in teaching of intensive reading (IR) to EFL students and proposes some techniques and activities for improving the teaching and learning process of the IR classroom in PR China. The typical problems of IR practice can generally be classified as following: 1) students’ schemata are not fully activated for learning contents; 2) students do not have any control over learning as they are spoon-fed by teachers; 3) students are not provided opportunities to develop their skills and strategies for dealing with different types of materials. The proposed models for teaching IR are focused on 1) activating students’ schemata so that they will be able to develop skills in the process; 2) interacting with tasks and partners/teachers for developing strategies; 3) synthesizing teachers’ questions for better thinking; 4) using Functional Approach to analyze the features of genres and language used in texts. It is expected that with techniques and activities IR practice can be more satisfactory for both teachers and students in China.