Han Jing-Mei
First published in Issue 176, Dec 2003/Jan 2004.

Han Jing Mei has taught ESL/EFL in China and Australia and has published widely. Her research interests include SLA, ESL and EFL, intercultural studies, and TESOL program improvement/assessment.

Some time ago, we had the chance to get to know a group of teachers of English working in high schools in another Asian country who visited and studied in Monash University. We then had conversations with the teachers so as to write a report on an aspect of English teaching in their country. One particular point mentioned by X about their course has left a deep impression on me and I would like to discuss it. The course is Reading Course in the Final Year in High School.

X told me that the students usually have 45 minutes to study in a reading class. In a class, this teacher has to give four such lessons each week, in which he will ask the students to read comprehension materials for about forty minutes before he checks the answers of the students. I was surprised to hear that and had to ask this teacher the question again in case I misunderstood him. However, I got the affirmative answer I did not expect, i.e. he did ask the students to read most of the time in class.

Then, I had to ask what kind of questions he has to ask and answer in these 5–10 minutes before the end of the class and what the students can benefit from this kind of lesson. I was told that students were asked to answer comprehension questions most of the time.

As far as my own teaching experience is concerned, I do not consider this kind of training can benefit students much. The reason is easy to see. If students have to read themselves most of the time, what is the need of silent reading in class? In 5–10 minutes, the teacher may not have the time to explain anything to students, except that he can give them correct answers for the reading. Thus, students may simply stay at home and do the reading comprehension themselves with an answer key or a teacher’s reference book at their side.

It may be better to treat this kind of reading as homework. In EFL classrooms in many Asian countries where the official language is a language other than English, the class is usually a teacher-centered and knowledge-oriented one, with a traditional teaching method following a test-driven exam system. At this stage, the level of the students is still too low to do self study most of the time. As a result, in a class emphasizing linguistic competence, the students have to depend on their teacher and expect most out of the teacher because they cannot find a place to practice, nor can they find someone to turn to for help after class.

My suggestion is that since the students are busy preparing for the entrance exam, it may do them good to give them some suitable reading materials (both in terms of their level of difficulty and the readability of content) as homework according to their different levels. That means the top students should read more while the lower level students read less and try to comprehend better so that they would not lose confidence in English.

In class, besides checking the answers of the reading, the teacher can use some time to teach students reading skills to improve both efficiency and effectiveness in reading. In addition, they can concentrate more on the discussion of the reading because this can not only improve comprehension, but also improve listening and speaking at the same time. Furthermore, a teacher can train the students to learn to guess the meaning according to the context, etc.

In summary, a qualified teacher should have such a great deal to teach in a reading class at this level that he or she cannot afford to waste a single minute in a classroom. In a word, we must facilitate learners according to their needs and levels.

Email: jingmeihan@hotmail.com