Abstract

Reading is the main content of English teaching in senior high school, which is based on the study of vocabulary, grammar and so on. For students, English original works provide a real situation and native language materials, and it is helpful to cultivate English thinking. For teachers, English original works can be used as auxiliary materials for English reading teaching, effectively promoting the development of English teaching. This thesis is based on Krashen’s Language Input Hypothesis, Nagy, Herman and Anderson’s Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition and schema theory of the cognitive psychology. Moreover, level reading in the United States serves as a reference. Questionnaire survey, interview and classroom observation are adopted to answer the three following research questions: first, what are the effects of English original fiction reading in Senior High English teaching? Second, in high school English teaching, what strategies can teachers adopt in English original fiction reading teaching? Afterward how to effectively carry out this teaching method? Third, what are the problems or difficulties in the application of English original fiction reading? The research indicates that original English works as auxiliary teaching materials have certain influences on students' English reading ability, thinking ability training, English phonetic reserves and so on, especially on vocabulary learning. When teachers use English original fictions as reading materials, they require evaluating scientifically students' reading ability, then choose suitable original works for students. And teachers should attempt actively many strategies and methods to drive reading classes. The author hopes that the research can help the teachers and students to use English original fiction in English teaching and learning.

Key Words: English Original Fiction; Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition; Level Reading

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

1.1 Research Background-1

1.2 Research Purpose-3

1.3 Significance of the Research-3

1.4 Structure of the Dissertation-4

2 Literature Review-5

2.1 English Original Fiction -5

2.1.1 The General Introduction to English Original Fiction-5

2.1.2 Characteristics of English Original Fiction-6

2.1.3 Educational values of English Original Fiction-6

2.2 Theoretical Framework Associated with Reading English Original Fiction-8

2.2.1 Language Input Hypothesis-8

2.2.2 Schema Theory-9

2.2.3 Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition-10

2.3 Level Reading-11

3 Methodology-12

3.1 Research Questions-13

3.2 Participants-13

3.3 Research Methods-14

3.3.1 Questionnaire Survey-14

3.3.2 Interview-14

3.3.3 Classroom Observation-15

4 Results and Discussions-16

4.1 Results of the Research-16

4.2 Effects of Reading English Original Fiction-17

4.3 Strategies of English Original Fiction in Teaching-17

4.3.1 Cooperative Learning-17

4.3.2 Reading Excellent Sections Intensively-18

4.3.3 Book Report-18

4.3.4 Level Reading-19

4.3.5 Simplified Version of English fiction-19

4.4 Problems in the Application of English Original Fiction Reading-19

5 Conclusion-20

5.1 Implications of the Research-20

5.2 Limitations of the Research-20

Appendix-21

Appendix Ⅰ -21

Appendix Ⅱ -22

Appendix Ⅲ -22

Appendix Ⅳ -22

Bibliography-24

Acknowledgements-25