Teacher Discussion Forums

Hello all,
I am to be an English teacher in the future in China. I have been puzzled what to do for the English reading efficietly .For Chinese students, they will be confronted with the reading in various tests and examinations which is the main part in the tests. But the students are not interested in it and foreced to do a lot of boring exercises for the purpose of gaining the higher marks. What should be done to stimulate the students' motivation and improve the their reading ability efficiently? Could you give some suggestions ?
I am expecting your reply eagerly.
Thanks a lot
Zhou

I think that the best thing to do is asking them to read something they are really interested in. For example books chosen by them, or they can search the internet to find articles about things they are really interested in (sports, fashion, etc.). Maybe, they can then comment on what they have read and give advice to each other about what to read or what they have found boring so as not to read it, etc.

You might want to look at "Exploring Texts" by Beverly Derewianka. I found it an excellent way to help students break down the texts and understand why they are written the way they are wriiten which them helps them write their own. She also uses real texts but when you are teaching for an exam, I think you have the responsibility to teach the students how to do that particular exam. It is just another kind of text and can be studied to see how it is formed. If the students understand the underlying structure, they can often redo the sentences to make them more easily understood and then reading becomes easier. Eventually they don't have to change the structure and can read just what is written.