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A Study on the Application of Discourse Analysis Theory in English Reading Teaching in Senior High School

Chunfeng Jiang 1,* and Xinyu Mu 1
1 School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China * Correspondence: Chunfeng Jiang, School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Yunnan Normal University,Kunming, China

Vol. 3 (2025): 2025 2nd International Conference on the Frontiers of Social Sciences, Education, and the Development of Humanities Arts(EDHA 2025)

Received: 2026-05-16

Accepted: 2026-05-16

Published: 2026-05-16

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Downloads: 108

Abstract

Reading is not only one of the purposes of English teaching, but also an important way of English learning. Reading plays an essential role in student language input, and it occupies a large proportion at different kinds of English tests. However, in the traditional reading classes, the key point is to explain language points and ignores to develop students’ ability of analyzing discourse. Thus, students have little interest in reading, and the lack of knowledge of discourse, causing students lack of confidence when doing reading. The English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School requires students to deepen the understanding of discourse, attach great importance to the analysis of discourse, and improve their reading ability. Therefore, this study aims at discovering the current situation of senior high school students’ discourse analysis ability and figure out the factors that prevent teachers from applying discourse analysis theory in English reading teaching. The research participants are 110 students and 2 English teachers in senior two in Kunming. And the research instruments include questionnaire interview and classroom observation. Questionnaire is used to know the change of students’ discourse awareness. Based on data analysis, the researcher has three main findings. Firstly, students’ discourse analysis abilities on both macro and micro levels are only moderately developed and relatively low. They struggle with aspects such as genre recognition, background knowledge utilization, and coherence understanding, indicating a lack of proficient discourse consciousness. Secondly, although teachers are making efforts to apply discourse analysis theory in English reading teaching, their teaching objectives and methods vary significantly. Thirdly, teachers’ understanding of discourse analysis theory (DAT) is not unified. Their different interpretations and approaches result in an unsystematic application of DAT in teaching practice.

Keywords

discourse analysis theory English reading teaching senior high school reading comprehension student engagement

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Copyright and License

Published in2026-05-16 11:43:59

DOI 10.70088/a1vqdm56.

Creative Commons
Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/license s/by/4.0/).

Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by EDHA 2025

Journal Information

  • Vol. 3 (2025): 2025 2nd International Conference on the Frontiers of Social Sciences, Education, and the Development of Humanities Arts(EDHA 2025)
  • 2026-05-16
  • ISSN: (Print) 3078-770X/ (Online) 3078-7718
  • Journal Homepage

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