Suggestions for Extracurricular Graded Reading Teaching of Junior High School English in Western Regions

The Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standard (2011) sets requirements from the first year to the fifteenth year. However, in China, junior high school students mainly rely on textbooks and exercises in the classroom, neglecting extracurricular English reading. Currently, there is a pressing need in China to find an effective way of teaching extracurricular English reading in secondary schools. In November 2016, the first Chinese Graded Reading Standard for Primary and Secondary School Students (experimental draft) was released, establishing a corresponding level system for English teachers nationwide and attracting increasing scholarly involvement. However, current research in the country primarily focuses on assessing English proficiency, with limited systematic and in-depth studies on its impact on learners’ English learning outcomes. Existing studies mostly target urban primary and secondary schools. Therefore, this study focuses on the Chinese Graded Reading Standard for Primary and Secondary School Students (experimental draft) with rural junior high school students as subjects, examining the impact of “reading experience” on different types of children.