Dear Li Jun,

Thank you for sharing the first draft of your action research account of your practice. I have very much enjoyed reading it. I find your abstract helpful statement of your intentions but I would relate the need to to develop reading skills to the requirements of the New Curriculum in China. perhaps it might be more helpful to account for the national and local context in which you are working before detailing your approach i.e. action research, to investigating ways of assisting non-English students to improve their reading ability in order to bring about an improvement. I would certainly develop the section you have in your draft about the action research process - do look at Jean Mc Niff's action research booklet which is freely downloadable at her website http://www.jeanmcniff.com and I think you might find jack Whitehead's website invaluable as you develop and refine your ideas and your research process at http://www.actionresearch.net

Your section 'Class and Course description' is a good starting point for enabling me to step into your world - remember to give a full reference in the bibliography section for any published writings that you mention in your text. I would write a separate paragraph about your reasons for choosing your three subjects -can you bring their characters to life a little more for readers?

I do like the section entitled 'What is the problem?' because I recognise that this is your platform for your research - what does it tell you about your own professional values as a teacher - why is the situation problematic for you? What drives you to want to teach well and why have you chosen reading as a focus - your observation that 'The situation is not in accordance with the requirements of the text book leaves me feeling intrigued - can you explain this so that I understand what the text book requires and how it is lacking in supporting good reading skills?

You put forward a problem as a starting point for your research - can any other teacher and can your students validate your statement that a lack of good reading skill is a significant problem? The reason I ask is that other teacher researchers in your group are focusing on a lack of speaking confidence - and I can see you are focusing on something that is related - but different. Have other teachers who teach in your school identified reading as a problem area and how are they addressing this problem. Can you collaborate with them to pool your ideas and reflections? How can you share your research with other teachersin you College in a way that they can engage with creatively to improve their practice - your research is important!

Do take a look at relevant literature relating to teaching language to situate your research into reading skills and how they can be improved - are there particular reading skills - skimming or scanning, for example, that could usefully be taught and which students have missed or forgotten? I have suggested some Internet resources in my introduction to feedback for your group.
Would it be useful and feasible to ask students to assist you in your action research by explaining which aspects of reading they find problematic and which strategies assist their learning?

Your plan for your research over a 10 week period is beautifully organised - my main observation is that action research could usefully be revisited throughout the 10 weeks with students. How about creating 'validation points where you and your class ask Have we achieved what we agreed we would by this point in time -what have we achieved and what needs to be worked on now?

It is my experience that we develop understanding as we engage in research - we cannot predetermine every step - and that is what is so exciting and dynamic in the process of improvement.I find your 'weekly log' a most useful suggestion and my eye is drawn to the insightful intervention and assistance from Dean Tian. May I suggest another aspect of log keeping for you? At present you tell me 'that' rather than 'how' ... what are you learning from weekly sessions and how is this assisting you to improve your practice as you seek to improve teaching and learning?

While I wholeheartedly agree, as a linguist, that vocabulary building is essential to mastering a language I suggest that this is best managed in a way that is as close to real life use as possible - I am suggesting (and I understand the new Curriculum requires this) that language is used for real purposes rather than simulated situations, wherever possible - how can you bring language for real purposes into your classroom and your students' experience? is it possible to set up e-mail exchanges between students in an English school perhaps or to create a video to swap?

I congratulate you on such an exciting and enticing first draft! I am very much looking forward to reading more of your accounts and hope my suggestions will assist your action research.