A Research On The Correlation Between Chinese English Learners' Grammatical Sensitivity And Reading Comprehension Ability

Grammatical sensitivity, as one of the components of foreign langue aptitude, is an important factor in foreign language learning. On the other hand, reading is considered to play an essential role in foreign language teaching and learning. With regard to the correlation between the two elements, some foreign researchers had administrated a series of experiments but they had drawn different conclusions. In China, few studies are concerned about the link between Chinese English learners' grammatical sensitivity and their reading comprehension ability. Furthermore, gender has not been considered as a factor affecting participants' grammatical sensitivity in the prior studies; whether or not it is an indicator of grammatical sensitivity is yet unknown.In order to understand the role that Chinese English learners' grammatical sensitivity plays in their reading comprehension, this research endeavors to explore the correlation between them through empirical approaches. In addition, the influence that gender exerts on grammatical sensitivity is studied. Chapter one of this thesis explains the background of this study, including the emergence of the research questions and the significance of the study. In Chapter two, a review of the literature, regarding grammatical sensitivity, reading comprehension and the relationship between them is presented. It also describes the various models of reading comprehension from the beginning of 1920s to the present time. Chapter three contains a description of the research methods and procedures. It explains the selection of the research participants, instruments, test design and statistical analysis methods. In Chapter four, an exposition of the results of the study is presented. In chapter five, the results of the investigation are discussed in light of the previous research. Finally, Chapter six presents a summary of the research findings derived from this experimental endeavor. Reflections are made regarding the research itself and implications for future studies are also presented at the end of this chapter.This study is conducted within a quantitative framework using questionnaire as means of data collection. The questionnaire consists of two sections: the first section is designed to test the grammatical sensitivity of the participants, and the second section is devised to examine their reading comprehension ability. There are 45 freshmen taking the test, and 32 students, including 16 boys and 16 girls, constituent the final pool of participants according to their close scores in NMET (National Matriculation English Test). The data collected are analyzed by SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Statistical analysis methods, such as Descriptive Statistics, Correlation Statistics and Independent Sample T-test are employed.The results of the study show that there exists a moderate correlation between Chinese English learners' grammatical sensitivity and their reading comprehension ability. In other words, the students, who show better grammatical sensitivity, are likely to be more competent in their reading comprehension. Meanwhile, there shows slight difference between males' and females' English grammatical sensitivity. Therefore, gender might not be a good indicator of participants' English grammatical sensitivity. In future study, if possible, the researchers may not consider gender as a key factor that would affect participants' grammatical sensitivity.It needs to be pointed out that this study is based on a limited sample collected in one class in Sichuan University. Both the findings and the conclusions drawn may require further evidence to validate. Therefore, there is a need for further studies to be conducted to establish correlation researches on Chinese English learners' grammatical sensitivity and their reading comprehension ability.