A Study Of College Students' Reading Strategies In A Call Context

As a chief means of input in English language learning, reading occupies an important role in language learning. In the past, books are the main source of input for English language learners. With the development of computer technology, the computer is becoming a popular educational tool in schools and higher education institutions. Multimedia reading is different from paper reading in many ways. How to effectively improve students' reading proficiency remains a hot issue in language learning and teaching. A lot of studies in the L2 reading have generated lists of paper-reading strategies to help students read more proficiently. Such studies also revealed that effective use of reading strategies can increase reading comprehension. However, the study of reading strategy use in a CALL context is very limited. This paper tends to investigate the most frequently and least frequently used reading strategies employed by college students in a CALL context, and the differences between high level learners and low level learners in their use of reading strategies in a CALL context.125 non-English majors of Zhengzhou Unversity participate in this study. The study employs both the quantitative and the qualitative methods through a questionnaire and interviews. The items in the questionnaire are designed according to the written reports given by three students concerning reading strategies they use in a CALL context, Anderson's OSORS (Online Survey of Reading Strategies,2003), Oxford's SILL (Strategy Inventory for Language Learning,1989), and some experienced English teachers are asked to give some suggestions. The data collected from the questionnaire are processes by SPSS 16.0. Five high level learners and five low level learners are chosen from the 125 students to have interviews. The purpose of this qualitative investigation is to further prove the results of the quantitative analysis.The results imply that although college students do use some reading strategies in a CALL context, but the overall use of reading strategies in a CALL context is only at a moderate level. The most frequently used reading strategies are using pictures, translation, re-reading, taking-notes, skimming and scanning, which belong to the category of cognitive strategy. The least frequently used reading strategies in a CALL context are self-evaluation, planning for a language task, which are devices of metacognitive strategies. Some other reading strategies, such as using dictionary and cooperating with others are in rare use in a CALL context. High level learners are more skillful in using compensation strategies than low level learners. Also, high level learners know more reading strategies than low level learners do, they are more conscious of using them and they can use them effectively. The results also show that students lack systematic knowledge of reading strategies. Students should be trained to use reading strategies in a CALL context efficiently.It is hoped that that this study will provide some insights and implications in EFL teaching, learning and future researches, and thus contribute to EFL teaching in Chinese universities.