A Study On The Influence Of Group Texts Reading On English Reading Strategies Of Junior Middle School Students

Reading always occupies an important place in the process of learning English.Cultivating students to form good reading habits and mastering solid reading strategies will not only improve their learning performance,but more importantly will directly affect their overall development.In the process of group texts reading,students can not only rapidly improve their accumulation of language and cultural knowledge,but more importantly,they can master a variety of reading strategies,thus enhancing their reading ability.Based on a comprehensive analysis of researches related to group texts reading,this study focuses on: 1.What activities designed by teachers influence students’ use of reading strategies in the group texts reading? 2.How can teachers do to guide students to use these reading strategies more effectively in the group texts reading? In this study,85 junior middle students of grade 9 and two English teachers from School Q were selected as the research participants.Firstly,classroom observations and questionnaires were used to understand what reading strategies do junior middle school students use when they do group texts reading;Secondly,interviews with English teachers were used to understand what are influential factors for junior middle school students to make use of reading strategies,and how can teachers do to guide students to use these reading strategies more effectively.The results show that of the eight reading strategies that are the focus of this paper,the four most frequently used strategies are: determining the purpose of reading,skimming and scanning,predicting and making connections,and the four rarely used strategies are: questioning,summarizing,comparing and transferring,with the least frequently used strategy is summarizing,indicating students are lack of mastering and using of these strategies.The main factors that influence students’ use of reading strategies are the design of classroom activities,including the purpose,type,organization and length of the activities,the students’ participation in the classroom,the backwash effect of the English test,the learning materials and the topic.Therefore,teachers should select appropriate group texts reading materials,design engaging classroom activities and set up topics for students to express their ideas in order to maximize their motivation in the classroom.