The Role Of L1 In L2 Reading Of Chinese EFL Students: A Study On NUDT Cadets

This study investigates Chinese college students'L1 use in English reading. It aims to find out how the students use L1 to access reading strategies in L2 reading. In the research, 16 students at two different L2 proficiency levels, chosen from National University of Defense Technology, are divided into 2 groups and asked to take different reading tasks. The data are collected by conducting think-aloud protocols and retrospective interviews. The students'overall use of reading strategies through L1 is examined. The impacts of students'English proficiency and the difficulty of reading tasks are also discussed. Major findings of this study can be summarized as follows:1. Chinese EFL students rely heavily on L1 in L2 reading and the use of L1 does facilitate their reading comprehension to some extent.2. The amount and effectiveness of L1 use in L2 reading vary with students'L2 proficiency. With the increase of English proficiency, their reliance on L1 declined, but its supportive uses were improved.3. The difficulty of the reading tasks is another variable effects students'L1 use in L2 reading. With the increase of reading tasks'difficulty, the amount of their L1 use also increased. Moreover, the proportion the strategies used for identifying and constructing the meaning of the text by readers declined with the increase of reading tasks'difficulty, but the metacognitive monitoring strategies for regulating comprehension increased.4. The students hold a contradictory attitude towards L1 use in L2 reading. They agree that they prefer to use L1 to comprehend L2 text and admit some of their reading habits and strategies adopted from L1 reading while most of them believe that L1 should be avoided in their L2 learning and reading.Based on the findings above, this thesis provides some valuable implications and suggestions for teaching and learning English reading. Firstly, L1 should not be forbidden or discouraged at all costs in their second language acquisition. Secondly, it is useful that Chinese EFL students maintain L1 reading, especially for the L2 learners who have already reached a certain level of L1 literacy. Thirdly, it is important for students to improve their L2 proficiency and lay a solid vocabulary and linguistic foundation. Finally, teachers should pay more attention on cultivating students'ability of judgment in reading.