Improving Reading Proficiency Through Effective Use Of Reading Strategies

In reading teaching, how to effectively improve students' reading proficiency remains an unsolved issue. Nutall (2002) points out that studies on students' reading strategies use can improve their reading proficiency effectively. However, only a few studies were carried out in this field in China. For this reason, this thesis investigates the use of reading strategies by first-year non-English majors, and analyzes the correlation between reading strategies and reading proficiency so as to provide valuable recommendations for college English teachers. To secure the reliability of the results in this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed. The quantitative data are collected from a questionnaire answered by 82 first-year non-English majors at Anhui College of Education and a specially designed reading comprehension test paper based on CET-4. In qualitative research, interviews with 8 subjects, chosen from volunteers out of the 82 students, as they share certain factors, such as gender, reading score, personality, learning style and motivation, are employed with the intention of further testing and explaining the findings in quantitative research. Major findings in the study can be summarized as follows:1) Before they receive systematic training on reading strategies, first-year non-English majors have acquired some of them in secondary school study, such as skimming and scanning, etc.2) So far as first-year non-English majors are concerned, correlation between reading strategies, especially those concerning structure analysis, and reading proficiency can be identified.3) Low efficiency in the use of reading strategies exists among first-year non-English majors, including the successful ones.4) Successful readers are more conscious in applying reading strategies than unsuccessful readers.Through a comprehensive estimation of reading strategies use among first-year non-English majors, this thesis intends to provide valuable and practical advice for college English teachers: before reading teaching, teachers should find out the real reading proficiency of their students and accordingly design their teaching plans; during the course of teaching, teachers need to acquaint their students with an overall view of reading strategies and at the same time emphasize the efficient use of them.