The Compensatory Nature Of Academic Background Knowledge And English Proficiency In English For Academic Purposes (EAP) Reading

Reading ability of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is of vital importance to academic studies in universities and future professional success. EAP reading is an interaction between knowledge of English language and academic background knowledge. Based on Schema theory, this research tries to study the compensatory nature of English language proficiency and academic background knowledge in EAP reading.The participants in the study were 60 native Chinese-speaking ESL juniors from college of Communication Engineering, and College of Environmental Engineering. All of them took part in three tests: language proficiency test, academic background tests and EAP reading tests. Scores for the 3-criterion variables (English language proficiency, academic background knowledge and academic reading) were analyzed by four multiple linear regressions. The results indicated that both English language proficiency and academic background knowledge significantly affected EAP reading performance, and English language proficiency appeared to be a more powerful predictor than academic background knowledge in the study, and the more highly academic reading materials are, the more important academic background knowledge is.Meanwhile, the compensatory effect between the two variables took place for successful academic reading were provided, and results revealed that even the participants have a low level of proficiency in English, successful EAP reading is also possible if the participants reach a linguistic threshold and have academic background. The linguistic threshold was not fixed, and it changed not only gradually depending on the existing academic knowledge, but also varied from material to material.This dissertation consists of five chapters. Chapter One introduces purpose of the study, significance of the study and provides the whole organization of the thesis. Chapter Two reviews some theories on reading comprehension. First the nature of reading is examined. Then factors affecting reading comprehension process are introduced. After that schemata theory is introduced. Finally, a summary of the experimental studies into the effect of background knowledge on reading, the effect of English language proficiency on reading, and the effect of background knowledge and English language proficiency on reading is provided. Chapter Three reports an experimental study on the compensatory nature of academic knowledge and English-Language Proficiency in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) reading comprehension. Chapter Four is about the results of the study and discussion of the results based on the research questions and related theoretical explanations. Chapter Five summarizes the major findings of the study, presents pedagogical implications and limitations, and also provides suggestions for future study.