Action Research On Strategy-based Instruction In College English Reading Class

Since the 1970s, studies in English teaching and learning have shifted their main concern from teaching to learning. One sequence of this shift is the focus on the use of language learning strategies in second and foreign language learning. As for reading, researches on reading strategy use and the effect of reading strategy training gradually become the interest of many researchers.However, reading strategy training has actually proved to be somewhat complex. While many students have been trained to perform reading strategies successfully, some strategy training projects have also been found ineffective. It seems that strategy training needs overall instructional framework and more empirical studies.Based on the review of the literature concerning reading teaching and reading strategy training as well as the theoretical framework of action research, an action research on reading strategy training is carried out among 50 second-year non-English majors in Jinling Institute of Technology in Nanjing. To find the reason why most students do not read efficiently, the author first makes some hypotheses, and then tests her hypotheses through preliminary questionnaire and interview among the students. According to the analysis of the questionnaire and interview, the author designs and implements her training project. To test the effectiveness of this training project, post-training questionnaire and post-training interview are carried out at the end of the training project. By comparing the data before and after the training project, major findings can be summarized as follows: 1) Before they have received systematic training on reading strategies, second-year non-English majors paid little attention to reading strategies and had some bad reading habits. 2) Students' reading strategies can be developed by means of SBI and the overall frequency of strategy use has been largely improved. 3) The instruction of reading strategies is more effective on students with higher level English proficiency than those with lower level English proficiency.Based on the research findings, some pedagogical implications are suggested to improve the efficiency of English reading teaching: 1) Teachers can help students improve their reading abilities by teaching them some important strategies. 2) The design of the training project as well as the strategies that are selected for training should be based on students' learning situations and needs. 3) To conduct reading strategy training in terms of action research, teachers can master students' learning situations and their needs for strategies in a continuous way, and adjust his plan in time.