Employ The Reading Strategies To Foster The Students' Reading Ability In Middle School ESL Classroom

Language learning strategies (LLSs) are methods and ways consciously selected by language learners in word-guessing, word-remembering, grammar application and other language aspects to improve their language proficiency. The study was initiated by Rubin, Naiman. Frohich and other American and Canadian linguists in the 1970s. Up to date, the study has been concerning with: 1) strategies used by good learners; 2) different language learning strategies used by good and poor learners; 3) the correlation between learners' use of language learning strategies and their language proficiency ; 4) factors influencing language learners' strategy use and 5) strategy training and its effects.Reading is the most important purpose and at the same time the most important means of language learning. Reading strategies refer to strategies (such as inferencing, deduction, concentrating on reading and other strategies) used by language learners aiming to improve their reading comprehension. Hence research on reading strategies is of great importance in language learning as well as in language teaching. Reading ability refers to the reading skills that a reader brings to the text. These skills include a reader' s ability to monitor their own comprehension, decode unknown words and apply fix-up strategies. So study on the use of reading strategies by middle school students and how to foster the learning ability based on them are of realistic important significance.The present study intends to investigate, from cognitive perspective, the reading strategies employed by the ordinary junior middle school students ( from Panjin No. 3 Middle School, Liaoning Province) using a 5 scale questionnaire of learning strategies, required by the Curriculum Criteria.The thesis wants to answer the following research questions:1. How are the learners' strategies employed by the ordinary junior middle school students?2. What' s the relation between the reading strategies and the students' reading comprehension achievements?3. How do good and poor Chinese EFL learners differ in their reading strategy use?The study was carried out on 92 students (53good learners and 39 poor learners ). There exists obvious divergence leads to the different results of the reading comprehension achievements in second language. That is, they are in the directproportion. Based on the results of the research, the thesis suggests some specific ways to improve the students' reading ability.