Improving Learners' Reading Competence By Self-monitoring Strategy Training In Senior High School

In virtue of the important status of reading in all the basic foreign language learning skills, how to improve students' English reading capability has been a focal and common problem of researchers and English teachers. Learning strategy is known to be an important content of SLA, and more important is meta-cognitive strategy which, by concept, is the cognition about cognition, a concept invented by the American psychologist Flavell in the early 70s. Meta-cognition involves the subject's knowledge, like his/her own mentality, ability, commission and strategies, and the planning, monitoring, assessing and adjusting of his/her own act of cognition. The application of mate-cognition proves to be effective in helping students with their English learning. Among all the learning strategies, meta-cognitive strategies are at a higher level than other strategies such as cognitive strategies, social affective strategies,which are the regulatory measures adopted by learners for successfully learning a foreign language. The substance of meta-cognitive strategy training is to help less efficient learners know about the learning process and identify difficulties in their language learning by introspection, and then choose the most suitable strategies for themselves.Self-monitoring, being a basic meta—cognitive strategy, refers to checking, verifying, or correcting comprehension or performance in the course of a language task. Former studies show that EFL students are constantly monitoring their reading. However, few have been reported about the relationship between self-monitoring and reading, and empirical studies relative to it are found fewer both at home and abroad.In order to test whether or not self-monitoring-strategy-based classroom instruction can help to foster independent English reader and improve students' reading proficiency or not, the author carries out a teaching program depending on self-monitoring strategies among the 80 students of two classes in Grade three of No.19 senior high school in Hohhot. Self-monitoring strategy training is integrated into classroom teaching. One class is experimental class, the other is control class. They all received the same language course in four months. The experimental class participates in strategy training while the control class with no strategy training. Both classes have a test before the experiment. After the experiment finished, they has a test and a questionnaire, then comparing the results try to find whether or not self-monitoring -strategy-based classroom instruction can help to improve students' reading proficiency. From the results of two classes, we find that self-monitoring -strategy-based classroom instruction can help to improve students' reading proficiency.The result of the research proves the strategy training's validity. It is consistent with initial hypothesis. If teachers systematically introduce and reinforce the strategy that can help students read more effectively, the students may improve their reading ability. The strategy provides an effective way to improve the students'reading ability. Senior high school teachers may find the results of this thesis beneficial. The research may help to increase Senior high school English teachers' understanding of the self-monitoring and English reading by way of demonstrating the self-monitoring facilitating peer negotiation and training model. In a word, the research could shed some light on the teaching of English reading in Chinese senior high school and promote students reading proficiency as well.