Research On The Application Of Metacognitive Strategies To English Reading Instruction In Higher Vocational College

Reading is the essential skills for people to survive and develop in the modern society, soresearches on reading have always been the focus for language educators. It is self-evident thatreading is of great importance in the second language learning. It is not only one of the crucialskills that learner needs to master, but also the main way that one gets language input. Asuccessful reader always possesses both profound knowledge of language and the abilities toapply various reading strategies successfully and efficiently. Recently metacognitive strategiesused in reading teaching have been becoming one of the most heated topics. Studies have shownthat metacognition have a positive impact on reading comprehension abroad, but less researchfocus on foreign language reading. However, in China studies on metacognitive strategiesconcentrate on theory introduction and description, little has been done about the relationshipbetween metacognitive strategy use and English reading，still less was done on metacognitionapplied in English reading instruction of higher vocational colleges.Based on available metacognition research at home and abroad and the status quo ofstudents’ English language learning strategies use, this study attempted to explore howmetacognitive strategies can be efficiently integrated into classroom teaching in highervocational college, helping students understand their own characteristics and learning itself andguiding them to use metacognitive strategies effectively in English reading, with the purpose ofimproving students’ reading ability and language learning proficiency and cultivatingautonomous learning. This study attempts to answer the following questions:1. what is the stateof the metacognitive strategies used among the students in higher vocational colleges?2. What’the effect of the metacognitive reading strategy instruction on the students’ metacognitiveawareness?3What’s the effect of the metacognitive reading strategy training on the students’reading performance and language proficiency?4What’s the relationship between readingachievement and language proficiency?In the present study, the two natural first-year classes from Wuhan Technical College ofCommunication were recruited as the experimental class and the control class, and the traininglasted16weeks. Before the experiment, a reading strategies questionnaire survey and a readingtest was conducted to see the metacognitive level and reading ability of the subjects. In theprocess of the experiment, another two reading tests were administrated to identify theeffectiveness of training. All the data was collected and analyzed by Likert scale the SPSS20.0.The results show that lots of students lack knowledge of metacognitive strategies;metacognitive strategy can improve students’ awareness of strategies; metacognitive strategytraining in English reading can improve their English reading scores and language proficiency; there is a significant positive correlation between reading achievement and language ability.Therefore, it is necessary to practice metacognitive strategy training in English reading, andteachers should consciously guide students to use metacognition in language learning. It doeshelp students understand the cognitive processes of learning, and can improve students’ readingcomprehension and language proficiency. Integrating metacognitive strategy training withEnglish reading teaching has significant pedagogical implications for ESL instruction andresearch in vocational college．...