An Investigation Of Metacognitive Reading Strategies Used In A Chinese High School

Motivated by the importance of reading, the problems of English learners’ generally face in reading and the requirements put forward by the New English Curriculum for Chinese Primary Schools and Junior/Senior Middle Schools, this case study was conducted to tentatively answer the following research questions:1) How is teaching and learning of metacognitive strategies incorporated in the New English Curriculum for Chinese Primary Schools and Junior/Senior Middle Schools (Hereafter I call it CNC)?2) What metacognitive reading strategies are generally used by learners in Chinese high schools?3) What are teachers’perceptions of metacognitive strategies in English reading and how do they teach them?In order to address these questions, the CNC was analyzed in detail, a Metacognitive Reading Strategy Questionnaire (MRSQ) involving attention, planning, monitoring and evaluating was administered in two classes with90students and the interviews were conducted with4teachers.S2R model was creatively used in this study for the purpose of providing enlightening insights into possible future research. Based on this model, a new MRSQ was created for the research (see Appendix9), which was more comprehensive and scientific than ever before. Unlike the traditional research methods, mixed methods in this study were conducted with Likert scale questionnaire and interviews, which would be incorporated into the analysis of the CNC to form a multi-dimensional research. Another innovation in this study was that the detailed findings of the questionnaire were illustrated through means of students’responses in bar charts, and the semi-structured interviews were conducted through Skype.Overall, an analysis of the data collected in this study suggests that the students’ current use of metacognitive strategy is at the medium level. Among the four main categories, paying attention ranks at the top as the only strategy used with high frequency. Next comes planning, followed by monitoring, while evaluation is used least frequently by learners. Closer study of both quantitative and qualitative data indicates that students’use of these strategies appears to be partially attributable to teachers’instruction in classes. Compared with the guidelines provided by CNC, there are both consistencies and inconsistencies existed in actual use of these strategies and the requirements put forward by CNC. This is probably due to the limited time in class, the test-oriented education system in China, and overly general requirements of the curriculum.Based on these findings, it is suggested that the CNC should be implemented more thoroughly in high schools in China and more importance should be attached to instructing and encouraging the use of the metacognitive reading strategies for the purpose of achieving self-regulated learning, which is one of the ultimate goals of the CNC. In view of the fact that the CNC does not explicitly focus on metacognitive strategies in reading, and that much of the literature available in this area is based on the situation in western countries, further research is recommended to explore more about reading in the context of Chinese high school English teaching.