An Experimental Study On English Reading Strategy Cluster Training Of Non-English Majors

The major orientations of this study are to explore the effects of English reading strategy cluster training on non-English majors’ reading performance, strategy use, and learning motivation.Specifically, this study is conducted to answer the following three questions:(1) What are the effects of reading strategy cluster training on non-English majors’ English reading achievement?(2) What are the effects of reading strategy cluster training on non-English majors’ reading strategy use?(3) What are the effects of reading strategy cluster training on non-English majors’ English learning motivation?The current research is a quasi-experimental research and participants were chosen from two natural classes in the College of Literature from Hubei University, one majoring in journalism and the other majoring in Chinese language. To begin with, reliability analysis and factor analysis were conducted on Reading Strategy Use Questionnaire and English Learning Motivation Questionnaire adopted in this research to ensure the reliability and validity of these two questionnaires. After that, strategy clusters to be trained were designed in accordance with participants’ pre-test results and present level of strategy use and learning motivation before training. This was followed by a12-week reading strategy cluster training with reference to Gu Yongqi’s strategy training approaches and on the basis of CALLA put forward by O’Malley&Chamot. When the strategy cluster instruction was finished in the experimental class, post-test on reading performance and two questionnaires were allocated to all participants again to check out the differences in reading achievement, strategy use and learning motivation between two classes. In addition, reflective compositions, classroom observation, together with students’ learning diaries were all used in an effort to provide comprehensive and factual data.The major findings of this research are:(1) Learning strategy cluster training has significantly improved non-English majors’ reading achievement; (2) Among seven kinds of strategies, non-English majors have made significant progress in adopting monitoring and evaluating, inferencing, prediction, and utilization/elaboration through learning strategy cluster training;(3) Learning strategy cluster training also has significant effects on non-English majors’ learning motivation including goal orientation, causal attribution, interest, self-efficacy and motivational behavior;Despite of the limitations of this study, the author has attempted to provide a definition of learning strategy cluster, taken motivational strategy as affective mediator to be considered in the strategy cluster, and made tentative explorations on the instructional content as well as method of strategy cluster. The research findings are supposed to be beneficial for strategy training in the future and may serve as reference for foreign language teachers as well as researchers in related fields.