A Study On The Correlation Between Higher Vocational College Non-English Majors’Tolerance Of Ambiguity And Their English Reading Comprehension Achievements

In second language learning process, ambiguous situations cannot be avoided. The attitudes SL (second language) learners take towards them, to some extent, exert an influence on language learning. To learn a SL well needs to improve quite a few language skills, like listening comprehension, reading comprehension, speaking, writing, translation, etc.. Undoubtedly, English reading comprehension is one of the most important English skills, which accounts for a very large proportion in all kinds of English tests. In the reading process, learners will inevitably run into ambiguous situations. However, there are just a few studies on tolerance of ambiguity (TOA) and reading comprehension at home and abroad and few studies have been made to investigate the influence of higher vocational college non-English majors’TO A on their reading comprehension.Therefore, this study is undertaken to investigate the correlation between high vocational college students’levels of TOA and their English reading comprehension achievements (ERCA). An experiment is conducted to find out whether there is any correlation between them.The research questions are as follows:1. What is the current situation of higher vocational college non-English majors’ overall levels of TOA?2. Are there any differences between proficient and ineffective readers in TOA? If any, are there any differences between male and female students in TOA?3. Is there any correlation between the students’overall levels of TOA and their ERCA? Are different levels of TOA, i.e. the high level, the moderate level and the low level, respectively correlated with the corresponding ERCA?The subjects in this study are184non-English majors from the two biggest departments of Fuyang Vocational and Technical College. The instruments of this study are a questionnaire-Ely’s scale (1995) and a reading comprehension proficiency test paper. Before the survey and test, a pilot study is conducted to decide the proper time limits for the measurement as well as check the difficulty degree of the reading test. After the survey and test, the data is collected and the SPSS16.0version is employed for the analysis of the collected data.The major findings from this study are as follows:Firstly, the measurement of the184subjects’TOA by means of Ely’SLTAS (1995) reveals that75percent of the whole possess the moderate levels of TOA and their average scores are close to the critical point between the low level and the moderate level, so the levels of TOA of most students in vocational colleges stay in the lower middle degree. Besides, there are few ones with very high or very low levels.Secondly, the subjects are divided into two groups according to their performances in the reading comprehension proficiency test. One group consists of the proficient readers whose scores are over12points while the other group includes the ineffective readers whose scores are less than12points, as the full score is20points. As a result, it is found out that there is a difference in TOA between the two groups but the difference is not significant. Further analysis of the data reveals that there is no difference in TOA between male and female students. That is to say, gender differences do not have an effect on the students’TOA.Thirdly, by analyzing all the subjects’scores of TOA and ERCA, it is revealed that there is a weak positive correlation between the students’ levels of TOA and their ERCA. Then further studies are made to find out whether there is a correlation between different levels of TOA and the corresponding ERCA. The results show that there is also a weak positive correlation between high levels of TOA and the relevant ERCA as well as between moderate levels of TOA and the corresponding ERCA, and there is no correlation between low levels of TOA and the relevant ERCA. As the students with low levels of TOA just account for a very small percentage, a conclusion that most of the vocational college students’levels of TOA are weakly and positively correlated with their ERCA can be drawn.This study provides some implications. First, teachers should raise their awareness of TOA. Second, teachers can help students take a correct attitude towards ambiguities and encourage them to adapt themselves to different teaching and learning methods. Third, the students should be taught in accordance with their aptitude.This study has three limitations. First, the number of samples employed in this study may not be large enough. Second, as TOA and reading comprehension involve complex psychological processes, there are some variables difficult to be well controlled, such as regional disparity and personality. Third, as an initial exploration of the correlation between higher vocational college non-English majors’ levels of TOA and their ERCA, this study does not probe very deeply into this theme.This study can provide the teachers and students some clues on English teaching and learning, as well as help them correctly treat and deal with the ambiguous situations in language learning process so as to improve the effects of teaching and learning.