Im Proving College English Reading Proficiency Through An Application Of Critical Reading Strategies

With the further development of the reformation in Language Education in China, Chinese educators and language teachers have deepened their realization of the significance of critical thinking competence in English education. Considering critical reading ability as one of the basic language skills, the students at various levels are particularly encouraged to develop their critical thinking competence and read critically beyond the words, phrases, sentences and even written texts, analyze logically the text structures, make the most of the previously learned language knowledge, infer and evaluate the messages of the text writer’ intentions as well as valuable information in the text.This is what the present thesis has concentrated on—the instruction of students’ critical thinking ability and critical reading strategy. For college students, critical reading, one of the current researching issues in the circle of language education at home and abroad, plays a really important role in the improvement of English learning in critical reading ability. However, English teaching at home has not attached adequate emphasis to critical reading yet. The teaching of reading still relies heavily on the traditional teaching method and the students lack appropriate instructions in the learning process. Under these circumstances, the cultivation of students’ critical reading in college English classroom can facilitate the formation of students’ divergent critical thinking ability and the improvement of students’ critical reasoning comprehension. Hence, the research in critical reading instruction holds considerable promise and has practicability and beneficial effect in College English Teaching. The author has undertaken an empirical study on critical thinking ability and critical reading strategy, which aims to probe into the practice of carrying out critical reading instruction in college English classroom, improve the disadvantageous situation of critical reading teaching and provide effective and quick reading method for college English learners. With regard to critical reading instruction, the author puts forward four research questions as follows: 1. What are the specific features of critical reading abilities? 2. What is the significance of critical reading ability instruction? 3. What are the proper steps to cultivate students’ critical reading abilities?Two parallel classes were chosen as an experimental class and a control class respectively. The author utilized different reading teaching methods in these two classes, the only difference being that the experimental class students were introduced to develop critical reading strategy based on critical thinking whereas the control class received the traditional teaching method. Four main research instruments were employed—pre-test, post-test, questionnaire, and interview. Scores from pre-test and post-test were analyzed through SPSS to offer statistical evidence. The questionnaire was designed to collect quantitative data concerning the use of critical reading skills. The questions in the follow-up interviews aimed to further explain the qualitative data from the tests and questionnaires, which revealed students’ attitudes towards critical reading instruction and their awareness of critical reading.According to the quantitative and qualitative analysis, the research indicates that students in experimental class can use critical reading skills more frequently than before and their critical reading skills are improved in turn; under critical reading instruction, their awareness of critical reading is raised; the students in experimental class are mostly satisfied with critical reading instruction; experimental class has outperformed control class on reading comprehension tasks, that is, critical reading instruction can enhance students’ reading ability.The findings reveal that critical reading instruction does improve students’ reading ability. Research and practice undertaken by the author prove that for the purpose of cultivating students’ thinking ability, the critical thinking and reading instruction can be profitably applied to college English classroom teaching. Therefore, it is hoped that this research can play an active part in college English reading teaching, provide some valuable reference for EFL teachers and deserve some further study.