An Investigation On English Reading Strategies Used By Students In High Schools

English reading draws much attention in the teaching and learning process because of its significant role in students’ English learning. The college entrance examination has paid great attention to students’ reading ability over the years. However, the unsatisfactory scores students have got in Reading Comprehension show that the whole situation of students’ reading ability remains concerned. So how to improve students’ reading ability has become a crucial research subject for English teachers. English reading strategies are of great help for students to acquire the high efficiency in reading. This paper makes a survey on English reading strategy which occupies a significant position in English learning. And the study is carried out in one major senior high school that will be mentioned later. The main purpose of the paper is to answer the following questions:(1) What is the overall situation of English reading strategies used by senior high school students?(2) What are the differences of English reading strategies employed between the effective and less-effective students?(3) What are the differences of English reading strategies employed between the students of science andliberal arts?In order to come up with the answers of these three above-mentioned questions and to find some useful ways to solve these problems that exist in the using of English reading strategies, the author did a survey in by means of questionnaire. The author took 120 Senior Two students from Xinxiang No.1 high school as the subjects. 120 students are from science class and liberal arts class of this school. Every class has 60 students, and all of them are grade two students. The data were collected by the author and the teachers of the school. And the number of collected questionnaires is 120 and the questionnaires are used to answer the questions that have been mentioned above.The following are major findings that the author summarizes from the survey:(1)The overall frequency of reading strategies used by students is low. Meta-cognitive strategies are used more often.(2)There is a less obvious difference between the effective students and the less-effective students in terms of using reading strategies. But the remarkable difference is clearly revealed in the use of cognitive strategies.(3)There is not an obvious difference in the use of English reading strategies by science students and liberal art students. But obvious difference exists in the use of meta-cognitive strategies.Finally, the author makes some suggestions for English reading teaching in senior high schools on the basis of the findings from this investigation:(1) Teachers and students should change their opinions on English reading strategies. The task of arousing students’ interest and awareness of strategy learning and using is important for teachers.(2) Teachers need to take more time to teach their students strategies and give students more exercises to put strategies into practice. Teachers should be trained to acquire some related knowledge about reading strategies.(3) Extracurricular reading needs more attention. Students need to do more extracurricular reading to improving reading ability and interest.