The Empirical Research On Lexical Inferencing Strategies Training In English Reading To High Strategies Training In English Reading To High School Students

Lexical learning is the foundation and important part of English language learning. However, we are faced with some difficulties and problems in current lexical teaching. Students are learning vocabulary inefficiently and teachers are teaching language in conventional ways without guiding students to apply any series of lexical inferencing strategies. The mastery and application of lexical inferencing strategies will help students learn vocabulary more efficiently and improve their reading ability, as well as their comprehensive language ability.This thesis, through the empirical research on lexical inferencing strategies training, aims to demonstrate the positive effects on reading resulting from the lexical inferencing strategies. This thesis addresses three research questions:1. What affects the students’ lexical inferencing performance?2. What lexical inferencing strategies can be adopted in English reading?3. What changes will take place after several-month lexical inferencing strategies training in reading?The research utilizes the questionnaire, interviews and experimental method. The questionnaire includes 10 questions for students and 10 for the teachers. There is an interview before the experiment and another one after the experiment. The survey results demonstrate the critical nature of lexical inferencing strategies.Predicated upon lexical learning theory, the study discusses the effect of lexical inferencing strategies training on students’reading ability for students in Senior Three at Fengming High School, Tongxiang, Zhejiang. Two classes of students from Senior Three (N=80) were employed:one as a control with the other as an experimental class. Only the experimental class received the experimental lexical inferencing strategies during the semester. The experiment was conducted during a four month period to explore the factors and effects of lexical inferencing strategies training. Students learned lexical inferencing strategies systematically by lexical inferencing examples in reading comprehension questions and practiced the strategies application. Pre-test and post-test were carried out respectively before and after the experiment in both the two classes. The results of the study demonstrated the positive effect of lexical inferencing strategies on students’ lexical inferencing ability, reading ability and other language skills. The author analyzed the collected data by applying the SPSS 16:PC Window Program and Microsoft Excel. The following findings were established:First, teacher’s recognition and attitude to the lexical inferencing strategies affect students’ strategies learning level.Second, students’ learning foundation, learning ability and motivation affect the result difference.Third, appropriate text is one of the important factors affecting students’lexical inferencing strategies learning.Fourth, nearly ten lexical inferencing strategies have been gained by students, among which no status difference can be distinguished.Fifth, students’ lexical inferencing ability and other language abilities all have been improved after the training activity.