A Study On The Correlation Between English Majors' Reading Competence And Metacognitive Strategy Use

Reading has always played an important role in English learning,consequently,the improvement of reading competence is really imperative.However,the present situation is that students' command of linguistic knowledge and reading techniques are adequate,yet they still cannot perform well in reading comprehension tests.To change this situation,the linguists proposed metacognitive reading strategy.This study is based on the theory of metacognitive strategy and aims to explore three questions: 1)Do English majors try to use metacognitive strategies in the reading process,with what type and in what frequency? 2)Is there any significant correlation between English majors' reading competence and metacognitive strategy use? If there is,what is it? 3)How do high-level and low-level students differ in using metacognitive strategies?To answer these questions,the study investigates 30 English sophomores from Qingdao University of Science and Technology,and adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods.1)The questionnaire is utilized to measure students' use of metacognitive strategy in the reading process,to analyze whether they have the awareness of metacognitive reading strategy,and to differentiate their strategic ability;2)The reading comprehension test is conducted to assess their reading comprehension ability;3)The interview aims to clarify the differences of strategy use with different reading abilities and interviewees' attitudes toward metacognitive strategy.Based on the data analyses and discussion,the following findings are concluded: 1)The use of metacognitive strategies among English majors is unequal,they are ranked as GLOB,PROB and SUP in general,however,different students use strategies with different emphasis and frequency.Additionally,the students are lack of the knowledge about the metacognitive reading strategy,including its concept and ways of strategy application;2)There is a significant linear correlation between English majors' metacognitive reading strategy use and their reading comprehension ability.The higher strategy use frequency is,the higher achievement the students can get.3)The students in high-level group tend to use more metacognitive strategies than those in low-level reading ability group,and their plans and detailed implementation are more logical and strict.Based on these findings,some pedagogical implications for reading instruction and learning are presented.