A Comparative Study Of Reading Strategies Between English Overachievers And Underachievers In Senior High Schools

It is considered that reading is a basic way to access information.By reading,people can obtain useful information,people can cultivate the minds,and people can learn more knowledge.In addition,the ability of reading plays an important role in English language learning.Firstly,English reading ability is a key measurement of students' overall language ability.For example,in the English college entrance examination of 2016,the national version,whose full marks are 150 points while the marks of intensive reading are 95 points.No matter what kind of test types it is,such as reading comprehension,close,and essay correction,all these need to get the correct answer through reading.Therefore,reading ability can have crucial influence on English learning.Secondly,the English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools(experiment)(2003)pointed out: "the design and the implementation of English course in high schools should make sure to help students optimize the English learning,also should make them master learning methods through observation,experience,and exploration.It also should help students develop their own potential fully as well as form their own effective learning strategies ".Last but not least,there are some related studies having shown that the positive usage of English reading strategies can make students get higher marks in English tests.Therefore,by comparing the differences of reading strategies between English overachievers and underachievers can provide a reference for the future English reading teaching.It also can help students to form good reading strategies and can help them make progress in English leaning.For these reasons,this thesis attempts to answer the following three questions:(1)What is the overall use of English reading strategies between English overachievers and underachievers in senior high schools ?(2)What are the differences between English overachievers and underachievers in reading strategies(cognitive strategies,control strategies,resource strategies and communication strategies)?(3)According to the differences in reading strategies between the two,what should English teachers do in the future teaching to improve students' readingability?This thesis adopts two methods to solve the above problems.Respectively,they are questionnaire survey method and the method of think-aloud.In the making of questionnaire survey,the author referred to some previous researches which includes the Oxford(1990)of Language Learning strategies questionnaire(the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning)and the English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools.Some findings are found by the analysis of the questionnaire and the content of think-aloud.First,for underachievers,the frequency of the utilization of English reading strategies are lower than overachievers.The overall frequencies of overachievers are above average while underachievers' are below average.Second,there are also differences in the use of some specific strategies,for instance,overachievers are much better at the use of English reading strategies,which includes cognitive strategies,control strategies,communicative strategies and resource strategies.Third,by the findings,we can find that both overachievers and underachievers have little time in their owns' free learning.In other words,they are mostly learning with the help or guide of teachers and they are passive to some extent.According to the findings,it can be seen that English teachers should teach reading strategies consciously so as to help students improve their reading ability.Based on the findings,some suggestions can be put forward to English teachers.First,English teachers should pay more attention to the training of learning strategies in daily teaching.Second,focus on the reading instructions.Third,provide some free time to make students communicate freely.Fourth,encourage students to use learning strategies.Fifth,help students foster the awareness of how to use reading strategies.