A Study On English Reading Obstacles Of Senior High School Students

With the rapid development of “globalization” and the enhancement of cross-cultural communication,China pays great attention to English teaching and learning.For lacking sufficient English learning context,English reading becomes the basic of English teaching and learning.English teaching practice shows that it is not optimistic as to the current situation of English reading capability for students.Senior high school students encounter different degrees of English reading obstacles,which greatly affect the improvement of their reading capability.Thus,it is necessary to explore English reading obstacles of senior high school students.Based on schema theory and English Curriculum for Senior High School,the present research adopts questionnaires and two types of interviews with students and teachers to explore reading obstacles of senior high school students and analyze the main reasons.193 students from Grade Two in two senior high schools of Qingdao are employed to answer questionnaires in order to explore English reading obstacles,and the specific results of questionnaires are scored by SPSS 13.0.In addition,two types of interviews with eight students and four teachers are conducted as a supplement to explain results from questionnaires and analyze the main reasons.Based on the results of questionnaires and interviews,this research draws the following conclusions that senior high school students encounter different degrees of reading obstacles in vocabulary,grammar,background knowledge,reading strategies and intrinsic motivation.The main reasons why students encounter reading obstacles come from both teachers and students: the ways to learn vocabulary and grammar are improper,English extracurricular reading and cultural input are limited,the cognition and application of reading strategies are improper,and the interest of English reading is not high.In order to eliminate English reading obstacles effectively,this thesis puts forward some countermeasures for teachers and students.Teachers should adopt appropriate ways to stimulate students’ intrinsic motivation.In addition,they should pay attention to language ability and linguistic schemata,pay attention to the teaching and correct usage of reading strategies,and attach importance to content schemata and cultural input.For students,they should expand the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge,adopt proper ways to learn grammar,understand correctly and use effective reading strategies,and broaden reading and input cultural knowledge.