A Study Of The Current Situation Of Senior High Students' Autonomous English Reading

The new round of English curriculum reform puts more emphasis on the educational value of English subject.It stresses that developing students' core competencies including linguistic competence,learning competence,cultural quality,and thinking quality should be the primary task in English teaching and learning,because it is of necessity to facilitate their autonomous learning and life-long learning competence.Autonomous English reading is crucial to cultivate students' core competencies in English course.However,due to various potential reasons,autonomous English reading has not been given significant attention in the current senior high school English teaching.Hence,it's essential that the present situation of senior high students' autonomous English reading be further explored.Based on autonomous learning theory,humanism,constructivism,and schema theory,by adopting quantitative and qualitative approach,this study is devoted to elaborating on figuring out two questions: 1)What is the present situation of senior high school students' autonomous English reading under the guidance of core competencies in English course? 2)What are the influential factors hindering the students' autonomous English reading? In this study,245 senior high school students in senior one from three middle schools in Yantai City(Yan Tai No.1 Middle School,Lai Shan No.1 Middle School and Ge Na Middle School)were chosen randomly as participants.Both questionnaire and interviews were adopted as research instruments.The findings of the study are shown as follows: 1)The general situation of senior high students' autonomous English reading under the background of core competencies is not optimistic: students' performance is at the medium level or slightly lower in reading attitude and motivation,reading content and resources,reading strategies and cultural consciousness;besides,their self-monitoring and self-evaluation ability is at a relatively low level;the students' overall autonomous English reading ability is somewhat mediocre.2)The complicated factors hindering the effectiveness and efficiency ofautonomous English reading in senior high school include lacking integrative motivation,low proficiency level in English knowledge,insufficient cultural background knowledge,inadequate professional training of effective reading strategies and the negative influence of exam-oriented education and traditional teaching methods.In light of the findings of the study,some implications are proposed for fostering senior high students' autonomous English reading ability under the new teaching background.It's hopeful that this study could shed some light on the teaching and learning of English reading in senior high schools in China.