| In the recent years,more and more researchers are paying attention to the emotional factor of Foreign Language(FL):FL anxiety.What causes anxiety and how anxiety affects different FL levels were regarded as hot topics of research on FL anxiety in the 21st century by Horwitz.Also,metacognitive awareness and metacognitive strategies,as factors affecting reading proficiency,researches on which are much fewer at home than those in western countries.Although a growing number of studies shows that there is a negative correlation between FL anxiety and FL achievements,the results are still controversial.And most studies on FL anxiety are still about writing and speaking,empirical study on reading anxiety of middle school students is almost blank.In addition to FL anxiety,amount of studies have shown that metacognition can directly influence learning process and results.Nevertheless,relationship between metacognitive awareness in reading and reading anxiety on reading proficiency is seldom explored.Therefore,this thesis investigates the correlations among the three variables trying to add new evidence to the study and provide pedagogical implications.Based on the metacognition theory of Flavell(1979)and anxiety theory of Horwitz et al.(1986),this study,by utilizing Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale(FLRAS)and Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory(MARSI),investigates correlations between metacognitive awareness,reading anxiety as well as reading proficiency among 20 students at the senior middle school level with Carrell(1989)and Saito'h(1999)studies as an example.In addition,this experiment adopts a combined methods of the questionnaire method,the think aloud protocols and interviews.There are mainly three steps involved in the research.Firstly the students are required to complete the questionnaire on reading anxiety(High-anxiety group and Low-anxiety group),and then the 20 students are experimented on the think aloud research by describing the reading strategies in the process of reading.At last,researchers interview students for their strategies use and attitudes in the process of reading.The data will be analyzed by program SPSS(17.0)with the use of descriptive statistics,analysis of Pearson correlation coefficient as well as independent T-test analysis.The major findings are:first,that there is a moderate strategic awareness among all the students and the students have a preference for Problem Solving Reading Strategies,followed by Support and Global Reading Strategies;secondly,significant correlations are obtained between overall reading strategies,Problem Solving Strategies and reading proficiency,whereas,the other two types of strategies are not distinctly correlated with reading proficiency;thirdly,students with different levels of reading anxiety are significantly different from reading proficiency and reading anxiety has a negative influence on reading proficiency and strategic awareness.Also,the study find that the major sources of reading anxiety are:difficulty in understanding the grammar,words and contents;lack of confidence in pronunciation;as well as difficulty in understanding the cultural concepts of the text.The results of the study are of great significance to the English instruction of reading as it reveals that high-level readers can flexibly use various reading strategies to achieve success of reading and reading anxiety impedes the use of reading strategies in turn affecting reading proficiency.Therefore,teachers should take measures to help students reduce reading anxiety by stimulating students' confidence and learning motivation or strengthen the cultural knowledge,and also pay attention to cultivating reading literacy for further reading. |
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