An Experimental Study On The Effect Of Sustained Silent Reading On Elementary School Students’ English Reading Literacy

With the progress of society,the concept of reading ability has been gradually enriched into the new concept of reading literacy.The development goal of English reading literacy for Chinese primary and secondary school students proposed by Wang Qiang et al.points out that English reading literacy consists of two major elements:reading ability and reading character.Sustained Silent Reading,as a form of independent reading,creates a large amount of comprehensible language input for students and is an effective way to implement the reading requirements of curriculum standards for students and to improve English reading literacy.The researcher’s elementary school is promoting the activity of Sustained Silent Reading,which is intended to explore effective ways to improve elementary school students’ English reading literacy through this independent reading method.Therefore,an empirical study on the effects of Sustained Silent Reading on elementary school students’ English reading literacy is important to improve their reading literacy.This study is based on theories related to Sustained Silent Reading and English reading literacy.The researcher selected a total of 309 third grade students from W Primary School in Yichang City,Hubei Province,and conducted a four-month empirical study by comparing two groups of classes that conducted Sustained Silent Reading with the normal curriculum arrangement,with the help of reading tests,questionnaires,reading records and interview surveys before and after the experiment,in order to examine the effect of continuous silent reading on students’ English reading literacy.The study sought to investigate the following two questions: What effect does Sustained Silent Reading have on elementary school students’ English reading literacy? What are the specific dimensions of this effect?Based on data analysis,reading records and interviews,the study found that: at the macro level,the impact of Sustained Silent Reading on primary school students’ English reading literacy has a positive value;at the micro level,the impact of Sustained Silent Reading on students’ English reading ability is positive,but it needs a longer period of time to be more effective;the impact on students’ English reading character is conducive to improving students’ reading frequency and reading quantity,and also the effect on students’ English reading character is beneficial to the development of students’ reading frequency and quantity,and also promotes the development of reading attitude and reading interest,but the effect on students’ reading behavior is weak,and the effect on students’ good self-assessment is also limited.The positive effects of Sustained Silent Reading are not applicable to all students and are not conducive to the development of reading literacy in students with low learning ability and low self-regulationCombining the existing studies and the actual situation,this study provides the following research insights from the three stages of Sustained Silent Reading: providing targeted reading selections before Sustained Silent Reading;creating a collective reading atmosphere during Sustained Silent Reading;and organizing diversified reading activities after Sustained Silent Reading.The study provides some support and reference for further improving the theoretical system of Sustained Silent Reading and the theoretical framework of reading literacy,as well as finding effective ways to improve students’ English reading literacy.