A Study On The Effectiveness Of Reading Strategies Used By Non-English Majors

Strategies training has proved to be effective in teaching English and scholars have constantly been doing researches in this field either from a theoretical point of view or from an empirical point of view. Reading strategies training is likewise. Reading is a complex process involving the mind and the text. And as an input, it can accelerate one's output. On the basis of relevant theories and empirical studies of reading strategies training, the author presumes teaching reading strategies systematically can help one read more efficiently. Thus in this thesis, he conducted an experiment, aiming at investigating whether reading strategies could positively influence reading proficiency.In the present study, the author first stated the purpose of the study, as well as its significance and historical studies both in China and abroad. Illuminated by those pioneering work, the author decided to begin the empirical study guided by relevant theories, for appropriate portions of literature review could provide theoretical foundations of the thesis. Consequently, theories bout reading, reading models, learning strategies and reading strategies were discussed. In short, the previous studies demonstrated that strategies training could help different learners with different learning purposes, and, reading strategies training could help the learners with their reading in certain context.The experiment was conducted among 79 non-English majors at Century College of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. These students came from two freshmen classes, class 31 and class 32, majoring in Communications Engineering. Before the real experiment, there was a pre-test, which was to examine reading strategies used by these participants while reading, the most and least frequently used reading strategies. The test paper and questionnaire were the instruments as variable measurements. After analyzing the statistics by SPSS, the author found out that all of the participants were aware of the importance of reading and they did invite some reading strategies in the reading process. Of all the strategies they implemented, cognitive strategies were the most frequently used, whereas metacognitive strategies and social/affective strategies were least frequently used. Anyway, both of the two class members were at the same starting line in reading.There is an essential step between the pre-test and post-test, strategy training. Class 31 was randomly selected as the experimental class while class 32, the control class. During the 12 weeks' reading strategies training in the on going reading class, the control class just went on with their normal classes. As for each strategy introduced per week, the author made a clear clarification and presented the strategy procedure in sequential order.Next came the post-test. It was to examine the correlation between the overall reading strategies and reading proficiency. Questionnaire and interviews were used as measurements. According to the statistics obtained for the Independent Sample T test and Paired Sample T test as well as the Correlation Test, the author found that after strategies training, the experimental class members made great progress in reading comprehension, while the control class members, though scored a little higher than that of the pre-test, didn't make a significant progress. For these non-English majors, reading strategies did have a positive impact on reading proficiency. The interview followed the post-test showed their opinions on all the strategies they have learnt. And this in turn could provide valuable information for the classroom teaching and future studies.In the conclusion part, the author discussed major findings of the study, its implications, limitations and recommendations for future study as well.