Research On College English Reading Strategies Of Non-English Majors Under Hierarchical Teaching

The main objective of college English reading courses is to improve the students’ reading competence. The College English Curriculum Requirements published in2007advances some reading requirements of non-English majors. As a primary way of input in language learning, English reading plays an important role in the five language skills (listening, specking, reading, writing and translating). Meanwhile, reading is regarded as the most basic way to get the information and broaden learners’horizon. However, it’s still hard to change the situation of’high input and low output’ in English reading. Many non-English majors still cannot read effectively even they have learned English for several years. In order to promote the English course effectively and improve the students’reading proficiency, a large number of higher institutions have put college English hierarchical teaching into practice and set English extensive and intensive reading courses throughout the four years. English reading courses are attached great importance in college English teaching and learning.The researchers who studied on English reading strategies put forward that studies on non-English majors and the usage of reading strategies that can provide suggestions for teachers to improve students’English reading proficiency. By making a general survey of studies on learning strategies abroad and at home, we can find that the researchers emphasize the following aspects:1) the learning strategies used by successful language readers;2) the usage of learning strategies vary from successful language readers to unsuccessful language readers;3) relationship between the usage of learning strategies and the reading proficiency;4) the English reading strategy training and its effect. These studies mainly focus on high level language readers and low level language readers, while language readers on middle levels are rarely involved. Meanwhile, although most of the previews studies are related to non-English majors, studies on three different levels’students under college English hierarchical teaching model are scarcely related to. For these reasons, this paper attempts to do a research on English reading strategies of non-English majors under hierarchical teaching. By investigating and analyzing the reading strategies used by the students of three levels(A, B and C), the correlations between the usage of reading strategies and students’English reading proficiency will be found.For the reliability of the results, both quantitative and qualitative methods are adopted in this research. The quantitative data is collected from a questionnaire, which replied by180freshmen of non-English majors who are selected from three different levels (A:60; B:60; C:60) in Yili Normal University, and a reading comprehension test paper based on CET-4in December2005. As for qualitative research, interviews of9subjects (level A:3; level B:3; level C:3) chosen from interviewees out of151students are used for further detection.The findings of the survey:(1) in reading process, students of three different levels use reading strategies in varying degrees, and there are differences among students of the three different levels when reading strategies are used. In general, students in level A are higher than those who are in level B and C (level A> level B> level C) in the frequency of using reading strategies except for "translating" strategy (level B> level C> level A);(2) according to the result of statistical analysis, the frequency of using meta-cognitive strategies is in a lower level;(3) the application of reading strategies has positive effects on learners’English reading proficiency obviously. According to the above analysis, it is indicated that students of level A learn English better, and they have a better command of reading strategies than the students of level B and level C Therefore, it’s necessary for teachers to strengthen the students’reading strategies training according to their reading proficiency. Meanwhile, teachers should pay more attention to the application of reading strategies into English reading courses and to cultivate the students’awareness of using reading strategies in their reading.