A Study On Postgraduates’ Reading Strategy In English Academic Reading

Reading strategies are considered to be particularly significant in language learning and academic achievement since they can improve language performance and enhance reading comprehension, as suggested by numerous relevant studies. However, several gaps have widely existed in the current literature in relation to reading strategies. Firstly, few studies have targeted on postgraduate students in the EFL contexts such as China. Secondly, few studies are based on academic reading such as reading articles and monographs. Finally, the impacts of genders and academic majors on reading-strategy selection have varied in different studies. More empirical studies are needed to investigate the potential effects of the two factors and also give some implications to the reading-based instruction.This study investigates the reading strategies used by Chinese EFL postgraduate students during academic reading. More specifically, the research analyses the overall reading strategy pattern and examines the gender and major differences in the reading strategy use of Chinese postgraduates during their academic reading. A total of seventysix Chinese postgraduate students have responded to a 28-item reading-strategy questionnaire and also completed an off-line semi-structured interview.The results indicate that Chinese postgraduates are relatively active and motivated readers who can flexibly employ a variety of reading strategies to achieve their comprehension. Their prime preference is the global strategies followed by the problem-solving strategies and the support strategies. No significant differences are found in the use of reading strategy between different genders and academic majors(i.e., sciences majors and non-sciences majors). Based on their interview, they may lack of the awareness of evaluation and text organization. Furthermore, they have a relatively low English proficiency towards professional articles and monographs and are also not positively motivated. Some pedagogical implications such as explicit reading-strategy instruction assisted by computers, genre instructions, fluency-priority method, and academic discourse construction are proposed in terms of these results so as to enhance postgraduates’ reading skills and facilitate the English instructions at postgraduate level.