A Study Of Aligning Senior Three Students’ English Reading Ability With China’s Standards Of English Language Ability

The General Senior High School English Curriculum Standard(2017 Edition2020 Revision)proposes that language skills includes listening,speaking,reading,writing,viewing etc.English reading comprehension occupies a large proportion in the National Matriculation English Test(NMET).The level of senior three students’ English reading ability has a significant impact on their test scores.Understanding students’ English reading ability level,finding out the influencing factors and adopting efficient measures will help them make a good preparation for NMET.However,the assessment of senior three students’ English reading ability is inseparable from a clear language proficiency evaluation system.The China’s Standards of English Language Ability(CSE)was officially issued in 2018.It is the first language proficiency scale in China.It can not only provide scientific ability descriptors for measuring the reading ability of senior three students,but also establish standards for English reading teaching and learning.Therefore,this thesis used the questionnaire and reading test as the main research instruments to carry out the investigation on the alignment of CSE with English reading ability of226 senior three students in Hengxian High School and Nanning No.33 High School.SPSS 20.0 was adopted for data analysis.Through interviewing students and teachers,it discussed influencing factors on the alignment of senior three students’ English reading ability and CSE.This thesis mainly answered the following three questions:(1)Which level of the CSE is senior three students’ overall English reading ability aligned with?(2)What are the differences when aligning the senior three students’ reading sub-abilities with CSE?(3)What are the factors influencing the alignment of senior three students’ English reading ability with CSE?The conclusions are as follow: First of all,senior three students’ English reading ability can be aligned with the medium level of CSE level 4.Secondly,there are differences when aligning senior three students’ reading sub-abilities with CSE.In terms of reading comprehension,the mean scores in understanding written interaction,written description and written instructions are higher than those in understanding written narration,written exposition and written argumentation.In terms of reading strategies ability,the mean scores of appraising/repair and execution strategies are also higher than that of planning strategy.What’s more,there is a positive correlation between students’ English reading test scores and the questionnaire results,which demonstrates that senior three students can evaluate their English reading ability more accurately after training and guidance.Finally,through the interview,it is concluded that the main factors influencing the alignment of senior three students’ English reading ability and CSE are: genre of reading materials,topic familiarity,interest and motivation,teaching strategies.In order to improve senior three English reading teaching and students’ English reading ability,the following pedagogical suggestions are propounded on the basis of the major findings above: Changing the traditional teaching concept and strengthening the study of teaching theories;selecting appropriate reading materials and activating the schemata of senior three students;improving teaching methods and combining reading and writing teaching mode;implementing formative assessment to improve students’ sense of reading achievement.