1.1 Research Background
On the subject of the important place of English reading research, research on secondlanguage reading domains in this field nowadays. In a review of the developments in secondlanguage reading research, Grabe (1991) points out that the crucial importance of the readingskill in academic contexts had led to considerable research on reading in a second language.However, early research in second language reading was, to a considerable extent, informedby native-language (English) reading research and was considered as simple extensions ofresearch trends in first language reading. Indeed, during the 1970s and 1980s, when ESLteachers in countries such as the US and the UK began to emphasize reading and writingskills to prepare an increasing number of international learners on their campuses to deal withacademic tasks, much of the early research in ESL reading utilized the theoretical frameworkof the researchers who had investigated reading in the native language such as Goodman(1967, 1985) and Smith (1979, 1982) and who claimed that reading is not a linear process butone in which readers constantly form hypotheses, test predictions, and use their knowledge ofthe world and of the language to construct meaning. For example, Clarke and Silberstein(1977) and Coady (1979) proposed Goodman-like psycholinguistic models of secondlanguage reading in which reading was conceptualized as an active process of textcomprehension made possible by readers’ utilizing their background knowledge and usingappropriate strategies (e.g. previewing the text, using contextual clues, or making inferences).
……………
1.2 Significance and Purpose of the Study
Most of the research in the reading strategies of second language learners has dealt withlearners at lower levels of proficiency or those studying at the secondary school or inpre-university programs (e.g. Knight et al., 1985;Block , 1986, 1992; Carrell et al., 1989;Pritchard, 1990;Anders on, 1991; Zhicheng, 1992;Auerba and Paxton, 1997). Research on thereading strategies of advanced or proficient second language learners or that comparing thestrategies of such learners with those of native speakers is almost nonexistent. Perhaps part ofthe reason for this in the research on the reading strategies of proficient second languagelearners can be attributed to the research findings which suggest that reading problems areclosely associated with the level of proficiency in the target language. As Alderson (1984)puts it, ‘‘proficiency in a foreign language may be more closely associated withforeign-language reading ability than reading ability in the native language’’ (Car rell, 1991).The research does not, of course, suggest that high proficiency in the second language equalshigher level of reading skills; rather , as Cziko (1978) and Clarke (1979) found, once secondlanguage learners reach higher levels of overall competence in the target language, there isconcurrent improvement in their reading ability in that language. However, whether such highlevel competence in the second language also affects the learners’ heightened awareness ofreading strategies or results in their actually using strategies similar to those used bycomparable native-speaker readers has not yet been investigated.
…………
2. Literature Review
，英语论文，英语论文题目
|
