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The current situation has higher requirements for students’ English levels. Under such situation, the teaching of reading strategies and methods in universities are still far lagged behind. Also there are misunderstandings about reading. Some teachers just repeat what the book says and lack effective strategies and methods, which leads to the result that many students have difficulties in understanding the texts. A number of students think that reading is simply mechanical reading without using any reading strategies. The thesis aims to provide teachers with the materials needed to improve the teaching methods of reading strategies based on the current situation. It helps teachers understand the general characteristics how students use reading strategies, analyzes the problems students encounter during reading as well as adjusts the teaching methods of reading in time.
1.1 English Reading Strategies
Li Yuan (2004) once put forward the definition of reading in his book Super Fast “Reading” that “reading is a process which one relies on the original knowledge, obtains information actively and then constructs the meaning in the text.” The Chinese academia has defined reading as “reading is the process that the brain accepts all kinds of information from outside world such as words, charts, formulas and so on. Then one assimilates, transforms and understands the meanings of each symbol through brains.”
Anderson (1991: 460) once defined “reading strategies” as “the helpful and conscious cognitive process when readers are acquiring, restoring and retrieving new information.” Barnett (1988: 150) added, “Readers can acquire meaningful skills that can solve problems from the texts.” While Cohen (1990: 83) believed, “Reading is the conscious selection and using mental process of readers in order to achieve reading.” Though scholars have different definitions of “reading strategies”, there is one thing in common. Reading strategies are conscious steps readers use to achieve their reading goals. According to Carrell, Eisterhold (1983) and Nuttall (1982), they classified the reading strategies into 6 groups: “forecasting, vocabulary skills, skimming, scanning, structural analysis and deduction.”
1.2 Relative Researches about English Reading Strategies
1.2.1 Domestic Researches
There are lots of domestic researches about the usage of reading strategies. Liu Yalong (2008: 66) has proposed, “In China, English is used as a foreign language. The researches of reading strategies can be pided into the following ones. Some discussed English strategy theory and how to teach reading strategies in class. Some were about the strategies of language transference in reading. Some studied the reading strategies used by different levels of learners and then came up with the ideas how to take advantage of the reading strategies to improve reading comprehension. Some compared reading strategies used by successful readers and unsuccessful readers. The others just put forward the effectiveness of the training of reading strategies by teaching reading strategies in class.” Among all these domestic researches, there are not only the researches about reading strategy theory and teaching methods, but also the studies about the training of reading strategies. Besides, some other scholars aimed at the reading strategies used by non-English major students.
1.2.2 Overseas Researches
Reading is one of the most serious problems in Chinese higher education, but neither the students nor the teachers have realized it until some academic courses began to involve reading. The reason may be that there are no assessments in reading itself, while the results, or say the outputs of reading are assessed. Levine et al. (2000: 1) stated: “The ability to read academic texts is considered one of the most important skills that university students of English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) need to acquire”. Some scholars believed that reading comprehension has come to be the “essence of reading” (Durkin, 1993). Also, Pritchard et al (1999), Rings (1994) and Strydom (1997) claimed, “Reading comprehension is essential not only to academic learning in all subject areas but also to professional achievements and indeed to lifelong learning.” Saumell (1999), Wade (1990), Wood (1998) and their fellow researchers stated, “When pressed to read, they often select ineffective and inefficient strategies with little strategic intent.”