英语论文网

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study
In an age of information, English plays an essential role in carrying information. According to theLangfly Net that nearly 75% TV program is presented in English and about three-fourths of emailinformation is written in English forms. Compared with other four language learning skills, reading is themost effective means for language learners to obtain English knowledge and to develop languageproficiency. Among listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating these five language learning skills,reading being enhanced easily, language learners do more exercises to become good readers. Havingenough reading strategies not only assists readers to get a quantity of information quickly, but alsoimproves their understanding ability and English reading achievements. Obviously, reading ability is anextremely important vehicle for all English learners (Oxford, 1990).In 2007, the ministry of higher education department officially released College English CurriculumRequirements, which was regarded as the standard for college English teaching. Three-level college Englishreading teaching were put forward by the curriculum requirements, that is, general level reading, high levelreading and higher level reading. Among those levels, the general level requests that non-English majors’reading speed should reach 70 wpm for intensive reading materials. For fast reading materials, which islong but easy to understand, 100 wpm is required for readers. When doing fast reading, readers skim to getmain idea and scan to grasp specific information; they read specialized English textbook or newspapers byusing dictionary. All in all, fast reading requires that students take advantage of effective reading skills andstrategies to master as much information as possible in a limited period.In China, investigating the current situation of fast reading and developing effective fast readingteaching requires much effort, for most students’ reading condition is unsatisfactory. In fact, collegestudents have learned English for at least 9 years before entering college, but it is still hard for them to readoriginal works or newspapers in English. Many reasons lead to this situation; first, vocabulary and structureare emphasized in traditional grammar-translation teaching, which ignores logic of the passage and theauthor’s writing purpose. Students always have a vague idea of what they have read and they can onlyremember some fragmentary details.
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1.2 Purpose of the Study
In this study, the main orientation is to test whether reading strategies training improves non-Englishmajors’ fast reading. The author analyzes theories on fast reading and reading strategies abroad and at home,applies fast reading strategies training models to college fast reading teaching, and summariesconsequences of the experiment to solve the following three research questions:(1) Can reading strategies training improve non-English majors’frequency of strategy use in fast reading?(2) Can reading strategies training improve non-English majors’ fast reading achievements?(3) Are there any differences among high-level, intermediate-level and low-level readers’ readingstrategies use in fast reading after training?
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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 Researches on Reading Strategies Abroad and at Home
Reading strategy was one kind of language