Learning strategies are usually regarded as one of the aspects of the cognitive psychology and reading is a cognitive process in which the reader engages in a conversation with the text or the author. Then is there an...Learning strategies are usually regarded as one of the aspects of the cognitive psychology and reading is a cognitive process in which the reader engages in a conversation with the text or the author. Then is there any relationship between learning strategies and reading comprehension？ To explore this, an experimental study is conducted in this paper. The conclusion is thereafter reached that reading comprehension is closely related to and greatly affected by learning strategies, especially cognitive and metacognitive strategies.展开更多
The teaching of English for Science and Technology （EST） is generally regarded as one of the most significant developments in English language pedagogy in recent years. EST is concerned with meeting the specific lan...The teaching of English for Science and Technology （EST） is generally regarded as one of the most significant developments in English language pedagogy in recent years. EST is concerned with meeting the specific language needs of learners in various scientific and technological fields. These needs should be taken into consideration when planning and implementing English language courses or specialized courses to students of science and technology. This research is an attempt to investigate some of the problems involved in the teaching and learning of EST and suggest possible solutions. The research will focus on the reading comprehension of scientific and technical texts written in English, the teaching and learning of functional grammar, and the teaching and learning of lexis. These are regarded as some of the most important skills and sub-skills to be acquired by the students of science and technology to help them gain scientific information in English and reach a satisfactory level of achievement in their academic studies. The contention here is that it is in need to adopt a new set of assumptions and criteria specifically relevant to EST instead of employing those of General-English courses being used in the foundation and non-foundation years. This is in line with the basic premise of ESP （English for Special Purpose） and foundation courses which are supposed to prepare students for longer and more difficult tasks in their relevant fields of study. It is hoped that the findings of this research paper will be fruitful and relevant to other ESP courses in addition to those of EST.展开更多
As a useful kind of writing, summarizing, aiming at improving students＇ ability to input information （reading） and output information （writing）, and should be emphasized at the advanced writing level, especially ...As a useful kind of writing, summarizing, aiming at improving students＇ ability to input information （reading） and output information （writing）, and should be emphasized at the advanced writing level, especially when postgraduates further their English studies. In order to have a deep understanding of the status quo of postgraduates＇ ability to summarize, this paper collected some data from the writing assignment and tried to give a detailed analysis of the problems, reasons and put forward some solutions.展开更多
This paper raises, for the first time, with a model reading passage, a three-layer passage reading method （3LPRM in brief ） in English reading： reading beyond paragraphs; reading within paragraphs and sentences, an...This paper raises, for the first time, with a model reading passage, a three-layer passage reading method （3LPRM in brief ） in English reading： reading beyond paragraphs; reading within paragraphs and sentences, and reading with coherences of words and expressions. The paper illustrates the definition, contents, characteristics and application of the method which is easy to master and apply. The paper aims at supplying readers especially beginners of E/S/FL （English as second/foreign language） with a practical passage reading method so as to improve their reading efficiency. The paper has some practical significance and directing value.展开更多
This empirical study investigates Chinese EFL students＇ attributions in reading. The purposes ot this study are to investigate the development of Chinese EFL learners＇ attributions for their perceived success and fa...This empirical study investigates Chinese EFL students＇ attributions in reading. The purposes ot this study are to investigate the development of Chinese EFL learners＇ attributions for their perceived success and failure in second language reading and to clarify the relationship between learners＇ reading proficiency levels and their attributions. The results show that （1） Nearly half of the university students feel ＂Just so so＂ in English reading; （2） Environmental variables such as teacher feedback, peers or classroom play an influential role in the learners＇ attribution. This paper concludes with a number of pedagogical suggestions for the teaching and learning of English reading.展开更多
This paper provides a detailed analysis about the themes and the thematic progression of a certain text, with Halliday＇s Systemic-Functional ideas as the theoretical foundation. Based on this, the paper discloses the...This paper provides a detailed analysis about the themes and the thematic progression of a certain text, with Halliday＇s Systemic-Functional ideas as the theoretical foundation. Based on this, the paper discloses the significance of theme and thematic progression in the development of text, which includes forming a semantic chain and achieving a comprehensive understanding of a text.展开更多
For years, researchers as well as language teachers both at home and abroad have taken great pains to study the process of reading and try to find out what is the most related to a successful reading, therefore, a lot...For years, researchers as well as language teachers both at home and abroad have taken great pains to study the process of reading and try to find out what is the most related to a successful reading, therefore, a lot of reading theories have been proposed. Some people emphasize the importance of words and their quick identification. Others emphasize the important role of reading skills as well as background knowledge. Still others emphasize that reading comprehension is both a process of word processing and a process of information processing by means of one＇s background knowledge. The author here, through an experiment, thinks that vocabulary is the main contributor to reading comprehension and reading skills are very important for students to comprehend, especially in advanced reading comprehension.展开更多
With the change of the teaching approach, people have realized that language is not only knowledge, but also a skill and ability. Today＇s English teaching should emphasize the college student＇s English comprehensive...With the change of the teaching approach, people have realized that language is not only knowledge, but also a skill and ability. Today＇s English teaching should emphasize the college student＇s English comprehensive skills. This paper is intended to introduce the traditional English teaching method, and by using the comparison of the force-feeding mode of English teaching with interactive approach to language pedagogy. It emphasizes the analysis of the modem communicative teaching mode, and it also elaborates the English teacher＇s role in interactive class, and proves the effectivity and feasibility of the theory based on the student-centered mode.展开更多
The main objective of this paper was to investigate the test method effect of two writing tests on the performances of sixty sophomore English majors from China University of Mining and Technology, who were divided ra...The main objective of this paper was to investigate the test method effect of two writing tests on the performances of sixty sophomore English majors from China University of Mining and Technology, who were divided randomly into two experiment groups and took a reading-integrated writing test and a timed impromptu essay test respectively. Their essays were rated anonymously by two independent raters using the same rating scale with categories that measured content, organization, accuracy and vocabulary. Besides examination of the reliability, Many-Faceted Rasch analysis was applied to probe into the influence of domain difficulty and rater severity. Results of the comparison revealed four important findings. First, both two tests were reliable to be fair measures for assessing writing abilities. Second, significant difference was found between two groups in content, organization, and vocabulary, but no difference was observed in accuracy. Third, the reading tasks facilitated participants in generating ideas, organizing essays and using vocabularies. Finally, compared with the participants in the reading-integrated writing test, participants in the timed impromptu essay test met difficulties in using their vocabularies in the writing process. Findings implicated that 1) a reading-integrated writing test could be an alternative to a timed impromptu essay test in academic contexts, and 2) much more investigation was still needed to probe into the writing process and read-to-write process.展开更多
文摘Learning strategies are usually regarded as one of the aspects of the cognitive psychology and reading is a cognitive process in which the reader engages in a conversation with the text or the author. Then is there any relationship between learning strategies and reading comprehension？ To explore this, an experimental study is conducted in this paper. The conclusion is thereafter reached that reading comprehension is closely related to and greatly affected by learning strategies, especially cognitive and metacognitive strategies.
文摘The teaching of English for Science and Technology （EST） is generally regarded as one of the most significant developments in English language pedagogy in recent years. EST is concerned with meeting the specific language needs of learners in various scientific and technological fields. These needs should be taken into consideration when planning and implementing English language courses or specialized courses to students of science and technology. This research is an attempt to investigate some of the problems involved in the teaching and learning of EST and suggest possible solutions. The research will focus on the reading comprehension of scientific and technical texts written in English, the teaching and learning of functional grammar, and the teaching and learning of lexis. These are regarded as some of the most important skills and sub-skills to be acquired by the students of science and technology to help them gain scientific information in English and reach a satisfactory level of achievement in their academic studies. The contention here is that it is in need to adopt a new set of assumptions and criteria specifically relevant to EST instead of employing those of General-English courses being used in the foundation and non-foundation years. This is in line with the basic premise of ESP （English for Special Purpose） and foundation courses which are supposed to prepare students for longer and more difficult tasks in their relevant fields of study. It is hoped that the findings of this research paper will be fruitful and relevant to other ESP courses in addition to those of EST.
文摘As a useful kind of writing, summarizing, aiming at improving students＇ ability to input information （reading） and output information （writing）, and should be emphasized at the advanced writing level, especially when postgraduates further their English studies. In order to have a deep understanding of the status quo of postgraduates＇ ability to summarize, this paper collected some data from the writing assignment and tried to give a detailed analysis of the problems, reasons and put forward some solutions.
文摘This paper raises, for the first time, with a model reading passage, a three-layer passage reading method （3LPRM in brief ） in English reading： reading beyond paragraphs; reading within paragraphs and sentences, and reading with coherences of words and expressions. The paper illustrates the definition, contents, characteristics and application of the method which is easy to master and apply. The paper aims at supplying readers especially beginners of E/S/FL （English as second/foreign language） with a practical passage reading method so as to improve their reading efficiency. The paper has some practical significance and directing value.
文摘This empirical study investigates Chinese EFL students＇ attributions in reading. The purposes ot this study are to investigate the development of Chinese EFL learners＇ attributions for their perceived success and failure in second language reading and to clarify the relationship between learners＇ reading proficiency levels and their attributions. The results show that （1） Nearly half of the university students feel ＂Just so so＂ in English reading; （2） Environmental variables such as teacher feedback, peers or classroom play an influential role in the learners＇ attribution. This paper concludes with a number of pedagogical suggestions for the teaching and learning of English reading.
文摘This paper provides a detailed analysis about the themes and the thematic progression of a certain text, with Halliday＇s Systemic-Functional ideas as the theoretical foundation. Based on this, the paper discloses the significance of theme and thematic progression in the development of text, which includes forming a semantic chain and achieving a comprehensive understanding of a text.
文摘For years, researchers as well as language teachers both at home and abroad have taken great pains to study the process of reading and try to find out what is the most related to a successful reading, therefore, a lot of reading theories have been proposed. Some people emphasize the importance of words and their quick identification. Others emphasize the important role of reading skills as well as background knowledge. Still others emphasize that reading comprehension is both a process of word processing and a process of information processing by means of one＇s background knowledge. The author here, through an experiment, thinks that vocabulary is the main contributor to reading comprehension and reading skills are very important for students to comprehend, especially in advanced reading comprehension.
文摘With the change of the teaching approach, people have realized that language is not only knowledge, but also a skill and ability. Today＇s English teaching should emphasize the college student＇s English comprehensive skills. This paper is intended to introduce the traditional English teaching method, and by using the comparison of the force-feeding mode of English teaching with interactive approach to language pedagogy. It emphasizes the analysis of the modem communicative teaching mode, and it also elaborates the English teacher＇s role in interactive class, and proves the effectivity and feasibility of the theory based on the student-centered mode.
文摘The main objective of this paper was to investigate the test method effect of two writing tests on the performances of sixty sophomore English majors from China University of Mining and Technology, who were divided randomly into two experiment groups and took a reading-integrated writing test and a timed impromptu essay test respectively. Their essays were rated anonymously by two independent raters using the same rating scale with categories that measured content, organization, accuracy and vocabulary. Besides examination of the reliability, Many-Faceted Rasch analysis was applied to probe into the influence of domain difficulty and rater severity. Results of the comparison revealed four important findings. First, both two tests were reliable to be fair measures for assessing writing abilities. Second, significant difference was found between two groups in content, organization, and vocabulary, but no difference was observed in accuracy. Third, the reading tasks facilitated participants in generating ideas, organizing essays and using vocabularies. Finally, compared with the participants in the reading-integrated writing test, participants in the timed impromptu essay test met difficulties in using their vocabularies in the writing process. Findings implicated that 1) a reading-integrated writing test could be an alternative to a timed impromptu essay test in academic contexts, and 2) much more investigation was still needed to probe into the writing process and read-to-write process.
