利用英文報(bào)刊訓(xùn)練高中學(xué)生閱讀策略

SeniorHighSchoolStudents’ReadingStrategyTrainingthroughEnglishNewspapersByZhaoJianJune,2006PAGEPAGE66SENIORHIGHSCHOOLSTUDENTS’READINGSTRATEGYTRAININGTHROUGHENGLISHNEWSPAPERS利用英文報(bào)刊訓(xùn)練高中學(xué)生閱讀策略SubmittedbyZhaoJianSupervisedbyProfessorHuDeyingAThesisinPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsfortheDegreeofMasterofEducationSchoolofForeignLanguageYunnanP.R.ChinaJune,2006CONTENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5ABSTRACT 6LISTOFTABLESANDFIGURES 10CHAPTERONE 11INTRODUCTIONTOTHESTUDY 111.1 Introduction 111.2Backgroundtothestudy 111.2.1TheImportanceofReading 111.2.2 TheImportanceoftheReadingStrategyTraining 121.2.3 TheRationaleofUsingEnglishNewspaperastheReadingMaterialsfortheStudy 151.3ObjectivesoftheStudy 171.4 ScopeandFocusoftheStudy 181.5 SignificanceoftheStudy 191.6 Summary 20CHAPTERTWO 21LITERATUREREVIEW 212.1Introduction 212.2OverviewsofReading 222.2.1DefinitionsofReading 222.2.2DefinitionsofReadingComprehension 232.2.3NatureofReadingComprehension 232.3OverviewsofEFLReadingTheories 242.3.1SchemaTheory 252.3.2TheMetacognitionTheory 272.4OverviewofReadingStrategies 292.5ImplicationsofReadingStrategyResearchforTeachers 302.6ResearchesonUsingEnglishNewspapersintheClassroom 312.7Summary 33CHAPTERTHREE 34RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY 343.1 Introduction 343.2Instrument 343.3PhaseOneGeneralSurvey 343.3.1TheParticipants 343.3.2TheQuestionnaires 353.3.3Pre-studyReadingTest 363.4PhaseTwo—IntensiveStudy 363.4.1DataAnalysisoftheQuestionnaireonReadingStrategies 363.4.2ProceduresofTrainingReadingStrategiesinClass 393.4.3 Post-studyReadingTest 463.5 LimitationsinMethodology 463.6 Summary 46CHAPTERFOUR 48RESULTSANDDISCUSSIONS 484.1Introduction 484.2ResultsoftheStudy 484.3.Interview 514.4.MajorFindings 544.5Summary 55CHAPTERFIVE 56CONCLUSION 565.1Introduction 565.2AnswerstotheResearchQuestions 565.3Conclusion 585.4PedagogicalImplications 605.5LimitationsoftheStudyandAreasforFutureResearch 60REFERENCES 62APPENDIX1 64APPENDIX2 65APPENDIX3 66ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThisdissertationisaccomplishedundertheinspirationandenlightenmentofmyrespectedsupervisorProfessorHuDeying,whohelpedmequitealotinshapingtheideaandtheframeworkforthispaper.Iamextremelyindebtedtohimforhisconstantvaluableadviceandcarefulreadingofmymanuscript.IwouldalsoliketoexpressmygratitudetoProfessorLiuShoulan,ProfessorHeChangyi,ProfessorYangDuanhe，ProfessorHuoYongshouandProfessorLiLisheng.TheirearnestteachingandenlighteninginthewholecourseofmystudyatYunnanNormalMythanksshouldalsogotothe50participantsfromoneofmyclassesfortheirinvolvementandhardworkinthestudy.Withouttheirco-operation,thisstudywouldnothavebeencompleted.Last,butnottheleast,Iamverygratefultomyheadteachers,MrZhaoErminandMsYuQiqingfortheirunderstandingofthestudy,encouragementandsupportinthewholeprocessofmyacademicjourney.ABSTRACTReadingisthemainapproachofobtaininginformationinEFLcontext.Beinganimportantreceptiveskill,itundoubtedlybecomesoneofthemostimportantaspectsinEnglishlearningandteaching.Astudent’ssuccessinschoolandthroughoutlifedependsinlargepartonhisorherabilitytoread.Theinformationagerequiresthatstudentsbecomewilling,competentandefficientreaders.SothereiskeenawarenessthatEnglishteachingmustthereforefocusonprovidingpossiblereadingstrategyinstruction.However,foralongtimeinChina,theteachingofEnglishreadinghasbeenguidedbythebeliefthatlanguageisonlyasetofgrammarrules.Theteacher-centeredandgrammar-orientedperspectiveleadstotheemphasisongrammaticalcompetence,whichresultsintheinefficiencyofreadingteaching.Theimportanceandnecessityofreadingstrategytrainingareshowninthenewcurriculum,relatedtextbooksandthelatestentranceexaminations.Withsuchenlightenment,thepresentdissertationendeavoredtoprobeintothecombinationofthereadingstrategytrainingandtheexplorationofEnglishnewspapers.Itreportsonastudyofreadingstrategytrainingvialearner-centeredclassroomactivitiesbasedonEnglishnewspapers“21stCenturyTeens”inanongoingseniorEnglishclassroomandinvestigatestheeffectsofthetrainingonstudents’readingability.Theresearchquestionsforthisstudyare:1.Whatkindofreadingstrategieswillbedevelopedafterreadinginstructionandstrategytrainingbyusingnewspapersintheclassroom?2.Towhatextentisreadingcomprehensionabilityrelatedtoreadingstrategies?3.Inwhichwayisnewspaperreadingeffectivetothestrategytraining?Thestudybeganwithaquestionnaireandapre-studyreadingtest,ofwhichthepurposewastoobtainthegeneralreadingstrategyawarenessandthereadingabilityofthe50participantsandtoserveas“baselinedata”onreadingknowledge.Thequantitativeanalysisofquestionnairewasusedtoprovideacomprehensivepictureofthereadingstrategyawarenessofhighschoolstudents.Theanalysisindicatedthatstudents’inadequateanduncertainreadingstrategyknowledgeandapplicationresultedintheirpoorreadingproficiency.AfterthecompletionofreadingstrategyinstructionandtrainingviareadingactivitiesbasedonEnglishnewspapers,apost-studyreadingtestwascarriedoutandacomparisonwasmade.AnswerstotheresearchquestionswerefoundfromtheresultswhichshowedthatstrategytrainingwaseffectiveinenhancingEFLmiddleschoolstudents’overallreadingproficiencyandreadingspeed.Thetraining,todifferentdegrees,hadeffectontheimprovementofstudents’abilitiestograspmainideas,tomakeglobalinferencesandtoextractdetailedinformation;however,ithadnoobviouseffectontheimprovementoftheirabilitytoguessunknownvocabulary.TheinterviewafterthestudyrevealedthatstudentstookpositiveattitudestowardsthetrainingofreadingstrategiesthroughEnglishnewspapers，indicatingthatsuchtrainingactivitiescanbeusedinhighschoolclassroom.Overall,theresearchinthisdissertationdemonstratedthegeneralstateofChinesehighschoolstudents’readingstrategyawarenessandtriedtoexploreamoreeffectiveapproachtodevelopingreadingstrategyandproficiencyviaEnglishnewspapers.Inspiteofitslimitations,thestudycanactasanattemptandencouragementforpeerstobeawareoftheimportanceofreadingstrategytrainingandexploringthenewspaperasavaluableteachingresource.內(nèi)容摘要閱讀是學(xué)習(xí)第二語(yǔ)言獲取有關(guān)信息的主要途徑。因此，閱讀作為重要的語(yǔ)言輸入技能，被認(rèn)為是外語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)和教學(xué)中最重要的方面之一。一個(gè)學(xué)生在學(xué)習(xí)上以及在未來(lái)人生發(fā)展道路上能否取得成功在很大程度上取決于其閱讀的能力；信息時(shí)代也要求學(xué)生成為愿意讀書(shū)、樂(lè)于讀書(shū)、善于讀書(shū)的人。所以外語(yǔ)教學(xué)中要提供英語(yǔ)閱讀策略教學(xué)和訓(xùn)練已成為了外語(yǔ)教學(xué)界的共識(shí)。然而，長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)中國(guó)的英語(yǔ)教學(xué)被一種錯(cuò)誤的觀(guān)念所誤導(dǎo)，認(rèn)為學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言就是學(xué)習(xí)一整套的語(yǔ)法規(guī)則。這種以教師為中心、語(yǔ)法為目的的觀(guān)念導(dǎo)致了英語(yǔ)教學(xué)重視語(yǔ)言形式分析從而造成英語(yǔ)閱讀能力的培養(yǎng)效率極低的不利局面。英語(yǔ)閱讀策略的重要性和必要性在“英語(yǔ)新課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”、新教材以及近幾年的高考英語(yǔ)試題中都已明顯得到了體現(xiàn)。本文將閱讀策略訓(xùn)練與挖掘報(bào)刊資源進(jìn)行英語(yǔ)報(bào)刊閱讀活動(dòng)融為一體進(jìn)行研究。此項(xiàng)研究在一個(gè)高中班進(jìn)行，通過(guò)使用“二十一世紀(jì)英文報(bào)高中版”設(shè)計(jì)以學(xué)生為中心的課堂閱讀活動(dòng)來(lái)訓(xùn)練學(xué)生的閱讀策略，研究閱讀策略對(duì)學(xué)生閱讀理解能力的影響。研究問(wèn)題為：1.報(bào)刊閱讀策略訓(xùn)練可以培養(yǎng)學(xué)生何種閱讀策略？2.閱讀理解能力與閱讀策略有多大的關(guān)系？3.英文報(bào)刊在哪方面對(duì)閱讀策略的訓(xùn)練有效？在研究開(kāi)始階段做了閱讀策略問(wèn)卷調(diào)查和閱讀測(cè)試，其目的是了解學(xué)生對(duì)閱讀策略的意識(shí)以及英語(yǔ)的閱讀能力，并作為研究的原始數(shù)據(jù)。問(wèn)卷調(diào)查的數(shù)據(jù)分析提供了高中學(xué)生的閱讀策略意識(shí)和應(yīng)用情況，分析表明了學(xué)生閱讀策略知識(shí)的缺乏以及不恰當(dāng)?shù)牟呗赃\(yùn)用是導(dǎo)致學(xué)生閱讀能力水平低下的原因。在利用報(bào)刊設(shè)計(jì)課堂教學(xué)活動(dòng)進(jìn)行閱讀策略訓(xùn)練完成以后，進(jìn)行了研究后的閱讀能力測(cè)試并對(duì)兩次測(cè)試進(jìn)行比較，結(jié)果提供了研究問(wèn)題的答案，顯示了以學(xué)生為主體的活動(dòng)式報(bào)刊閱讀教學(xué)有效地提高了學(xué)生的整體閱讀水平和閱讀速度，在不同程度上增強(qiáng)了學(xué)生理解文章主要內(nèi)容的能力，推理判斷能力和查找事實(shí)或細(xì)節(jié)的能力；但推測(cè)詞義的能力沒(méi)有直接受到實(shí)驗(yàn)的影響。此外，研究后的采訪(fǎng)顯示，學(xué)生對(duì)報(bào)刊閱讀教學(xué)與策略訓(xùn)練融為一體的研究持認(rèn)同態(tài)度，說(shuō)明此項(xiàng)研究可廣泛應(yīng)用于中學(xué)英語(yǔ)課堂閱讀教學(xué)?？傊?，本文闡述了高中學(xué)生閱讀策略意識(shí)的現(xiàn)狀，力求通過(guò)使用英文報(bào)刊探索一條有效的促進(jìn)閱讀策略的訓(xùn)練和提高學(xué)生閱讀水平的渠道。盡管有其自身的局限，但可作為喚起同行們加強(qiáng)閱讀策略訓(xùn)練，開(kāi)發(fā)英文報(bào)刊作為教學(xué)資源的一項(xiàng)嘗試和一點(diǎn)啟示。LISTOFTABLESANDFIGURESTable1.1TheDistributionoftheNationalEnglishEntranceExaminationScoresTable1.2TheLengthofthePassagesintheReadingSectionofNMETTable1.3QuestionTypesintheReadingSectionoftheEntranceExaminationsinthePastFiveYearsTable1.4AverageScoreinReadingComprehensionSectioninNMETTable3.1PercentageoftheReadingStrategyQuestionnaireTable4.1TheBasicInformationofthePre-andthePost-studyTestsTable4.2TheComparisonofQuestionTypesintheTwoReadingTestsTable4.3TheRateofCorrectAnswerstoEachQuestionItemintheTwoReadingTestsFigure5.1TheViciousCircleoftheWeakReaderFigure5.2TheVirtuousCircleoftheGoodReaderCHAPTERONEINTRODUCTIONTOTHESTUDYIntroductionThisdissertationreportsonastudyofreadingstrategytrainingthroughlearner-centeredactivitiesbasedonEnglishnewspapers“21stCenturyTeens”21st21stCenturyTeensisthefirstnationalEnglish–languageweeklynewspaperdesignedforseniorhighschoolstudentsinChina,publishedbyChinaDaily.Thischapterprovidestheinitialoverviewoftheresearchcarriedoutinthisdissertation.Itcoversthebackgroundtothestudywhichfocusesontheimportanceandthenecessityofreadingstrategytraining,theadvantagesofusingnewspapersintheclassroomwhichserveastherationaleofthestudy,andtheobjectivesofthestudywhichconcentrateonthesignificanceoftheresearch.Inthescopeandfocusofthestudy,theproblemintraditionalreadingclassesisdescribedandthegoaloftheresearchismadeclear,followedbytheresearchquestions.Thechapterconcludeswithabriefsummaryattheend.1.2Backgroundtothestudy1.2.1TheImportanceofReadingWiththesocialandeconomicdevelopmentandwithChina’sentryintotheWTO,EnglishhasbecomemoreandmoreimportanttotheChinesepeople.Reading,animportantreceptiveskill,undoubtedlybecomesoneofthemostimportantaspectsinEnglishlearningandteaching.ReadingisanimportantinputandanessentialskillatalllevelsofstudyingEnglishasaforeignlanguage(EFL).Formanystudents,readingisbyfarthemostimportantofthefourskillsinasecondlanguage,particularlyinEnglishasasecondorforeignlanguage(Carrell,1989).Astudent’ssuccessinschoolandthroughoutlifedependsinlargepartonhisorherabilitytoread.Thedemandsoftheinformationagerequirethatpeoplebecompetentreadersandwritersiftheyaretoparticipateandthriveinsociety.Thereiskeenawarenessthatthepubliceducationsystemmustthereforefocusonprovidingstudentswiththebestpossiblereadinginstructionandtraining.TheimportanceofreadingisalsoreflectedinthenationalEnglishentranceexaminations.Thefollowingdistributionofthenationalentrancescore(seeTable1.1)showsthereadingscore(inItemIIIandIV)istheweightiestcomparedtoothersections.ReadingcomprehensionhasbeenplayingaveryimportantroleintheEntranceExaminations,coveringmorethanonethirdofthetotalscores.Table1.1:TheDistributionoftheNationalEnglishEntranceExaminationScores(Total:150)ItemsIIIIIIIVVVICategoryListeningChoices(VocabularyandStructure)ClozeTestReadingComprehensionProof-readingWritingScores301530401025TheImportanceoftheReadingStrategyTrainingDespiteitsimportance,EnglishreadinghaslongbeenaveryweakaspectinEnglishteachinginhighschools.TheteachingofEnglishreadinghasbeenguidedbythebeliefthatlanguageisonlyasetofgrammarrules.Theteacher-centeredandgrammar-orientedperspectiveleadstotheemphasisongrammaticalcompetence,vocabularyandidiomaticusage,whichresultsintheinefficiencyofreadingteaching.Therefore,quitealotofstudentsregardthesectionofreadingcomprehensionastheirweakestpartintheentranceexaminationseventhoughtheyhaveputamassiveamountoftimeandenergyintothepreparationsforit.Afactthatshouldnotbeneglectedisthat“wehavebeenperplexedbythesituationofhighinvestmentwithlowreturn;alongtimeinvolvedinlearningresultinginfewpeopleproficientinEnglish”(WangChumingetal.,2000，pp.207-212).Sohowcanwechangethesituationandexplorenewwaysforthepurposeofpreparingqualifiedschoolleaversinmoreeffectiveways?TogivestudentsreadinginstructionsandtohelpthembecomeefficientreadersarewhathighschoolEnglishteachersshouldthinkofandresearchin.Obviouslyit’shightimethatthetraditionalteacher-centeredmodelgavewaytoamoreappropriatelearner-centeredone.TheimportanceandnecessityofreadingstrategytrainingcanbeseenfromthenewEnglishcurriculumthatwaspublishedbyTheMinistryofEducationin2001.Accordingtothenewcurriculum,oneofthemaingoalsthatshouldbereachedinhighschoolsisthestudents’readingskills.TheobjectivesofhighschoolEnglishteachingaretofosterstudents’moreefficientreading,listening,writingandspeakingabilities.“InboththesyllabusesforcollegeEnglishteachingandmiddleschoolteaching,readingisregardedasthefirstgoaltoreach,amongthefourskills”(WenQiufang,2003,p.64).ThefollowinganalysisoftheannualEnglishentranceexaminationsshowsthatreadingskillsaremoreandmorerequiredifonewantstoachievesuccessfulreadingscoreswhentakingtheentranceexaminations.Table1.2:TheLengthofthePassagesintheReadingSectionofNMET22NMETstandsforNationalMatriculatingEnglishTestWordsinthePassagesWordsintheQuestionsTotalWordsinRReadingSpeedNMET20001330676200658wpm(wordsperminute)NMET20011509836234567wpmNMET20021483775225864.5wpmNMET20031454739219362.6wpmNMET20041236754199057wpm(ShenQizhi,2004,p94)Table1.3:QuestionTypesintheReadingSectionoftheEntranceExaminationsinthePastFiveYears(20questionsintotaleachyear)20002001200220032004GeneralUnderstanding23342SpecificDetails55556DeeperUnderstanding76534Inferences44566GuessingWords22222Fromtheabovetwotables,wecanseethatthetotalnumbersofvocabularyinthereadingsectionoftheentranceexaminationsinthepastfiveyearshavealmostremainedabove2000words.Thereadingspeedshouldreachatleast60wpm.(Intheoutline,thestudentsarerequiredtobeabletoread70wordsperminute).Intable1.3,it’sobviousthatthequestiontypesvary,coveringgeneralunderstanding,makinginference,guessingwords,extractingdetailedinformationandsoon.Moredemandshavebeenputonthestudents’readingspeedandreadingstrategiesaswell.Thenhowwellcanstudentsachievethegoalssetinthecurriculumandtheoutline?Table1.4:AverageScoreinReadingComprehensionSectioninNMET1999200020012002FullMarks40405040DifficultyDegree0.530.440.5050.51AverageScore21.417.6025.2720.46(ZhangChunqing,2004,p20)WhenwelookatTable1.4,wecan’thelpfeelinggreatlyshockedatthepoorabilityofstudents’readingcomprehensionafterthreeyears’learningathighschool.Thenwhatarethekeyfactorsthataffectstudents’readingabilities?AccordingtoZhangChunqing(2004,p.20),vocabulary,readingspeed,backgroundknowledge,andreadingstrategiesarethetopfourfactorsaffectingstudents’readingcomprehension.Thisshowsthatasteachers,weshouldnotonlytrainthestudents’readingspeed,helpthemenlargetheirvocabularyandwidentheirknowledge,butalsoarousetheirawarenessofreadingstrategies,developtheirreadingskillsandhelpthemtoapplytheirreadingstrategiesproperlyaccordingtodifferentreadingsituations.TheRationaleofUsingEnglishNewspapersastheReadingMaterialsfortheStudyTheacquisitionofreadingskillsinasecondoraforeignlanguageisapriorityformillionsoflearnersaroundtheworld,andthereisagrowingdemandforbotheffectivereadingcoursesaswellashigh-qualitysecondlanguagereadingmaterials.Englishnewspapershavemanyadvantagesasalanguagereadingmaterial.Themostimportantadvantageliesintheirauthenticandcurrentlanguageresources.Moreaboutthenewspapers’advantagewillbefurtherdiscussedinChapterTwo.“21stCenturyTeens”isjustthiskindofEnglishnewspapersthatwecaneasilygetinChinaandisintendedforhighschoolstudentreadersalthoughitisnotforlanguageteaching.ThepaperuseslatestnewsandrichresourcestohelptheyoungergenerationlearnabouttheworldandlifeinEnglish.Itfocusesoncurrentworldanddomesticnews,hotcampusissues,entertainmentandsports,aswellascultureandtechnology,inaccessiblebutpureandauthenticEnglish.Soitischosenasextra-curriculumreadingmaterialsforthestudywiththepurposeofstimulatingstudents’interestinEnglish,widentheirknowledgeofmoderncultureandhelpbuildtheirEnglishconfidenceandproficiency.Nunan(1989)suggeststhatthemosteffectivewaytodevelopaparticularskillistorehearsethatskillinclass.Torehearsereadingskill,authenticresourcesfocusingonreadingpracticesurelyleadtogoodinput.Whatcanbecalled“authentic”resources?Theterm“authentic”indicatesthereactionagainsttheprefabricatedartificiallanguageoftextbooks.AccordingtoNunan(1989),an“authentic”materialisanymaterialwhichhasnotbeenspecificallyproducedforthepurposeoflanguageteaching.NewspaperisjustthatkindofmaterialandanyEnglishnewspaperiscomposedofwhatwecallauthenticEnglish,astheyarenotdesignedforlanguageteachingbutforpeopletogaininformationandcommunicateinreallife.CarefullychosenauthentictextsfromEnglishnewspaperscanactivatethelearners’generalworldknowledgeandfurtherstimulatelearners’interestsinthetargetlanguage.Activitiesbasedontheseauthentictextsinvitelearnerstoexperiencetherichnessandvariationsofreallanguageandalsoprovideopportunitiestohaveclosecontactwiththeculture.Proponentsofauthenticmaterialspointoutthatclassroomtextsanddialoguesdonotadequatelypreparelearnersforcopingwiththelanguagetheyhearandreadintherealworldoutsidetheclassroom.Theyarguethatifwewantlearnerstocomprehendauralandwrittentextsinrealworld,thelearnersneedopportunitiesforengaginginthesereal-worldtextsinclass.Thisnewspaper-readingprojectisthesubprojectoftheNationalEducationScience’sprojectcalled“TheResearchonNewModelsofEnglishNewspaperReadingAidingEnglishTeaching”launchedbyMinistryofEducation.Acrossthecountry,thereare200highschoolstakingpartinthisproject,whichKunmingNo.8HighSchoolisalsoinvolvedin.Thisschoolbegantocarryouttheresearchprojectjusthalfayearago,inthemiddleof2004.1.3ObjectivesoftheStudyThisresearchonreadingstrategytraininghastwoprimarypurposes.Itresearchesonthesecondlanguagereadingstrategiessuchasskimming,scanning,predictingandotherreadingstrategiesandtheireffectsonreadingcomprehensioninEnglishasaforeignlanguage.ItalsofocusesspeciallyonthestudythatexploresauthenticreadingmaterialsthatsupportstrategytrainingintheprocessofusingEnglishnewspaperstoimprovereadingskillsandhighlightsthisareawherefurtherinvestigationisneeded.Languageteacherstendtousenewspapersinthreeways:todevelopvariouslanguagecompetences,includingreadingcomprehensionandgrammar/vocabularywork;tofocusonaspectsofthetargetsocietyanditsculture;andtostimulatediscussionsofissuesraisedbythearticles(AlanMaley,citedinGrundy,2000,p.3).WearenowusingtheEnglishnewspapersinourschoolnotonlyforitscontentandlanguagecompetences,butalsoasamediumthroughwhichreadingstrategytrainingcanbeintegratedintoclassroomnewspaper-readingperformancesinordertohelpstudentsintheirlearningprocess.Specificallythedetailedobjectivesareasfollows:TofindoutwhatEnglishreadingskillsandstrategiestheseniorstudentshave;TofindoutwhatEnglishreadingskillsandstrategiesarelearnedandappliedafterthetrainingthroughactivitiesbasedontextsfromEnglishnewspapersandtohelptheseniorstudentstobeefficientreaders;Tofindoutwhatkindofreadingstrategiesandskillsareeffectiveinenhancingstudents’readingcomprehensionthroughthestudy;TotestwhetherEnglishnewspaperisarichresourceforreadingmaterialsandprovideawiderrangeofchoicesintermsofteachingmaterialsforhighschoolEnglishteachers.ScopeandFocusoftheStudyAsmentionedattheoutsetofthischapter,readingisofgreatimportanceinEnglishteachinginhighschoolsinChina.Wenotonlypreparestudentsfortheentranceexaminations,butalsohelpthemdevelopreadingstrategieswhichwillbehelpfulintheirlife-longlearning.DevelopingproficientEnglishreadersisamajorgoalofEnglishteaching;yetitisclearthatinmostreadingclasses,acommonphenomenonisthatteachersstilldominatetheclassroom,focusingonvocabularyexplanationsandgrammarexercises.Notmanyteacherspaymuchattentiontothereadingstrategyinstructionandtraining,eveniftheydo,thetrainingisquitelimited.Oneofthemainreasonsisthatmanyteachersareusingjustonetextbook,whichisfarfromenoughtogivestudentsadequateinput.Inordertofindsolutionstothisproblem,thereisanurgentneedtobegintheresearchandfindverysuitableauthenticteachingmaterialsforstudy.Asaresult,thepresentresearchisdesignedtoprobeintothecombinationofreadingstrategytrainingandtheexplorationofEnglishnewspapersintheEFLclass.Thespecificresearchquestionsareasfollows:1.Whatkindofreadingstrategieswillbedevelopedafterreadinginstructionandstrategytrainingbyusingnewspapersintheclassroom?2.Towhatextentisreadingcomprehensionabilityrelatedtoreadingstrategies?Inwhichwayisnewspaperreadingeffectivetothestrategytraining?SignificanceoftheStudyResearchinsecondlanguagereadingsuggeststhatgoodlearnersuseavarietyofstrategiestoassistthemwiththeacquisition,storage,andretrievalofinformation(Rigney,1978).Learningstrategiesareoperationsorretrievalofinformation.Itisassumedthatinclassroomsettings,inefficientreaderswhoenhancetheirawarenessofthenatureofreadingandoftheirownreadingstrategieswillultimatelybebetterreadersthanthosewhodonot.Thelearningstrategiesofgoodlanguagelearners,onceidentifiedandsuccessfullytaughttolesscompetentlearners,couldhaveconsiderablepotentialforenhancingthedevelopingofsecondlanguageskills(Carrell,Pharis&Liberto,1989).Anessentialaim(inreadinginstruction)istomakethereadersawareoftheactivenatureofreadingandtheimportanceofemployingreadingstrategiestoenhancetheirunderstanding.AsBrownandBaker(1986,p.67)pointedout:Iflesssuccessfulstudentscanbemadeawareofbasicstrategiesforreadingandrememberingsimplerulesoftextconstruction,differingdemandsofavarietyofteststowhichtheirknowledgemaybeput,andtheimportanceofusinganybackgroundknowledgetheymayhave,theycannothelpbutbecomemoreeffectivelearners.Suchself-awarenessisaprerequisiteforselfregulation,theabilitytomonitorandcheckone’sowncognitiveactivitieswhilereadingandstudying.Thepresentresearchaimsattrainingstudents’readingstrategiesinareadingclassinsteadoffollowingatraditionalreadingclass.Itishopedthatsuchstudywillprovidenotonlyabetterunderstandingofthe