非英語專業(yè)大學(xué)生課外英語閱讀情況調(diào)查

非英語專業(yè)大學(xué)生課外英語閱讀情況調(diào)查

研究生：溫穎年級：2005級學(xué)科專業(yè)：課程與教學(xué)論

指導(dǎo)老師：蔣業(yè)梅研究方向：英語教學(xué)論

中文摘要

閱讀技能是語言學(xué)習(xí)的四大技能之一，在英語學(xué)習(xí)中占有很重要的地位。大量的閱讀

對提高英語語言能力是非常有用的。許多國內(nèi)外專家學(xué)者充分肯定了大量閱讀對二語習(xí)得

和外語學(xué)習(xí)的重要性。Krashen（1985）認(rèn)為“能否掌握第二語言的關(guān)鍵因素是接觸大量

可理解性的語言輸入材料Harmer（2000）則認(rèn)為好的閱讀材料為學(xué)生提供范例，有利

于他們提高寫作能力；而且閱讀提供了學(xué)習(xí)詞匯、語法、遣詞造句等的機會，促進了語言

習(xí)得。國內(nèi)不少的專家學(xué)者也一致認(rèn)為大量的閱讀對英語學(xué)習(xí)至關(guān)重要。聽和讀是接觸語

言材料的兩條主要途徑，而在我國現(xiàn)有的學(xué)習(xí)環(huán)境下，讀可謂是接觸語言材料的最佳途徑。

大量的閱讀需要一定的時間，而學(xué)生在課堂上的時間是有限的，因此課外自主閱讀成

為了一定閱讀量的重要保證。廣大教師也意識到了學(xué)生課外閱讀的重要性，近年來不少學(xué)

者對大學(xué)生課外閱讀情況以及如何指導(dǎo)學(xué)生進行課外閱讀等方面進行了研究。而對于西部

欠發(fā)達地區(qū)非英語專業(yè)大學(xué)生的英語課外閱讀情況相關(guān)研究較少，為了更好地了解和改進

他們的課外英語閱讀教學(xué)，作者2006年底對1,一西三個不同高校非英語專業(yè)學(xué)生的課外閱

讀情況進行了調(diào)查研究。

本研究主要圍繞以下三個方面的問題展開：1）非英語專業(yè)大學(xué)生課外閱讀情況與英

語閱讀水平的相互關(guān)系如何？哪些因素與大學(xué)生英語閱讀水平緊密相關(guān)？2）大學(xué)文科生

和理科生在英語課外閱讀方面有何差異？3）非英語專業(yè)大學(xué)生課外閱讀的總體情況如

何？

為了解決以上問題，作者以廣西三所有代表性的大學(xué)的非英語專業(yè)二年級學(xué)生作為調(diào)

查對象，在各個學(xué)校隨機抽取了一個文科班和一個理科班，受調(diào)查的學(xué)生共186人。作者

通過問卷調(diào)查，英語閱讀水平測試以及對學(xué)生進行訪談等方式來進行數(shù)據(jù)的收集。作者將

問卷調(diào)查和閱讀水平測試所收集的數(shù)據(jù)通過SPSS13.0進行定量分析，訪談的結(jié)果經(jīng)過分

類歸納后進行定性分析。

本次研究的結(jié)果表明：1）在影響課外閱讀的四個因素中，英語閱讀的目的性和英語閱

讀的障礙與英語閱讀水平顯著相關(guān)，而閱讀作用評估和閱讀途徑卻并不與閱讀水平顯著相

關(guān)；2）文科生和理科生之間的顯著差異體現(xiàn)在閱讀作用評估和閱讀障礙上；3）從大學(xué)生的

總體閱讀情況上看，他們大多認(rèn)同英語課外閱讀的重要性和對提高英語綜合水平的作用，

他們對課外閱讀表現(xiàn)出很強的目的性，但是存在著閱讀障礙，而且在閱讀方式上采取多樣

性的頻率不高。另外學(xué)生的課外閱讀量小且面窄，閱讀質(zhì)量低，缺乏閱讀自發(fā)性及閱讀方

法不當(dāng)，還有學(xué)校主管部門對于課外閱讀活動的投入不夠以及任課老師對學(xué)生課外閱讀的

IV

指導(dǎo)不到位等等

通過調(diào)查與研究，我們對廣西高校非英語專業(yè)大學(xué)生的課外閱讀情況有了一個整體的

了解，對于今后的課外英語閱讀教學(xué)有實際指導(dǎo)作用，可以幫助學(xué)生進行更加有效的課外

閱讀，提高他們的閱讀水平和能力。當(dāng)然，由于本研究調(diào)查的樣本比較小，抽樣范圍只限

于廣西三所高校，研究結(jié)果還尚屬探索性，還不具備推廣性。對于研究本身的不足，希望

有更多的相關(guān)研究加以補充和發(fā)展。

關(guān)鍵詞：大學(xué)英語；課外閱讀；閱讀水平；調(diào)查

ASurveyoftheSituationofCollegeNon-EnglishMajors'

ExtracurricularEnglishReading

Postgraduate:WenYingGrade:2005MajorFieldofStudy:Curriculum&Instruction

Supervisor:JiangYemeiOrientation:EnglishTeachingMethodology

AbstractinEnglish

Readingisoneofthefourskillsoflanguagelearning,whichisveryimportantinEnglish

learning.MyriadreadingisextraordinarilybeneficialforimprovingEnglishcompetence.Lotsof

expertsabroadanddomesticundoubtedlyaffirmtheimportanceoflargequantityofreadingto

secondlanguageacquisitionandlearning.Krashen(1985)arguesthat"comprehensibleinput”is

oneofthemostimportantelementsinlanguagelearningincludingextensivereading.Harmer

(2000)believesthatgoodreadingmaterialscanbeneficiallyimproveastudent'swritingability,

providinggoodexamplestothem.Meanwhile,readingprovidesgoodchancestostudy

vocabulary,grammar,wordingandphrasingetc.,andacceleratesthelanguageacquisition.Many

domesticlinguistsandscholarsadmittheimportanceofgreatamountsofreadingtoEnglish

learning.Listeningandreadingaretwomainwaystocontactlinguisticmaterials.Andunderthe

conditionofourcountry,readingisthebestwaytocontactlinguisticmaterials.

Greatamountofreadingtakealotoftime,howeverthein-classtimeforstudentsisvery

limited,soautonomousreadingafterclassbecomestheimportantguaranteetoreadingamount.

Teachersalsorealizetheimportanceofextracurricularreading.Recentlysomescholarsand

teachershaveresearchedinaspectsofsituationofcollegestudents5extracurricularEnglish

readingandhowtoguidestudentstotakeextracurricularreading.Therelevantresearchonthe

situationofcollegenon-Englishmajors'extracurricularreadinginunderdevelopedareasofwest

Chinaisrelativelyfew.Tobetterknowaboutandimprovetheirteachingofafter-classreading,

theauthorhadasurveyonthesituationofcollegenon-Englishmajors'extracurricularEnglish

readinginthreeuniversitiesinGuangxi.

Thisresearchismainlytoanswerthefollowingthreeproblems:(1)Whatistheinterrelation

ofcollegenon-Englishmajorstudents9extracurricularEnglishreadingandEnglishreading

proficiency?Whatfactorsarecloselyrelatedtocollegestudents9Englishreadingproficiency?

(2)Whatarethedifferencesoftheartsstudentsandthesciencestudentsinextracurricular

Englishreading?(3)Whatisthegeneralsituationofcollegestudents,extracurricularreading?

Toanswertheaboveproblems,theauthorinvestigatedsophomoresofnon-Englishmajor

fromthreerepresentativeuniversitiesinGuangxiandrandomlyselectedaclassofartsmajors

vi

andaclassofsciencemajorsineachuniversity;onehundredandeightysixstudentswere

subjectsinthisresearch.Byquestionnaires,Englishreadingproficiencytestandinterviewto

students,theauthorcollectedthedata.Theauthorhadquantitativeanalysisonthedatacollected

byquestionnaireandreadingproficiencytestbySPSS13.0andthenhadqualitativeanalysisto

theoutcomesoftheinterviewsbyclassifyingandsummarizingthem.

Theresearchresultsshow:1)Asforthefactorsprobablyrelatedtotheeffectsof

extracurricularEnglishreading,extracurricularreadingpurposeandobstacleanalysisare

significantlycorrelatedtoreadingproficiencyvalue,whilethefunctionevaluationandwaysof

extracurricularreadingarenotsignificantlycorrelatedtotheEnglishreadingproficiency;2)For

theartsandthesciencestudents9extracurricularEnglishreading,therearesignificantdifferences

onthefunctionevaluationofextracurricularEnglishreadingandtheobstacleofextracurricular

Englishreading;3)Thestudents,ingeneral,havecommonunderstandingonthefunctionsof

extracurricularEnglishreading.Theyhavestrongandclearpurposesontakingextracurricular

reading,butthereadingobstaclesexistintheprocessoftakingextracurricularreading,andthey

seldomusevariouswaysofreadingafterclass.Inaddition,studentsreadlessandthereading

scopeisnarrowwithlowqualityandshallowdepth,students'spontaneousreadingisrather

lackingandtheirreadingwayisinappropriate,theworkdonebyadministrativedepartments

relativelylessandteachers9participationintheguidanceisnotenoughetc.

Afterinvestigatingandresearching,wehaveageneralunderstandingofthesituationof

non-Englishmajors9extracurricularEnglishreadinginGuangxi'suniversities,whichwillhelp

considerablyinpracticeforteachingafter-classreading,andhelpstudentstakemoreeffective

extracurricularreadingtoimprovetheirreadingproficiencyandcompetence.Certainly,because

ofthesmallsamplingofthisresearchlimitedinthreeuniversitiesinGuangxi,theresearch

resultsarestillexplorativebutnotqualifiedtobepopularized.Asforthelimitationsofthe

research,wehopethatmorerelevantresearcheswillmakeupfortheminfuture.

Keywords:collegeEnglish;extracurricularreading;readingproficiency;research

vii

ListofTables

Table3-1SubjectsInformation14

Table3-2InternalReliabilityofthe4Factors15

Table4-1Correlationsof4FactorsofExtracurricularEnglishReadingandReading

Proficiency19

Table4-2Independent-SamplesT-TestoftheArtsandtheScienceStudents,Extracurricular

EnglishReading20

Table4-3Independent-SamplesT-TestoftheArtsandtheScienceStudents5Writing

Performance21

Table4-4AverageValueofFourFactorsofExtracurricularEnglishReading21

viii

論文獨創(chuàng)性聲明

本人鄭重聲明：所提交的學(xué)位論文是本人在導(dǎo)師的指導(dǎo)下進行的研究工

作及取得的成果。除文中已經(jīng)注明引用的內(nèi)容外，本論文不含其他個人或其

他機構(gòu)已經(jīng)發(fā)表或撰寫過的研究成果。對本文的研究作出重要貢獻的個人和

集體，均已在文中以明確方式標(biāo)明。本人承擔(dān)本聲明的法律責(zé)任。

研究生簽名：日期：.

論文使用授權(quán)聲明

本人完全了解廣西師范大學(xué)有關(guān)保留、使用學(xué)位論文的規(guī)定。廣西師范

大學(xué)、中國科學(xué)技術(shù)信息研究所、清華大學(xué)論文合作部，有權(quán)保留本人所送

交學(xué)位論文的復(fù)印件和電子文檔，可以采用影印、縮印或其他復(fù)制手段保存

論文。本人電子文檔的內(nèi)容和紙質(zhì)論文的內(nèi)容相一致。除在保密期內(nèi)的保密

論文外，允許論文被查閱和借閱，可以公布（包括刊登）論文的全部或部分

內(nèi)容。論文的公布（包括刊登）授權(quán)廣西師范大學(xué)學(xué)位辦辦理。

研究生簽名：日期：

導(dǎo)師簽名：日期：

Acknowledgements

Iwouldliketotakethisopportunitytoexpressmyheartfeltgratitudetoallthosewho

assistedmeinthecompletionofthisthesis.

Firstandforemost,Iamgreatlyindebtedtomyrespectablesupervisor,ProfessorJiang

Yemei,whogavememanyvaluablesuggestions,incisivecommentsandencouragement.

Withoutherpatientguidance,thisthesiswouldnothavebeeninthispresentform.

Mygratitudealsogoestoallmyteachers,ProfessorBaiJingze,ProfessorLiXiao,

AssociateProfessorZhouXiaolin,AssociateProfessorShenBin,AssociateProfessorLu

Qiaolin,ProfessorZhangShaolinandAssociateProfessorGuanYongpingwhoinspiredme

withtheirknowledgeduringmythreeyears'postgraduatestudy.

Iwouldalsoliketothankmyclassmates,LuQiaohua,whotookthetimetohelpmesetup

mythesisform.Again,IwouldliketoacknowledgeFangBao'sassistanceindatacollectionfor

mythesis.

Finally,mythanksarealsoextendedtomyfamilyfortheirsupportandcarethroughthe

difficulttimes.

ni

Chapter1Introduction

1.1AGeneralDescriptionoftheThesis

Thestudyintendstoinvestigatethesituationofnon-Englishmajorcollegestudents9

extracurricularEnglishreadinginuniversitiesandcollegesofGuangxiZhuangAutonomous

Region.Thequestionstobeaddressedintheresearchareasfollows:

(1)Whatistheinterrelationofcollegenon-Englishmajorstudents5extracurricularEnglish

readingandEnglishreadingproficiency?Whatfactorsarecloselyrelatedtocollege

students9Englishreadingproficiency?

(2)Whatarethedifferencesoftheartsstudentsandthesciencestudentsinextracurricular

Englishreading?

(3)Whatisthegeneralsituationofcollegestudents9extracurricularEnglishreading?

Inthisinvestigation,questionnaire,interviewandEnglishreadingproficiencytestareused

togainanobjectivefinding.Theinputhypothesisandaffectivefilterhypothesisareboth

importantrationalesofthestudy.Hopefully,thisstudycouldrealisticallyreflectthecurrent

situationofnon-Englishmajorcollegestudents9extracurricularEnglishreading;meanwhileby

analyzingtheresearchingresults,somegoodcountermeasuresareraisedtohelpputEnglish

readingteachingaheadandguidestudentstotakeeffectivelyautonomouslearningofEnglish

reading.AsforthelimitationsexistinginextracurricularEnglishreading,teachersareexpected

tofurtherexploreandremedytheshortcomingswithstudents9activecooperationinEnglish

readingteachingandlearning.

1.2TheSignificanceoftheResearch

ReadingisanessentialskillforEnglishlearning.66Asoneoflife'sskills,readingnotonly

fostersliteracyinourearlyyears,butalsoenrichesourknowledgeoftheworldandcultivates

ourabilitiesallthelife.Itcanwidenourhorizonandourexperienceofthelanguage/XGrellet,

1981:58).Readingalsoentertainsus.Inmostuniversitiesandcolleges,Englishlearningis

concentratedonIntensiveReading,whichismainlyfocusedondetailedreading,althoughthere

isnolackofvocabularylearning,andexercisepracticesonotherabilities.InJuly2007,the

EducationMinistryofChinapromulgatedanewCollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirements,and

initagreatemphasisisplacedonthebasicrequirementsofreadingabilityforcollegestudents

whoareatthelevelofbasicEnglishphase:StudentsshouldgenerallybeabletoreadEnglish

textsongeneraltopicsataspeedof70wpm.Withlongeryetlessdifficulttexts,thereading

speedshouldbe100wpm.Studentsshouldbeabletodoskimmingandscanning.Withthehelp

ofadictionary,theyshouldbeabletoreadtextbooks,newspaperandmagazinearticleson

familiartopicswritteninEnglish,graspingthemainideas.Theyshouldbeabletounderstand

textsofpracticalstylescommonlyusedinworkanddailylife.Theyareexpectedtobeableto

employeffectivereadingstrategieswhilereading.Forthosewelleducatedcollegestudentsfrom

developedareasofChina,suchabasicrequirementonreadingmaybesuitable.Butforthose

collegestudentsfromdevelopingareasofthewestChina,therequirementistoodifficult.Aswe

allknow,therearemanyfactorscontributetothesuccessofthereaders.Readingcomprehension

isthemostimportantpartofCollegeEnglishTestBand4andCollegeEnglishTestBand6,

therefore,thequalityofextrareadingiscrucialforstudentstopasstheexamination.However,it

isfarfromenoughfbrastudenttoimprovehisorherEnglishreadingproficiencyonlyby

classroomteaching,whileaproperquantityofextracurricularEnglishreadingisneeded.The

extracurricularEnglishreadingisthecontinuumandsupplementofclassroomteaching.While

thein-classstudyingislimitedbuttheafter-classlearningisinfinite.Student'sextracurricular

Englishreadingcannotonlyconsolidateandexpandtheachievementsfromclassroomteaching

butalsoimprovestudent'sreadingproficiencyandwritinglevel,expandstudent'sknowledge

scopeandhelptoimprovestudent'scomprehensiveabilityandapplicationabilityoflanguage.

Nowadays,inthedaysofcarryingoutqualityeducationandstrengtheningthereformofcollege

Englishteaching,collegeextracurricularEnglishreadingisstillthenecessaryandimportantpart

inthewholecourseofcollegeEnglishteaching.

AstheextensiveEnglishreadingisimportantandnecessarytocollegestudentsandthe

importanceofithasbeengainedacommonunderstandingbyalotoflinguisticexperts,wecan

confidentlybelievethatifpeoplereallywanttolearnEnglishwell,theyshouldspendmuchtime

ontakingextracurricularEnglishreading.Butwhatisthefactafterall?Somequestionshaveto

beknown:what'sthecurrentsituationofcollegeextracurricularEnglishreading;ifstudents

havemeetingofmindsontheimportanceofEnglishreading;howisitrelatedtostudent's

Englishproficiency;whatarestudents5readingways;whatarestudents'readingobstacles;what

arestudents9readingpurposes;whatkindofactivitiesofextracurricularEnglishreadingarefit

fordifferentgroupsofstudents;howdoteachersgiveproperguidanceofchoosingreading

2

materials,readingwaysandreadingstrategiestostudentsandsoon.Inaddition,whatarethe

differencesbetweentheartsstudentsandthesciencestudentsonthoseaspects?Inconnection

withthesequestions,weneedtoresearchthesituationofextracurricularEnglishreadingof

non-Englishmajorcollegestudents.

1.3OrganizationoftheThesis

Thisthesisiscomposedoffivechapters.

ChapterOneisageneralintroduction,whichgivesanoverviewofthewholethesis:the

generalresearchquestions,thepurposeandsignificanceoftheresearchandtheorganizationof

thethesis.

ChapterTwoistheliteraturereview,andisconsistedoffivesections.SectionOnegivesthe

definitionsof“reading"and"extracurricularreading”,SectionTwoisabouttheimportanceof

extracurricularreading,SectionThreedisplaysthetheoreticalfoundationsofthestudy,Section

Fouroverviewssomerelevantresearchesofreadingbothabroadandathome;whichare

composedoftheInputHypothesisandAffectiveFilterHypothesisandSectionFiveisthe

summaryofthechapter.

ChapterThreegivesadetaileddescriptionofhowthisstudyisconducted.Thechapter

offersanintroductorystatementinwhichthespecificationoftheresearchquestions,thesubjects,

theinstrumentsandtheprocessofdata-collectionarereported.

ChapterFourprovidesadetaileddescriptionoftheresultsofquantitativeandqualitative

analysis,whichincludestheresultsofcorrelationtestofthevaluesoffourfactorsof

extracurricularEnglishreadingandreadingproficiency,theresultsofindependentt-testonthe

differenceofextracurricularEnglishreadingoftheArtsstudentsandtheSciencestudents,the

mainresultsoftheinterviewsetc.discussionoftheresultsarealsopresented.

ChapterFivestatesthemajorfindingsoftheresearchandsomeimplicationsfromthe

researcharealsogiven.Thentheauthorgivesoutsomepracticalcountermeasuresinsolvingthe

problemsdiscoveredthroughtheinvestigation.

ChapterSixistheconclusion,whichmakesabriefsummaryoftheresearch.The

significanceoftheresearchaswellassomelimitationsofthestudyispointedout.Then

suggestionsforthefuturestudyinthisareaarealsogiven.

3

Chapter2LiteratureReview

2.1DefinitionsofReadingandExtracurricularReading

2.1.1TheDefinitionofReading

Therearemanydescriptionsonthedefinitionofreading.Readinghasbeendefinedas”the

meaningfulinterpretationofwrittenorprintedverbalsymbols^^(HarrisandSipay,1975).In

otherwords,readingisthedecodingprocessofthewrittensymbolsandthereconstructionofthe

worldthewriterhadinmind.Itisoneofourmosttreasuredhumangifts.Itisalsooneofthe

mostcomplexskillsinwhichtodevelopstrongsecondlanguagefluency(Grabe,1991).

Longmandictionaryoflanguageteachingandappliedlinguistics(2000:384)definesitas

"perceivingawrittentextinordertounderstanditscontents”.

Intheprocessofreading,peoplemakepredictionsaboutwhatwillcomenext,andcheck

thesepredictions.Smith,GoodmanandMeredith(1970)emphasizedthatreadingwasanactive

processratherthanapassive,receptiveone.Followingthat,Smith(1973)claimedthatreading

wasnotevenprimarilyavisualprocess.Non-visualinformationthatcomesfromthebrainis

moreimportantinreadingthanwhatappearsontheprintedpage.Non-visualinformation

includesallthatthereaderhasalreadyknownaboutgrammar,syntax,semantics,context,and

theworldingeneral.

Somepsychologistsandlinguiststhinkofreadingasadecodingprocess,thatis,merely

therecognitionofwords.Someregardreadingasaprocessofreconstructingmessagesthat

appearinwrittenform.Buttoreceivemeaninginformationthroughcomprehensionofthetextis

perhapsthemostimportantpurposeofreading.Infact,readingisaverycomplexprocess

involvingreaders9manyabilitiesintheprocess.Theroleofreadingtoreinforceotherlanguage

skillsisimportanttolanguagelearningisgenerallyrecognizedandwidelyaccepted.

Itisnoteasytomakeaperfectdefinitionofreading,andbysynthesizingallthedefinitions

above,wewouldliketosaythatreadingiscomplexactivedecodingprocessofaprintedor

writtentext.

Generally,therearetwokindsofreading:intensivereadingandextensivereading,orwe

cansayreadingforaccuracyandreadingforfluency.Intensivereadingmeanstoapproachthe

textunderthecloseguidanceoftheteacherorataskthatrequiresthestudentstopaygreat

attentiontothetext.Theaimistoanalyzethetextcarefully,notonlytoknowthemeaningbut

alsotoknowhowthemeaningisproduced.Theteachershelpstudentstograspthebasic

structuresofthelanguageandtoimprovethestudents'readingskills,towidentheirknowledge.

4

2.1.2TheDefinitionofExtracurricularReading

Asreadinghasbeendefinedabove,extracurricularreadingmaybedefinedasreading

activitiesoutsidetheregularcourseofreadinginaschool.Yetasacomplementaryapproachto

thein-classEnglishlearning,ithasnotbeengiventheproperdefinitionbyscholars.Some

teachersandresearchersalsousetheterm“out?of?class''readingtorefertothesamething.

Accordingtomyownunderstanding,extracurricularreadingreferstoextensivereadingof

Englishmaterialsratherthantextbooksoutofclass.

Extracurricularreadingismostlyakindofautonomousreading.Itisguidedbytheteacher

atbeginning,andthenstudentsmakereadingplansbythemselves,monitortheirreadingprocess

whiletheyundertakeindependentlythetasks,andassessthereadingoutcome.Whenbecoming

autonomousreaders,theycanfulfillthereadingtaskswithouttheteacher'shelp.Theyareeager

toread,activetoparticipateinthereadingactivitiesthattheydevisebythemselvesandfully

showuptheircreativeness.Theycanfindmaterialsbythemselves,andalsomakegooduseof

time,resourcesandsoon.Thewholeprocessiscompletedprimarilyoutofclass.

Throughtheextracurricularreadingactivities,learnerswillfeelconfidentandhaveasense

ofaccomplishment.Someofthedecision-makingandtheresponsibilityforlearningwillbeput

intheirhands,andoverthelongtermitbuildsautonomysothattheycanreadontheirown

withoutbeingdependentontheirteachefsdirectionandsupervision.

Accordingtoourunderstanding,extracurricularEnglishreadingincludesalmosteverykind

ofEnglishreadingbesidesthereadinghappeningintheclasstime.Thereadingactives,suchas

students'readinganEnglishnovelafterclassinthelibrary,readingsomeEnglishnewspaperat

home,surfingtheinternetandseeingthenetpageswritteninEnglishetcarebelongto

extracurricularEnglishreading.Ifseenfromthetimespan,mostofstudents'readingshappenin

extracurricularreadingorwecansayextracurricularreadingisthemainchannelofcollege

students'readingpractice.

2.2TheImportanceofExtracurricularReadinginLanguageLearning

Readingisthekeytolearning.ItisespeciallyimportantinlearningEnglishasaforeign

language,becausereadingisoneofthemainskillsaswellasoneofthemostimportantmethods

oflearningforeignlanguages.Readingandlisteningaretwoessentialwaysofinput,andfor

studentsinChina,readingisperhapsthemostavailablewayofgettingintouchwiththeEnglish

languagematerialandhencethemostimportantchanneloflinguisticinput.

Readingtextsprovideopportunitiestostudyalanguage:vocabulary,grammar,andtheway

weconstructsentences,paragraphsandtexts.Readingtextsalsoprovidegoodmodelsfor

5

Englishwriting.Whenteachingtheskillsofwriting,weneedtoshowstudentsthemodelsof

whatweareencouragingthemtoimitate.(YaoXiming,2004:72-75).

Itisnodoubtthatreadingisveryimportantinlanguagelearning.Yetthefunctionof

readingtotheotherlanguageskillscanonlybefullyrealizedbyalargequantityofreading

exercise.Andtodoso,itneedsalotoftime.Buttimeforreadinginclassisverylimitedfor

collegestudents,whilethetimearrangementforextracurricularreadingisflexibleandcasual.

Afterclass,studentshavemoretimeonreadingforlanguagelearning,sogenerallyspeaking,

extracurricularreadingmayhavegreatinfluenceonlanguageleaning.Itisthereadingoutof

classthatformthemostpartofstudents9reading.Soifwesayreadingisimportant,tosome

extent,itmeansextracurricularreadingisimportant,formostofthereadingsexistinstudents9

extracurricularreading.

Furthermore,students9learningisaprocessofstudents9behavioralchangesbymeansof

experiencedirectedbytheeducationalgoals.Studentsshouldbelearnerswhoareawareoftheir

ownlearningprocessandhavemetacognition,notpassiveknowledgereceiverscontrolledby

teachers.Whileengagedinreadingactivities,studentsareentitledtodecidetheappropriateand

interestingreadingmaterialsandreadingpaceetc.Tosomeextent,studentshavethecapacityof

self-monitoringwhilereading.Theyshouldknowwhattheyhaveunderstoodandwhattheyhave

notunderstood,andhowtoimproveandmakeuptheshortagesandsoon.Thatistosay,

studentshavealargedegreeofautonomytotheentirereadingactivityandtheyareresponsible

forit.(DaiXuefang,2005)

Teacherswantstudentstoreadbetterandfasterwithfullunderstanding.Inordertoattain

this,thestudentsneedtoreadmore.Itisreallynotenoughforlearnerstomasteraforeign

languagemerelydependingonclassroomsettingwithinthelimitedtimeandthesingletextbook.

HowtoreachthereadinggoalisbecomingmoreandmoreurgentinEnglishteaching.However,

thesparetimeisrelativelyadequateforstudentstodrawon,andtheycanfulfilltheirreading

tasksoutofclassroom.ExtracurricularEnglishreading,toacertaindegree,canovercome

anxiety,heightenstudents9self-confidenceandreducetheothernegativeeffectsinEnglish

learning.Formalclassroomteachingdeprivesstudentsthefreedomtodecidewhattoreadand

howtoread.Asaresult,extracurricularEnglishreadingmakesstudentsmoreactivatedandmore

efficientinlearning."Thereisaconvincingevidencethatpeoplewhotaketheinitiativein

learninglearnmorethingsandlearnbetterthanpeoplewhositatthefeetofteachers,passively

waitingtobetaught”(Knowles,1975).

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2.3TheTheoreticalBasis

2.3.1Krashen'sInputHypothesis

InputisprobablyoneofthemostimportanttermsinSLA.Withoutinput,secondlanguage

learnerscannotlearnalanguage.InputhypothesisputforwardbyKrashenisoneofthemost

importantsecondlanguageacquisitiontheories.AccordingtoKrashen(1988),theonlywayfor

learnerstoacquirealanguageistoexposethemtocomprehensiblelanguageinputinthelevelof

“i+1”.Itmeansthatthelanguageinputshouldbe"i+1”iflearnersarenowinthelanguagelevel

of"i"."i"standsfor"informationstudentshavemastered”.Onlyinthisconditioncanlearners

understandmostofthecontentandtheirlearningeffectbeguaranteed.Althoughthisinput,to

someextent,isalittlebitchallenging,itdoesn'tlieoutsidethelearners9competencescopeand

theyarecapableofunderstandingandmasteringitwiththeteachefshelp(Krashen,1988).

Thishypothesisstatessimplythatweacquirelanguagebyunderstandinginputthatisalittle

beyondourcurrentlevelofacquiredcompetence.Itclaimsthatlisteningandreading

comprehensionsareofprimaryimportanceinL2learning,andthattheabilitytospeakandwrite

willcomeonitsownwithtime.Speakingfluencyisnot"taught“directly;rather,it"emerges

overtimeandonitsown“aftertheacquirerhasbuiltupcompetencethroughcomprehending

input(Krashen,1985:2).Thelanguagematerialsthatonlyconsistofthelearntlanguagepoints

areofnosignificancetolanguagelearn