1、Literature Review1. The importance of reading in English learningIn language learning, reading is regarded as a major source of input, and for many EFL learners it is the most important skill in an academic context （Grabe 1991). In addition, reading can help learners extend their general knowledge o

2、f the world. In the context of China, as Chinese EFL learners are learning the target language in an acquisition-poor environment, they need all the more to depend on reading for language and culture immersion. And, what is more, there is another necessity to Chinese EFL learnersreading for examinat

3、ions (Zhou 2003). It is obvious that reading makes up a large proportion of the total scores in important English Proficiency Tests at various levels such as Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), College English Test Band 4 (CET-4), Col

4、lege English Test Band 6 (CET-6), Test for English Majors Band 4 (TEM-4), Test for English Majors Band 8 (TEM-8) (Pu 2006). Therefore, reading is considered an essential and prerequisite ability on the part of English majors. 2. The reading process 2.1 The nature of reading Reading comprehension beg

5、ins at the smallest and simplest language units and each single word, sentence and passage carries its own meaning independently which has no direct link with the reader (Chomsky cited in Zhang & Guo 2005). It is the process of acquiring information from a written or printed text. So to read a t

6、ext successfully is to know the meaning of the text. (Eskey 2002, cited in Yu 2005). Another view about reading is that reading is a “psycholinguistic guessing game” (Goodman 1967, cited in Zhang 2006) during which the reader can make predictions about the content of a passage according to the textu

7、al clues, his prior knowledge and experience. If his predictions are confirmed, the reader continues, otherwise, he revises those predictions (Goodman 1967; Smith 1971, cited in Silberstein 2002: 6).From this perspective, reading can be taken as an interactive activity (Eskey 1988; Grabe 1993, cited

8、 in Hedge 2002: 188) which can be understood to be a complex cognitive process in which the reader and the text interact to (re)create meaningful discourse (Silberstein 2002: x). It is in at least two ways. Firstly, the various processes involved in reading are carried out simultaneously. Secondly,

9、it is interactive in the sense that linguistic information from the text interacts with information activated by the reader from his long-term memory, as background knowledge (Grabe & Stoller 2005: 18). At this point, reading can also be described as a kind of dialogue between the reader and the

10、 text, or even between the reader and the author (Widdowson 1979a, cited in Hedge 2002: 188).Meanwhile, reading is a complex process. It involves processing ideas generated by others that are transmitted through language and involves highly complex cognitive processing operations (Nunan 1999, cited

11、in Yu 2005). And many processing skills are coordinated in very efficient combinations (Grabe & Stoller 2005: 4).Furthermore, reading is a purposeful process. We can divide the purpose into different categories: reading for pleasure or reading for information in order to find out something or do

12、 something with the information you get (Grellet 2000: 4): to get information, to response to curiosity about a topic; to follow instructions to perform a task; for pleasure, amusement, and personal enjoyment; to keep in touch with friends and colleagues; to know what is happening in the world; and

13、to find out when and where things are (Rivers and Temperley1978: 187, cited in Hedge 2002: 195).Besides these, reading is a critical process. Critical reading views reading as a social engagement (Kress 1985, cited in Hedge 2002: 197). Form this viewpoint, texts are organized in certain ways by writ

14、ers to shape the perceptions of readers towards acceptance of the underlying ideology of the text (Hedge 2002: 197). So it is the process for the readers to evaluate the writers attitudes or viewpoints. 2.2 Three components of reading Language competenceMany researchers have pointed out that L2 lear

15、ners must reach a certain level of second language competence before they can smoothly read in the target language (see Grabe & Stoller 2005). An efficient reader can recognize and decode the words, grammatical structures and other linguistic features quickly, accurately, and automatically.Obvio

16、usly, sometimes second language readers have difficulties in processing texts which contain unfamiliar elements of the English language such as the cohesive devices (Hedge 2002: 192). Just as Berman (1984, cited in Hedge 2002: 193) suggests, deletion, another cohesive device, can make a text opaque

17、to the reader. It seems to confirm the hypothesis that foreign language readers are partly dependent on processing syntactic structures successfully to get access to meaning (Hedge 2002: 193).Another major difficulty lies in vocabulary. Language learners experience difficulty with vocabulary, but th

18、e degree of difficulty varies with the demands of the text, the prior knowledge of the reader, the degree of automaticity a learner has achieved in general word recognition, any specialist lexical knowledge a student might have, and the learners first language (Hedge 2002: 193). Background knowledge

19、 Background knowledge is ones previously acquired comprehensive knowledge or world knowledge and ones special knowledge on certain subjects (Zhang & Guo 2005). In language learning, especially for reading comprehension, the function of background knowledge in reading comprehension is formularize

20、d as schema theory (Bartlett 1932; Rumelhart & Ortony 1977; Rumelhart 1980, cited in Zhang 2006). The reader begins with the perception of graphic cues, but once these are recognized as familiar, schemata derived from both linguistic knowledge and knowledge of the world in general are brought in

21、to play (Parry 1987: 61, cited in Qian 1997). So words in texts function as signs within a culture-bound system, and familiar cultural schemata can sometimes be more powerful than lexical knowledge (Swaffar 1988: 123). If the texts are products of an unfamiliar culture, some learners reading problem

22、s may be caused by insufficient background knowledge, and a particular schemata fails to exist for them because this schemata is specific to a given culture and is not part of their own background (Carrell 1988: 245, cited in Qian 1997). Therefore, comprehending a text is described as an interactive

23、 process between the readers background knowledge and the text (Qian 1997), but it depends largely on the reader rather than on the text (Carrell 1984: 333; Swaffar 1988: 123, cited in Qian 1997). The reason is that any text, either spoken or written, doesnt by itself carry meaning and what a text p

24、rovides is only the directions as to how a reader should retrieve or construct meaning from previously acquired knowledge which is the readers background knowledge (Zhang & Guo 2005). There are two basic types of schemata: formal schemata and content schemata. Formal schemata, often known as tex

25、tual schemata, consists of knowledge of different text types, genres, and the understanding that different types of texts use text organization, language structures, vocabulary, grammar, level of formality/register differently. If ESL readers possess the appropriate formal schemata against which the

26、y process the discourse type of the text and if they utilize that formal schemata to organize their recall protocols, they will retrieve more information (Carrell 1984: 460, cited in Hedge 2002:192). Therefore, the readers background knowledge and prior experience with textual organization can facil

27、itate reading comprehension (Pu 2006).Content schemata involves a readers existent knowledge about certain topics and his general world knowledge. The readers content schemata functions while he is trying to comprehend subject-specific and culture-specific texts. Reading strategiesReading strategies

28、 are defined as the mental operations involved when readers approach a text effectively and make sense of what they are reading (Barnett 1988, cited in Pani 2006). These strategies consist of cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies. William Grabe (1991: 379, cited in Qian 1997) includes th

29、em into six categories:(1) Automatic recognition skills (2) Vocabulary and structure knowledge(3) Formal discourse structure knowledge(4) Content/world background knowledge(5) Synthesis and evaluation skills(6) Metacognitive knowledge and monitoring skills .1 Cognitive strategies in reading Cognitiv

30、e strategies are described as mental processes directly concerned with the processing of information in order to learn, that is for obtaining, storage, retrieval or use of information (Williams & Burden 2000: 148). They are involved in the analysis, synthesis, or transformation of learning mater

31、ials (Ellis2000: 77). Furthermore, these strategies enable readers to deal with the information presented in tasks and materials by working on it in different ways (Hedge 2002: 77-78).Mikulecky (1990: 25-26) has listed categories 24 reading strategies which an efficient reader must acquire:1. Automa

32、tic decoding 2. Previewing and predicting 3. Specifying purpose 4. Identifying genre5. Questioning 6. Scanning 7. Recognizing topics 8. Classification of ideas into main topics and details 9. Locating topic sentence 10. Stating the main idea of a sentence, paragraph or passage 11. Recognizing patter

33、ns of relationships12. Identifying and using words which signal the patterns of relationships13. Inferring the main idea, using patterns and other clues 14. Recognizing and using pronouns, referents, and other lexical equivalents as clues to cohesion15. Guessing the meaning of unknown words from the

34、 context 16. Skimming 17. Paraphrasing 18. Summarizing 19. Draw conclusions20. Draw inferences and using evidence 21. Visualizing 22. Reading critically 23. Reading faster 24. Adjusting reading rate according to materials and purposeAmong these reading strategies/skills, some are more basic to inter

35、mediate English majors, such as previewing and predicting, scanning, locating topic sentence, recognizing patterns of relationships, inferring the main idea, using patterns and other clues, guessing the meaning of unknown words from the context, skimming, paraphrasing, or etc. Some are more essentia

36、l to advanced English majors, such as automatic decoding, draw conclusions, draw inferences and using evidence, reading critically, etc.2 Metacognitive strategies in reading A large body of literature on ESL/EFL reading has proved that the ability to use metacognitive strategies is a critical compon

37、ent of skilled reading (Grabe 1991: 382, cited in Qian 1997). As the indispensable strategies, metacognitive strategies consist of planning for learning, thinking about learning and how to make it effective, self-monitoring during learning, and evaluation of how successful learning has been after wo

38、rking on language in some way (Hedge 2002: 78). When it comes to reading, metacognitive strategies involve awareness, monitoring and regulating (Qian 2005).Awareness includes readers consciousness of their own reading strengths and weaknesses (Mikulecky 1990: 28, cited in Qian 2005), their purpose o

39、f reading, their recognition of implicit as well as explicit information in the text (Haller et al. 1988, cited in Qian 2005), and their awareness of strategies to be employed by them in the process of reading (Qian 2005). Monitoring can be used to adjust reading rate, check comprehension during rea

40、ding, integrate prior knowledge with current information, compare main ideas, generate self-questioning and summarize the written text (Grabe 1991; Haller et al. 1988, cited in Qian 2005).Regulating is used to redirect self-comprehension, check effectiveness of the strategies used (Grabe 1991, cited

41、 in Qian 2005), and operate repair strategies if comprehension fails. The relationship among these is that monitoring and regulating of cognitive processing function on the basis of awareness (Qian 2005).3. The importance of strategic processing in EFL reading 3.1 Modes of information processing in

42、EFL reading Text comprehension requires the simultaneous interaction of two modes of information processing, that is, bottom-up processing (text-based or dada driven) and top-down processing (knowledge-based or conceptually driven) (Silberstein 2002: 7). Bottom-up processing refers to the decoding o

43、f the letters, words, and other language features in the text (Hedge 2002: 189). The processing occurs when linguistic input from the text is mapped against the readers existent linguistic knowledge, and it is also evoked by the incoming data (Silberstein 2002: 7). This processing ensures the reader

44、 to be sensitive to information that is novel or that does not fit their ongoing hypotheses about the content or structure of the text (Zhang 2006). For fluent reading, the most fundamental requirement is rapid and automatic word recognition (Grabe & Stoller 2005: 20). And a fluent reader can ta

45、ke in and store words together so that basic grammatical information can be extracted to support clause-level meaning (ibid: 22). So improving reading speed is an important strategy for this processing (Grellet 2000: 16). But this is the basic processing mode dependent on linguistic competence and l

46、eading to comprehension mainly on the sentence level.On the other hand, top-down processing refers to the application of prior knowledge to working on the meaning of a text (Hedge 2002: 189). The processing occurs when readers use prior knowledge to make predictions about the data they will find in

47、a text (Silberstein 2002: 8). It assumes that reading is primarily directed by reader goals and expectations (Grabe & Stoller 2005: 32). It helps the readers to resolve ambiguities or to select between alternative possible interpretations of the incoming data (Zhang 2006). Some strategies involv

48、ed are: making inferences through the context and word formation, skimming and scanning or etc (Grellet 2000:14-18). However, there is a question about what a reader could learn from a text if the reader must first have expectations about all the information in the text (Grabe & Stoller 2005: 32

49、).Therefore, to some extent, these views concerning processing in reading comprehension are not entirely adequate. A more effective way is to use these two modes of processing interactively, during which one can take useful ideas from a bottom-up perspective and combine them with key ideas from a to

50、p-down view (Grabe & Stoller 2005: 33). It is claimed that prior knowledge and prediction facilitate the processing of input from the text. Meanwhile, the integrated mode requires linguistic perception. Readers can use bottom-up processing as a base for sampling data and then switch to top-down

51、process to execute higher-level interpretation of the text. Furthermore, through further sampling of data, readers will confirm, revise or reject predictions about the content of the text. So these two modes of information processing are complementary to each other (Qian & Ding 2004). To be stra

52、tegic readers, EFL learners should possess the ability of between bottom-up processing and top-down processing flexibly to monitor and regulate the reading process.3.2 Strategy training Many studies have provided sufficient evidence for the efficacy of strategy training. One example was a study unde

53、rtaken by Carrell, Pharis, and Liberto (1989, cited in Hedge 2002: 80-81) with twenty-six ESL students of mixed first language backgrounds. This investigated the value of two training techniques: semantic mapping and experience-text-relationship (ETR) in pre-reading. In the experiment, one group of

54、students underwent training in the semantic mapping technique and another underwent training in the ETR technique. A third group received no training. The groups were pre-tested and post-tested on their ability to answer multiple choice comprehension questions, to complete partially constructed maps

55、 of the topics of three texts, and to create their own semantic maps. The general results suggested that the use of both techniques enhanced the second-language reading of the students involved as compared with the group that receive no training. Another example of such studies was undertaken with f

56、ifty-six freshmen in two classes of China University of Geosciences (Liu & Zuo 2006). The students took the CET-4 reading test which contained five passages of different style and registers were chosen from the CET-4 test of the years 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1996. Finally they finished a reading-st

57、rategy questionnaire. This questionnaire was a self-assessment inventory including 19 statements on a five-point scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” for assessing the reading strategies used during the three stages of reading comprehension: pre-reading stage, during-reading st

58、age and post-reading stage. The results indicated that reading strategies contributed a lot to the reading performance. The students who used more reading strategies that promoted their reading scores performed better than those who used less reading strategies. Therefore, students should and can be

59、 trained to acquire and develop reading strategies to improve their reading proficiency. The above two examples show that strategy training has a significant positive effect on reading comprehension and different techniques can be employed for strategy training which aims to help learners apply strategies to upgrade their reading ability. The use of cognitive strategies and metacognitive strat