The Reading Art of Two Successful Chinese EFL Learners

1. The Reading Art of Two Successful Chinese EFL Learners --A study on reading strategies

2. Language learning strategies • A specific type of action or behavior resorted to by a language learner in order to improve performance in both using and learning a language (Wenden & Rubin 1987; Oxford 1990).

3. Rationales for language learning strategies • Less effective learners may benefit from applying the same strategies used by successful language learners. • Good learners can become better by exploiting the whole spectrum of strategies that are available to them. (Rubin 1975)

4. Factors affecting strategy choice • Beliefs about language learning • Learner factors • Learner’s personal background • Social factors • The strategies learners decide to use are determined by their analysis of the task at hand, their own learning characteristics, and the learning context

5. Strategy use of good learners • Good learners are good because they know where their strengths are and when to use certain strategies to tackle certain learning problems flexibly.

6. Learning strategies in EFL reading • Oxford’s taxonomy • Direct and indirect strategies

7. The purpose of this study • Investigating the general learning strategies employed by two successful students as they dealt with their intensive reading. • The differentiations between these two students’ strategies

8. Subjects • 8 sophomores studying at Xi’an International Studies University • Average age 20 • Average score 87.5

9. Task • Read a passage • Verbalize the strategies in use

10. Retrospective interview • Elicit the strategy use of participants immediately after the reading task • Avoid the intrusive effect of other research methods, such as think-aloud

11. Analysis • Transcribe the interview data • Identify the strategies each participant used • Discover how the learners usually handle reading comprehension, how they deal with their on-line task at different phases.

12. Findings • Li Wen rough reading to get the gist guessing of the ambiguous words selective attention to words or sentences rereading for confirmation analyzing sentence structures relating personal experience to the content extensive reading outside classroom

13. Findings • Lu Yu word-by-word reading zero tolerance of ambiguous words looking up in the dictionary frequently rereading for confirmation analyzing sentence structures relating personal experience to the passage scarce readingoutside classroom

14. Discussion • The finding in this research turned out to run contradictory to the “common sense” -- tolerance of ambiguity: learners who can tolerate moderate levels of ambiguity are more likely to persist in language learning and to achieve more than those who cannot tolerate ambiguity (Chapelle & Roberts, 1986 ) -- extensive reading: The next best way to improve foreign language is to read extensively in it (Nuttall, 2002)

15. Conclusion • Personality helps to determine learners’ learning styles and choice of learning strategies. • Learners, with different intrinsic attributes, personality or learning styles, may resort to diverse means to achieve learning success. • Dogged effort and passion toward learning make the difference between victory and failure.