非英语专业大学生课外英语阅读情况调查

非英语专业大学生课外英语阅读情况调查

研究生：温颖年级：2005级学科专业：课程与教学论

指导老师：蒋业梅研究方向：英语教学论

中文摘要

阅读技能是语言学习的四大技能之一，在英语学习中占有很重要的地位。大量的阅读

对提高英语语言能力是非常有用的。许多国内外专家学者充分肯定了大量阅读对二语习得

和外语学习的重要性。Krashen（1985）认为“能否掌握第二语言的关键因素是接触大量

可理解性的语言输入材料Harmer（2000）则认为好的阅读材料为学生提供范例，有利

于他们提高写作能力；而且阅读提供了学习词汇、语法、遣词造句等的机会，促进了语言

习得。国内不少的专家学者也一致认为大量的阅读对英语学习至关重要。听和读是接触语

言材料的两条主要途径，而在我国现有的学习环境下，读可谓是接触语言材料的最佳途径。

大量的阅读需要一定的时间，而学生在课堂上的时间是有限的，因此课外自主阅读成

为了一定阅读量的重要保证。广大教师也意识到了学生课外阅读的重要性，近年来不少学

者对大学生课外阅读情况以及如何指导学生进行课外阅读等方面进行了研究。而对于西部

欠发达地区非英语专业大学生的英语课外阅读情况相关研究较少，为了更好地了解和改进

他们的课外英语阅读教学，作者2006年底对1,一西三个不同高校非英语专业学生的课外阅

读情况进行了调查研究。

本研究主要围绕以下三个方面的问题展开：1）非英语专业大学生课外阅读情况与英

语阅读水平的相互关系如何？哪些因素与大学生英语阅读水平紧密相关？2）大学文科生

和理科生在英语课外阅读方面有何差异？3）非英语专业大学生课外阅读的总体情况如

何？

为了解决以上问题，作者以广西三所有代表性的大学的非英语专业二年级学生作为调

查对象，在各个学校随机抽取了一个文科班和一个理科班，受调查的学生共186人。作者

通过问卷调查，英语阅读水平测试以及对学生进行访谈等方式来进行数据的收集。作者将

问卷调查和阅读水平测试所收集的数据通过SPSS13.0进行定量分析，访谈的结果经过分

类归纳后进行定性分析。

本次研究的结果表明：1）在影响课外阅读的四个因素中，英语阅读的目的性和英语阅

读的障碍与英语阅读水平显著相关，而阅读作用评估和阅读途径却并不与阅读水平显著相

关；2）文科生和理科生之间的显著差异体现在阅读作用评估和阅读障碍上；3）从大学生的

总体阅读情况上看，他们大多认同英语课外阅读的重要性和对提高英语综合水平的作用，

他们对课外阅读表现出很强的目的性，但是存在着阅读障碍，而且在阅读方式上采取多样

性的频率不高。另外学生的课外阅读量小且面窄，阅读质量低，缺乏阅读自发性及阅读方

法不当，还有学校主管部门对于课外阅读活动的投入不够以及任课老师对学生课外阅读的

IV

指导不到位等等

通过调查与研究，我们对广西高校非英语专业大学生的课外阅读情况有了一个整体的

了解，对于今后的课外英语阅读教学有实际指导作用，可以帮助学生进行更加有效的课外

阅读，提高他们的阅读水平和能力。当然，由于本研究调查的样本比较小，抽样范围只限

于广西三所高校，研究结果还尚属探索性，还不具备推广性。对于研究本身的不足，希望

有更多的相关研究加以补充和发展。

关键词：大学英语；课外阅读；阅读水平；调查

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

论文独创性声明

本人郑重声明：所提交的学位论文是本人在导师的指导下进行的研究工

作及取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不含其他个人或其

他机构已经发表或撰写过的研究成果。对本文的研究作出重要贡献的个人和

集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人承担本声明的法律责任。

研究生签名：日期：.

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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).

6

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