Monday, February 8, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Assignment #6: Article review
Date: February 3, 2010
Title: Research on good and poor reader characterstics.(ISSN 1539-0578)
Summary
In reading research, there are lots of studies on good and poor reader characteristics. However, these findings remain largely scattered in applied linguistics and cognitive and educational psychology. This paper attempts to synthesize current theory and research on the topic in the past 20 years along 3 dimensions: language knowledge and processing ability, cognitive ability, and metacognitive strategic competence. A profile of good readers follows a review of the literature. With a special reference to second language reading research and pedagogy in China, the author argues that a key difference between first language and L2 readers typically have a gap between their L2 proficiency and their knowledge or conceptual maturation, and this tension determines to some degree the characteristics of good versus poor L2 readers. By examining L2 reading research in the country, the author proposes some areas worth exploring in the Chinese context.
Description
Language knowledge and processing ability
Cognitive ability
Metacognitive strategic competence
A profile of good readers
New research directions in L2 reading in china
Word-level issues in L2 reading development
Exposure to print in L2 reading development
Training of a strategic reader
Relationship between instruction and testing
Evaluation of article
The review of previous research on reading comprehension and the subsequent profile of good readers presented in this paper may offer a new perspective for our understanding of reading in a second language. In the Chinese EFL context, reading provides rich and abundant samples of L2 input which is needed to improve learners’ overall language proficiency. From a utilitarian point of view, reading is just what Chinese EFL learners need most both in their academic studies and in their future work. China, reputed to have the biggest population learning English as a foreign language in the world, offers a wide range of issues in L2 reading to be explored. The four areas identified in this paper may provide a stimulus for Chinese scholars and others to carry out research that will not only help China to catch up with international research development but also help to exolore theories applicable to EFL reading.
Example of the useful material
Table 1. A profile of good readers
Dimensions
Language Knowledge and Processing ability.
Automatic and rapic word recognition.
Automatic syntactic parsing and semantic proposition formation.
Resonable size of vocabulary ranging from 10,000 to 100,000.
Cognitive ability.
Good store of cognitive strategies.
Ready access to variety of purposeful strategies.
Higher and proficient use of strategies.
Effective use of prior knowledge.
Supportive use of mother tongue in L2.
Metacognitive strategic competence.
Good knowledge of cognition.
Competence in monitoring comprehension process.
Competence in evaluation and regulating strategy use to achieve maximum comprehension.
Many good reader characteristics are common to both L1 and L2 readers. Although L1 and L2 reading have differences, the fact that many more characteristics are sharted than not between the two types of good readers is reasonable: Good L2 readers seem to make every effort to approximate the linguistic proficiency and repertoire of skills and strategies found in good L1 readers. a profile of good readers based on the interpretation of the previous literature on three dimensions is presented in table 1.
Reference
Pang, J (2008). Research on good and poor reader characteristics: Implications for L2 reading research in China. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(1), 1-18.
Title: Research on good and poor reader characterstics.(ISSN 1539-0578)
Summary
In reading research, there are lots of studies on good and poor reader characteristics. However, these findings remain largely scattered in applied linguistics and cognitive and educational psychology. This paper attempts to synthesize current theory and research on the topic in the past 20 years along 3 dimensions: language knowledge and processing ability, cognitive ability, and metacognitive strategic competence. A profile of good readers follows a review of the literature. With a special reference to second language reading research and pedagogy in China, the author argues that a key difference between first language and L2 readers typically have a gap between their L2 proficiency and their knowledge or conceptual maturation, and this tension determines to some degree the characteristics of good versus poor L2 readers. By examining L2 reading research in the country, the author proposes some areas worth exploring in the Chinese context.
Description
Language knowledge and processing ability
Cognitive ability
Metacognitive strategic competence
A profile of good readers
New research directions in L2 reading in china
Word-level issues in L2 reading development
Exposure to print in L2 reading development
Training of a strategic reader
Relationship between instruction and testing
Evaluation of article
The review of previous research on reading comprehension and the subsequent profile of good readers presented in this paper may offer a new perspective for our understanding of reading in a second language. In the Chinese EFL context, reading provides rich and abundant samples of L2 input which is needed to improve learners’ overall language proficiency. From a utilitarian point of view, reading is just what Chinese EFL learners need most both in their academic studies and in their future work. China, reputed to have the biggest population learning English as a foreign language in the world, offers a wide range of issues in L2 reading to be explored. The four areas identified in this paper may provide a stimulus for Chinese scholars and others to carry out research that will not only help China to catch up with international research development but also help to exolore theories applicable to EFL reading.
Example of the useful material
Table 1. A profile of good readers
Dimensions
Language Knowledge and Processing ability.
Automatic and rapic word recognition.
Automatic syntactic parsing and semantic proposition formation.
Resonable size of vocabulary ranging from 10,000 to 100,000.
Cognitive ability.
Good store of cognitive strategies.
Ready access to variety of purposeful strategies.
Higher and proficient use of strategies.
Effective use of prior knowledge.
Supportive use of mother tongue in L2.
Metacognitive strategic competence.
Good knowledge of cognition.
Competence in monitoring comprehension process.
Competence in evaluation and regulating strategy use to achieve maximum comprehension.
Many good reader characteristics are common to both L1 and L2 readers. Although L1 and L2 reading have differences, the fact that many more characteristics are sharted than not between the two types of good readers is reasonable: Good L2 readers seem to make every effort to approximate the linguistic proficiency and repertoire of skills and strategies found in good L1 readers. a profile of good readers based on the interpretation of the previous literature on three dimensions is presented in table 1.
Reference
Pang, J (2008). Research on good and poor reader characteristics: Implications for L2 reading research in China. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(1), 1-18.
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