An Experimental Investigation into the Reading Ability Transfer of Chinese Speaking Learners of English

Abstract

Reading is not only essential for people in their first language earning, but may also be essential in a foreign language. It follows that the task of the teacher of reading in S/FL becomes crucial. As teachers of reading we must know what skills a learner needs so as to be a competent reader, whether there is any relationship between reading in L and in S/FL, and what kind of training should be given to learner. This thesis tries to answer these questions first by analysing,the reading process in LI and the similarity and difference between reading in L1 and S/FL, and then by investigating through an experiment the possibility of reading ability transfer from L1 to S/FL. The thesis ends with some implications and recommendations drawn from the theoretical analysis and the results of the experiment. Reading is an active process in which the reader makes an active contribution by drawing upon and using concurrently various abilities and skills that he has acquired to understand the message and get the information from the text, Reading process is much the same for all languages with minor variations to accommodate the specific characteristics of the language used. However, the knowledge of the target language and the different cultural background knowledge make reading in a foreign language different to and even more complicated than reading in the native language. The experiment of this thesis was carried out for the purpose of investigating whether reading skills can transfer from L1 to S/FL. The results show that while the assumption of reading universals and transfer of reading strategies across languages may be justified, language proficiency plays a significant role in the transfer. S/FL readers, such as the postgraduates in the experiment, can use reading strategies of fluent L1 readers when their S/FL competence reaches the level which can enable them to use the language at ease. The postgraduates showed a positive, though weak, tendency for the transfer of some of the reading skills tested, but for those readers whose control over the language was limited, this ‘language competence ceiling’ interfered with their transfer of reading ability. Language competence is not the only variable of transfer, improper training methods and the psychological strains experienced by the reader also hinder the transfer of reading ability. In the light of theoretical analysis and the experimental results, a reading teacher must help students to improve their target language competence, and at the same time train students in the proper way to use skilled reading strategies. Only by putting emphasis on both the linguistic and psychological elements can teachers be most likely to help students to become skilled readers.