THE EFFECT OF META-COGNITIVE READING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION ON ENGLISH MAJORS' AND NON-ENGLISH MAJORS’ READING PROFICIENCY

Abstract

 The application of meta-cognitive theory into practice has attracted many researchers' attention with the penetration of Chinese English teaching reform. Extended research has revealed that meta-cognitive reading strategy instruction could enhance reading comprehension ability. To deal with the current situation of limited class hours for English majors and non-English-majors in X university and their relatively low reading scores, explicit meta-cognitive reading strategy instruction has been provided to improve their reading ability. Questionnaires, independent samples t-tests, correlation analyses, and pretest and post-test data have all been analyzed using SPSS. According to the statistical analyses, there are notable differences in the awareness of meta-cognitive reading strategies between the experimental and control groups of students majoring in English and non-majoring in English. The students in the experimental group have demonstrated a greater understanding of meta-cognitive reading strategies than their counterparts in the control group. The aforementioned analyses' findings demonstrate that students' reading abilities were increased, their awareness of meta-cognitive reading strategies was raised, and their actual strategy usage helped to raise reading ability. Explicit meta-cognitive reading strategy education was found to be an effective method for achieving these goals. Both language teachers and students should benefit from the study's theoretical and pedagogical ramifications.