（英语语言文学专业论文）英语作为外语的阅读认知模式研究.pdf

descriptive chinese abstract i 摘 要 摘 要 阅读是学习者的一项基本技能， 是信息输入的一种主要形式。 英语作为外语 （english as foreign language）的教学重在培养学生通过阅读获取更多信息的能力。培养学生具 有更强的阅读能力是大学英语教学的主要目的之一。 阅读是读者积极主动地认知文本的 过程，在此过程中，存在很多影响读者阅读以及阅读能力提高的因素，认知方式是其中 主要因素。认知方式对阅读效率起着重要的作用。一些研究已经证明认知方式与语言学 习任务具有显著的相关性，但是，较少有研究者把认知方式和外语学习中的听说读写译 中某项技能结合起来研究，因此，本研究采用场独立和场依存这一对认知方式对英语作 为外语的阅读及阅读能力的提高进行探研。 场独立和场依存这一对认知方式由美国心理学家威特金 1954 年提出，用来描述人 们在感知和处理信息时表现出来的个体差异。 读者在理解和处理语篇的过程中表现出个 体差异，具有不同的阅读特征。本研究采用定性和定量的研究方法，探讨文、理科学生 的认知倾向，并探讨场独立和场依存认知方式与阅读能力的相互关系，分别提出适用于 具有不同认知倾向的读者的语篇认知模式，并尝试把模式用于教学实践，以此指导学生 的阅读。最后，通过实验数据说明了所提出的阅读模式的合理性与可行性。本研究首先 采用镶嵌图形测验和阅读理解测验对湘潭大学法学专业和物理专业 120 名学生（各 60 人）进行调查研究，归结出相关数据，然后用偏态值和相关系数的统计方法对数据进行 定量分析。镶嵌图形用以测验文、理科学生的认知倾向；阅读理解测试用于学生阅读能 力的评估。从第三章的实证研究得出如下主要结论： （1）文、理科学生具有不同的认知 方式，文科生偏向于场依存，理科生偏向于场独立； （2）场独立和场依赖认知方式和阅 读能力的相关关系具有显著性， 且呈负相关性。 由于文、 理科学生具有不同的认知方式， 在阅读过程中偏向于各自的阅读方式，常常忽略不熟悉的阅读方式，所以，无论他们的 认知方式趋向场依存型还是场独立型， 学生的阅读能力都有降低的趋势且未达到最佳状 况。本研究提出了适合场依存和场独立学生的阅读认知模式 1 和认知模式 2，尝试把新 的阅读模式用于教学实践， 设计了与学生场独立和场依存认知方式匹配与失配的教学活 动，以此来促进学生的认知发展和阅读能力的提高。通过第五章的教学实验，以及对实 验数据的分析，说明了所提出的阅读认知模式的合理性与可行性。此次教学实践得出如 下主要结论： （1） 通过模式 1 的教学，文科生的阅读能力得到了提高；而经过模式 2 的教学，理科生的阅读能力也得到了提高； （2）模式 1 适合文科生的认知特点；模式 2 descriptive chinese abstract ii 适合理科生的认知规律。总之，本研究所提出的阅读认知模式 1 和认知模式 2 符合不同 专业学生的认知方式，有助于学生阅读能力的提高。 本研究结果对英语作为外语的阅读教学具有一定的理论验证性和实践指导性。首 先，它肯定了认知方式在阅读中的作用，说明外语学习者在认知方式上的个体差异对语 篇理解过程、阅读方式和阅读能力的提高都有一定的影响。其次，本研究提出的阅读认 知模式以学生不同的认知方式为基础，因此，更有利于外语教师改进教学方法，指导阅 读活动，从而提高学生阅读能力。最后，研究提出的模式对现实的大学英语阅读教学是 一种挑战，教学中，要求教师重视学生的个体差异，遵循语言习得和学得规律，根据不 同学科学生的认知特点设计新的阅读模式。 关键词：英语作为外语的阅读；认知方式；场独立；场依存；阅读模式；阅读能力 关键词：英语作为外语的阅读；认知方式；场独立；场依存；阅读模式；阅读能力 english abstract iii abstract reading is not only one of the basic skills which foreign language learners should master, but also one of the main channels of linguistic input for them. cultivating students abilities of gaining information through reading is the focus of english as foreign language (efl)teaching and learning, and also improving students reading abilities is one of the main aims of college english teaching and learning. reading is a cognitive process, in which readers actively understand the meaning of a text. during the process, many factors have effect on reading and the improvement of reading ability. cognitive style is one of the factors, which is assumed to affect the efficiency of reading. previous studies concerning cognitive style find that there exists a significant relationship between it and certain language tasks. however, few studies have been done to investigate cognitive style in terms of its relation to listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation. in the paper, field-dependence (fd) and field-independence (fi) cognitive style have been used to research on efl reading and the improvement of reading ability. field-dependence and field-independence were proposed by witkin in 1954. the dichotomy is used to describe the individual differences in perceiving and processing information. readers who possess different characteristics are different in understanding and processing texts. both qualitative and quantitative research methods were adopted in the paper, the purposes of which were to discuss field tendencies of arts and science majors, explore relationships between cognitive style and reading ability as well as put forward cognitive models of reading that were applied to different field tendency readers respectively. the applications of the new cognitive models have been performed in the practice in order to instruct reading. the statistics in the chapter five have validated the rationality and feasibility of cognitive model 1 and cognitive model 2. the group embedded figure test was used to judge students fd/fi tendencies; a test of reading comprehension was designed to assess students reading abilities. 120 non-english students majoring in law and physics in xiangtan university took part in the experiment (half of them were law majors and the other were physics majors). the data collected from this experimental study were analyzed by the descriptive statistics and inferential statisticsskewness and correlation study. the results of the third chapter revealed that arts majors were more predominantly field-dependent, while science majors were more of fi. there existed a negative significant relationship between fd/fi cognitive styles and reading ability. and because arts majors and science majors prefer to use their own style of reading without paying attention to other unfamiliar reading styles, english abstract iv neither of arts majors and science majors reading abilities arrive at the high-point. more suitable cognitive models of foreign language reading, which matched students fd/fi cognitive styles respectively, were proposed in the fourth chapter. a lot of teaching activities that were suited and unsuited with students fd/fi cognitive styles were designed to promote not only students cognition but also their reading abilities. the fifth chapter, including teaching and learning practices as well as analyses of statistics, was used to validate the rationality and feasibility of cognitive model 1 and cognitive model 2. two hypotheses have been approved in the chapter: 1) arts majors reading abilities were advanced by way of cognitive model 1; reading proficiency of science majors was improved by way of cognitive model 2. 2) cognitive model 1 was fit for arts majors, whereas cognitive model 2 was suitable for science majors. in a word, both cognitive model 1 and cognitive model 2 matched cognitive styles of different majors students and were helpful to improve students reading abilities. the findings of the present study imply both theoretical and pedagogical implications. first, they have confirmed the influence of cognitive style on reading, which shows that individual differences in cognitive style have certain effects on the reading process, reading style and reading ability. second, based on fd/fi cognitive styles, the new cognitive models are beneficial for english teachers to improve their teaching methods and instruct reading activities in order to cause students reading abilities to become better. finally, the new proposed cognitive models challenge present college english reading teaching. teachers should highlight the individual differences, keep to the rules of language acquisition and design new cognitive models of reading based on the cognitive characteristics of students majoring different disciplines. key words: english as foreign language reading; cognitive style; field-dependence; field-independence; reading model; reading ability chapter i introduction 1 chapter i introduction 1.1 an introduction to this research according to r.ellis (1994: 24-30), the study of second language acquisition (sla) consists of two major tasks. one is to describe the processes of language learning as they are; the other is to explain why learners acquire a second language (sl) in the way they do by identifying the external and internal factors. as for these two tasks, different disciplines have given explanations to them, which mainly involve two subjects: behaviorist psychology and cognitive psychology. behaviorist psychology assumes that the outcome of learning is to change in behavior and emphasize the effects of external events on the individual. the process of language learning is the habit-formation process by means of imitation and reinforcement. in the eyes of behaviorists, language learning is the most successful when the task is broken down into a number of stimulus-response links. good language learners are cultivated by the abilities of teachers through stimulus-response techniques. a language learner is a passive actor in language learning, who only sit and listen to his/her teachers. until 1950s, u.chomsky firstly attacked on behaviorists views on language learning by reviewing skinners verbal behavior (1959). cognitive psychologists, on the other hand, take a contrast viewpoint. according to the cognitive theory, language learning is an internal process, not an external force. a shift from behaviorism to cognitivism began from the consideration of internal processes. language learning of the cognitive theory is viewed as an active constructing process. and a student is regarded as a creative, dynamic and active participant of learning, not simply a sponge soaking up information and responding to stimuli. researchers have fought that language learners would achieve success finally, if they knew what happen in their minds and what kinds of functions they played in the sla. hence, individuals are responsible for their own learning. influenced by cognitive psychology, the emphasis on sla puts on the internal process of language learning and individual differences. with the development of the sla, researchers in china find that it is necessary for them to recognize the essence of the foreign language teaching and learning (fltl) and its relation with other factors that inhibit the ways of fltl. according to liu runqing (1999), the research trend of fltl has been transferred from the researches on the objects, such as language itself, teaching materials and teaching methods into the agentslanguage learners. as su dingfang but studying language forms is the main task for efl learners. and the degree of mastering the language is different. nl users and sl learners are more skillful in using english than efl learners. language problem is believed to be an important factor that baffles efl learners to achieve success in foreign language reading. generally speaking, reading process of an efl learner is a process of restructuring input information, which is based on his/her previous knowledge of foreign language and nl. three kinds of reading cognitive models have been adopted for reading. the bottom-up model describes reading as a decoding process of reconstructing the authors intended meaning via recognizing the printed letters and words and building up the meaning for a text from the smallest textual units at the bottom(letters and words) to larger units at the top(phrases, clauses and inter-sentential linkages). one of the shortcomings of the bottom-up model is that it overemphasizes the role of readers lower-level processing abilities in reading and overlooks the role of a high-level process in letter and word recognition. as a result, the speed of reading is very low. another top-down reading model appeared in 1970s. k.goodman (1971) describes reading as a psycholinguistic guessing game in which “the reader reconstructs meaning encoded by a writer as a graphic display”. the top-down model has great impact on reading research and practice. it makes a reader as an active participant in reading process, constructing meaning and seeking information. but it also suffers problems and limitations. a serious problem is that a foreign language reader can not generate predictions because he/she does not have enough knowledge about the topic of a text and language. and as d.e. eskey (1988) argues that “we must not, i believe, lose sight of the fact that language is a major problem in second language reading”. the language problem is also a chief problem for foreign language chapter i introduction 3 readers. in 1977, d.e. rumelhart advanced an interactive model for reading comprehension, and further developed it later. the word interactive when used to describe a model of reading means the interaction between information obtained by means of bottom-up decoding and information provided by means of top-down analysis. in the interactive model, skills at all levels are interactively available to process and interpret a text. with the development of society and economy, english has become much more important than before. for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a sl, particularly in english as a foreign or second language. whats more, reading is one of the main forms of language input for chinese students. hence, how to read effectively and fluently is a task for researchers to fulfill. college english reading teaching is not improved in an effective way in recent years, although kinds of teaching theories have been applied, various teaching methods have been used, and teaching materials have been changed several times. analyzing the reasons of low efficiency of college english reading, we find that few of teachers analyze and teach reading from the cognitive perspective and many of them neglect readers factors that potentially influence the ways that readers read. reading is an interactive, communicative, cognitive and strategic process, in which readers are not passive players, but instead active ones. according to readers different cognitive structures, ages, sexes, experiences, etc, they will arrive at different conclusions, main ideas, attitudes, and tones of a text with their particular ways of reading. but until now, most of researchers have not realized that human beings as active readers are different in terms of cognitive style. they assume that every reader uses same reading model when he/she reads a text. actually, readers who possess different cognitive style must have different mental processes of thinking, remembering, knowing, etc., which impel them to use different reading model. as a.h. urquart suggests some implications; and lastly concludes limitations of the study as well as brings forward suggestions for further research. chapter ii literature review of the related theories 5 chapter ii literature review of the related theories 2.1 a research on efl reading from cognitive perspective 2.1.1 a cognitive approach to language learning rationalism and experiential realism are the philosophic foundations for cognitive approaches, which emphasize that human experience plays a very important role in their development of cognition and language. the development of cognition and language is correlated. the relationship between language and cognition has haunted the philosophers, linguists, psychologists and anthropologists for a long time. in the process of language learning, the development of cognition precedes and determines the development of language and the latter could influence the development of human cognition as well. language is one part of human cognition, the result of cognitive processes, and is restricted by the way human beings understand the world. hence, if we want to learn a language well, we need to know the nature of cognition. “cognition is the various mental process used in thinking, remembering, perceiving, recognizing, classifying, etc” (jack c. richards, john platt tend to view language learning as being learning of a complex skill, using general learning mechanisms. in addition, learning within this perspective is seen as “transforming significant understanding we already have, rather than simple acquisitions written on blank slates” (greeno, collins, put emphasis on cognitive processes of learning and acquisition of language knowledge; think much of the functions played by students cognitive structures in the language learning and require teachers to use nl in the sla and foreign language learning(曾葡初, 2005:72). in a word, the cognitive view sees people as active learners, who initiate experiences, seek out information to solve problem, and reorganize what they already know to achieve new insights. cognitive theories, which stress individual variability, are interested in how people chapter ii literature review of the related theories 6 perceive, understand, and memorize, etc. materials. learner differences are generally acknowledged because of their different ages, aptitudes, motivations, cognitive styles, and learning strategies. therefore, we assume that people may respond to same stimulus differently. cognitive theories take account of the importance of individual differences, so they are more reasonable to explain advanced phenomena of human beings than behavioral theories. 2.1.2 the cognitive theories of efl reading efl reading is not only a communicative process between cognition and language, but also a very complex cognitive activity. as we know, good teaching practice is based on good theoretical understanding. so it is necessary for english teachers to understand the cognitive theories of efl reading. the following three major cognitive theories are the foundations of present efl reading. 2.1.2.1 gestalt theory gestalt theory is a typical representative of cognitive theories of reading. “gestalt means an organized whole in which each individual part affects every other, the whole being more than the sum of its parts” (thompson, 1995:568). gestalt theories, called originally theories of perception, interests in the way the brain imposes pattern on the perceived world. gestalt is a german word that has meaning of “pattern” of “configuration” in english. in fact, gestalt means a unified or meaningful whole that is to be the focus of psychological study, and stresses the holistic perception. the gestalt psychologists believe that a number of innate tendencies influence the way we see. many behaviors come from internal motivation rather than external stimulation, and all perception is subjective. and gestalt psychologists hold the idea that human beings are viewed as open systems in active interaction with their environment. perceptual and cognitive learning integrate new structures into the existing knowledge by seeing the thing as a whole, integration, figures instead of parts, differentiation, and backgrounds. gestalt psychologists developed five laws that govern human perception: proximity - elements tend to be grouped together according to their nearness; similarity - items similar in some respect tend to be g