A Case Study of Lexical Chunk Theory and Its Impact on Reading Fluency

Hong MA, Chunling LI

Abstract


A focus case study is conducted to look into the impact of increased awareness of lexical chunks in the process of reading will contribute to reading fluency. The study lasts two years, during which the researchers reflected on reading related theories and adopted intervention teaching approach, especially by drawing on the implication of lexical chunk theory on teaching reading courses in English. In order to better understand the influence of lexical chunk theory on reading fluency, a face to face interview was conducted right after each stage of the study, complete with the data collected in the reading tests. The findings reveal that the action research resorting to lexical chunk theory has a positive impact on improving a student’ reading fluency. Factors contributing to improved reading fluency are also looked into with an aim to bring college English reading course in most Chinese universities to higher standards.

Keywords


Lexical chunk; Critical reading strategies; Reading fluency; Reading accuracy; Teacher’s development

Full Text:

PDF

References


Brydon-Miller, M., Greenwood, D., & Maguire, P. (2003). Why action research? Action Research London: Sage Publications, 1(1), 9-28

Burns, A. (2010a). Doing action research for English language teachers. A guide for practitioners. New York: Routledge.

Cheng, W. H. (2010). A study on teaching log and its mediating role in teacher’s development. Shangdong Foreign Language Teaching, (4), 12-16

Darling Hammond, L., & McLaughlin, M. (1995). Policies that support professional development in an era of reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 76, 597-604.

Dornyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and researching motivation.Applied Linguistics in Action. N/A.

Ellis R. (1997). The study of second language acquisition. Shanghai; Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

Gao, X., & Wang, Q. (2003). Reflective teaching: An effective method of promoting teacher’s self development. Foreign Language Teaching, (2), 87-90

Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.

He, L. Z. (2011). Exploring means of developing learner autonomy in Chinese college students. Foreign Languages in China, (5), 18-23.

Keiko K. (2005). Insight into second language reading a cross-linguistic approach (p.230). Press of the University of Cambridge.

Kuhn, M., & Stahl, S. (2003), Fluency: A review of developmental and remedial practices. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95.

Lin, S. C. (2003). Using collaborative action research to improve classroom discipline. Journal of Taiwan Normal University: Education, 48(1), 91-112.

Lin, W. Y. (2011). Theoretical and empirical studies on stance features of machine-cut oral chunks. Foreign Languages in China, 43(5), 33-40.

Liu, X. D., & Meng, C. G (2009). An investigation of college English teachers’ reflection and its affective Factors. Foreign Languages Teaching in Schools, (12), 1-7

Ma, H. (2007). Fast reading strategies and training—Theory and practice. Journal of Sichuan International Studies University, 23(3), 141-143.

Meng, C. G. (2011). College foreign language teacher concept of reflective teaching and action research. Foreign Language World, (4), 44-54

O’Malley J. M., & Chamot, A. U. (1990). Language learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ren, Q. M. (2006). Case study on reflective teaching and its role in English teacher professional development. Foreign Language World, (6), 57-64

Richards, J. C., Platt, J., & Platt, H. (1992). Dictionary of language teaching & applied linguistics (2nd ed.). Essex: Longman.

Wallace, M. J. (1998). Action research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Walzoyk, J., et al. (1999). Time limitations enhance reading comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology, (24), 156-165

Wray A. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Yang, M. (2010). Several issues in foreign language research and study on localization of foreign language teaching. Shangdong Foreign Language Teaching, (1), 3-6




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/%25x

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2016 Hong MA, Chunling LI

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


Share us to:   


Reminder

  • How to do online submission to another Journal?
  • If you have already registered in Journal A, then how can you submit another article to Journal B? It takes two steps to make it happen:

1. Register yourself in Journal B as an Author

  • Find the journal you want to submit to in CATEGORIES, click on “VIEW JOURNAL”, “Online Submissions”, “GO TO LOGIN” and “Edit My Profile”. Check “Author” on the “Edit Profile” page, then “Save”.

2. Submission

Online Submission: http://cscanada.org/index.php/ccc/submission/wizard

  • Go to “User Home”, and click on “Author” under the name of Journal B. You may start a New Submission by clicking on “CLICK HERE”.
  • We only use four mailboxes as follows to deal with issues about paper acceptance, payment and submission of electronic versions of our journals to databases: caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net; ccc@cscanada.net; ccc@cscanada.org

 Articles published in Cross-Cultural Communication are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY).

 CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION Editorial Office

Address: 1055 Rue Lucien-L'Allier, Unit #772, Montreal, QC H3G 3C4, Canada.
Telephone: 1-514-558 6138 
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net; Http://www.cscanada.org 
E-mail:caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net

Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture