한국 고등학교 학습자들의 읽기 전략과 영어 성취도 간의 관계

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate English reading strategies of Korean high school students in terms of their English proficiency level and relationship between reading strategies and English achievement. In order to identify reading strategies, 101 students in a high school were asked to fill out a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 20 reading strategies related to top-down strategies and bottom-up strategies. Students’ final exam scores were used to measure their English proficiency level. Students’ responses were analyzed using SPSS 17. The results of the study were as follows: First, high school students preferred employing top-down strategies over bottom-up strategies. The mean score of using bottom-up strategies was 2.78 and the mean score of the top-down strategies was 2.84. However, the mean score of the attitude toward bottom-up strategies was quite high, which was 3.47. This result means that learners wanted to focus on specific information rather than on general understanding. Second, there were significant differences in using reading strategies among the high-, middle-, and low-proficient groups except the attitude toward bottom-up strategies. High proficiency group showed a much greater use of top-down strategies and attitude toward bottom-up and top-down strategies. The pearson correlation coefficient of attitude toward bottom-up strategies was .122, which showed not such a high correlation. Third, the students’ English achievement was influenced by the use of reading strategies except the attitude toward bottom-up strategies. This indicates that using reading strategies is a clear way to improve students’ English achievement. However, the relation between achievement score and attitude toward bottom-up strategies was no significant meanings(r =.091). The suggestions for improving learner’s reading proficiency and encouraging to use the reading strategies were as follows. Firstly, learner’s awareness of strategic efficacy are important and it is necessary to train them to develop effective reading strategies. Secondly, since there are differences between the high, middle and low groups in use of reading strategies, English teachers should develop effective curriculum, teaching materials and testing that well suit the learners.