● World Book and Copyright Day

读者朋友们，大家周五好呀~

今天是一年一度的“世界读书日”

小编选取了“剑桥语言测试研究丛书”中的内容，与大家共读

一起来简单了解语言测试专家们是如何看待阅读这件事的

涉及图书包括：

按照惯例，我们依然为大家送上福利，

这次共有5位读者将获得1本

（9本中任选1本，点击上方丛书名查看全套丛书）

互动赠书

活动细则如下：

1. 在文章下方留言（留言内容见文末），进入精选留言且所获点赞数排名前三的读者将获得赠书。

2. 请关注“思飞学术”公众号（ID：sflepxueshu），分享本文至朋友圈，集齐点赞21个，截图发送至思飞学术公众号后台。我们将从中随机抽取两名幸运读者。

两种方式任选其一即可，都参与的话获赠机会更大哦！数据统计截止至下周五（4月30日）中午12:00。

上周获奖读者：

老刘

🍨王树树丶

Bob Tzao

+ + + +

作为语言学习的基本技能之一，阅读能力一直以来都备受重视。不论是L1还是L2，阅读理解能力都是语言学习者充分掌握一门语言的前提和基础。

与此同时，阅读作为一种私密的行为，其过程对研究者来说是难以观察的。但是，阅读的表现则是可以被直接观察和测试的。由此，语言测试专家们对阅读表现的研究热度一直不减。

01

阅读的定义

日本学者Toshihiko Shiotsu在细致梳理文献后认为，阅读可以被宽泛地定义如下：

“a complex cognitive process the individual is involved in while engaged with a written text”

而从阅读过程的角度来考虑，阅读是：

“an interactive cognitive process involving various levels and types of reader knowledge for efficient processing of visually presented text”

从阅读的目的来说，对前面的宽泛定义进行修正后，阅读是：

“a complex cognitive process the individual is involved in while engaged with a written text for one or more specific goals such as quickly identifying particular facts stated in it or constructing a thorough semantic representation of most of it”

（《二语阅读成分分析》，pp. 4-8）

由此可见，阅读至少是一个复杂的认知过程。

02

阅读的模式与类别

语言学家对阅读的过程和模式的讨论至少要追溯至20世纪60年代。

Goodman（1967）提出阅读是一种“心理语言阅读模式”（psycholinguistic guessing game），将阅读视为读者依据自身语言和非语言知识，不断对文本进行有选择地判断和猜测的过程，这一模式被称为“自上而下模式”（top-down）。

Coady（1979）认为阅读过程包括三大成分：概念能力（conceptual ability）、语言水平（language proficiency）和背景知识（background knowledge）。

Bernhardt（1991）的模式中包括语言（language）、读写（literacy）和知识（knowledge）。

（《审视阅读：二语阅读评估的研究与实践》，p. 43）

上述这些模式并未考虑阅读的不同类型和目的。

Urquhart and Weir（1998）将阅读分为五类：Scanning、Search Reading、Skimming、Careful Reading和Browsing。其中，Browsing与其他四类相比，由于缺少清晰的阅读目的，被认为是一种“类似阅读”（quasi-reading）。前三种阅读属于“快速阅读”（expeditious reading），这意味着阅读速度是被优先考虑的。而Careful Reading则既处理细节也处理主旨大意，阅读速度不及消化文章重要。

（《学术英语阅读能力构成成分实证研究》，p. 25）

在具体的教学实践当中，以上四类不同目的的阅读通常被作为不同的阅读策略来使用，也直接或间接地体现在阅读测试中。

03

影响英语阅读表现的因素

通过对日本EFL学生英语阅读能力的测试，Toshihiko Shiotsu在书中汇报了以下知识与技能因素对英语阅读表现的影响。

Syntactic knowledge

Overall, the converging evidence from both the present and some previous studies clearly strengthens the notion that syntactic knowledge is crucially related to both reading comprehension ability and speed and weakens earlier claims from such authors as Ulijn (1981, 1984) that L2 reading requires little syntactic processing but much lexical-conceptual processing. That it requires lexical processing is obvious, but the relative significance of syntax and vocabulary is only beginning to receive serious research treatment. How the results of the present study might fit with the existing research base is the very topic of the following section.

Vocabulary and syntax

While syntax clearly overshadowed vocabulary as the better predictor both in the present study and in Shiotsu and Weir (2007) , we must recognize that vocabulary is important. Vocabulary did correlate significantly with reading but not as strongly as did syntactic knowledge, which means that syntax has taken away a large portion of the reading variance, much of which vocabulary would have accounted for if entered into the regression equation before syntax. Therefore, we should continue to develop the learners’ lexical competence for improved reading comprehension performance, although our data would recommend rethinking the notion that the level of vocabulary knowledge is a much better determinant of text reading comprehension than the level of syntactic knowledge is. At any rate, the roles of lexical competence in L2 reading clearly require continued research efforts.

Word recognition efficiency

Overall, the results of the present study are consistent with much of the existing literature on the relationship between word recognition efficiency and sentence or text reading performance among adult L2 readers. The contribution of visual word recognition speed, as assessed via stimulus matching decisions, to the prediction of reading comprehension performance is only limited, if at all, especially when compared to other stronger predictors such as the knowledge of syntax or vocabulary. However, the data from the present study with Japanese university students would recommend a closer examination of the relationship between the semantic activation component of word recognition and sentence or text reading.

Working memory

The present study has not found any significant role for L2 working memory as measured through an ESL version of RST. Nevertheless, it seems much too premature to conclude that working memory has little effect on L2 reading ability. Closer investigation on the measure of working memory itself may be fruitful before committing ourselves to any claims on working memory’s role in L 2 reading (Koda 2005).

（《二语阅读成分分析》，pp. 160-169）

Shiotsu还利用问卷调查研究了日本EFL学生的语言外元认知知识对阅读表现的影响，但未发现非常明显的联系。

除了上述因素以外，影响英语阅读表现的因素实际上还有很多，这些在Hannan Khalifa & Cyril J. Weir的《审视阅读：二语阅读评估的研究与实践》中有更加详细的探讨。

（《审视阅读：二语阅读评估的研究与实践》，p. 5）

互动留言

1. 阅读能力为什么重要？

2. 你认为影响英语阅读表现的因素有哪些？

请大家畅所欲言~

思飞学术

上海外语教育出版社学术事业部

上海外语教育学术出版中心（上海市新闻出版局授牌运作）

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