The Psychological Factors in College English Fast Reading
Abstract:Fast reading is one of the basic language skills. Among these basic skills of language ability, fast reading is considered to be the most important and difficult one to control than any other skill. The paper introduces the psychological factors in the college English fast reading. Negative psychological factors impede students reading fast. The author hopes that students can realize the influence of psychological factors and improve English fast reading ability.
Key words:psychological factor fast reading fear anxiety
As is well-known, 21st century is the era of information. Some people are able to receive information in time in present society, the successful chance is easy to get. Reading is the basic method to get information and knowledge. Fast reading is more important as well. Besides these, the general requirements from College English Curriculum Requirements (2007) points out that the reading speed of students is up to 100 words per minute when they read much longer and less difficult passages. Students can use skimming and scanning. The general requirement is the basic standard for non-English major students through college English learning. In CET 4 and CET 6 reading comprehension is one of the most significant parts, which consists of fast reading comprehension and reading comprehension in depth. Fast reading comprehension is a new form of test that has added since 2007, so how to improve the student’s fast reading ability to face the new society and new type of test is the challenge for college English teaching. Analysis of psychological factors is one of the effective ways.
1. Fear
Students should pay attention to overcome some psychological obstacles of fast reading. One of the common psychological obstacles of fast reading is mainly fear. Students’ fear of the reality of their English test is always together with the system of test results and practical treatment, such as joining make-up examination, even study again in next term. But instead, some other students with their excellent results can win the honor and scholarship; Studies show that “worry to learn English well, worry and fear of English exam and consequences” is the main source influenced the college students to learn English in China. This kind of feeling ‘‘outsiders’’ in Chinese students can cause fear. With this fear to make reading, especially the fast reading, students do not produce concentrated attention.
2. Anxiety
English fast reading anxiety is one of negative feelings of foreign language learning. It is part of the whole foreign language learning anxiety. In my teaching
practice, I noted that some students would wrinkle up, restlessness when reading English, their feelings seem too bad. Some students have expressed the reading anxiety. “Not familiar with English passages, I feel nervous”, “not sure whether understand what they say in English, I feel upset”.
Time limit is the practical anxiety of students doing fast reading comprehension. In the reformed CET4, fast reading comprehension requires students to complete a 1000-1200 words passage and finish 10 questions in 15 minutes, and then will end this part of the test. Actually, many students are not able to read completely and effectively, but attentively and constantly to see about whether to finish reading in time. The result is that constantly seeing interrupts reading process and thinking of answers and affects the normal reading speed. In addition, because the fast reading comprehension exists the length of the corresponding language, students can not understand the whole passage but sentence, and flexible questions make the students feel overwhelmed and increase the time of their anxiety.
Students simply pursue speed and their impatience that will cause distractions. Especially during the examination, in order to catch up with speed, students can not form clear image by jumping on the passage, so the concepts and contents of the connection is interrupted. Students do not understand the meaning of the former paragraph completely and effectively, anxiously to read the next paragraph. It could not hold clues to the development of the content; the students cannot understand correctly the content of the passage. Students with the high expectations eager to hope for success, wish to get lots of information and master the whole passage. This not only affect the mood of reading process, also make visual organs and the brain be difficult to focus on reading process itself, the effect of reading is naturally influenced.
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