著者

小木野 初

出版者

一般社団法人大学英語教育学会

雑誌

大学英語教育学会紀要 (ISSN:02858673)

巻号頁・発行日

no.14, pp.137-150, 1983-09-30

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This article is an attempt to find an efficient way for the teaching of reading in English by investigating an experiment on reading. The experiment was designed on the basis of an assumption that there are two separable, though dependent, reading processes: microprocess and macroprocess. Microprocess is the process for understanding details within the structural elements of a text primarily at the word and sentence levels. Macroprocess is the process for understanding the thematic structure of a text, sorting out the thread of the overall organization, and integrating information in a text. It is claimed that Japanese students have difficulty in grasping the overall organization of a text and in understanding relative importance of ideas and details within a text since they receive English language instruction mainly through translation which is one type of microprocess reading. Teaching a foreign language exclusively through translation is one-sided since the comprehender responds to the total organization rather than to some molecular parts of a text. Thus we framed a hypothesis that reading comprehension can improve through teaching reading strategies which help students comprehend textual organization and highlight information in a text. This kind of macroprocess reading is called structural reading here in the paper.