本研究透過網路通訊平台Skype經營線上讀書會，讓偏遠地區學童與來自不同區域的學童進行閱讀討論活動，藉此觀察研究對象之間的互動討論情形與討論的對話內容層次，以探究偏遠地區學童與來自不同城鄉區域的學童組成線上讀書會，對於閱讀成效的影響。本研究之實驗對象共分為三組，實驗組一為偏鄉地區與都會地區國小六年級學童各2名，合計4名之國小六年級學童；實驗組二為偏鄉地區不同國小六年級學童各2名，合計4名之國小六年級學童；對照組為偏鄉地區相同國小共4名之國小六年級學童。本研究在實驗前後實施閱讀理解測驗，並針對各組線上讀書會的討論對話進行內容分析，實驗結束後再針對研究對象進行半結構式訪談。研究結果歸納如下： 一、基於文學圈經營線上讀書會為一可行之線上合作學習模式 二、偏遠地區學童與都會地區學童的線上讀書會成員的異質組合，有助於提升偏遠地區學童的閱讀理解成效 三、偏遠地區學童與都會地區學童的線上讀書會成員組合，有助於激發高層次之討論對話 四、同為偏遠地區但不同學校的線上讀書會成員組合，有助於營造愉快的討論氣氛 五、在討論對話中，偏遠地區學童發表高層次思考型問答以及使用推理用語的次數越多，其閱讀理解成效越好 本研究之研究結果可作為教師基於同步討論經營有效線上讀書會的實施模式參考，也對於有興趣於線上讀書會的研究者提供許多值得探究的研究方向。 / In order to explore the possibility of using information and communication technology to help the children in rural areas and the effects of rural-urban disparity on collaboration learning, this study organizes three online reading groups with different compositions of group members by implementing Literature Circles, a student-led and structured book club. The members of experiment group1 are 2 sixth graders from a rural school and 2 sixth graders from an urban school. The members of experiment group2 are 4 sixth graders. All of them are from rural schools but half of them are from a different school. The members of the control group were 4 sixth graders. All of them are classmates in a rural school. The results of reading comprehension tests and the dialogues of three groups are analyzed to collect quantitative data. A semi-structured interview is conducted to collect qualitative data. The research outcomes shows that the heterogeneous group of rural-urban students could best improve the reading comprehension of rural students and produce high level thinking dialogues. In addition, the group of rural students from different schools could conduct the dialogues in the most delightful atmosphere among all three groups. Based on the research outcomes, relevant applications or in-depth researches could be further preceded in the future.

本研究發展可以在任意網頁上進行閱讀標註之合作式閱讀標註系統，並透過探勘集體智慧方式，在合作式閱讀標註系統上發展「優質標註萃取」及「達人標註萃取」機制，來輔助學習者進行數位文本閱讀學習，以達到提昇閱讀理解成效的目的。此外，本研究也進一步探討透過「優質標註萃取」及「達人標註萃取」機制過濾掉一部份品質較差的標註，是否可有效降低閱讀標註文本時產生的認知負荷。 本研究將學習者分成實驗組1（達人標註）、實驗組2（優質標註）與控制組（所有標註）三組，並分別進行約80分鐘的合作式閱讀標註學習活動。其中控制組的成員採用「呈現所有標註之合作式閱讀標系統」支援閱讀學習；而實驗組1的成員則透過「呈現達人標註之合作式閱讀標註系統」來進行閱讀學習；實驗組2則透過「呈現優質標註之合作式閱讀標註系統」來進行閱讀學習。合作式閱讀標註活動要求學習者在指定時間內閱讀本研究指定的文本（化學科普之文章），同時利用「合作式閱讀標註系統」進行閱讀標註撰寫與分享。閱讀標註活動結束後，學習者將進行所閱讀文本之閱讀理解評量以及認知負荷量表填寫，據此瞭解學習者的閱讀理解成效及認知負荷程度。 研究結果顯示，採用具有「優質標註萃取」機制所得標註支援閱讀學習，有助於過濾品質不佳的閱讀標註，並提供更簡潔易找尋之優質標註支援閱讀學習，進而提昇閱讀理解成效，由於閱讀時更容易找到所需的優質資訊，因此亦較有助於提昇學習者不同面向概念的閱讀理解成效；此外，本研究基於每位學習者的有效標註，在考量標註層次及標註數量下，評估每位學習者的“標註能力”，採用優質標註支援閱讀學習的實驗組2（優質標註）學習者中，標註能力越高的學習者，其閱讀理解成效也較佳；而本研究將學習者依照閱讀理解後測成績高低，分成高分組及低分組後顯示，控制組（所有標註）與實驗組2（優質標註）的組別中，均呈現出低分組學習者的認知負荷顯著高於高分組學習者的現象；除此之外，本研究比較三組採用不同標註呈現方式之合作式閱讀標註系統進行閱讀學習之學習者時，結果發現，採用三種不同閱讀標註呈現方式組別學習者之認知負荷無顯著差異。 最後，本研究歸納研究者在研究過程及結果中之發現，提出發展結合合作式閱讀標註的有效閱讀學習策略、探討各類型標註眼動行為對於閱讀理解成效影響與擴展合作式閱讀標註系統支援行動閱讀學習等未來研究議題之初步架構，供後續研究參考以進行更深入之探究。 / A Collaborative Reading Annotation System, which can be randomly proceeded reading annotations on any web pages, is developed in this study. Furthermore, Quality Annotation Extraction and Master Annotation Extraction are developed on the Collaborative Reading Annotation System by mining collective intelligence for assisting learners in proceeding reading digital texts and promoting the reading comprehension performance. The effect of removing some bad-quality annotations through Quality Annotation Extraction and Master Annotation Extraction on reducing the cognitive load when reading annotation texts is further discussed in this study. The learners are divided into Experiment Group 1 (Master Annotation), Experiment Group 2 (Quality Annotation), and Control Group (All Annotation) for 80-minute collaborative reading annotation learning. Control Group uses Collaborative Reading Annotation System with all annotations for promoting reading; Experiment Group 1 proceeds reading through Collaborative Reading Annotation System with master annotations; and, Experiment Group 2 applies Collaborative Reading Annotation System with quality annotations to reading. The learners are requested to read the assigned texts (articles of popular science in chemistry) in the assigned period and write and share the reading annotations with the Collaborative Reading Annotation System. Afterwards, the learners are evaluated the reading comprehension of the texts and fill in the cognitive load scale for understanding the reading comprehension performance and the cognitive load. The research results show that utilizing the annotations acquired by Quality Annotation Extraction for promoting reading could filter out unfavorable reading annotations and provide quality annotations, which are more easily searched for promoting reading, to further enhance the reading comprehension performance. Since the quality information can be more easily searched, it could better assist learners in promoting reading comprehension performance in various aspects. Moreover, based on the valid annotations of each learner, the annotation ability is evaluated the annotation level and quantity. Learners with higher annotation ability in Experiment Group 2 (Quality Annotation) present better reading comprehension performance. Based on the reading comprehension post-test results, the learners are divided into high-score and low-score groups. The cognitive load of low-score learners in both Control Group (All Annotation) and Experiment Group 2 (Quality Annotation) is higher than it of high-score learners. Besides, the cognitive load among the three groups applying the Collaborative Reading Annotation System with different annotations to reading does not appear significant differences. Finally, developing effective reading strategies with Collaborative Reading Annotation, discussing the effects of various annotations on reading comprehension performance, and expanding Collaborative Reading Annotation System for promoting mobile reading are proposed as the preliminary framework for future research, with which in-depth exploration could be preceded in successive research.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

本研究旨在探討大學生使用與閱讀電子書資料庫，研究目的包括：（1）探討 大學生電子書資料庫的使用與閱讀行為；（2）探討大學生電子書資料庫的價值認 知與使用滿意度；（3）探討影響大學生使用電子書資料庫的因素；（4）探討大學 生參與電子書資料庫推廣服務的現況與看法。本研究採用問卷法與訪談法，首先 藉由文獻探討歸納電子書使用與閱讀研究四構面，依此而設計電子書資料庫使用 與閱讀調查問卷，並對國立政治大學大學生實行問卷調查，再採用立意取樣方式 進行深度訪談，以探討大學生電子書資料庫使用與閱讀的行為。 本研究提出之研究結論如下：（1）政治大學的大學生近五成使用過電子書， 但使用過圖書館電子書資料庫者不到兩成；（2）使用圖書館電子書資料庫的主要 原因是「為了作業報告或學習研究需求」，而使用需求受到使用目的與動機之影 響；（3）最常使用的電子書檢索策略是「關鍵字檢索」，閱讀電子書的時間多為 1 小時，主要透過「線上閱讀」方式取用電子書，並以「跳讀，僅閱讀特定章節 /段落」方式閱讀單本電子書；（4）五成以上大學生喜歡實體書勝於電子書；（5） 對圖書館的電子書資料庫表示中度滿意，對電子書資料庫推廣服務則未達滿意； （6）「在螢幕上閱讀相當吃力」是大學生在使用圖書館電子書資料庫時最大的困 難，且電子書的閱讀較易出現注意力分散的情形；（7）影響政治大學的大學生使 用圖書館電子書資料庫的因素包含使用者主觀的使用經驗及客觀的外在環境。 最後，本研究對圖書館及電子書相關廠商提出以下建議：（1）圖書館應與廠 商定期合作舉行使用者滿意度調查，藉以瞭解使用者的使用行為、使用經驗及滿 意度；（2）建議電子書相關廠商簡化進入及取用電子書資料庫的步驟、利用圖像 式設計提供更明確且明顯的快速連結名稱，增加電子書資料庫的曝光率；（3）建 議圖書館瞭解大學生的需求及充實電子書資料庫館藏的質與量，增強正向使用經 驗及藉由同儕的影響力提高使用率；（4）圖書館應積極向教師推廣電子書資料庫 的使用並提供支援教學服務，以期透過相關課程，增加電子書資料庫曝光率及使 用率；（5）建議圖書館及電子書相關廠商透過創新且有趣的行銷推廣策略，以更 輕鬆且貼近大學生的服務及參與方式，提高大學生取用電子書資料庫之動機。 / This study mainly investigated using and reading e-books databases for undergraduates. The main purposes of the study are as follows: (1) to probe into undergraduate students’ use and reading behavior of e-book databases; (2) to discuss the undergraduates’ perception and satisfaction of e-book databases; (3) to find out the factors affecting undergraduates’ use of e-book databases; (4) to understand undergraduate students’ opinions and current state of e-book databases promotions services in university libraries. The study using questionnaire and interviewing as research methods. Through literature review, this study sorts previous researches on reading and use of e-books into four dimensions. A questionnaire is designed according to these dimensions and delivered to undergraduate students of NCCU. Moreover, 15 undergraduates are selected through purposive sampling from the returned questionnaire for further interviews. The conclusion of this study is summarized as follows: (1) near fifty percent of NCCU undergraduates read e-books, but only two percent used e-book databases; (2) the main reason why undergraduates use e-book databases is for term papers or research purposes, and their needs are affected by their purposes and motivations; (3) the most used retrieval skill is keyword searching, and most undergraduates use e-book online, just skimming and scanning for one hour at most; (4) over fifty percent of undergraduates prefer books to e-books; (5) undergraduates are generally satisfied with e-book databases acquired by NCCU Libraries, but they are less than satisfied with promotions of e-book databases; (6) the most challenge of using e-book databases for undergraduates is that “tiring to read on screen,” and they are easily distracted while reading e-books; (7) the factors affecting undergraduates to use e-book databases are attributed to their previous user experience and external environments. According to these conclusions, there are some suggestions made for university libraries and concerned e-book market investors: (1) university libraries may work with investors to hold regular user satisfaction survey; (2) it is recommended to simplify the access to e-book databases and e-books ; (3) to achieve higher use rate, libraries may improve the quantity and quality of e-books, and build positive user experience with e-book databases for undergraduates; (4) libraries may suggest and support faculty to teach with e-books or e-book databases in their courses; (5) libraries and investors may develop more innovative, easier and friendlier services for undergraduate students.

本研究旨在運用點讀筆輔助國中文言文補救教學，基於設計研究法迭代改進的過程，設計點讀筆輔助國中文言文補救教材及學習策略，並驗證其對於國文補救教學的效益。本研究以高雄市某國中二年級參與國文補救教學共6位八年級學生為研究對象，以設計研究法在教學實際現場基於學生學習過程中的質化觀測訪談紀錄，以及學習成效前後測與點讀筆內建學習歷程記錄等量化數據資料分析結果，進行包括準備（分析、設計）、執行（發展、實施）、評鑑（反省、產出）之循環迭代改進過程，以探究與發展結合點讀筆與紙本課文輔助文言文補救教學教材與學習策設計，為教師運用點讀筆發展文言文補救教學教材提供可行之實施模式。 結果顯示，本研究透過設計研究法發展出一套可有效輔以文言文補救學習之點讀筆搭配紙本教材與學習策略模式，並經由兩次循環修正歷程，產出一套較佳之點讀筆搭配紙本與學習策略模式之教材設計。本研究歸納在設計上應考量點讀的搭配性、自學的引導性、內容的適切性，並建立程序指引提醒，以發揮點讀筆搭配紙本輔助閱讀學習之功能。本研究產出之點讀教材，可透過碼點貼紙支援文言文學習所需之背景知識的補充、課文朗讀與背誦、文意理解、提出問題深入思考等學習需求，也搭配SQ3R學習策略流程引導，適合於學習者自學，並且可以進行重複學習，學生具有高度自主性，為學習落後學生搭建一有效之學習鷹架，培養學生帶得走的能力，為國文補救教學開創一有效且創新的學習模式。 / This study aims to apply digital pens to assisting in the literary Chinese remedial instruction in junior high schools. Based on the process of Design-based Research iterative improvement, the digital pen supported literary Chinese remedial teaching materials and learning strategies are designed, and the Chinese remedial learning efficiency is verified. Six G8 students in a junior high school in Kaohsiung City participating in the Chinese remedial instruction are studied. With Design-based Research, the qualitative observation and interview records of the students’ learning process and the quantitative data analyses of the pretest and posttest of learning performance and the digital pen built-in learning process records are preceded cyclic iterative improvement, including preparation (analysis and design), practice (development and implementation), and assessment (introspection and output) to explore and develop the design of digital pen supported and paper-based texts integrated literary Chinese remedial teaching materials and learning strategies. It is expected to provide a feasible model for teachers developing digital pen supported literary Chinese remedial teaching materials. The results show that an effective literary Chinese remedial instruction integrated with digital pen supported and paper-based materials and the learning strategies could be developed through Design-based Research. Furthermore, with two cyclic revision processes, the better digital pen supported and paper-based integrated material design and learning strategies could be generated. It is concluded in this study that the collocation of digital pen, the guiding for self-learning, and the content appropriateness should be taken into account of the design, and the procedural guideline reminder should be established to present the function of digital pen supported and paper-based reading learning. Through code stickers, the digital pen supported materials could supplement the required background knowledge for literary Chinese learning, text reading and recitation, content comprehension, and in-depth thinking with problems. With the guidance of SQ3R learning strategies, it is suitable for self-learning and could be proceeded repeated learning and the students present high autonomy so as to build a learning scaffold for the students fell behind in learning, to cultivate students with the abilities to take away, and to create an effective and innovative learning model for Chinese remedial instruction.

近年來臺灣民眾的閱讀習慣開始改變，透過數位載具進行閱讀的人口逐漸增加。面對數位閱讀時代的來臨，圖書館為了推廣數位閱讀，陸續提供電子書閱讀器借閱服務。由於國內圖書館推動這項服務仍在起步階段，針對電子書閱讀器借閱服務之使用研究有其必要性。 因此，本研究以整合性科技接受模式為理論基礎，探討圖書館讀者對電子書閱讀器借閱服務之使用行為、行為意願及其影響因素，並分析讀者之性別、教育程度、學院別、數位閱讀載具使用經驗、電子書使用經驗等個人特徵，對影響因素與行為意願之調節效果。 本研究以交通大學的學生為研究對象，並以「交通大學圖書館電子書閱讀器借閱服務之使用調查」問卷為研究工具。問卷調查結果以描述統計、相關分析、多元迴歸分析與階層迴歸分析進行分析，研究結果如下： 1.讀者主要透過同儕分享得知電子書閱讀器借閱服務； 2.讀者使用電子書閱讀器借閱服務之主要動機為體驗使用iPad 2； 3.閱讀電子書是讀者使用電子書閱讀器借閱服務之主要用途； 4.網路免費電子書是讀者閱讀電子書的主要來源； 5.讀者主要利用Google或其他搜尋引擎查詢電子書； 6.讀者閱讀電子書時遭遇的困難以眼睛疲倦感與電子書內容不足佔最多數； 7.讀者對iPad 2閱讀電子書的整體經驗多數感到滿意； 8.讀者未借用iPad 2的最主要原因是不知有電子書閱讀器借閱服務，再者是iPad 2數量不足； 9.多數讀者願意使用電子書閱讀器借閱服務，也願意繼續使用該服務，並樂意推薦他人； 10.讀者使用電子書閱讀器借閱服務的行為意願之影響因素包括：績效期望、努力期望與社群影響，其中社群影響最具預測力； 11.讀者的性別、教育程度、學院別、數位閱讀載具使用經驗、電子書使用經驗等五項個人特徵對影響因素與行為意願之關係不具調節效果。 本研究針對上述結果加以討論，並提出相關建議，提供圖書館推行該服務，以及未來研究之參考。 / In recent years people's reading habits have begun to change, and the population of digital reading device users has been growing gradually. Face with the coming era of digital reading, libraries provide e-book reader lending services one after another in order to promote digital reading. Since the library services in Taiwan are still at the initial stage, it is necessary to examine the use of e-book reader lending service. Therefore this study was based on UTAUT（Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology）. The purpose of this study was to investigate reader's behavior, intention and determinants toward e-book reader lending service, and examine moderators of the relationships between determinants and intention, including gender, education, academy, digital reading device experience and e-book experience. In this research, students at National Chiao Tung University were chosen as the testing participants. The instruments used in the study was the National Chiao Tung University Library E-book Reader Lending Service Use Survey. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, multiple regression analysis, and hierarchical regression. The findings of the study were as follows: 1.Most readers know about e-book reader lending service by peer sharing; 2.The motivation of most readers using e-book reader lending service is to try iPad 2; 3.Majority of readers use e-book reader lending service for reading e-books; 4.Most readers read e-books that are from internet and for free; 5.Majority of readers find e-books on Google or other search engines; 6.Most readers have difficulty with reading e-books because of eyestrain and lack of content; 7.Most readers feel satisfied with the e-book reading experience on the iPad 2; 8.Majority of readers have not borrowed the iPad 2 because of not knowing the service and lack of iPad 2; 9.Most readers willing to use e-book reader lending service and use the service continuously. They also willing to recommend others to use the service; 10.The determinants of intention to use e-book reader lending service among students at National Chiao Tung University include performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence. The predictive power of social influence is highest among all determinants. 11.Personal characteristics of the readers including gender, education, academy, digital reading device experience and e-book experience don't moderate the relationships between determinants and intention. According to the findings above, this study provided some suggestions for libraries to promote the service, and future research suggestions.

本論文共一冊分六章二十七節，共計拾萬字。 第一章 緒論：研究動機、研究目的與研究假設，研究範圍與名詞操作定義。 第二章 理論及文獻探討：價值觀理論，生活型態理論、廣告態度理論、閱讀動機理 論。 第三章 研究方法：樣本選取與實測程序，測量工具、資料分析步驟和方法。 第四章 研究結果─因素分析。 第五章 研究結果─假設檢定。 第六章 結論：研究限制、結論、建議。

在學校教育中，來自低社會地位家庭的孩童常在學業成就方面表現不佳，這個現象可能導因於孩童學前所受的語言刺激不足。許多學者發現，母親在親子共讀時若是使用較困難的語言、或是要求幼兒多多參與互動，可以幫助幼兒的語言發展。但是大多數此類研究都是研究西方文化中的親子互動模式，少有在臺灣的文化環境下以真實親子共讀的語料所做的類似研究。本研究的目的在於探討臺灣不同社會階層親子共讀的模式，研究對象包括三十二對母親與三歲幼兒，其中十六對來自中高社階家庭，十六對來自低收入家庭。語料來自於受試親子共同閱讀故事書時的語言以及互動。研究結果顯示中高社階的母親較會在閱讀的過程中鼓勵幼兒參與對話，也會和幼兒討論與故事內容相關的議題。而低社階的母親把閱讀故事視為自己的責任，較不會誘導幼兒參與互動，也只專注在故事書上現時現地的內容，少有相關議題的討論。此研究結果可作為親職教育或介入計畫的基礎。 / Children from low socio-economic status (SES) are at higher risk of poor school achievement. The reason might be the language background of low SES children in preschool years. Researchers have found that mothers who give children higher demand in joint book reading tend to have children with better language skills in the future. However, most of these researches were conducted in Western cultures. This paper examined mother-child book reading styles in different socio-economic classes in Taiwan. 32 mother-child dyads, 16 from upper-middle class and 16 from low income families, were asked to read a picture book with their children. Results showed that upper-middle mothers tended to encourage their children to narrate the story and discuss non-immediate information such as inference and prediction of plot elements. In contrast, low mothers tended to take story book reading as their responsibility without inviting children to participate and they produced more immediate talk such as labeling. Educational implications and suggestions for the future research will be discussed.

本研究的目的是探討學生由上下文猜測字義的能力及其與字彙學習、閱讀能力之相關關係。 研究的對象是台中市育英國中68位二年級的學生。研究的主要工具是兩份評估學生字彙及閱讀能力的全民英檢字彙及閱讀測驗，調查學生關於字彙推論技巧的問卷及訪談各一份。研究過程分為三個步驟：(1)前測— 字彙、閱讀能力測驗及問卷，(2)教學實驗— 字彙推論教學，及(3)後測— 字彙、閱讀能力測驗，問卷，及(4)個別訪談，以獲得更詳盡的資料來支持研究結果的分析。 研究結果發現： （1） 學生的字彙能力及閱讀理解能力具有顯著相關。學生的字彙能力越強，越能幫助他們對文章意義的理解，進而相對地提高他們的閱讀理解能力。 （2） 教授字彙推論技巧有助於學生的字彙學習及閱讀理解。接受字彙推論技巧教學的實驗組學生於後測階段，在字彙能力及閱讀理解測驗的表現均明顯優於未接受字彙推論教學的控制組學生。 （3） 字形、句義及文章大意為最常被學生運用來做字彙推論的線索。這一點控制組及實驗組學生均是如此，但實驗組學生使用地較頻繁，而且利用的推論線索也較控制組學生更多且更適當。 根據以上的結果，本研究提出三點建議： （1） 字彙推論教學可以融合於學校課程之中進行，一節課十至十五分鐘讓學生練習推論字義，四個月的教學，學生已能利用各類推論線索對字義做適當的推論。英語教學雜誌及英語郵報上的文章，是提供學生更多練習機會的理想補充教材。 （2） 老師教導字彙推論技巧時，應選擇適合學生程度、符合學生背景知識及具有充分線索供學生推論的教材或文章，避免學生因推論線索不足而胡亂猜測，無法對其閱讀理解有助益。並從較簡單的『單字本身』及『句內上下文』線索教起，再循序進入較難的『跨句上下文』和『背景知識』線索。 （3） 當學生出現閱讀困難時，老師應先確定困難形成的原因，分辨究竟是字彙基本能力不足或不懂得運用策略造成的，才能對症下藥，幫助學生增進字彙學習及培養閱讀理解能力。 / This study investigates the lexical inferencing made by Taiwan EFL students at a junior high school when they encounter unknown words in English texts. The researcher examines the effect of lexical inferencing on their vocabulary learning and reading comprehension, and the types of knowledge sources and contextual cues they use in the process. Sixty-eight students, thirty-four from Class 201 and thirty-four from Class 204, are selected as the participants for this study. These students are at the similar English proficiency level according to their academic proficiency scores last semester. The vocabulary test and reading comprehension test of GEPT, elementary level (LTTC, 2001) are used in the pretest to measure the participants’ vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability before treatment. A questionnaire is applied to investigate the varied types of knowledge sources and contextual cues used by the participants in the process of lexical inferencing both in the pretest and the posttest. The treatment—lexical inferencing instruction, lasting for four months, is conducted on the participants in the experimental group. After the treatment, two posttests of vocabulary and reading comprehension are conducted again to assess if there is any significant difference on vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension between the controlled group and the experimental group. The main findings of this study are as follows: 1. There is a significant correlation between students’ vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Better vocabulary competence contributes to better reading comprehension. Vocabulary competence can serve as good predictors of reading ability in a foreign language. 2. Lexical inferencing instruction does contribute to better performances in vocabulary and reading comprehension tests. The participants who receive instruction demonstrate significant progress. Lexical inferencing instruction also results in the recognition and employment of varied types of knowledge sources and contextual cues which facilitate the appropriate word meanings inferred. 3. Both groups use similar types of knowledge sources and contextual cues when making inferences. However, students in the experimental group make use of more types of knowledge sources and contextual cues in the process of inferencing and they practice the inferencing strategy more frequently. Sentence level meaning, word morphology, and discourse level meaning are the cues most frequently used by both groups. Pedagogical implications of this study and suggestions for further research are also presented. 1. Instruction of vocabulary inferring can be integrated into regular curriculum. It takes only 10 to 15 minutes per class for students to practice the inference strategy. As shown in our experiment, after four months of instruction, students achieve significant progress in the use of knowledge sources and contextual cues while reading. Articles in English learning magazines or bilingual newspapers are good supplementary reading materials for practice. These materials are usually longer and contain various types of knowledge sources and contextual cues. 2. To teach inferring skills, teachers should choose the reading texts which are familiar to students and contain enough knowledge sources and contextual cues. Students incline to giving wild guesses when they can not find adequate cues to help them do the job. Lexical inference instruction can be conducted by focusing on the word level cues in the first phase, then extending to the sentence level cues, and to the wilder discourse level cues. Equipping students with rich world knowledge is also helpful. 3. Teachers should examine students’ reading difficulties should to figure out what the problems are. Students’ reading problems may result from lack of basic linguistic competence or lexical strategies in reading. With knowledge of these problems, the teacher can help the students overcome their difficulties and become successful readers.