The current study investigates the construct representation of the reading component of a B2 level general English test: First Certificate in English (FCE). Construct representation is the relationship between cognitive processes elicited by the test and item difficulty. To facilitate this research, a model of the cognitive process involved in responding to reading test items was defined, drawing together aspects of different models (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Khalifa & Weir, 2009; Rouet, 2012). The resulting composite contained four components: the formation of an understanding of item requirements (OP), the location of relevant text in the reading passage (SEARCH), the retrieval of meaning from the relevant text (READ) and the selection of an option for the response (RD). Following this, contextual features predicted by theory to influence the cognitive processes, and hence the difficulty of items, were determined. Over 50 such variables were identified and mapped to each of the cognitive processes in the model. Examples are word frequency in the item stem and options for OP; word frequency in the reading passage for READ; semantic match between stem/option and relevant text in the passage for SEARCH; and dispersal of relevant information in the reading passage for RD. Response data from approximately 10,000 live test candidates were modelled using the Linear Logistic Test Model (LLTM) within a Generalised Linear Mixed Model framework (De Boeck & Wilson, 2004b). The LLTM is based on the Rasch model, for which the probability of success on an item is a function of item difficulty and candidate ability. The holds for LLTM except that item difficulty is decomposed so that the contribution of each source of difficulty (the contextual features mentioned above) is estimated. The main findings of the study included the identification of 26 contextual features which either increased or decreased item difficulty. Of these features, 20 were retained in a final model which explained 75.79% of the variance accounted for by a Rasch model. Among the components specified by the composite model, OP and READ were found to have the most influence, with RD exhibiting a moderate influence and SEARCH a low influence. Implications for developers of FCE include the need to consider and balance test method effects, and for other developers the additional need to determine whether their tests test features found to be criterial to the target level (such as non-standard word order at B2 level). Researchers wishing to use Khalifa and Weir’s (2009) model of reading should modify the stage termed named inferencing and consider adding further stages which define the way in which the goal setter and monitor work and the way in which item responses are selected. Finally, for those researchers interested in adopting a similar approach to that of the current study, careful consideration should be given to the way in which attributes are selected. The aims and scope of the study are of prime importance here.

Reading has always received a great deal of attention at both junior and senior high schools in Taiwan. However, reading ability of English after six years' learning is not satisfactory. The main problem is that students do not read for the main idea nor for the relationships between sentences. In addition, English reading skills, even at the college level, are limited to referring to the dictionary and analyzing sentence structures. The purpose of the present study is to explore this area; in particular, to determine the causes of and to provide solutions to the problem of reading difficulty by conducting a content analysis. This study focuses on a content analysis in four areas:(1) Analysis of reading comprehension questions, (2) analysis of gradation of readability, (3) analysis of gradation of structures, and (4) comparison of cohesive ties between Chinese and English written texts using similar topics. The text samples to be examined included two areas: (1) Book Six of The Standard English Textbook. This is the final volume of the series currently prescribed for senior high schools in Taiwan, and (2) three texts written in Chinese and English, with similar topics. It is hoped that some implications will be drawn from this study for improving the effectiveness of teaching reading in English at the secondary level in Taiwan.

Motivation has been viewed as a very influential factor to successful reading for English as foreign language learners. Learners can be motivated to read English by extrinsic or intrinsic motivation, and the motivational orientations could also influence their reading achievement. However, language problems that EFL learners encounter while reading can affect their willingness to read as well as their reading achievement. The purpose of this study was to investigate Taiwanese EFL students’ English reading motivation and its relationship with perceived language problems and reading achievement. 302 11th grade students from an urban district in southern Taiwan participated in the study. Measures included an English reading comprehension test, an English reading motivation questionnaire, and a questionnaire regarding language problems in reading English. A factor analysis was used to determine the motivational orientations. Multiple regression and correlation analysis were performed to examine the relationship among reading motivation, language problems, and reading achievement. The results showed that: 1) Taiwanese senior high school students were largely motivated to read English by extrinsic motivation, specifically the importance and instrumental utility of reading English and the drive for recognition and competition, although they could also be motivated by intrinsic motivation to read English for knowledge and social purposes. Moreover, extrinsic motivation to read for compliance was significantly associated with their English reading scores. 2) While reading English, unknown idiomatic expressions and vocabulary were frequently reported language problems that influenced students’ willingness to read. Nevertheless, lack of grammar knowledge was generally not considered a big language problem to most of the students while reading. 3) Language problems in reading English and reading motivation were correlated, and motivation to read for compliance, grammar knowledge, and overall reading comprehension were significant predictors of students’ English reading scores. This study highlights the influential role of extrinsic motivation to EFL students in English reading and the importance of knowledge of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in order to help understand the meaning of English texts. It provides implications for English teachers in designing appropriate curriculum that suits students’ needs and interests, and also suggestions for choosing proper reading materials.

This paper critically reviewed the literature on the relationships between Pinyin and Chinese bilingual and monolingual children’s phonological awareness (PA) and identified areas of research worth of further investigation. As the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet providing pronunciation of the universal Chinese characters, Pinyin facilitates children’s early reading development. What research has found in English is that PA is a reliable indicator of later reading success and meta-linguistic training improves PA. In Chinese, a non-alphabetic language, there is also evidence that PA predicts reading in Chinese, which confirms the universality of PA’s role. However, research shows the uniqueness of each language: tonal awareness is stronger indicator in Chinese while phonemic awareness is stronger indicator in English. Moreover, Pinyin, the meta-linguistic training, has been found to improve PA in Chinese and reading in Chinese and possibly facilitate the cross-language transfer of PA from Chinese to English and vice versa.

This paper critically reviewed the literature on the relationships between Pinyin and Chinese bilingual and monolingual children’s phonological awareness (PA) and identified areas of research worth of further investigation. As the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet providing pronunciation of the universal Chinese characters, Pinyin facilitates children’s early reading development. What research has found in English is that PA is a reliable indicator of later reading success and meta-linguistic training improves PA. In Chinese, a non-alphabetic language, there is also evidence that PA predicts reading in Chinese, which confirms the universality of PA’s role. However, research shows the uniqueness of each language: tonal awareness is stronger indicator in Chinese while phonemic awareness is stronger indicator in English. Moreover, Pinyin, the meta-linguistic training, has been found to improve PA in Chinese and reading in Chinese and possibly facilitate the cross-language transfer of PA from Chinese to English and vice versa.

隨著網路的發展，人們的閱讀習慣和閱讀行為一直不斷的進化與改變。過去的研究指出在這數位化的年代，更多的網路閱讀習慣的研究需要再進一步的進行與更新，以便英語教育者更加了解英文學習者如何使用網路幫助他們的英語學習。本研究欲探討大學生如何運用網路幫助他們的英語學習，此研究主要探索大學生英文網路閱讀的習慣以及他們對於英文網路閱讀的觀感。此外，此研究更進一步探討大一學生和大四學生在英文網路閱讀及觀感上是否有差異。 本研究採取質性研究，以北台灣兩所大學為例，參加本研究的學生一共有四十九位學生，分別有二十五位大四英文系學生以及二十四位大一英文系學生。資料收集主要採用焦點團體訪談的方式，以半結構式的方談方式採訪了十八組學生。學生的訪談資料收集後，將訪談內容轉為逐字稿以進行內容分析。 本研究主要發現，學生上網閱讀英文的主要目的是完成學校作業。學生喜歡在網路上閱讀和課業有關的文章、比較聳動以及容易記住、輕鬆的文章主題（例如：休閒活動和藝術）。學生也喜歡在網路上挑選比較簡短、比較具有信賴度和權威性的文章閱讀。根據網路上各種英語學習資源以及學生所提供的資料來分類，本文中整理出學生經常使用的英文學習網站，以供參考。此外，在網路上閱讀英文時，學生比較有動機閱讀有多媒體呈現的文章內容。當在網路閱讀英文時，遇到閱讀理解有問題，學生通常利用線上網路字典或是網路即時翻譯的功能，以幫助他們對文章的理解。 學生提出在網路閱讀英文有些缺點，包含缺乏靈活性、容易分心和迷失方向、提供過多的資訊、缺乏人體工學的考量。此外，學生也提出網路閱讀的優點。學生認為在網路閱讀可以讓他們省時、省錢的得到資訊、得到快速更新的資訊以及其他人的觀點、得到不同形式的資訊、與他人溝通、製作自己的閱讀檔案、增進英文學習、同時處理很多事務。學生也提出一些建議給有意願使用網路教學的的老師，以便老師能夠了解他們的真正的需求與困難。例如，他們希望老師能夠推薦他們有用的網站、教導他們網路搜尋技巧、並且能夠將網路的使用真正的融入課堂中。 本研究也發現大一學生和大四學生在網路閱讀習慣及觀感最主要的相異之處在於大四學生比大一學生習慣將英文融入他們的日常生活中，以便他們透過網路來增加學習英文環境的機會。此外，大四學生比較能夠有技巧性地運用網路資源，以解決他們在網路閱讀上遇到的問題。相反地，大一學生仍然需要老師教導他們一些技巧來解決在網路上閱讀所遇到的問題，以及教導他們如何分辨可信賴和不可信賴的網站。 希望本研究的發現可以讓教育者瞭解大學生如何使用網路來幫助他們的英語學習，以及網路的使用如何影響他們的閱讀習慣。文末進一步提出相關建議，作為教育學者們教學上的參考。 / With the advancement of the Internet, people’s reading habits and behaviors have been evolving and reshaped. Previous studies indicated that more research on reading habits in this digital age is necessary to be further investigated and updated to eke out EFL educators’ understanding of EFL learners’ uses of the Internet to facilitate their English learning. This study attempts to explore how undergraduate students use the Internet to facilitate their English learning by delving into their habits and perceptions of reading English on the Internet and whether there is any difference between undergraduate freshmen and seniors. The present study adopted a qualitative research method. The participants are forty-nine EFL English major undergraduates with twenty-five seniors and twenty-four freshmen from two universities in northern Taiwan. The major way to collect data is focus group interviews, which are semi-structured interviews with eighteen focus interview groups of the participating students. The interview data were transcribed in verbatim and analyzed in accordance with content analysis method. The major findings of the habits of reading English online revealed that the participants basically held positive attitude towards and grew into the habit of reading English on the Internet. They read English online for the purpose of doing schoolwork and they preferred reading contents related to their courses, with light topics such as leisure and art, with sensational and catchy topics, in short length, or with more reliability and authority. The English learning websites that the participants usually went to were also provided for pedagogical references. Moreover, the participants were much more motivated to read English online when the reading contents were accompanied with multimedia. Upon facing reading comprehension problems, they usually turned to online dictionaries or online instant translators to improve their understanding of the contents they were reading on the Internet. The students’ perceptions of disadvantages of reading online included inflexibility, distraction and disorientation, oversupply of information, and lack of ergonomic concerns. Apart from the disadvantages of reading English on the Internet, the participants put forth a number of valuable merits of reading online, including time and cost saving in gaining information, gaining rapidly-updated information, others’ perspective, accessing information in divers forms, interacting with others, making documents, benefiting English learning, and multitasking. As for the suggestions made to the teachers intending to integrate the Internet use into classes, the participants hoped that teachers could recommend them useful websites, teach them search skills, and infuse the Internet into the classroom setting. The major findings of the differences between the seniors and the freshmen were that the seniors were more accustomed to incorporating English language into their daily lives in order to increase more chances to immerse themselves in English learning environments through the Internet than the freshmen. In addition, the seniors were more resourceful in using the Internet to help themselves with problems they met while reading online. Contrarily, the freshmen still needed teachers’ training on how to solve their reading comprehension with more methods and on how to distinguish reliable websites from incredible ones. Finally, it is expected that the findings of this study can provide educators with more understanding about how undergraduates utilize the Internet to facilitate their English learning and how their reading habits are influenced by the widespread use of the Internet. Besides, a number of pedagogical implications and instructional suggestions are presented at the end of this thesis for educators’ teaching references.

This thesis investigated reading and related skills in Chinese children learning English as a second language (ESL) in 279 Chinese twin pairs aged from 3 to 11 years. Children were tested twice, a year apart, with measures of visual word recognition, receptive vocabulary, phonological awareness, phonological memory and speech perception in both Chinese and English and Chinese tone awareness. The thesis was divided into two sections with the first section exploring the phenotypic relationships and the second section estimating the genetic and environmental influences. In the first section, the causal relationships among the five ESL skills were modelled (chapter 4) and the relationships between Chinese and ESL skills were sought (chapter 4). In section two, the univariate heritability (chapter 6), the cross-linguistic genetic overlap (chapter 7) and the stability and instability of heritability estimates (chapter 8) for all skills were examined. Findings have shown that ESL speech perception is important to the development of ESL phonological awareness, phonological memory and receptive vocabulary, in turn, has an impact on ESL reading development. Genes play an important role in ESL and Chinese reading development. The differential environmental effects may be due to the differences in the ESL and Chinese acquisition ecologies.

本文旨在探討台灣國中生在英語閱讀時, 運用「放聲思考配對練習法」結合「單字解讀策略」教學的成效及影響, 研究對象是依安置測驗所選出兩班具有高度同質性的國三學生, 隨機分派為一實驗組, 一控制組, 並依其安置測驗結果分為高、低兩組。 實驗組在老師教完單字解讀策略後, 由一高分組學生和一低分組學生隨機配對做為期八週的放聲思考閱讀訓練, 並且在訓練活動前後, 實驗組和控制組所有的學生皆施予單字解讀成就測驗, 閱讀理解成就測驗, 及英語閱讀學習態度量表, 實驗組更多加施予後設認知問卷及對此訓練活動的反應問卷, 同時在實驗組訓練過程中, 隨機抽取一組配對的學生將他們運用「放聲思考配對練習法」作答的過程錄音下來以便分析。 本研究結果顯示: (一)實驗組和控制組在單字解讀成就測驗有顯著差異。亦即, 運用「放聲思考配對練習法」結合「單字解讀策略」的教學有效地增進了學生字彙推測的成績表現, 對低程度的學生效果尤其明顯。(二)在四種單字解讀策略中, 「放聲思考配對練習法」最能增進學生在「往前線索策略」和「背景知識線索策略」的成績表現, 對不同程度的學生而言, 低程度學生的「往前線索策略」成績進步最多。(三)實驗組和控制組在閱讀理解成就測驗並沒有顯著差異。亦即, 此一訓練活動並不能改進學生在閱讀理解的成績表現。(四)實驗組和控制組的英語閱讀學習態度量表有顯著差異。即運用「放聲思考配對練習法」結合「單字解讀策略」的教學有效地增進了學生對英語閱讀的學習態度, 尤其對高程度的學生效果尤其明顯。在四種分項學習態度中, 學生的「免除對英語閱讀的恐懼」學習態度進步最多。(五)在後設認知方面, 實驗組的學生在接受此一閱讀訓練活動後, 對自己在文章大意、文章相關知識及猜字技巧的閱讀困難上有顯著的認知, 並且也認定猜字技巧是有效的英語閱讀策略。(六)從反應問卷中顯示, 接受此一閱讀訓練活動後, 大部分的學生認為運用「放聲思考配對練習法」結合「單字解讀策略」的教學對他們的字彙推測技巧是有幫助的, 且其幫助大於單獨運用「放聲思考配對練習法」或單獨運用「單字解讀策略」, 並且認為此一閱讀訓練活動有助於對自己和對他人閱讀過程的了解。但大多數的學生對運用此一閱讀訓練活動於未來英語課程中仍採保留態度。 根據上述的結果, 本研究建議國中英語教師可以運用「放聲思考配對練習法」結合「單字解讀策略」的教學來增進學生在英語閱讀時字彙推測的技巧和對英語閱讀的學習態度, 以及加強他們對自我閱讀過程的認知。同時, 為了能讓「放聲思考配對練習法」在學生身上發揮最大的學習效果, 教師應考慮學生在語言學習上的個別差異現象以及此一合作學習法時間掌握的問題, 以避免學生心理上的排斥作用和學習上的反效果。 / This thesis explores EFL lexical inferencing abilities and reading behaviors of junior high school students in Taiwan. Thinking Aloud Pair Problem Solving (TAPPS) and instruction of Word-solving Strategies were integrated to see whether they had effects on students’ lexical inferencing abilities, reading comprehension, learning attitude toward and metacognitive awareness of English reading. Two third-grade junior high school classes were selected as one experimental group and one control group, both with high-and low-proficiency levels. Results were found from the statistical analysis of the experiment. First, TAPPS training in word-solving strategies proved quite beneficial in enhancing students’ lexical inferencing abilities, and the low-proficiency students benefited more than the high-proficiency students. Second, TAPPS training in word-solving strategies indeed facilitated students’ use of forward cues and background knowledge cues, and the low-proficiency students improved most in their use of forward cues. Third, TAPPS training in word-solving strategies did not benefit students in their general reading comprehension. Fourth, TAPPS training in word-solving strategies successfully helped the students change their learning attitude toward English reading, especially the high-proficiency students. As to the different learning attitudes, students’ learning attitude of “The freedom from fear of English reading” changed most. Fifth, after receiving this training activity, the students’ metacognitive awareness of English reading was significantly higher. Sixth, the response questionnaire revealed that most of the students considered TAPPS training in word-solving strategies helpful and gave positive responses to this training activity. However, most of the students were conservative about recommending this training activity to future English classes. These aforementioned findings in this study suggested that junior high school English teachers could adopt TAPPS training in word-solving strategies to enhance students’ lexical inferencing abilities, change their learning attitude and reinforce their metacognitive awareness of English reading. However, it should be cautioned here that when teachers try to implement TAPPS training in English reading comprehension, they should consider students’ personal difference in language learning and the disruptive and time-consuming drawback of TAPPS to avoid students’ potential rejection and failure of the whole training activity.

本文旨在探討透過後設論述觀念的教授，對高中生英文閱讀表現有否顯著效益，同時加以深入分析後設論述觀念，對於不同英語能力程度的學生在其閱讀表現有否不同的效益。 壹、研究方法 (一) 本行動研究以八十位桃園縣立某高中二年級兩班社會組學生為本實驗教學之對象。將兩班學生分成實驗組和控制組，同時在實驗組班級中，依據其在英語分級測驗的成績分配出高分組和低分組。 (二) 兩組受試者先進行閱讀理解的前測，並填寫一份有關其已知語言學習策略之問卷，實驗組學生接受十二週後設論述觀念的閱讀教學，而控制組學生只接受一般高中英文課程教學。 (三) 此外，實驗組學生並填寫有關於後設論述觀念的前後問卷，兩組受試者前後測成績皆以獨立及相依樣本t 檢定統計方法來分析學生的成績。 問卷的結果以百分比形式及統計卡方方法表列；百分比同質性檢定用來分析高分組和低分組學生們對於後設論述觀念教授的不同反應。 統計顯著水準.05 用於所有分析中以決定顯著差異是否存在。 (四) 最後，實驗組受試者須填寫一份有關於他們對後設論述觀念教授的觀感以及策略應用之問卷。 貳、研究結果 (一) 實驗組和控制組間其閱讀表現並有顯著差異。 實驗組學生因有後設論述觀念教授而在閱讀表現上有顯著提升。 (二) 實驗組的高分組與低分組在前後測閱讀表現有顯著差異。 高分組及低分組學生皆因有後設論述觀念教授而在閱讀表現上有顯著提升。尤其對高分組學生閱讀表現助益更大 (三) 問卷結果顯示，大部分實驗組學生對於後設論述觀念教授在閱讀表現上的效益抱持肯定態度。高分組及低分組學生皆持正面態度。 (四) 問卷結果顯示，大部分實驗組學生認為對於後設論述基模中的文本後設論述觀念的學習，較優於人際間後設論述觀念的學習。 (五) 問卷結果顯示，大部分實驗組學生認為，應用文本後設論述中的連接轉折詞及順序詞 對於提升他們英文閱讀能力幫助極大。　 參、研究限制 (一) 本研究在實際高中英文閱讀教學情境中進行，僅以研究者所任教之兩個班級為對象，目的在於透過後設論述觀念教授高中生英文閱讀之研究，探討此教學方法應用於台灣高中學生在英語閱讀學習之成效及可能遭遇的學習瓶頸。因此，若欲據以推論其它不同學校與不同程度學生之教學應用，尚需進ㄧ步探究。 (二) 國外文獻多數討論後設論述觀念與英文作文教學應用，有關於和英語閱讀學習成效的文獻則極為稀少。本研究根據研究結果，提出後設論述觀念教授與第二外語英語閱讀教學意涵上的探討，提供台灣英語教師教學策略的的思考和想法。 / This study explores whether if there are significant effects of metadiscourse schema on senior high EFL students’English reading comprehension. The study further investigates if there are significant effects of metadiscourse schema on reading comprehension for students with different language proficiency levels. It also reports the students’responses to metadiscourse schema on: the textual and interpersonal aspects. The subjects are eighty second-graders from Y.F. Senior High School in Taoyuan County. They are equally divided into the experimental and control groups based on the statistical s-shape distribution. The experimental group is further categorized into high-and low-proficiency subgroups based on the score of the placement test. Subjects in the experimental group take the instruction of metadiscourse schema for reading comprehension in twelve weeks. All subjects take the pre-and post-test for reading comprehension and fill in Questionnaire I. 　　The independent and dependent-sample t-test is used to analyze the subjects’ scores in the tests. The results of Questionnaire II are tabulated in terms of frequency and percentage. The results of Questionnaire II between high-and low-proficiency groups are analyzed by the test of homogeneity of proportions. Besides, the results of Questionnaire III also be discussed and analyzed. The .05 level of significance is used in all analysis as the criterion level for determining a significant difference. The major findings in this study are summarized as follows: 1.There is a significant difference in the reading performance between the experimental and control groups. When metadiscourse schema is instructed to the experimental group, the EG subjects have the significant improvement in reading performance. 2.There are significant differences for the high-and low-proficiency groups in the experimental group between Questionnaire II before and after the metadiscourse instruction. HPG gain more benefit from the instruction of metadiscourse schema than LPG. 3.The results of Questionnaire III on the students’ responses to metadiscourse schema show that most subjects’ perception of the effects of metadiscourse schema on the reading performance is positive. 4.EG subjects gain more benefit from the instruction of the textual metadiscourse than the interpersonal metadiscourse. 5.The results of Questionnaires II on the instruction of metadiscourse schema indicate that logical connectives and frame markers in the textual metadiscourse are the features most frequently used by senior high EFL students Based on the above-mentioned findings, pedagogical implications are provided and further research suggested.

本研究的目的在探討「交互教學法」對台灣國中生英文閱讀能力與後設認知之效益，並研究國中生對此教學的回應。參與本研究的學生為82名苗栗縣某公立高中的兩班九十五學年度九年級學生，實驗組施以12週交互教學法，控制組則為傳統老師講授方式，在教學活動前後，實驗組和控制組所有學生皆施以閱讀理解測驗（採自全民英檢初級閱讀測驗）及後設認知問卷，實驗組多加施以交互教學法回饋問卷。 本研究結果摘要如下： 1. 實驗組與控制組在閱讀理解測驗表現有顯著差異，亦即，交互教學法有效地增進學生閱讀理解表現。 2. 後設認知方面，實驗組在「閱讀信心」、「閱讀困難」和「閱讀能力強的人應具備的能力」三項後設認知能力表現顯著提高，在「有效閱讀策略」與「補救策略」二項之後設認知表現亦有明顯進步。 3. 交互教學法有助於增強學生對閱讀策略的觀念和用法，大部分受試者認為「摘要」與「預測」是最實用的閱讀策略。 4. 回饋問卷顯示，大部分實驗組學生對交互教學法持正面支持態度，並表示願意將所學之閱讀策略運用在未來的英語閱讀中。 根據上述結果，本研究建議國中英語教師可運用「交互教學法」增進學生英 語閱讀能力與後設認知能力，並提升學生學習英語的興趣。同時為了讓「交互教學法」發揮最大效用，教師應考慮學生在語言學習上之個別差異，以避免學生心理上的排斥與學習上的反效果。 / This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of reciprocal teaching in promoting EFL junior high school students’ reading comprehension and metacognitive awareness. In addition, students’ responses to reciprocal teaching were probed. Participants of this study included 82 ninth-graders from two intact classes in one public senior high school in Miaoli in the fall semester of 2006. The experimental group was engaged in reciprocal teaching and the control group was instructed in the traditional teacher-centered method. The reading comprehension test of GEPT at elementary level was used as the pretest and posttest to measure the participants’ reading ability before and after the instruction. Additionally, two questionnaires were adopted: one for investigating the effects of reciprocal teaching on students’ metacognitive awareness and the other for measuring the experimental group’s attitudes towards reciprocal teaching. After twelve weeks of experiment, the main results of this study can now be summarized as follows: 1. The participants’ reading comprehension ability improved significantly after the implementation of reciprocal teaching. 2. The participants’ metacognitive awareness was significantly higher especially in the categories of students’ reading confidence, students’ perceptions of reading difficulties, and students’ perceptions of a good reader. Students’ perceptions of repair strategies and effective strategies, though no significantly different , the participants did make progress in recognition of top-down and bottom-up strategies. 3. Reciprocal teaching helped the participants build up knowledge and use the instructed strategies. The strategies viewed by the participants as the most practical ones were “summarizing” and “predicting”. 4. According to the findings from the response questionnaire, the participants’ attitudes toward and responses to reciprocal teaching may be described as being supportive and positive. In addition, most of the participants expressed their willingness to employ the instructed strategies in their future English reading. The results suggest that reciprocal teaching can be a viable approach to help improve junior high school students’ reading comprehension ability and metacognitive awareness of English reading. Besides, students’ interest in learning can be stirred up. Yet, it should be noted that when conducting reciprocal teaching, teachers need to be taken into account students’ personal difference in language learning to avoid potential rejection.