本研究探討台灣高中生單字、文法能力與閱讀理解能力三者間的關係。研究者首先分別探討單字及文法能力對閱讀的影響力，接著找出對閱讀較具關鍵性的影響因素。最後，研究者使用自述問卷探討不同英語程度的高中生在英語閱讀困難上的差異性。
本研究之受試者為222位來自高雄市四所公立高中之高二學生。受試者依照基測入學分數分為高分組及低分組。兩組學生皆接受研究者自製之單字測驗、文法測驗、及閱讀能力等三項測驗。在測驗結束後，兩組受試者皆必須填答一份關於閱讀困難的自述問卷。
研究結果發現，對高分組及低分組受試者來說，單字能力及文法能力皆能影響閱讀能力之表現。此外，單字能力對閱讀之影響又比文法能力要來的高。另外，自述問卷之結果顯示，高分組及低分組之受試者皆認為閱讀中出現的長句子是最主要的閱讀困難；因此，本研究建議教學者應重視學生之句子之分析能力，並協助學生發展上而下(Top-down)之策略，使學生能運用文法知識幫助其閱讀理解。

The study investigates the relationship among vocabulary size, syntactic competence, and reading comprehension ability of Taiwan EFL senior high school students. The researcher would examine the respective effects of vocabulary and syntactic competence on reading comprehension, and investigate which one had superior relationship with reading comprehension. Moreover, the reading difficulties encountered by the readers with different proficiency would also be explored through self-report questionnaire.
The subjects of the study were 222 11th graders from four public senior high schools in Kaohsiung City. They were classified into two groups, the high proficiency group (Group H) and the low proficiency group (Group L). They were asked to take three tests, the vocabulary test, the syntactic test, and the reading comprehension test. Besides, they had to complete a self-report questionnaire after the tests.
The major findings evidenced that both vocabulary ability and syntactic competence were important to the reading comprehension. However, vocabulary ability had superior relationship with reading comprehension for both high and low proficiency groups. Moreover, both high-proficient and low-proficient participants considered long sentences as the most serious reading difficulty. Plus, to solve reading problems, participants with different proficiency levels would develop various strategies to facilitate their reading.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER page
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION………………………….........1
1.1 Background and Motivation……………………………….1
1.2 Purpose of the study……………………………………….2
1.3 Research Questions…………………………...........3
1.4 Significance of the Study……………………………..3
1.5 Limitations of the Study……………………………….4

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW………………….……....5

2.1 The Nature of Reading……………………….........5
2.1.1 The Definitions of Reading……………….….5
2.1.2 The Process of Reading………………….…...6
2.1.2.1 Models of Reading……………..………….7
2.1.2.1.1 Bottom-up Reading Model….........7
2.1.2.1.2 Top-down Reading Model……………….9
2.1.2.1.3 Interactive Reading Model……………11
2.1.3 Reading Strategies………………………………12
2.2 Reading Comprehension Difficulty…………………………15
2.2.1 Reading Difficulty from Vocabulary and Syntactic
Knowledge…............................................18
2.2.1.1.Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension……………...20
2.2.1.2. Syntactic Components and Reading Comprehension ..........................................21
2.2.1.2.1 Structure Difference between the Target Language
and Native Language…………………………………21
2.2.1.2.2. Syntactic Complexity and Reading Comprehension Difficulty…………………………..……..…….22
2.2.2 Language Proficiency and Reading Comprehension Difficulty...........................................23
2.3. Empirical Studies Involved Two Factors…………...23

CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY…………………..……….26

3.1 Participants…………………..……………………….……...26
3.2 Instruments…………………………………………….………….28
3.2.1.Vocabulary Test…………………………………….…...28
3.2.2.Grammar Test……………………………………….……….32
3.2.3 Reading Comprehension Test……………………….…33
3.2.4 Self-report Questionnaire……………………………35
3.3 Procedures…………………………………………………...........37


CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION………………........39

4.1 Correlation between Vocabulary Ability and Reading Comprehension……………………………………………........……39
4.2 Correlation between Syntactic Competence and Reading Comprehension…………………….……………………….......…..42
4.3 The Prediction of the Two Variables to Reading Comprehension…………………………………………….......…...45
4.3.1 The Prediction of the Two Variables to Reading
Comprehension- All Participants……..…………………....…45
4.3.2 The Prediction of the Two Variables to Reading
Comprehension- The Case in Group H………………......…..45
4.3.3 The Prediction of the Two Variables to Reading
Comprehension-The Case in Group L………………….....…..49
4.4 The Reading Difficulties Encountered by the EFL Readers……..........................................…52
4.5 The Solutions to the Subjects’ Reading Comprehension
Difficulties…………………………………......…………..…...57
4.5.1 The Participants’ Solutions to Unfamiliar Words While Reading…………………………………...................58
4.5.2 The Participants’ Solutions to Difficult Sentences While Reading………………………………………….…….....…..61
4.5.3 The Tendency of Reading Comprehension of the
Participants………………………………………………..........64
4.5.4 The Participants’ Belief in Reading Comprehension Enhancement………………………………………….…............67
4.5.5 A Comparison between the Learners’ Belief and Behavior……………………………………………..…............69
4.5.6 Summary……………………………………………………......71

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS
5.1 Major Findings…………………………………………………...72
5.1.1 The Findings from the Three Tests…………………….72
5.1.2 The Findings from the Self-report Questionnaire………………75
5.2 Pedagogical Implications…………...………………………76
5.3 Suggestions for Future Research……...…………………78

REFERENCES…………………….……………..…………………80
APPENDIX 1………………………….………….…………………88
APPENDIX 2………………………………..………………………97

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