Abstract

Students under preferential enrollment constitute a special group at top-tier universities in China. Although granted admission, these students may not be academically ready when compared with their counterparts who are admitted through regular enrollment. Nevertheless, they are subject to the same academic requirements, including foreign language courses, as other students. Consequently, most of them undergo severe challenges in college. To assist this special group of students, the present study focused on improving their English reading ability. This study was identified as a single-cohort exploratory study, embedded in a 16-week English course with 63 participants. Reading passages from the College English Test (CET), which include three types of testing formats (i.e., cloze, long, and short passages), were employed, considering that most of them need a satisfactory score on the test for further learning or job-seeking. Results showed that (i) students’ reading subskills developed at different levels and in different patterns; (ii) students’ overall English reading ability improved only slightly despite three cycles of interventions. The findings bring into light the challenge that both teachers and students encounter. It might arouse attention to the challenge faced by alternative enrollment students.

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