RQ1: How to put the theoretical framework into practice?

RQ2：Whether the leveled textbooks match with the order of difficulty levels which is theoretically required in New College English published by Zhejiang University?

1。4 Layout of the Thesis

Take the logic and coherence into consideration, the thesis consists of five chapters:

Chapter one is the introduction of the whole project。 It consists of research background, purpose and significance of the research, research questions, and layout of the thesis。

Chapter two is the review of the current researches and works done in this field。 The review mainly composed of two parts: framework of reading competence and leveling of reading materials and tasks。

Chapter three is the introduction of the research methodology, which includes research design, SALMs for the research and research methods。

Chapter four is the results and analysis, which contains three steps: the introduction of the SAC, study of the results in Lv’s framework and the application of the framework for New College English。

Chapter five presents the research findings from two aspects: the findings and the implications in the results of leveling。

Chapter six gives the conclusion of the whole study。 It includes two parts: the implications of the study as well as the limitations and future directions。

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

Since the importance of SARMs and leveling of college English textbooks have been clearly illustrated, this chapter will review the theoretical basis for proper leveling from two perspectives: 1) the framework of reading competence, and 2) a brief introduction for leveling of SARMs and tasks。

2。1 Frameworks of Reading Competence

There have been several theoretical and pragmatic frameworks that clearly define reading competence。 In China, the Ministry of Education has issued most recent edition of College English Curriculum Standard (2016) in which reading competence is an important part of comprehensive English abilities that Chinese college students should attain。 Based on this standard, CECS the College English Tests (CET) are designed by scholars under the leadership of the Ministry of Education, and administered at regular intervals nationwide。 CET-4 (Band 4) and CET-6 (Band 6) are adopted to measure English proficiency levels of Chinese college students。 As the only nationally administered, standardized tests, the CET-4 and CET-6 are used here to provide a China-specific measurement of English proficiency of non-English-major college students

2。1。1 Reading competence in CEFR

CEFR is the acronym of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, whose purpose is to provide a common basis for English learners and teachers in terms of “language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc。” (Council of Europe, 2001, p。10)。  It classifies language competences into several components and is formulated into several major levels in accordance with varieties of language activities: reception, production, interaction or mediation (i。e。 interpretation or translation) (Council of Europe, 2001, p。23)。 For each type of language activities, there are three broad levels, which are Level A, Level B and Level C; each broad level is further pided into two levels, which is shown in the following chart。

Figure 2。 Levels of language competence in CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001, p。 23)

The framework is mainly composed of two dimensions。 The first dimension is language use in terms of the context in a static view and communication in a dynamic view。 The context of language use refers to domain, situations, conditions and constraints, learners’ mental context, and mental context of interlocutors。 While the communication covers language activities and strategies, the themes, language processes and texts, tasks and purposed。 The second dimension includes the levels and different types of communicative language competences, such as linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence。