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Submitted by Alan Maley on 8 December, 2009 - 14:41 In this, the first of two articles for TeachingEnglish, Alan Maley considers the benefits extensive reading can bring to English language learners and teachers.
met. This helps them to consolidate what they already know and to extend it. There is no way any learner will meet new language enough times to learn it in the limited number of hours in class. The only reliable way to learn a language is through massive and repeated exposure to it in context: precisely what ER provides. ER enhances general language competence. In ways we so far do not fully understand, the benefits of ER extend beyond reading. There is a spread of effect from reading competence to other language skills ~ writing, speaking and control over syntax. (Elley 1991) The same phenomenon is noted by Day and Bamford (1998: 32-39) but they even note evidence of improvements in the spoken language. So reading copiously seems to benefit all language skills, not just reading. ER helps develop general, world knowledge. Many, if not most, students have a rather limited experience and knowledge of the world they inhabit both cognitively and affectively. ER opens windows on the world seen through different eyes. This educational function of ER cannot be emphasised enough. ER extends, consolidates and sustains vocabulary growth. Vocabulary is not learned by a single exposure. ER allows for multiple encounters with words and phrases in context thus making possible the progressive accretion of meanings to them. By presenting items in context, it also makes the deduction of meaning of unknown items easier. There have been many studies of vocabulary acquisition from ER (Day et al 1991, Nation and Wang 1999, Pigada and Schmitt, 2006). Michael Hoeys theory of lexical priming (Hoey 1991, 2005) also gives powerful support to the effect of multiple exposure to language items in context. ER helps improve writing. There is a well-established link between reading and writing. Basically, the more we read, the better we write. Exactly how this happens is still not understood (Kroll 2003) but the fact that it happens is well-documented (Hafiz and Tudor 1989) Commonsense would indicate that as we meet more language, more often, through reading, our language acquisition mechanism is primed to produce it in writing or speech when it is needed. (Hoey 2005). ER creates and sustains motivation to read more. The virtuous circle - success leading to success - ensures that, as we read successfully in the foreign language, so we are encouraged to read more. The effect on self-esteem and motivation of reading ones first book in the foreign language is undeniable. It is what Krashen calls a home run book : my first! This relates back to the point at the beginning of the need to find compelling, not merely interesting, reading material. It is this that fuels the compulsion to read the next Harry Potter. It also explains the relatively new trend in graded readers toward original and more compelling subject matter. (Moses)
d) ER not linked to the syllabus and the examination. e) Lack of understanding of ER and its benefits. f) Downward pressure on teachers to conform to syllabi and textbooks. g) Resistance from teachers, who find it impossible to stop teaching and to allow learning to take place. Oddly, the elephant in the room: the Internet culture of young people, was not mentioned. There is work on the non-linear reading required by Internet users in Murray and Macpherson (2005), and articles on hypermedia by Richards (2000), and Ferradas Moi (2008) and some interesting reflections in Johnson (2006). The non-reader issue will not go away but it is too important to deal with here and needs a separate article.
References.
Atwell, Nancie. (2006) The Reading Zone: how to help kids become skilled, passionate, habitual, critical readers. New York: Scholastic Bamford, Julian and Richard Day. (2004) Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Day, Richard, R. (2002) Top Ten Principles for teaching extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language. 14 (2) Day, Richard, R , Omura, Carole, Hiramatsu, Motoo. (1991) Incidental EFL vocabulary learning and reading. Reading in a Foreign Language. 7 (2) Day, Richard, R and Bamford, Julian.(1998) Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Elley, W.B (1991) Acquiring literacy in a second language: the effect of book-based programmes. Language Learning. 41. 375-411 Ferradas Moi, Claudia. (2003) Hyperfiction: Explorations in Texture in B.Tomlinson (ed) (2003) Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London/New York: Continuum, pp 221-233 Hafiz, F.M and Tudor, I. (1989) Extensive reading and the development of language skills. ELT Journal 43 (1) 4-13 Hoey, Michael (1991) Patterns of Lexis in Texts. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hoey, Michael (2005) Lexical Priming. London: Routledge Johnson, Steven (2006) Everything Bad is Good for You. New York: Riverhead. Krashen, Stephen (2nd edition. 2004 ) The Power of Reading: insights from the research. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Kroll, Barbara (ed) (2003) Exploring the Dynamics of Second Language Writing.: Chapter 10 Reading and Writing Relations. New York: Cambridge University Press. Maley, Alan (2008) Extensive Reading: Maid in Waiting in B. Tomlinson (ed) English Language Learning Materials: a critical review. London/New York: Continuum pp133-156. Moses, Antoinette, (2004) Jojos Story. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Murray, Denise and Pamela McPherson (eds) (2005) Navigating to Read Reading to Navigate. Teaching in Action (series) Sydney: NCELTR, McQuarie University Nation, Paul (1997) The language teaching benefits of extensive reading. The Language Teacher. 21 (5) Nation, Paul and Wang Ming-Tzu, Karen (1999) Graded readers and vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign Language. 12 (2) Pigada, Maria and Norbert Schmitt (2006) Vocabulary acquisition for extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language. 18 (1) Prowse, Philip. What is the secret of extensive reading? http://www.cambridge.org/elt/readers/prowse 1.htm (accessed 4 April 2007) Prowse, P. (2002) Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading: a response. Reading in a Foreign Language. 14 (2) Richards, Cameron (2000) Hypermedia, Internet communication and the challenge of re defining literacy in the electronic age. Language Teaching and Technology. 4 (2,) 59-77. Scmidtt, Ken Lower level Extensive reading Opportunities for Lower-level Learners of EFL/ESL. on http://tesl-ej.org/ej13/int.html Waring, Rob (2000) The Why and How of Using Graded Readers. Oxford University Press, Japan. (free publication accessible on www.oupjapan.co.jp/teachers/tebiki/tebiki.shtml) Waring, Rob (2006) Why Extensive Reading should be an indispensable part of all language programmes. The Language Teacher 30 (7): 44-47
Useful Websites
http://www.extensivereading.net/er/biblio2.html http://www.extensivereading.net/er/whatis.html http://sdkrashen.com http://ijflt.com www.nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/