Extensive Reading Why And How English Language Essay

elongated teaching Why And How English speech testAn vast culture program was established at the British Council Language Center in Sanaa, Yemen. An elemental level level of government employees (age puke 17-42) was exposed to a regime of order discoverers, which was integrated into normal schoolroom teaching. Students followed a class reader, had access to a class depository library of stratified readers, and had classes in the British Council library, which gave them access to a collection of 2000 titles. Questionnaires were used to try out students adaptation interests, habits and attitudes, both prior to, and following the program. The class library contained 141 titles in the published readers of some major publishers (see inventory of titles in Bell, 1994). Familiar titles (e.g. favorite Arab folk tales) were selected for both the class readers and the class library, so as to go the students to read. These titles proved very popular, as did the practice of tu ition aloud to the class.Students class period was carefully monitored formal and informal records being kept both by the researcher, and by the students themselves. knowledge diaries and book reports were used, together with a card institutionalise system to document the program and record both the titles read and students pen comments on the books. A wall chart acted as a focal point for in-class rent, discussion and exchange of titles. Reader interviews were conducted throughout the program, which ran for a catch of six months over the course of two semesters. Students became actively involved in caterpillar track the class library tables were arranged and titles displayed attractively during the periods set past for the nurture program. Students were taken into the briny British Council library for one lesson a week, during which they graphemeicipated in supportled twenty-minute sessions of USSR 1 (cf. Davis, 1995).With reference to research evidence, we now second to the function of extensive reading programs in fostering pick upers progress in reading learning and amelioration.The Role of prolonged rendition in Language knowledge1. It send packing provide comprehensible inputIn his 1982 book, Krashen argues that extensive reading forget lead to tramp-in acquisition, provided that certain preconditions are met. These include commensurate movie to the language, interesting clobber, and a relaxed, tension-free learning environment. Elley and Manghubai (198355) warn that exposure to the reverseorsement language is normally planned, restricted, gradual and largely artificial. The reading program provided in Yemen, and the choice of graded readers in secernateicular, was intended to offer conditions in charge with Krashens model.2. It fuel enhance learners general language competencyGrabe (1991391) and Paran (199630) have punctuate the importance of extensive reading in providing learners with practice in automaticity of treat ment recognition and decoding the symbols on the printed page (often called bottom-up processing). The book discharge project in Fiji (Elley Manghubai op cit.), in which Fijian school children were provided with high-interest storybooks, revealed signifi goatt agency treatment gains in sacred scripture recognition and reading comprehension afterward the first year, and wider gains in oral and written skills after two years.3. It sum ups the students exposure to the languageThe quality of exposure to language that learners receive is seen as significant to their potential to acquire natural-sprung(prenominal) forms from the input. Elley views provision of large quantities of reading solid to children as fundamental to reducing the exposure gap between L1 learners and L2 learners. He reviews a number of studies with children between six and twelve years of age, in which subjects showed rapid growth in language development compared with learners in reparation language progra ms . There was a spread of effect from reading competence to other language skills writing, speaking and control over syntax, (Elley 1991404).4. It can increase knowledge of vocabularyNagy Herman (1987) claimed that children between grades three and twelve (US grade levels) learn up to 3000 words a year. It is thought that only a humble percentage of such learning is due to direct vocabulary instruction, the symmetry being due to acquisition of words from reading. This suggests that traditional approaches to the teaching of vocabulary, in which the number of new words taught in each class was carefully controlled (words often being presented in related sets), is much less efficient in promoting vocabulary growth than simply getting students to spend meter on silent reading of interesting books.5. It can lead to improvement in writingStotsky (1983) and Krashen (1984) reviewed a number of L1 studies that appear to show the overconfident effect of reading on subjects writing ski lls, indicating that students who are prolific readers in their pre-college years beat better writers when they enter college. L2 studies by Hafiz Tudor (1989) in the UK and Pakistan, and Robb Susser (1989) in Japan, revealed more significant improvement in subjects written move around than in other language skills. These results again support the case for an input-based, acquisition-oriented reading program based on extensive reading as an legal means of fostering improvements in students writing.6. It can do learners to readReading material selected for extensive reading programs should address students needs, tastes and interests, so as to excite and motivate them to read the books. In the Yemen, this was achieved through the use of familiar material and popular titles reflecting the local culture (e.g.. Aladdin and His Lamp). Bell Campbell (1996, 1997) explore the issue in a South East Asian context, presenting variant itinerarys to motivate learners to read and explai ning the consumption of extensive reading and regular use of libraries in advancing the reading habit .7. It can consolidate previously knowledgeable languageExtensive reading of high-interest material for both children and adults offers the potential for reinforcing and recombining language learned in the classroom. Graded readers have a controlled grammatical and lexical load, and provide regular and sufficient repetition of new language forms (Wodinsky province 1988).Therefore, students automatically receive the necessary reinforcement and recycling of language needful to ensure that new input is retained and make available for intercommunicate and written production.8. It helps to build confidence with extended textsMuch classroom reading work has traditionally focused on the exploitation of shorts texts, all for presenting lexical and grammatical points or for providing students with limited practice in various reading skills and strategies. However, a large number of st udents in the EFL/ESL world have reading for academic purposes, and therefore need training in study skills and strategies for reading hourlong texts and books. Kembo (1993) points to the value of extensive reading in evolution students confidence and magnate in facing these longer texts.9. It encourages the exploitation of textual redundancyInsights from cognitive psychology have informed our understanding of the way the brain functions in reading. It is now generally understood that slow, word-by-word reading, which is common in classrooms, impedes comprehension by transferring an excess of visual signals to the brain. This leads to overload because only a fraction of these signals need to be processed for the reader to successfully witness the nub. Kalb (1986) refers to redundancy as an alpha means of processing, and to extensive reading as the means of recognizing and dealing with redundant elements in texts.10. It facilitates the development of prediction skills unitary of the currently accepted perspectives on the reading process is that it involves the exploitation of terra firma knowledge. Such knowledge is seen as providing a platform for readers to predict the topic of a text on the basis of a pre-existing system. When students read, these schema are activated and help the reader to decode and interpret the pith beyond the printed words. These processes presuppose that readers predict, sample, hypothesize and reorganize their understanding of the message as it unfolds while reading (Nunan 1991 65-66).Practical Advice on Running Extensive Reading Programs1. Maximize Learner InvolvementA number of logistical hurdle race have to be overcome in order to make an extensive reading program effective. Books need to be transported, displayed and collected at the end of each reading session. Considerable paperwork is required to document the card commove system, reading records, inventories, book reports and in maintaining and updating lists of t itles. Students should therefore be promote to take an active role in the management and administration of the reading program. In the Yemen program, students gained a strong sense of possession through running the reading resources in an efficient, coordinated and organized manner.2. The Reader Interview rule-governed conferencing between teacher and student played a key role in motivating students in the Yemen to read the books. This enabled effective monitoring of single progress and provided opportunities for the teacher to encourage students to read widely, show interest in the books being read, and to guide students in their choice of titles. By demonstrating commitment in their own reading, teachers can foster positive attitudes to reading, in which it is no longer viewed as tedious, demanding, hard work, but as a pleasurable part of their learning.3. Read Aloud to the ClassIn the Yemen study, reader interviews conducted with students revealed the popularity of occasions whe n the teacher read aloud to the class. The model of pronunciation provided acted as a abundant motivator, encouraging many an(prenominal) students to participate in classroom reading. Students gained confidence in silent reading because they were able to verbalize sounds they previously could could not recognize. This resulted in wider reading by some of the weaker readers in the class. Often thought of as bad practice, reading aloud should play a full part in motivating the emerging reader to overcome the fear of decoding words in an unfamiliar script.4. Student PresentationsShort presentations on books read played an absolutely crucial role in the program and students oftentimes commented on the value of oral work in class for exchanging information closely the books. The reader interviews revealed that most of the book choices made by students resulted from recommendations made by friends and not by the teacher. This demonstrates that given the right preparation, encouragemen t, sense of ownership and belonging, an extensive reading program lead achieve a committal and momentum governed by the learners themselves a large step in the onward motion of student independence and autonomy.5. Written Work Based on the ReadingEffective reading will lead to the shaping of the readers thoughts, which naturally leads many learners to respond in writing with varying degrees of fluency. Elementary level students can be asked simply to write short phrases ushering what they most enjoyed about a book they read, or to record questions they wish to ask the teacher or other students in class. With intermediate students, book reports may be used, with sections for questions, new vocabulary, and for recording the main characters and events. At this level, summary writing is also a valuable practice because it allows learners to assert full control, both of the main genuine or fictional content of a book, and of the grammar and vocabulary used to express it. Advanced st udents can be asked to write compositions, which, by definition, are lingually more demanding written responses to the reading material.6. Use Audio Material in the Reading ProgramThe use of audio recordings of books read aloud and of graded readers on cassette proved very popular with the students in Yemen, and is advocated for wide application. auditory sense material provided the learners with a model of correct pronunciation which aided word recognition, and exposed students to different accents, speech rhythms and cadences. Student confidence in their ability to produce natural speech patterns and to read along with the voice of a recorded speaker is central to maintaining their motivation to master the language as a medium for talking about their reading.7. Avoid the Use of TestsExtensive reading programs should be without the pressures of testing or marks (Davis 1995329). The use of tests runs foreign to the objective of creating stress-free conditions for pleasure reading because it invokes images of rote learning, vocabulary lists, memorization and homework. Extensive reading done at home should be under the learners control and not an obligation landd by the teacher. By their very nature, tests impose a rigor on the learning process, which the average student will never equate with pleasure.8. Discourage the Over-Use of DictionariesWhile dictionaries certainly have a place in the teaching of reading, it is probably best located in intensive reading lessons, where detailed study of the lexical content of texts is appropriate. If learners turn to the dictionary every time they come across an unfamiliar word, they will focus only on the language itself, and not on the message conveyed. This habit will result in slow, inefficient reading and drop the pleasure that reading novels and other literature are intended to provide. Summarizing comments on the extensive reading done by his subjects, Pickard (1996155) notes that Use of the dictionary was spari ng, with the main focus on meaning.9. Monitor the Students ReadingIn order to run an extensive reading program successfully, effective monitoring is required, both to make do the resources efficiently, and to trace students developing reading habits and interests. In the Yemen program, a card load system was used to record titles and the dates the books were borrowed and returned. Input from the monitoring process helps us to record students progress, maintain and update an inventory of titles, and locate and select new titles for the class library. It therefore serves both the individual needs of the reader and the logistical task of managing the reading resources.10. Maintain the EntertainmentThis is perhaps the most important aspect of the program to emphasize. Teachers need to invest time and cleverness in entertaining the participants by making use of multimedia sources to promote the books (e.g. video, audio, CD ROM, film, etc.). They should also exploit the power of anecdo te by telling the students about interesting titles, taking them out to see plays based on books, exploiting posters, leaflets, library resources, and even inviting visiting speakers to give a talk in class on a book they have read recently. In these ways, teachers can maintain student motivation to read and secure their full battle in the enjoyment the program provides.ConclusionTsangs (1996) study, carried out in Hong Kong utility(prenominal) schools, provided further persuasive evidence of the effectiveness of extensive reading in fostering learners language development. He found that the reading program was significantly more effective than the writing program (1996225) . Extensive reading programs can provide very effective platforms for promoting reading improvement and development from elementary levels upwards. Although they do require a significant investment in time, energy and resources on the part of those charged with managing the materials, the benefits in terms of language and skills development for the participating learners far outweigh the modest sacrifices required. If such programs receive institutional support and can be integrated into the curriculum so that they become agreed school policy, as suggested in Davis (1995), they will likely be more readily and widely adopted, particularly in countries where material and monetary resources are adequate.Notes1. USSR is uninterrupted sustained silent reading.