Lecture 7 - Extensive Reading

Comprehensible
Abundant
# of words heard by children
Warwick Elley, 2001
(International Journal of Educational Research)
“When the student repeatedly focuses on the meaning of a large number of interesting messages, he/she incidentally and gradually acquires the form in which they are couched.”
8
14
3
Source: The Power of Reading by Stephen Krashen, 2004
The Power of Reading
Number of studies = 19 Duration
7 to 12 months
Positive
No difference
Neg
9
10
8
2
-
Source: The Power of Reading by Stephen Krashen, 2004
All 52 Studies - Consolidated Duration Positive No difference Neg
< 7 mos. 7 mos to 1 yr > 1 yr.
• 1985 – 1990 • 40 of the weakest Secondary Schools • Ss read 50 books per year • Full support from key stakesholders • Pass rate at O-level above national average
• Is reading highly valued in Singapore?
Today’s Plan
Theory and empirical evidence
Benefits of extensive reading Implementation issues: Local context and constraints
Group 1 Experimental
Design Group 2 Control
Mean Gr 1 – Mean Gr 2 = Mean difference t-test = significant?
The Power of Reading
Number of studies = 25
Duration Less than 7 months. Positive No difference Neg
Philippines
• 60 Grade 7 students • Reading level = Grade 2.5 • 40 min free reading, 6 months, • Resource-poor school • ER > IR
Performance on standardized reading test
7
G R A D E
5.25
5
3.96
Control Exp.
L E V E L
3
2.55 2.38
1 Pre-test Post-test
Singapore
The Passes Project - Singapore
The Passes Project Singapore
The Project to Assist Selected Schools in English Skills
8 9 8
14 10 2
3
Source: The Power of Reading by Stephen Krashen, 2004
Task: In pairs, discuss two implications you can draw from the figures above.
28
Philippines
In her own words …
“She wanted to know who had helped me write them. They were my personal work. I had not even used the dictionary. She would not believe me. She pointed at a few underlined sentences and some vocabulary and asked me how I know them; they were well beyond the level of the class. I had not even participated much in class. I was devastated. There and then and many years later I could not explain how I knew them. I JUST DID.”
Christine Nuttall says … The best way to learn a second language is to live in the country in which the language is spoken. The second best way is to read extensively in the language.
The Power of Reading
• Prof. Stephen Krashen • 54 studies in the US • Experiments comparing two groups:
– Extensive reading group – Traditional language arts group – Results by duration
• Short, difficult texts (beware of ‘frustration’ level text) • Detailed comprehension • Tasks often do not match text purpose • Reading skills/strategies • Language practice (grammar, vocab, writing)
-
Source: The Power of Reading by Stephen Krashen, 2004
The Power of Reading
Number of studies = 10 Duration Positive No difference Neg
More than 1 yearr.
(Davis, 1995: 329)TimeEncouragement
Class library
Suitable material
Quantity
No test
How is extensive reading different from intensive reading?
Intensive Reading
School Principal
Brandon
What do you think is the significance of this event?
USA vs. Singapore
USA
• English as a 1st language • Use of English less variable • “Good” English more abundantly and reliably available • Reading is highly valued with schools aggressively promoting ER
Quiz: What language will the French baby speak? Why?
Theory
• Input Hypothesis (Stephen Krashen) • Language Acquisition happens when learners receive:
Language Input
Singapore
• English as a “2nd” language • Use of English more variable • “Good” English not as abundantly and reliably available (e.g.
Everyday Come Restaurant)
Turkish sec girl
Case History: Cohen’s Story
• Secondary school student in Turkey • Got hooked on reading • Flawless compositions • In “trouble” with teacher
Beware!!! Regular diets of IR can lead to …
Don’t understand
Read slowly
Don’t read much
Don’t enjoy reading
To produce fluent readers, a different cycle is needed …
The key answer to learning to read is to read and read … and English teachers seem to be aware of this.