Extensive Reading in the ESL Class

8/11/2019 Extensive Reading in the ESL Class

1/120

x

)

(-

o i

e a

l a r

.=

bo

o b O

o \

2 X

b5

t L )

x c )

t a a

a--T'


2/120

CAMBRIDGE

ANGUAGE DUCA

ION

SerieEditor:

ack

.

Richards

This eries

raws

n

hcbest

vai lable

esclrch.hcory. nd

ducational

ractice

o

hclp lari fy

ssues

nd

esolveroblems

n anguagceaching.

anguagceacher

du -

calion,

nd clatecl

rcls.

Books

n

he

e'ries

ircus na widc

ange

f ssuesnd re

written

n a style

hat

saccessible

oclassroorneachers.

eachen-in-bdning.

nd

teacherducators.

In

this series:

Agendas

or

SecondLanguage

Literacy bt'Sundra

Lee

MtKut'

Reflective

Teaching n

Second

Language

Classroomsby

Juck C. Richards

and

Charles

Locklutl

Educating

SecondLanguage

Children:

The

whole

child, the whole

curriculum,

the

whole community

etlited

bt' Fred

Genesee

Understanding

Communication in

Second

Language

Classrooms

ht'

Karen E.

Johnxtn

The

Self-directed

Teacher:

Managing

the

learning process

bt

Duvitl

Nunun

ond Clarice Lumb

Functional

English Grammar:

An introduction

for

second anguage

teachers

bt'

G

ahum Lot'k

Teachers

as

Course

Developers

editedbv

Kttthlcen

Grat'es

Classroom-based

Evaluation

in

SecondLanguage Education

bt Fred

Genesee

ntl

JolrrtA. Upshur

From

Reader

to Reading Teacher:

ssues

and strategies

or

second

languageclassroomsby

Jo

Ann

Aebersoldund

Mury Lee

Field

Extensive

Reading in

the SecondLanguage

Classroom

ht Ri


3/120

P t T R L t S H E D

B l

' , t

H E P R E S S S Y N I ) t ( , r ' , t . t

) [

. t

i l H t r

l v t : R S T T Y

O F C , \ ] \ t B R l D ( ; t l

Thc Pitt

Bui lding,

Truu.rpington

trcct.C'anrbridgc. ni tcd

Kingdom

C ' A N I B R I D G E

T I

I v E R S I T Y

P R F ] S S

Thc Edinburgh

ui lding.Cambridgc

C'B22RU.

UK

40 Wcst20th

Strcct,

Ncw York, NY l00l I 42 I I ,

U S

A

477 Wil l ianrstown oad,Port Melboume. IC 3207,Arrstral ia

Ruiz-

c Alarcon

3, 21{01.1

adrid.

Spain

Dock Housc.

Thc

Waterfront,

apc

Town 8001,

SouthAliica

http://wwrv.cambridgc.org

tt

C'ambridge

nivcrsi ty

Prcss 99lJ

It is nornral ly

ecL-ssary

br wri t tenpcrnrissionbr copying o bc obtaincdn

advancc

tiom a

publ isher.

igurc (a) on

pagc l f l .

F igurc2 on

page147.

nd Figurc

3(a)

on

pagc

5l of this book arc

photocopiable.hc

nonnal cquircrncntsrc waivctl

hcrc,

and t is not ncccssaryo wri tc to C'arnbridge nivcrsi ty

Prcss i rr

penxission

br an

indiv idual

cachcr

o makc

copics br usc

within

his or hcr

own

classroom.

l ' i rstpubtishcd99t{

4th print ing

200;l

Printcd

n thc

United

Statcs f Amcrica

Typeset

n Tinrcs

Roman

L b u r.t'

(-

n

grc.s,s u a og

u-

n >

b Lu on D u

u

Day,

Richard l .

Exlensivc

cading

n the

second anguagc

lassroor-n

Richard

Da y

zrnd

ul ianBanrlbrd.

p.

c l l l .

"Bibl iography

f ' languagc

carncr i teraturcn Engl ish"

p.

Inclurics ibl iographicalc l -crcnccsp. ) and ndcx.

ISBN0-521-56073-X

hb).

lS tsN -521-56t i29-3

pb )

l . Languagc

nd

anguages

Studyand

caching.2. Rcading.

l . Bamtbrd.

u l ian.

I . T i t l c .

P53 .75 .D39

99 7

4l ft ' .4'07

dc2l

97-24481

C I P

,1 ttlulogtrt' autnl

lir

tltis hook .s tt'uilttltla

iont

thc British Lihrcn'

ISBN0

521 56073

X hardback

ISBN0

521 56u29

papcrback

To

the ate Dr. Shigckazu

ukuyama

To Tcrry

and

Lcanne

Day, anclMarion

an d

Vincent

Barrrfirrd

And to HaroldPalmer

nd MichaelWcst, he

parents

f second

anguagc

xtensivc cading

in modern

iurcs


4/120


5/120

I I

viii

Contents

Affect

35

Vocabulary

36

Linguistic

ompetence

37

Writing

37

Spel l ing 37

Conclusion

38

Further

eading

38

5 Extensivc

eading

nd he sccondanguage

urriculum

Integrating

xtensive

eadingnto

secondanguage

prograrns

4l

Extensive

eading

and second anguage

cademic

programs

44

Goals of

an extensive eadingprogram

45

Why is

extensive eading

he approach ess

raveled'?

Conclusion 48

Further

cading

48

MATERIALS

FOR EXTENSIVE

READING:

ISSUES N

DEVELOPMENT

5I

6

The

cult of

authenticityand the myth

of simpli fication

Thc cult

of authenticity

53

The rnyth

of simpli fication

56

Authenticity

and sirnpl ici ty eexamined

58

Communication 60

Conclusion 6l

Further

eading

6l

7 Language earner

iterature

63

Language earner i terature ntroduced 63

Writing for

an audiencc f second

anguage earners

Language

earner i terature

as art

14

The

irnportance

f content 76

Support br reading

77

Conclusion 78

Further

eading

19

THE

PRACTICE

OF EXTENSIVEREADING

8I

tl

Setting p a

program:

urricular

ecisions

How

muchmaterial

hould tudentsead?

83

84

53

I I I

Contents

ix

l 0

How can eachers

valuate tudents'J

ll 6

Should students ead n class

or

tbr homework

or both?

At what level of difficulty

should students

ead'/ 9l

Should

students se

dictionaries

while

readine'J 93

Conclusion

94

Further

eading 95

Materials:The lure and the ladder 96

Language earner iterature 97

Children's books

98

Learners'

own stories

99

Newspapers

10 0

Magazines 102

Children's

magazines

10 2

Popularand simple i terature 103

Young adult i terature 104

Comics 104

Translations 105

Conclusion

10 5

Further eading | 06

The extensive eading ibrary

10 7

Deciding he size of the

program

10 7

Making a budget 108

Determining

he students' eading evels 109

Discovering

student nterests 109

Purchasing he readingmaterials

ll I

Catalogingand organizing he materials 112

Deciding where o

place

he materials l l2

Setting up a checkoutsystem I I

5

Displaying he rnaterials

I l5

Conclusion l l6

Further eading I 16

Studentorientation I l8

The goals

of the

program

l2 O

The procedures

f the

program

l2 l

Reading equirements 123

Readingmaterials 124

Conclusion 124

Building

a community of readers 126

Ongoing class

guidance

12 6

u

t2


6/120

x

Contents

lndiv idual

ounsel ing

12 7

ln-c lassacr iv i t ies

128

The

eacher

s ole

model

136

Help

or struggling

eaders

13 7

Conc lus ion

138

Further

eading

138

13

The eading

ommunity

n

action

140

Answering

uest ions

l4 l

Writing

summaries

112

Writing

eaction

eporls

143

Giving

ral eports

14 8

Popular

ooks ection

l5i)

In-book

pinion

orms

15 0

Ravc

eviews

15 3

A reading

air

15 3

Wall

displays

15 4

Conclusion

15 5

14

Progranr

valuat ion

15 6

Purpose

151

Audience

15 7

Method

l5 l

Seeing

f

a

program

as

chieved

ts goals

t5 g

Seeing

hat

other esults

program

might

have

ha d

Identifying

spects

f a

program

eeding

mprovement

Rcsults

16 2

Conclusion

16 3

Further

eading

16 3

l

5 Taking

he

approach

ess

raveled

164

Extensiveeading nd hc eacher 16 7

Appendix

A

bibliography

f language

earner

iterature

n

Engl ish

169

An

EPER

bibliography

f high-quality

anguage

eamer

literature

17 2

Description

f the

series

lgg

References

203

Index

21 7

1 5 9

1 60

( -

.

I .

,

r

Jerrcs edrtor

s

pre.lace

Al t l rough

nurnber f Lrsefu looks

areavai lable n the eaching

f rcading

in

a second r fbreign anguage,his

s he

lrst

book

o

focusspecifical ly n

the nature

of extensive eadingernd he

developmcnt

of extensivc cading

prograrxs

n

fbrcign and second anguage eaching.

RichardDay

and

Julian

Bamforcl

t-fer

n ntbrnred

nd

practical

nalysis f thc

natureand scopeof

cxtensivc

eading.

rguc

convincingly br thc

need o

give grcatcr

attention

to

extensivc eading

n

language eaching,

nd

provide

a

valuablcguide o

developingan efI'ective xtcnsit,e eading progralx within a sccond or

lbre ign

anguage

un' iculum.

In devcloping heir

rationale

br

extensive cading,

he authors cvlcw a

cornprehensivc ody of rcscarch

hat demonstratcs he

benefits hat can

accrue

ronr

extensivc eading.Tlresc

bcnefits nclLrde

ot only the

obvious

improver.nents

n studcnts ' reading

ki l lsarrd

eading

peed

ut changesn

their gencral

anguage roficiency

and

n their

atti tudes oward eading

an d

language

earning. For

rnany

lanuuage

tuclents,

hc

abil i ty

to

engagc'

n

tluent eacl ing

nd

o read

both

fbr

irnportant

nfbnration

and

clr

plcasurc

s

perhaps

hc

most

valuable

bcnefit they

wil l

gain

fiorn language

study;

hence t is

crucial

hat

suchan outcontc s

planned

br

in language eaching

rather

han eft to chance.

The autlrorsdernonstrate, owever. hat there s tar ntore to cxtensir,e

reading

han

sirnply

providing

materials. hey

analyzc he

factors

hatnccd

to bc considered n

planning

and mplementing

a

progralx,

and how

such a

progralr

can

be efl 'ectivcly rganized

nd adrninistcred. etai ledguidarrce

is

given

cclnccrning

ow

to intcgrate

extensive eading

nto the

second

or

foreign

anguagc

curriculum, what

the

goals

fbr such

activities

are,

what

rcsources nd

planning

are

needed,

hc criteria br choosing

suitable ead-

ing tcxts, tow to

evaluatc he

prograrn,

nd

rtrportarrtirctors o considcr n

the day-to-day managenrent f

a

program.

The authorsemphasizehat

al though

xtcnsivc

cadi rrs s

a

studenf-

centered

nd

student-nranagcdctivity sinccslutlcrrts

horisc lhal. rvlrcrr.

XI


7/120

xii

Series

editor's

preface

and how

to read

--teachers

have a

crucial role

to

play

in ensuring

he

success

f the program.

Teachers

eed

a thorough

understanding

f the

nature

of second anguage

eading,

of the nature

of

extcnsive

reading

materials,

nd

of thc strategies

or

developtng

eading

ski l ts

and a love

of

rcading

hrough

extensive

eading.

Extensive

Reading

n the

SecondLunguage

Classroornprovides

a com-

prehensive

nd stimulating

account

of theseand

other mportant

ssues

n

extensive eading and wil l

be a valuable

resource

both for

classroom

teachers

nd br teacher

ducators

reparing

novice

eachers

br

careers n

second

and fbreign

anguage

eaching.

Jack C. Richards

Prefoce

Students re unsure f what hey have ead; hey feel hat hey

tlo not havesufficient anguageo say what hey want o say.

' l 'hcy

hcsitatco admit hat hcy arcnot surcwhat hcy

us t

rcad.

Thcy arc apprehcnsivcboutbeingevaluatcd y thc

tcacher

nd hcir

pecrs.

hcy

clcct

o

sit si lcntly ndwait or

the

eachero ask

qucstions

r for otherstudcntso spcak.

'fhis

is a description f

what

Jo

Ann Aebersold

and Mary Lee Field

(1997

p.

I l6) cal l

"the

world of real L2IFL reading lasses." ut studentsearning

to reada second anguage o not have o act l ike that. Rather, hey can be

cnthusiastic nd

confident about reading,and

can

leave the

second

an -

guage reading

course as

independent

and

lifelong readers n

the

target

language.

This book can help makesucha transformation

ossible.

Although t is a

book about he

teaching

and

learning

of

reading

n a second anguage. t

differs from most books on the subjectbecause f i ts focus extensive

reading.The

purpose

ofthis book is to

provide

a theoretical

nd

pedagogi-

cal foundation for the

premise

hat

extensive

eading

should be an

integral

part

of reading instruction in the second anguageclassroom.

Extensive eading s an approach o the eachingand eaming of second

language eading n which leamers ead argequantities

f booksand other

materials

hat are

well

within

their l inguistic

competence. xtensive ead-

ing, however, s not

ust

a matterof submerging tudents n a bath of

print.

As Albert Harris and Edward

Sipay

observe,

lt

takes superiormaterials,

clever eachers ho love o read hemselves,ime, and

effbrt

o

develop

he

read ing ab i t "

1990 ,

.655) .

The benefitsof such an instructional pproachare wide-ranging. f

se t

up and carriedout appropriately, xtensive eadingnot

only

helps

students

learn o read n the

second

anguage,

ut also

eads

hem to cnjoy reading.

x i i i


8/120

xiv Preface

This

encourageshem

to continue eading

ong

after formal

study of the

second anguage

s over. n

addition,

extensive eading,

at the very least,

consolidates

tudents'

eaming

of

the

second anguage

and,

at best, n-

creasesheir

proficiency.

For al l these

easons, e

are irm

advocates fthe

inclusion

of

extensive eading n

anv second anguage

eading program.

Second

anguages

are earned by

different

people

for

different reasons.

Although

thesedifl 'erences

re mportant

n some

contexts,we

seeexten-

sive reading

as useful to

anyone who reads

or intends o

read a

second

language.

We also

see extensive eading

as appropriate

or

both a second

lunguage ontext where

he arget anguage

s leamed

n a

cornmunityof

i ts

speakers, uch

as learningEnglish

n the

United States-

anda.lbreign

language

ontext, n which

the target anguage

s leamed

where that an-

guage

s not

spoken,

such as earning English

n

Japan.For

convenience,

throughout the

book we

use

the

term second

anguage to include

both a

second

and a fbreign language

earning

environment.

When the term

for-

eign s

used, t is o refer

specifical ly o

a foreign anguage

eaming

context.

An

extensive eading

approach

doesnot assume

hat the

students ave

any

particular

evel

of abi l i ty n

the target anguage.

n our view,

extensive

reading s

appropriateat

al l stagesof language

earning;

t is never oo

early or too ate

to learn o read

a second anguage.

t the

same ime, an

extensive eading

approachhas

nothing

particular

o offer

the

prereading

stages f learning

o read.Therefore,

n this

book t is

assumedhat

students

are

already

iterate

n their

first languages

nd that they

know the written

form

of t he second

anguage.

The

book has hree

major

sections.Part

provides

a theoretical

ounda-

tion for

extensive eading.

Part II is

a cri tical

examinationof materials

developmentn

second anguage eading.

Part II presents

nd discusseshe

practical

aspects f conducting

an extensive eadingprogram.

Although we

believe hat

extensive eading

should

be a

part

of

every

second anguage

eadingprogram.

t is

not our intent ion

o evangel ize.

Rather,we presentan altemative or additional way of approaching he

teaching

of reading.

We are not

so naive as to

believe hat an

extenslve

reading

approach

can turn al l students

nto independent,

luent

readers.

However, fused

appropriately,

n extensive eading

approach

an consid-

erably mprove

second anguage

eading nstruction

and the

chances hat

studentswil l

cnjoy reading

n the second

anguage. t would

be an

unusual

extensive eading

class hat i t the

description f the

ypicalL21FL reading

classdescribed

y Aebersold

and

Field.

We would l ike to

express ur

appreciationo

Jack Richards, he

editorof

the

series n which

this book

appears,or his

encouragement

nd support; o

David Hil l

and the Edinburgh

Project on Extensive

Reading

or making

Preface

xv

rrvl i lable

heir researchn the form

of

the

bibl iotraphy in the Appendix; o

Stcven

Brown,

Marc Helgesen,David Hil l , Ted Plaistsr,

oyceTaniguchi,

l(oberta

Welch,and

Cambridge's nonymous cvicwcrs br their nvaluable

cornments

on earl ier drafts

of

the

manuscript; o the Bodleian Library,

(

)xfbrd,

and

he

CILT

Library

in London and their

staff; o Judy Davis for

Ircr

work

on the

ndex,

and o Mary Vaughn

and Mary Carsonat

Cambridge

tJniversity

Press.

We are

particularly

grateful

to editor Olive

Collen and

copy editor David Thorstad br their exceptionalwork on t he manuscript.

We

hope hat the deas

presented

n this

book wil l stimulate eaders o

rcf' lect

n their own second anguage

eadingexperiences,

oth as

eachers

rrndas students.

We alsohope hat readerswil l

enjoy

reading

t as much as

we enjoyedwriting i t.

Richard R. Day

Julian Bamford


9/120


10/120

I

An

approach

ess aken;

r f , . 7 |

Lxtensrve eaatng

mtroaucea

'I

hc rather

curious si tuationhas arisenwhereby, despi te

universal

acceptance f the view that onc becomes

good reader hrough reading, reading cssons where

rlost

t imc is actual lyspent on reading

as

opposed o

discussion, nswering

uestions.

tc.)

are relat ively

rare.

-Chris

Moran and EddieWill iams

(

1993,

.

66 )

I

he

purpose

fthis chapter

s

to :

.

Reexaminehc

purposes

or second anguage eading

nstruction.

.

Define

cxtensive eading nd ntroduce t

as an approach o the eaching

of sccond anguage eading.

o List he definingcharacteristicsfsuccessful xtensive cading

programs.

r\t

the beginning

of

the | 950sAmerican

musical TheMusit'Man, Professor

l larold Hil l

blows

into River

City, lowa, and startlcs he residentswith the

pronouncement

hat heyhavc rouble.Being

carefulnot o cri ticize hem as

parents,

ProfcssorHil l asks he

good

citizensof River City to think about

thcir chi ldren: Do they

dressbadly when they

go

out? Do they use

slang?

Are therenicotine

stains etween heir ingers?Do they keep sleazynovels

hidden rom view'?

In

the same

hetorical

manner,we begin with a

similar

pronouncement:

.fhcre

is trouble n the

second

anguage

eadingclassroom. akea moment

to consider any

students

ou

know who are learning to read a

second

language.Are

they

reluctant

o rea d? Do they seem bored

or under stress'l

Do they

come to reading class with fear and trepidation'? o

they

read

anything n the second anguage part rom their

assignrnents'?

ln The Mu,sic'Man, ProfessorHill was in fact

a con artist

who

stirrcd up

the

citizenry

or his

own unscrupulous nds.

Our

intcntions,or.r he

other

hand,

are

honorable.

We raise the

possibi l i ty

that thcrc may

be,

if

no t

trouble,

hen at least wo

good

reasons o reexaminc hc scconcl anguagc

3


11/120

4 The dimensions

of extensive readinq

reading classrocrtrr:

n

general,

tudent.s

earning to reatl u .second

anguage

do not read and lhe1,

610 ot like reading.

Students

ot readingand

not l iking

to read s

a

problem. t is

simplistic

but

neverthelessrue

hat he more

students

ead, he

better

hey

becomeat

it.

"Reading

. .

must be developed, nd

can only be developed.

y means

ofextensiveandcontinual

practice.

People

eam to read,and

o readbetter,

by

reading," tates

David Eskey

1986,p.21).

In

addi t ion,

tudents

it h

negativcatti tudes

oward second anguage

cadingare unlikely

to be moti-

vated to do the reading

they need to

do

to

become

fluent

readers.

In

an

ideal world, are

here

any

reading

eacherswho

would

not

want

thcir students o

/cri

read

a

great

deal and

(b)

enjoy

reading'?t is unl ikely.

But such aims may

seem emotc, unattainable,

nd even

rrelevant o the

.job

at hand.Aller ir l l ,

he curriculurrrs

l l led to the brirr already.

eachers'

inrrrrediateriori tiesare making sure heir

students o

well in their courses

and

pass

hc nccessary

xaminations;ndeed,

heir ivel ihoods

depend n t.

What is more, teachers

already know

how to

achieve

hese

mmediate

priori ties.

They rightly

pride

themselveson

their

accomplishments

nd

abi l i t ies.

Formal educationhas a l i fe of i ts own. For students. t is commonly

something

lrat rnust be

gone tlrrough,

evolving

around

fulfi l l ing

credit

requirements nd

passing

examinations

ather han the learning

of some-

thing that one wants

or fbels a need

o learn. Pedagogical

ractices

also

have a l i fb of their

own to the extent

hat they becomedivorced

rom the

realneeds

r

goalsofthe students. econd

anguage eading lassrooms re

no exception

o this

possibi l i ty.

Carlos

Yorio, in a

paper i tlecl

The

ES L

Reading

Class:

Reali ty

or

Unreali ty,"

notes

hat, f one s "to cotnpare

.

classroom ctivities

with real-l i fe

situations

n

which peopleare

eading

br

various

purposes

r

reasons . . in Inost

cases he degree

f'unreali ty' of

the ESL reading lasses

s str ik ing" 1985,

.

l5 l ) .

The second anguage

eading essoncan avoid being

merely an empty

ritual come o class. ead he exts,do theexercises,eaveclass, eturn o

real i fe

-

by addressing

he two aitns

of students eading

a greatdeal and

enjoying

reading.

Teachers ightly feel satisf'action

hen students

pass

examinations nd

rneet

he requirenrents f the class.But their

satislaction

would be even

greater f their students

lso eft their classes

eadingan d

enjoying he

process.

Can

the two aims

of reading n

quarrti ty

nd developing

a

readinghabit

be

integratedwith

the mrnediate

riori ties

of

teacher

and

student

without

undennining

successful lassroorn

practicesand methodologies',) r

ar e

such aims

rnerely

the lofty

drearrrs

f academics

-ar emoved

from tlre

classroom,

he

preachings

f

thosewlro do

not know what

it is l ike to face

An

approach

less taken 5

r l rL

la i ly

igors

nd

pressing

emands

f teaching' l

n

rcsponse, e

can

sa y

tlrrrt

he

present

volume derives

iom

thc cxpericnces f teacherswhose

,rrrtlurts

lo

read and

enjoy i t.

These are not

extraordinary

eacherswith

,

rtraordinary tudents. hey

are

ordinarypeople acing he

samedemands

r'r

cl ')r)ne lse

aces,

eaching

and eaming

n situations

hat range

rom

th e

r'\tlcnre (a

wall-lesssecondary lassroom nZanz,lbar) o the conventional

r:r

vcl l-equipped niversity

lassroom

n the

United

States).

Our

purpose

n

tlris volume, then, is to present heoreticaland practicalsupport br the

pr

cnrise hat

an extensive eadingapproach

an be

profi tably

ntegratednto

,rrrv

ccond

anguage eadingclassroom.

Extensive eading

l

ouis Keffy,

in his

volume 25 Centuries o./ Lunguage Teaching,

credits

I arold

Palmer

with first

applying

the term

extensive

eading in

foreign

lunguage

cdagogy

1969,

p. l3 l ) . Palmerwas a

pioneer

of

language

tcaching

n

modern irnes,

and

arnonghis

many

talentswas

a

genius or

tcrrninology.For

his I9l 7 book

The

Scienti fic'

Stucl l '

ntl keu'hing of

Lan-

gtuges,

hc

selected

extensive"

rom the multi tudeof synonyms reviously

rrscd

o convey similar ideas

such

as

"abundant

reading"

used n

th e

landrnark 1900

Report of'the CommitteeofTi 'elve

(Modern

Language

,\ssociation

f America, 190

),

which suggested ow languages

e

taught

in

secondary

chools.

For Palmer, xtensiveeading

meant

rapid ly" 192111964,p.

l l ) read-

i r rg

book

afterbook"

(191111968,

.

137).A rcadcr 's t tent iorr

hould

be

on

the rneaning,

ot the anguage, f the text.

Palmer

contrasted

his

with

what

he termed ntensive euding, by

which

he rneant

o

"take

a text,

study

it

l ine by l ine,

eferring

at every

moment

o our dictionaryand our

grammar,

comparing. analysing, ranslating,and retaining every expression hat i t

contains" 192111964,p. I I ). A "mul t ip le ine of approach" p. I I l ) wa s

one of Palrrrer's ine

principles

of language tudy,and he consequently aw

the importanceof both types of reading.

In Palnter'sconceptionof

extensive

eading,

exts were

clearly

being

rcad

or the

purposes

f language tudy,but, because ttentionwas

on

th e

content

and

not the

anguage,t could only be that

he

extswere

alsobeing

read br

ordinary

eal-worldpurposes f

pleasure

nd nformation.

And

so

it was

that

extensive eading took on

a special

sense n the

context of

language eaching: eal-world

reading

but fbr

a

pedagogical

urpose.

Other terms

lbr

extensive

eading were

used.

cven as i ts goals were

beingmadeexpl ic i t .

MichaelWest, teacher

nd mater ia ls

r i lcr

working


12/120

6 The dimensions of extensive

readino

in India who more han anyoneelse established

he methodology

of exten-

sive reading,cal led

it

"supplementary"

eading

(1926/1955,

p.

26). This

was also the term used by the New

York

City

Board

of

Education for its

1931

S1'llabus

f Minima in Modern Foreign

Lunguages. Here the

goal

of

supplementary

eadingwas

"the

development o the

point

of enjoymentof

the abi l i ty

to read the fore ign anguage"

1931/1948,

.301),

and the

methodology

nvolved

"taking

care of

individual differencesand encourag-

ing the readinghabif' (p. 302).

Today, in language-teaching

erms,

extensive

reading is recognized as

one of four styles or ways of

reading, he

other

three being skimming,

scanning, nd ntensive eading.

Eddie

Wil l iams and Chris

Moran note hat

these our reading stylesare recognized

on

the basis of observable e-

haviour

notably

speed

f reading, egree f re-reading,

skipping'

of

text)"

( 1 9 8 9 ,

. 2 2 2 ) .

However, he

present

olume s not

primari ly

concerned

with

extensive

readingasa style;

ather, he bcus s on extensive eadingas an approacho

second

anguageeading nsl ruct ion.

An extensive eadingapproach

An extensive eading approachaims

to get

students

eading in the second

languageand l iking i t. Or, to

put

things

more fotmally,

as

the Longman

Dictionan' o/'Language Teachingand Applied

Linguistics

does, extenstve

reading

s

"intended

o

develop

good

readinghabits, o bui ld up knowledge

of vocabulary and structure, and to encourage a

liking for reading"

(Richards,

Platt,

&

Platt,1992,

.

133).As this definition

mplies,

extensive

reading also

pays

off

in increased

eneral

second anguagecompetence.

Although this wil l occasionally e

referred o, the

present

olume mainly

restricts tself o the impact of extensive

eading

on

the abili ty to read n a

second anguage.

William Grabe, n a 199 TESOL

Quarterlv

paper,

discusses

ome of the

benefitsofextensive reading.

Longer

concentrated

eriods

ofsi lent

read-

ing build

vocabulary

and

structuralawareness, evelop automaticity,en -

hancebackground

nowledge, mprove comprehension ki l ls, and

promote

confidenceand motivation"

(p.

396).

In addition,as Aud Marit Simensen

points

out

(echoing

Harold Palmer60

years

earl ier),extensive

eading an

counteract

a

tendency among oreign language eanrersalways

to regard a

text as an object for language studies and

not

as an

object for factual

information, i teraryexperiencc r simply

pleasure,

oy

and delight"

(

1987,

p .42) .

An

approach less taken 7

l l r is

ast

point

may be morc rnportantharr t at l r rstsccms.

Studies

f

l , , r lh

l rst

and second

anguage

eginning cadcrs n ntanycountr ics ave

rr ' r

i l lgd e l l ing onnect ionsetween eading bi l i tyand he viewsstudents

lr,rl ti

about cading.Readcrs f lowcr abi l i ty tend o see eading n tenns

of

'e

roolwork"

Bondy,

1990,

p.

35 36) or

"as

a ser ious, i f l lcu l t

process,

r t ' t ; t r i r i nghardworkandd isc ip l i nede f fo r t " (E l l ey .

992 ,p .77) .Studcn tso f

lr glrcr

eading

bil i ty, on

the

other

hand,

ake a meaning-ccntcrcd pproach

tl )cvine, 1984).For them, reading s

a

"pleasant.

rnaginat ivc ct iv i ty"

r

: l lcy,

992,p.

77),a

way

o

earn

hings hat s botha

pr ivate leasure

nd

, rsocia l

ct iv i ty

Bondy,

1990,

p.36

38). t is the atter iews-the kind

Iostcrcd

y extensive cading that are nost

often associated

ith

success-

l r r l

outcomes hen eaching eading.

As

an

approach o learning o read

a second anguagc, xtcnsivc cading

rrray

e done n andout of the

classroom. utside

he

classroorn.xtcnsivc

rcading

s encouraged

y al lowing students o borrow books o takc homc

,rrrd

ead. n the

clussroorn.

t requi res pcr iod

l f t i rnc.a l lcasl 5 ln inulcs

ru.so,

o bc setaside or sustained i lent eading, hat s, br students

an d

pcrhaps

he teachcras well to rcad indrvrdually

anything

hey wish to.

Somc reading spccial ists

Stephen

Krashen

and

Beatrice Mikulecky

f orne

mrrcdiate y to mind cal l

cxtcnsivc

eadingTrlcusureeading.

As

he

told

a 1995 ol loquium udicncc,Wi l l iam

Grabe

s not

part icular ly

een

on

eithcr tcnn: extensive eading being rather general.

and

pleasure

eading

too

specific n that

"lots

of

people

. .

get

urncdon to al l kinds of materials

that

someone ouldn' t

put

n a

pi lc

cal lcd

plcasure

eading. .

.

Extensive

lcading

s

people

wil l ing to cngagc . .

fwith]

a lot

of extended

exts br

a

varicty

of

reasons." here s

also a

possibi l i ty

hat

"plcasurc

cading" has

l i ivolous

ovcrtones or studcnts,

arents,

nd

adrninistrators.

erhaps br

l lrcsc

rcasons,Krashcn and his col leagueshave

used another ern.

fi 'ee

voluntan'

reuding

(as

n his 1993

book

The

Pow,er l Reotl ing).

The

characteristics

f an extensive

eading

approach

.lustas t is hard o f ind a namc br cxtensive eading hat

satisfles veryone,

it

is hard to reduce t to

a dictionary-type efinition. For tcaclrcrs, more

rrscf l way of understandinghe

cornplexityof cxtcnsivc cading s though

a clescription

f

the

characteristicshat arc fbund in succcssful xtensive

rcading prograrns.

l.

Sltrtlenls

eatl

as muchas

possible,perhaps

n ancl lctlnitclyout of the

classroom.


13/120

8 The

dimensions

of

extensive

readino

2. .4 variet.t'of

nrulerial.s

on

a v,ide

runge,f'topic:.t

is

ut,uilublr,

so as to

encourage

eading

fbr different

reasons

and

in

diff-ercnt

ways.

3. Stttdent,s

elec'twhul

the.t,tt'unt

o

reud

and

have

the

fieedom

to stop

reading

matcrial

hat fai ls

to

interest

hem.

4. Thepurposes

o/ reading

ure

usuallv related

to pleaswe,

infitrmutittn,

und getteral

uncler,stuntling.

hese purposes

are

deternrined

by

the

naturc

of the rnaterial

nd

thc

interests

f

the

student.

5. Reading is it'; .wn rewurd. There are f'ew or no follow-up exercises

afier reading.

6.

Reuding

muterials

are

y'ell

v,ithin

the

linguistic'

t'ompetente

of'the

.ttudent:i

n terms

of vocabulary

and

grarnmar.

Dictionaries

are rarely

ussd

while reading

because

he constant

stoppine

o look

up words

makes

luent reading

difficult.

7. Reuding

.v ttclividuul

und

silent,

at the

student's

own pace,

ancl.

utsidc

class,

done

when

and

wherc

the student

hooses.

8.

Reuding

speed

is

usuullv./aster

ruther

thun slov'er

as

students ead

books

and othcr

material hey

find

easily

understandable.

9.

Taut'hers

fient

students

o the godls

ol the pntgram,

erytluin hc

meth-

odology,

keep

rut.k of what

each student

eads.

and guirlc

studcnts

n

gctting the most out of the prograrn.

10.

Tha

eut'her

.su role

model

of'u reuder

itr

stutlenl.t

.an

active

rrcmber

of

the classroom

eading

community,

demonstrating

hat i t r.neans

o

be a readcr

and

the rewards

of bcing

a reader.

These

elerlents

aiscquestions

br both

students

nd teachers

l ike.

At

workshops

on extensive

cading,

eachers

sk

such questions

as :

o

What

are he theoretical

'ounclations

f

extcnsive

eading'/

o

What

are he

beneflts'J

o

Is thcrc

any

empirical

evidence

br these

alleged

benefits' l

o

Do second

anguage

earners ave

hc proper

atti tude

oward

reading

o

allow

extensive

eading'?

o

Arc

learners

motivated

o

read

outside

he

classroom'l

.

How

much reading

s rneant

by

extensive'

r

what

materials

are suitablc

or

stucients t various

abil i ty

levels

n tlrc

second

anguage'?

r

Are

sirnpl i fied

rrraterials

br Iclwcr-lcvel

tudents nlbrior

to authentic

"real-l i f-e"

naterials'l

o

On

what

basis might

students

who

read

cxtensively

be

evaluated

an d

grades

be given?

o

Horv

might the

success f

an extensive

eading

program

be cvaluatecl 'J

An

approach

less

taken

g

., ,r lc

()1 ' thesc

ssucs

avcbarely

been

eal twi t l r

n thc

protessional

i tera-

rrrr ' .

rnd

one

of

the aims

of th is

book s to

rcnrcrry

hat

dcf lc icncv.

Conclusion

l . lhcrc

trouble

n the

second anguage

eading

lassroom' l

s

t a problcm

rl r i r l . ls notedby Moran

and

wi l l iams

at

the beginni rrg

l-

h is

chapter,

.lrrtlcnts

o

not rcad

rnuch

n reading

class'l s i t

a

problem

hat,

as

yorio

, lrrirns.

eading

classes

car

ittlc

rcsemblance

o tlre

ealworlcl

of reading?

It

is

our position

hat hese

rc problems

and

hat hcy

have

a

direct

bearing

,rr

sludcnts'

eading

bil i ty

and atti tude

oward

eading;

urther,

hat

sccond

lrrn{uagc

eading

nstruction

an

and should

allow

students o


14/120

^

Z A

cognitive view of

reading

To

tcach

orcign

or sccond

anguagc cadingwel l , wc

nccd o know

as

rnuch

as

possible

about how thc

rcading

proccss

works

and

how to integratc hat

knowlcdgc

eftcctivcly

nto

our

rcading

pedagogy.

Marva Barnet t

19t39,

.

l)

Thcrc is nothing as

practical

as a

good

thcory.

Anonvlnous

The

purpose

of

this

chapter

is to:

r

Exarnine

fl rst

and second

language reading

as

a

cogni t ive

process.

.

Explain f iorn a cogni t ivc

pcrspcctivc

thc

rolc

of extensive

reading in

dcvcloping f lucnt sccond languagc rcadcrs.

Which of t l rcsc tatc lncnts cstcapturcs

our

vicw of thc

rolc

of theory

n

thc teachingof rcading'l

l.

"To

tcl l thc ruth, rcal lydon' t

pay

nuchattcnt ion o th is

whole

heory

busincss.'m a teachcr nd nccd o know what o do in c lass."

2.

"Well,

I

get

very

confused.

hcar thcm talking about top-down and

bottom-up

eading

rnd erns

l ike that;

don't undcrstand

t. Ijust tcach

fiorn thc books hat thc school ordcrscaclr

ycar."

3.

"The

rcading

collrse

n ury r.nastcr's

rograrn

was bascdorr hcory, so

I

tunderstand

he issues.But I rcal ly lcarned to tcach rcading in thc

practicurn."

4.

"l t 's

irnportant, o

doubt abor-rt

t. I rnean,

everything

hat wc do has a

thcorctical bundation. sn't that right'?"

We have

encountercd

crsions of thcsc fbr-rr

oints

of vicw about hc

value of

theory n the teaching

of

reading iom widcly difftrcnt typcs o1'

rcading eachers

fiorn graduate

of advanced-degree

rograms

n English

as a sccond anguagc o tcachcrswho

have r.ninirnal

ornpetence

n the

second anguagc nd l i ttlc forrral training n language eaching.

The'posi-

tion taken

in this

book

is

closer

o rrurnbcr4 than to any of thc others.

Thcory is impoftant.

When cducatorsdcsign sccond anguagc cading

progralns,

and

when

reading eachers rdcr texts,sclcct rratcrials,and

plan

activitics,assump-

10

A

coonitive

view

of

readino

11

r

,

n\

re

being

made

about he natureof rcading.and how studentsearn o

' , , r , i

rsecondanguage. hese

assumptionsrc n rcal i ty heor ics f read-

,rrr ' .

urd t is not

uncommon

brthem

to

go

unexaminccl .f theyarebrought

t,,

l l lg

ssrfsse

and compared to accepted heorctical models, however,

,'

r ious

contradictions nd inconsistenciesxay

emerge.

A

deeperunder-

.t,rrrding

f the reading

process

and how

students

earn

o read a sccond

l.rrrsrrage

an

ofTer a stronger heoretical ationale

or second anguage

r 'rtl ing prograrxsand nstructional pproaches.

ln this

chapter

we set

out

the first

of

two

justi fications

br thc

premise

tlurt

an

extensive

eading

approach

as mportant

beneflts o offer a second

lrursuaqe

eading

program.

This first

usti flcation

s based

on

the nature

of

rt'rrtl ing

s a cognitive

process.

hc flrst half of the

chapter

s

a consider-

rrl ion

of cognitivc ntcractivcmodels of reading; he

secondhalf examincs

tlrc role

that extensive eading can

play

in developing second anguage

:t trdcnts '

eading bi l i ty.

Reading

as a cognitive

process

l {cading

akcsmany bnns.Think fbr a morrent of al l the

activities hatca n

lrc

labeled euding.They include serious

academic eading

what

you

ar e

tloirlg now), reading he

comics, scanning he television istings br your

l 'avorite

rograrn,

kimming a

magazine

rl icle o find out whether t rnerits

close attention,scttl ing nto a ncw novel

by

your f'avorite

uthor, cading

lloud to

your

children,absorbing he

subtitlesas

you

watch a movic in

a

l irrcign anguagc,

nd

glancing

at

your

notesas

you givc

a

spccch.

And

this

l ist

does not begin to capturc he cntire

spectrumof activities hat can be

cal lcd eading.

These varied activities hat go

by

the name

of readingcan be viewed

liorn

a

number

of different

perspectives,

ncluding sociocultural,phys-

iological, atlective, philosophical,educational,and cognitive. Although

these

erspectivcs

re

ntcrrclatcd

nd nterdependent

as

Martin

Gil l

points

out, for example,

culture

and cognitionare strictly nconceivable

without

cachother"

U992,

p

62]), hcrc s alsovalue n looking

at each

perspective

individually n i ts own terms. An

analogy

might

be that althougha novel

can

be appreciated

n its

entirety,

nsights

can bc

gained

iom

a detai led

scrutiny

of

the

developrnentof the main characters. he fbcus

of this

chapter

s

the supporta cognitive

perspcctivc

n the reading

process

ff-ers

an extensive

eading

approach o second anguage eading nstruction.

Although

hereare

nany

activities al lcd eutl ing, t is

possible

o offer a

definition hat most eadingexpcrtswould accept

as

helptul

n understand-


15/120

12 The dimensions of

extensive

readino

ing reading iom

a cognitive

point

of vicw. This simple

definition

s that

reading is lhe t'onstruction

of'meuning

rom

u

printed

or wrilten mes.\uge.

The construction

of

rneaning

nvolvcs thc reader

connecting

nfbrmation

from the written

message ith

prcvious

knowledge o

arriveat meaning at

an understanding.

Cognitive

psychologists

ave

long been nterested n how it is that

a

reader s able o

create

meaning

iorn thc

printedpage.

The

activitiesof

th e

brain, of course,can only be vicwcd unhelpful ly as bursts of electrical

energy.

The

detectivework carried out

by cognitive

psychologists.

hcrc-

fore, is

done in mctaphorical erms.

Over

the past forty years,

scorcsof

models of the reading

process

have

been

produced.

Although essential ly

works of irnagination, nodels

are basedon what can be

observedabout

reading.They

seek o explain such

phenomena

s the r-nistakes

nd self-

corrections

eople

nakewhen reading

aloud,or the way the

eyesdartalong

lines

of

print.

These nodels,

hen,arc cal i ty-based peculationshat

com-

bine

findings iom

many studics nto a single,

coherent ystern"

Adarns,

t994,

p.842).

Interactive odelsof reading

The rnost

widely acccptcdmodelsof fluent first language eadingposit

an

inleruction of a variety of

processes,

eginning

with

the l ightning-l ikc,

automatic ccognitionof words.This initial process

f accuratc, apid,an d

autornatic

ecognition

of vocabulary iccs the mind to

useseveral

imulta-

neousprocesses

nvolving rcasoning, nowledge

of

the world,

and

knowl-

edge of the topic to

construct

meaning.

Although thc hypothcticalcon-

structs

bottom-upprocessing

i.c.,

tcxt-driven) and top-tlown prcr'es.ti ttg

(i .e.,

concept-drivcn) were useful heuristics n

conceptualizingearl ier

modcls of rcading, t is

probably

better

to leave them

behind lest they

unhelpful ly

polarize

a descriptionof how mental

processes

nteractwith

text f'eaturesn fluent readingcomprchension.

The fol lowing

description f the

readingproccss

raws on a numberof

sources,ncludingAdams

1990,

1994),Perf 'e t t i

1985),

Samuels

1994),

and Stanov ich

1992) .

c

Reuclingbegin.s 'ith

the u('curate, sw'ili,und automutit' visuul rettryni-

tion ol

voc'ubulur.t',

ndepentlento/ the contexl in whit'h il ot'


16/120


17/120

16 The dimensions of extensive

readino

"We

do not. and ndeed lnd i t difTlcult o. draw a

cleardistinctionbetween

fi rst and breign anguageeading"

19U4,

.xv).

ln more cchnical enxs,

Catherine

Wallace notes n her book Reuding hat

"we

draw on similar

processing

trategies

n the eading

of al l

languages,

ven

where he writing

systemsare

very

different"

(1992,

p. 22). Thus, it

can be said that the

dcscription of thc cognitivc intr 'ractivc

processcs

of fluent reading

discussedn the

previous

section s also useful n capturing he essence f

f' lucntsccond anguagc cading.

The

role

of extensive

eading n

developingluent

second

anguage eaders

Extensive cadingcan

perhaps

nust

play

an important ole in develop-

ing the

colrponentsupon

which fluent second anguage eacling epends:

largc sight vocabulary;a wide

gcneralvocabulary;

and knowledgeof the

targct anguage, hc world, and ext types.The role of extcnsive cading

n

dcvcloping achof thcst- ornponcntss cxarnincd clow.

The development of sight vocabulary

The

development f a

large sight vocabularycan be seenas overlearning

words to the

point

that hey are autornatical ly

ecognized n their printed

fbrm. The bcst and easiestway to accornplish his is to read a

great

deal.

Beginning cadcrssirrply havc o cncountcr epeatedlywords with which

they have

some

'amil iari ty.As

an

individual word is met and understood

againand again n variouscontexts,

al l

the sources f infbrmationabouta

word are consolidated nto a single, highly cohcsivc reprcscntation. . .

Thus

a

printed word

becomesa syn-rbol

br i ts

phonological,

semantic,

syntactic, nd orthographic

nformation"

(Harris

& Sipay,

1990,

pp.

43 5

436). As a resultof multiple encounters,he

word

enters

he reader's

ight

vocabulary.Famil iari ty brecdsautomaticity.

To refbrmulate

Stephen

Krashen's arnousdesignation f second an-

guage

omprehcnsib lcnput

c.g.,

1985, 99l

),

he nater ia lsbr h is

auto-

rnat ic i ty ra in ing"

Samuels,

994.

p.

834) must be at

" r

minus " whcrc

"i

"

is the

student's urrent

evel

of acquisition.

his nl inu.r1 is n contrast

to Krashen's ornprehensible

nput hypothesis.n which, fbr furtheracqui-

sition to takc

placc,

hc comprchcnsible nput has o containelements hat

aresl ightlv be1'6rr1

,"

that s,

"i

+

l.

"

Thc rcason or i minu,s is that

thc

goal

of the automaticity raining

is

developinga

large

sight

vocabu-

lary rather han he earning f new l inguisticclcmcnts.Of course, minu.s

text is an ideal argetwhen learning o read; ncvitably,matcrial ncludes

A

coqnitive view

of

readino

17

,t t tr tus

vocabulary

and syntact ic

tructurcs s wcl l

as r

( the

reader 's

,

rrrlcnt

evel

of l inguistic

competence)

nd

son.rc

+

1

(elernents

hat the

,

,rtlcr

asnot

yet

mastered).

ut

as

ong

as hc bulk

o1'thcvocabulary

nd

, ' l i lnunar

is wel l

wi th in he eader 's

ompetence

i minus 1 wi thout

oo

rrrrny

+

l

d istract ions,he

developmentof

sightvocabularys possib le.

Ilrc

development

of

general

vocabulary

nowledge

lr

l l rst language

eading,

he ovcrarching

role of vocabulary

n fluent

rr ' i r ( l ing

rasbeen wel l

establ ished.

i rnply

put,

the larger

chi ldren's

o-

, ,rbular ies

re, he

better hci r

cornprehension.or

example,

eanne hal l

rr

i tcs.

Every

study of reading

achievement oints

to the importancc

of

r r rcabulary

nowlcdge" 1987, .

l5) . Nagy

andHerman

tate t unequivo-

, ;r l ly :

"Chi ldren

who

know more words

understand

ext better"

1987,

p.

, ' /

).

( i iven

our

position

that, from

a cognitive point

of view,

there is no

t sscntiol

i ffercnccbetween

'lucnt irst

and sccond anguage

eading, he

rrecd

br

a

largc

vocabulary

s cqually rue

n flucnt second

anguage ead-

rrrg.

lusthow important

t is can

be

gaugcd

rorn he

fol lowing

observation

Itv Wil l iarnGrabc.a second anguage eading xpertnot given o overstate-

rrrcnt.

Grabe

points

out

that

flucnt readers

ced

"a

mussive

fi tal ics

added]

rcccptivc

vocabulary

that is rapidly,

accurately,

and automatical ly

ac -

t

csSod"

1988,p.

63). The ack

ofsuch a vocabulary,

ays

Grabe,

may

be

tlrc

greatest

ingle rnpedirnent

o fluent eading

by ESL students"

p

63 )

Children lcarn large

numbcrs of new

words in their

tlrst language

by

ruessing

hcir

meanings n

context whilc they

read. Nagy

and Herman

eonclude,

fter a rcview

of the rcscarch i teraturc,

lncidental

learning

of

rr

ords

during eading nay

bc the

easiest nd single nostpowerful

means

of

lrrornoting

arge-scale

ocabularygrowth"

(

1987,p.

21).

Can second anguagc

earners

do the same

,

learn words incidental ly

ri 'hi lc

eading'?

lthough he

second anguage

csearchs not

as abundant

r

robust

as t

is

in first anguagc

cading, t

al lows a

similar,albeit

quali fied,

tortclusion;

Second anguage eadcrs

who read

masses f varied

and nter-

cstirrg

minus I material

can ncreaseheir general

ocabulary

nowledge.

.larres

Coady, n

a

review

of the relevant

second anguagc

esearch,

on -

e ucles,

The

incidental

acquisition

ypothesis

uggestshat here s gradual

l)ut

stcady ncremental rowth

of vocabulary

nowledge hrough

meaning-

l i r l

in teract ion

i th text"

(1993.

p.

l8) . But

Coady

points

out thaL

ow ,

lcaders

either rrst

or second anguage

do

this

is not known.

Part

of

the quali fication

or the conclusion,

n addition

to i ts sl irn re-

scarch

base, s thc nature

of t hc diflerences

bctween

besinnins flrst

an d


18/120

18

The

dimensions

of extensive

readinq

beginning

ccond

anguagc

eaders.

cginning

second

anguage

eadcrs

re

at the

early stagcs

f

second anguage

inguistic

development,

nl ike

heir

first

language

ounterpafts.

eginning

second

anguage

eaders

lso ack

the

argeoral vocabulary

hat

beginning

irst larrguage

eaders

rin-e o the

task

of learning

o

rcad.This rneans

hat vocabulary

earnine

iorn

context

whi le

reading

s.

as Thomas

Huckin

and Margot

Haynes ut

i t .

"d ist inct ly

problematic"

1993,

p.290)

fbr

beginning econd

anguage eaders.

But the proccssof incidentalvocabulary earnin-e ecomesmore effi-

c ient

as secondanuuage

eading

bi l i ty mproves.

once

a certa in

evel

of

knowlcdge (and

vocabulary)

s

achicved

. .

."

say Fredricka

Stol ler

an d

wil l iarn

Grabe,

students

wil l

then

be

able

o

apply

he richer

knowledge

o

learning

ew vocabulary"

1993,

pp.3l

32).

To

allow this

initial ly

diflcult

and

problenratic

process

of

guessing,

lcarning,

and re inins

the

knowlcdge

of

words

fiorn

context,

second an-

guage

readcrsnlust

read

materials

with a very

low

ratio of

unknown to

known

words. n

otherwords, exts

shouldbe

essential ly

minus

/,

contain-

ing

only a very

srnall

nurnber

of

unknown words

and difficult

syntactic

structures.

nd the

reading

of thcse

easy

exts

.rrust

e

plenti ful

because

a

clear

sense

of a

word's

defining

I'eatures

an

only

be rcached

hrough

repeatedncountersn divcrse ontexts" Huckin& Hayncs,1993, . 290).

As Paul

Naticln

and Jamcs

Coady

conclude,

ln

general

he research

leaves

us n l i ttle

doubt about he

importancc

f

vocabulary

nowledge

or

reading,

and the

value

of readins

as a ffleans

of incrcasing

vocabulary"

(19U8,

.

108).

Sccclnd

anguage

tudents

ust

rctrd

and

read

sol re more

both

to learn

words

fiom

contcxt

through

rnultiple

encounters

nd to

be -

come

better caders

o hat nciclental

ocabulary

earning

becornes

asier.

An

extensive eading

approach

in which

second

anguage

eaders ead

large

amountsof

easy,

varicd,

and

interesting

material

ensures

hat

stu-

derrts ave

he best

pt'rssiblc

hance

o

do this.

The developmentof different knowledge types

The

tlnal fbctor

necessary

br

fluent

reading

s knowledge,

br i t is

on

knowledge

hat

cc-rmprehension

cpcnds. nterestingly,

t

seetls

as though

rcading

s

an excellent

source

of

the knowledge

hat s needed

orrca


19/120

20 The dimensions

of

extensive readino

collectionof

papers

hat races

he

developrnent f thinking

oward nterac-

tive models

of

tl .re

econd

anguage eadingprocess.

lnteractive nodels

of

reading

owe

much

to the

work and writings

of

Frank

Smith and Kcnneth

Goodman

n

the 1970s.

Col in

Harr ison.

n h is

articlc

"The

ReadingProcess

nd Leaming o Read"

1992).gives

a l ively,

balanced

ccount

fiom

a

first language

erspective)

fboth the enduring

importance

f Srnith and

Goodman's nsights nto

tlre

reading

process

nd

the modifications hat rrust be made n l ight of subsequentesearch.

For rnore nformation

and detai ls

about he first

language esearchha t

helped o

establish hc role

hat automatic,

apid,and

accurateword recog-

nition

pfays

n tluent reerding,

ee The Ps.trholog,,

/'Reuding

und Lun-

guuge

Comprehension y

Marcel Just and Patricia

Carpenter

1987)

an d

The Psvc'futlog.t,

7/'Rcuding

by Keith Rayner

and Alexander

Pollatsek

(

1989).Although technical,

hesebooks epay he nvestment

f eflbrt and

t ime.

The learning

of vocabulary

hrough reading s

discussed n the 1993

vofume

Sec'ontlLunguuge

Reucling

anel Wtcabulun.

Learning,

edited by

Thorlas

IJuckin.Margot

Haynes.

nd Janres oady.

Sinccmost research

n

tlris opic hasbeen

donewith first languagc

ubjccts,

chapterof

particular

interest s " l rnpl icat iorrsor L2 VocabularyAcquisi t ionand Instruct ion

ftonr Ll VocabularyResearch"

y FredrickaStol ler

and

Wil l iam Grabe-.

-i Affect:

Thesecret

garden

of

, .

reaatng

Att i tudes

and

pcrccptions

olor

our cvcry

cxpcricncc.

' l -hey

arc thc

f i l tcr through

which al l lcarning

occurs.

RobertMarzano

1992.

p.

3)

It is not that

studcnts i rnnot

earn: t is

that

thcy

do

no t

wish o l carn.

Miha ly

Cs ikszcntmiha l l ' i

1990b, I l -s )

I rc purposc

f

th is chapter

s to:

.

I)rovidcan introduction o atti tudc and rrrotivation n sccond

anuuage

lcading.

.

l {c late xtcnsivL-e-acl ingo att i tudc nd nrot ivut ion.

lcachcrs

havc a

deep

cspcct br the

rtl le

hat atti tudcand moti l 'ation

play

rn

carning.Thcy know fiorn t hcir classroom

xpericnccs

hat students i th

poor

atti tudcs

about school,

he subjcct

matter, and

their classroom

ar e

olien poorly

rnotivated

nd

thus

prcsent

nra.jor eachingchallengcs.

l lowcvcr, cven hough cachcrs ccognize heir rnporlancc, oncerns or

thc aflectivc aspects

f

readingscldom ind

tlrerr

way into rcading

nstruc-

t ion, vhethcrn

t l rc i rstor

a second anguage.

ichael

McKcnna.u,r i t ing

rrbout

he

teaching

of first

language cading,

suggcsts

reason br

this:

"Poor

conccptual izat ionf what

Athey

(1985)

has cal led he

'shadowy

r ariables' f affect p.521) may reinforce he notion hat school iure s best

t lcvoted

o the pursui t

of rcading

prof ic iency"

1994,

p. l8) .

The si tuat ions simi lar n second

anguage

eadingnstruct ion. otwi th-

standing

work

on

general

notivation o leam

a

second anguage f'ew

lcachers rc unlanri l iarwith RobertGardncr

and

WallaceLarrbcrt's

ntcg-

rat ive

and

inslnrrncnla l

not ivat ional or icnlat ions

(e.g.,

1959),

fb r

cxarnple there has bccn conrparat ivelyi t t le conccnl

f i r r

att i tudean d

rurotivationn

learning o rcad a seconclanguagc.

The ack

of systernat icnd

pr incip led

ttcnt ion o thc af lbct ive i rnen-

sionsof

second

anguagc cading

s

untortunatc. l tcr a l l .

whcn

tcachcrs

21


20/120

22 The

dimensions

of extensive

readino

design heir

rcading

courses,

rder

texts,

develop essonplans,

and

set up

reading

asks,

xercises,

nd activities.

hey

are n ef-fect

naking

statcments

about the rolc

that

atti tude

and motivation

play

in

their teaching

and thc

leaming

of their

students.

Pcrhaps,

ike theorctrcal

ssumptions

bout he

nature

ofhow

students

carn o read

a

second anguage,

hesc

tatenrents

re

unexamined.

hey

are often pushed

nto

the

background

y the

daily

pres-

suresof teaching

and a

usti fied

concern br rnecting

he

tangible,

oncretc

aims and goalsof the rcading ourse.Ncverthelcss, decperunderstanding

ofatti tude

and notivation

ndhow

teachers

an use hem

o their

advantagc

can have

mntediatc,practical

benefits.

This

chapter

ntroduccs

nd

discusses

second

ustification

br

includ-

ing

extcnsive

cading

n a second

anguage

eadingprogram

a

ustifica-

tion

based

on the

affective

dimcnsion

of t he reading

proccss.

We bcgin

by

throwing

Athcy's

shadowy variables

of aflect

into

as sharp

a rel ief

as

possible,

and then relating

hem

to

extcnsive

cading.

The flrst

afl-ective

variable

o

bc

examined s

atti tude;

hc second.

motivation.

Attitude

Atti tude

s

a complex,

hypothetical

onstruction,

whosegencral

deflnition

usual ly

ncludes

ome

notion

of evaluat ion.

or

exarnple,

cck Ajzen

states

that

"an

atti tude s

a disposition

o respond

avorably

or unf-avorably

o

an

object, erson,

nst i tut ion,

r

event" 1988, .

4) .

Sin i lar ly,Al ice

Eagly

an d

Shel ly Chaiken

1993,

p.

l ) wr i te,

"Att i tudc

s a

psychological

endcncy

that

s

exprcssed

y cvaluating particular

nti ty with

sorne

egrec f favor

or

disfavor."

This evaluative

spectof

atti tude s i ts

dcfining

attribute,

nd

sets

t apart rom

other aff-ective

ariables.

Another

important point

about

atti tudes s

that they

are

subjcct to

change

thcy

are not set n

concrete.

his is good

news

or teachcrs,

n

that

poor atti tudes an be changed.But the good news s tcmperedby the -act

that

there

arc many

variablcs

associatcd

with

atti tude

change

e.g.,

other

atti tudes,

he

strcngth

of the

parl icular

atti tude.

and its

source)

so that

attempts

o

change

atti tudcsmay

not

always be

succcssful.

here s

some

research,

owcver,

ndicating

hat an

awareness

f a negativc

atti tudo

an d

its source

may help

compensate

br

clr even

eliminate

he bias

(pratkanis,

I

989,

p.

82). A

useful irst

stcp br

teachers,

hcrcfbre.

an

be to understand

the

sources

of student

atti tudes positive

or ncgative

toward

sccond

language

cading.

First language eading

attitudes

Previous experienceswith

learning

to read other second

languages

if

any)

Attitudes toward the

second

language,culture,

and

people

The

second

anguage

classroom

environment

(teacher,

classmates,

approach o and

suppo(

for

L2

reading.

ongoingexpenencesn

L2 reading)

Affect

23

I

t:ltrt'e

Model

of the uc'quisition

untl developnrent

o.f

set,ond

anguuge

,'

,rtl ing

utti ludes.

Attitudesand second language reading

\ornc

analysisof f irst language

eading

atti tudeshas

been made,notably

(

,rovcr

Mathewson's

1994

Model

of Atti tude nfluence

upon Reading

nd

I

clrning

to Read" and Michael

McKenna's

developrnent

f

that

model,

prrb l ished

s

"Toward

a

Model

of Reading

Att i tudeAcquisi t ion"

1994).

I

isure

I intcrprets his work

from a second

anguage

erspective,

nd s

a

rrrodcl

depicting our

sourcesof studcnt

atti tudc oward

second anguage

lcading.

Thcse bur

sources atti tudes oward

first language

eading;

pre-

vious

sccond anguage

eading

experiences; tti tudes

oward the

second

lrrnguage,

culture, and

people;

and the

second language

classroorn

crrvironment

arc examined

n tum below.

F I B S T

A N G U A G E

E A D I N G

T T I T U D E S

Assuming

that

studcntsare

already i terate n

their first language,

onr:

source

of atti tudcs oward

second anguage

eading s the

atti tude hat

students

avc toward reading

n their native

language. n

short, students

with positive

atti tudes oward reading n

thcir own languagc

are ikely to

bcgin with

a

positivc

atti tude oward

sccond anguagc

cading;

students or

whom

first language

eading s less

attractivcor irnportanl

wil l

corne o

second anguage eading

with less hanpositive.

)r

cvcn

ncr.lal ivc,

rtti tudes.


21/120


22/120

26

Thedimensions

f extensive eading

Extensive

reading

and

attitude

What int' luence

an an extcnsive

reading approach

o tcaching second

language

eading be

expected o have

on studentatti tudes?Not

al l of

th e

tirur

sources

f second

anguage

eading

atti tudes

n

Figure I

can be nflu-

enced

by extensive

eading:

First language

eading

atti tudes nd

previous

expericnccs

ith rcading n

othcr sccond anguagcs

oth bclong o the

past

and are beyond the reachof subsequent eadingprograms,extensiveor

otherwise.

But as br the other

wo atti tude ourccs,

he mpactof cxtcnsivc

reading

an be substant ia l .

An

extensive

eading

approach ray nfluence

atti tutles oward he

sec-

ond language

ulture and people i f

the str-rclents.hrough

their reacl ing.

cornc

o vicw thc sccond anguagc

ultureand

pcoplc

n a f-avorableight.

This,

however, s

only a

possibi l i ty,

as here s

no

guarantee

hat students

wil l

read

about the target

culture and

peoplc,

since

hey arc free to read

what

they want to.

On

the other hand, because

t includes ndividualized,

iee

choice of

readirrc

material,

an extensive eading

approach

makes

t possible or indi-

vidual

studcnts o fbl low

thci l own intercsts n

rcading. It is therclbrc

possiblc br thcrn o cl l tcr thc sccond anguaee ultureon their own tenns.

and

even

o

enter

t

deeply.

One of the authors f this

book, or exarnple, as

studcnts

n an English anguagc

xtsnsive eading program

eadingabout

(to

cite four students)American

major leaguebaseball ,

rnportant igures

fiorn

the

past

such

as Charl ie

Chaplin and

Martin

Luther King, hol istic

health

and environmental

activism, and contemporary

cultural issues

through

American and Britislr young

adult fiction.

Equally to thc

point,

these

nclividuals

o

not

have to read

about the other tlrree opics,

which

intcrcst

hcm cssor not at

a l t .This f lcxib i l i ty s ess

vai lablen classesn

which

students xust read

hc sarne exts selected

y the teacher.

Successful

xtensive eading progrants

also

place

great

emphasls

on

positive

classroom environrnent

and ongoing

reading experiences.

Teachers akc the rolc of active participantand model reader. ending

prestige.

xarnple, nd support o the

activity.

The ndividual,

privatenature

of

cxlensive eadingalso

nrakes t casier br tcachcrs

o establish noncom-

pctitivc.

nonjudgrncntal

corrrurunityof readcrs.

Fcar of evaluation by

tcachcr

and

peers

s rninimized

bccause he crnphasis

s not cln a righl

answer,

but on stuclents' ersonal eactions o the

reading material.Th e

individual

variation nhercnt

n

any

eaching

nd

earning

ituation analso

be

catered

o, fbr

an extensive eading

approach

oes

not

deal

with students

in

a

lockstep

manner n which

all

learners ave

o

read

he samematerialat

approximately

he same ate.

Affect 27

It

rs r.rdced

he

ongoingexperiences

l 'cxlcrrsir.'c

cconclanguaee

ead-

' , ' t l l r t

have he

most

potent ia l

o establ ish osi t ivc

att i tudcs oward

sec-

' r r , l

i rnsuage

eading.

Students

ead

nrater ia l

vcl l

wi th in thei r

i r r -euist ic

, l , r l r tv,

hcy havc

a choiceof what o

read,

nd

hey

are

not tbrced

o read

l ,( )ut

opics n which

they have no interes t.

n addi t ion, hey

have he

rr'

(

(lorr

to

stop readingwhen they want

o, with no

questions

sked.

They

,,

.rtl

uvhcn

and where hey want to.

l heseelementsof students'choosingwhat, when, how, and where to

r , ,r t l

are

hal l rnarks

f autonor.try

n learrr ing.

n

a

review

of autonomy

nd

(

r 'ond

angua-ue

earning, esl ie

Dickrnson

1995, . 114\

inds

substant ia l

,

r

rdcncc

hat

lcarncrs aking responsibi l i ty

br and being ablc

to control

r l rc i r

wn

learning

elps hernsucceecl

n thei r

second

aneuage

earning.

l :rtensive reading

s thus

a

powerful

tool fbr teachers

oncernedwith

I'rri lci ing

nd u.raintainingositivc

atti tudcs

oward sccond anuuage

eading

,rnong

their students.But the

development

f

positive

atti tudes s not

an

,

rrtl

n i tself, or

atti tude nfluences omething

qually

rnportant

n

reading:

r r ro t i va t i on .

Motivation

It is

easy

o

confuseatti tude

and

rnotivation.

They have hings n

comtnon:

Ncither

can be

directly observed; oth rnust

be

nf'erred iom

behavior

an d

lctions.

Both

have degrees f

intensity,

anging

rom strong o

weak. But

tlrereare di l ' lbrences.

obert Franken

1988,

p.3)

writes that lre

study of

rnotivation as

raditionally eenconcerned

ith the arousal, irection,

an d

pcrsistcncc

f

bchavior.Sirnply

put,

lrotivation

is what makcs pcoplc

do

(or

t to t

do) scl rnething.

Psycl ro logical

odels

f

motivat ion

re

hick

on

theground.

One

group

of cogni t ive

models

art icular ly e lptu l

rom

a teacher 's

oint

of

view

sees

rrrotivation s

having wo equal components

expec'tationsnd

ualue

se e

I'eather, 982,pp. I 5).The gistof these xpec'tanct, value nodels s that

pcople

do what

thcy cxpcct o accomplish

succcssful ly nd tcnd

to avoid

what they

expect they

cannot accomplish.This is

balanced

by

people

tending o

undertake asks hat hey value,

and

ending o

avoid hose hings

that

have

ittle

value or thenr,

even

housh

hey reasonably

xpect hat hey

could do them.

Looking at

expectancy value n terms

of reading,unlcssstudents

av e

a reasonable

xpectation hat they wil l

be able o rcad a book with

under-

standing, hey

wil l most ikely not begin

he undertaking:

l 'd

l ike to read

that

book, but I know that I

can't,

so

I won't even rv." But cxpectation

f


23/120

E

X

P

E

C

T

N

C

Y

28

The dimensions

of extensive

readino

Reading

abi l i ty

in

the second anguage

Sociocultural

environment,

including nfluence

of

family

and friends

Figure

2 Model

of the mujor variubles

motivuting

the det'ision

to reud

in u ,secontl

unguuge

(u

solicl

line indic'ules a .\tronger influence thun u

brt*en

line).

success

r

fai lure

s only half

of thc

picture.

n an deal

classroom, tudents

place

a

high prcrniurx

on

reading,

believing t to be

of

value

n learnirrg o

read

and as a

sourceof

plcasure

nd nfonnation.They

may

consequently

try to read

difflcult books

becausc hey value

hc result

of the clfort. In sucl-r

cases,

he valueattached

o thc act

of

reading

might

outweigh he

expecta-

tion

that hey wil l

havc a hard timc

rcading.

Motivation

and second language

reading

F-igure is an cxpcctancy value model of motivation n the context of

sccond

aneuage eading.

Four major

variables

materials, eading

abil i ty,

atti tLrdes,

nd sociocultural

nvironlxent-

are sccnas motivating

hc desire

to rcacl

sccond anguage.

wo of these

variables materials

and reading

abil i ty rcf

ate o Ihe

expec'tatinr f success

n reading he

second anguage,

antl two atti tudcs

and

socioculturalenvironment

relate to

the

value

atluclrcd o rcading

he

second anguage.

'l

' ,vo

of the variablcs

n thts model

materials

and atti tudes

are con-

sirlclcd prirnary.

and t is

difficult to rank thern.

Rather han

attenrpting o

cstablislr

a casc fclr

either as more important

han the

other, t rnight

be

Attitudes

toward

reading n

the

second anguage

Affect 29

'

r

lo

cla i rn hat hey are of equal

weight. A l i r i lurc o have

posi t ivc

'

r r l r ' :

) l ' lhe

ppropr iate

ater ia ls ould rcsul t n a ackol ' thcnecessary

rLr,r t ion

br a lcarner o decide o

read hc sccond anguage.What the

,,1,

srrrgcsts

s that either a low reading abil i ty or an

inappropriatc

rr,t

1111,' 'u1

nvironmcnt an be compensatedbr by

positive

second

an -

L,,r '

Documents

Extensive Reading in the ESL Class