Extensive Reading Free Essay Example

Extensive reading is an approach to language including foreign language by the means of a large of unknown words in specific context will allow the learner to the words in specific context will allow the learner to the words meaning specific context thus to learn unknown words. (cobb, 2007) Extensive reading is an “extensive reading approach” and involves students reading along texts orf large quantities for general understanding. With the intention of enjoying the text. (BBC World service) A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue.

A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both.

Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain job. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used.

(Wikipedia) The following are the strategies to be used by teacher in order to encourage the student to read extensively.

Teacher motivation to students; One of the key factors to the success (or not) of an extensive reading programme is motivation. Capturing student interest is the key. If the materials available are interesting to the students, then they will be far more likely to want to read them. These books should also be at a level appropriate to their reading ability.

As mentioned earlier, the texts should not be too difficult so students experience the frustration of not being able to understand the books.

(Barnett 1988) Teacher should encourage competition on extra reading and prizes for the best students, this should promote students to become confident when entering reading competition, thus through which the student should achieve extensive reading. New books must be prominently displayed from time to time to the student this should encourage the student to increase the habit of reading.

Teacher should monitor and keep students records on their progress; If the teacher takes an interest in and keeps record of what students are reading, then this can in itself encourage students. If a note is also made of which books the students like, then the teacher can also recommend other books to the students. The teacher should also be careful to explain the reasons behind the programme, and to highlight the benefits of extensive reading to them so that they know why they are doing it. (Barnett 1988) The teacher should act as role model; If the teacher is also seen to be a reader by the students, then they will be encouraged to read.

The teacher can talk in class about books that she or he has been reading, and if they are knowledgeable about the books in the class library, having read them, then they can make genuine recommendations to students about what to read. The teacher can also read aloud to students, as a way of introducing students to different genres or individual books. (Day & Bamford 1998) Teacher should consider student choice; students choose what they want to read based on their interests. If a student finds a book is too difficult or they don’t enjoy it, they can change it for another one.

(Barnett 1988) A teacher should also encourage extensive reading out of class; Teachers can do a lot to help students pursue extensive reading outside of the classroom. Having a classroom library and regulary encouraging students to borrow books to take home are some things which can help. If books are shelved in the classroom, students can also be given class time to browse and select books. (Day & Bamford 1998) A teacher should encourage silent reading in class; Extensive reading should not be incompatible with classroom practice and methodology.

There are teachers who set aside a regular fifteen-minute period of silent reading in class. This silent reading has been said to help structural awareness develop, build vocabulary, and to promote confidence in the language. (Day & Bamford 1998) A teacher should also consider language level of the learner; the vocabulary and grammar of the books that students read should not pose a difficulty. The objective of an extensive reading programme is to encourage reading fluency, so students should not be stopping frequently because they do not understand a passage.

However, the books should not be too easy as this may well demotivate students, who feel they are getting nothing out of the books. (Day & Bamford 1998) Conducting the reader interview; regular conferencing between teacher and student plays a key role in motivating students to read the books. This enabled effective monitoring of individual 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. (Elley 1991) A teacher should some times read aloud to the Class, reader interviews conducted with students revealed the popularity of occasions when the teacher read aloud to the class. The model of pronunciation provided acted as a great motivator, encouraging many students to participate in classroom reading.

Students gained confidence in silent reading because they were able to verbalize sounds they previously 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(Elley 1991) A teacher should let learners compose written work based on the reading; Effective reading will lead to the shaping of the reader’s 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 expressing 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 factual or fictional content of a book, and of the grammar and vocabulary used to express it.

Advanced students can be asked to write compositions, which, by definition, are linguistically more demanding written responses to the reading material. (Davis 1995) A teacher should also make the use of audio material in the reading program; the 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. Listening 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. (Davis 1995) Avoiding the Use of Tests; Extensive reading programs should be “without the pressures of testing or marks” (Davis 1995). The use of tests runs contrary 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 learner’s control and not an obligation imposed by the teacher. By their very nature, tests impose a rigor on the learning process, which the average student will never equate with pleasure. Discourage the Over-Use of Dictionaries; While 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 destroy the pleasure that reading novels and other literature are intended to provide. Summarizing comments on the extensive reading done by his subjects, Pickard (1996) notes that “Use of the dictionary was sparing, with the main focus on meaning Maintain the Entertainment:This is perhaps the most important aspect of the program to emphasize.

Teachers need to invest time and energy 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 anecdote 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 engagement in the enjoyment the program provides Conclusion

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. REFERENCES. Barnett, M. A. (1988). Reading through context: How real and perceived strategy use affects L2 comprehension.

The Modern language Journal. Cobb, T. (2007), computing the vocabulary demands of L2 reading language learning and technology. Day RR & J Bamford (1998) ‘Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom’ Cambridge:CUP Davis, C. (1995). ‘Extensive reading: an expensive extravagance? ‘ English Language Teaching Journal. Applied Linguistics: The internet TESL Journal. 1998 Dony, R; Bamford, J. (1988) Extensive reading in the second language classroom, Cambridge, U. K Cambridge university press. Applied Linguistics: The internet TESL Journal.

1998 Elley, W. B. (1991). ‘Acquiring literacy in a second language: The effect of book-based programs. ‘ Language Learning: Applied Linguistics: The internet TESL Journal. 1998 Pickard, N. (1996). ‘Out-of-class language learning strategies. ‘ English Language Teaching Journal, Applied Linguistics: The internet TESL Journal. 1998 Tsang, Wai-King. (1996). ‘Comparing the Effects of Reading and Writing on Writing Performance. ‘ Applied Linguistics: The internet TESL Journal. 1998 Wikipedia the free encyclopedia.