The Benefits Of Extensive Reading For Foreign Language Acquisition

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Other, grade: 2,0, University of Osnabrück, language: English, abstract: Great reading skills are indispensable for a learner of a foreign language in order to succeed in second language learning. The aim is to be a good reader who is capable of understanding even difficult texts without much effort. Of course, modern life has an effect on pupils’ activities at home so that watching videos or playing computer games can lead to neglect educational activities such as reading books. Of course, there are numerous pupils who really enjoy reading in their leisure time, regarding reading as a hobby. Taking pleasure in an activity generally requires ease and comfort. As second language learning can sometimes be hard and involves a great deal of expense and effort, most pupils have a negative attitude towards reading in a second language. At school, teachers even strengthen students’ antipathy towards reading due to the approach they choose, that is, close and careful examination of difficult, short texts, also known as intensive reading. Another approach to language learning is extensive reading (short: ER) which is rather a less common approach compared to intensive reading. In short, extensive reading refers to the idea that pupils read as many books as possible. They have to be easy to understand so that pupils read them for pleasure. The question now is which of the two approaches contribute most to pupils’ literary skills. In this paper, my goal is to prove that extensive reading programs are very beneficial to language acquisition, but they are not commonplace due to various constraints imposed on the implementation of extensive reading programs at school. At first, I will shortly explain what extensive reading really is by giving definitions. In order to achieve this, I will compare extensive reading with intensive reading which is more common in the context of school. Then, I will examine the numerous benefits of extensive reading as well as some obstacles which explain why extensive reading programs are difficult to implement. At the end, I will introduce practical options and possible solutions in terms of implementing extensive reading programs.

This comprehensive examination of extensive reading shows how reading large quantities of books and other materials can provide students with essential practice in learning to read and help them develop a positive attitude towards reading, which is sometimes missed in second language classes. The authors first examine the cognitive and affective nature of reading and then offer a wealth of practical advice for implementing extensive reading with second language learners. Suggestions are provided for integrating extensive reading into the curriculum, establishing a library, selecting reading materials, and keeping records for purposes of evaluation. The text also describes a wide variety of classroom activities to supplement individualized silent reading. The information will be useful both for pre-service teachers and for teachers and administrators who want to improve the teaching of reading in their second language programs.

This lively collection of over 100 classroom activities allows teachers to exploit fully the language learning potential of extensive reading. The activities, contributed by teachers who have used them successfully in classrooms all over the world, introduce extensive reading to students, and link it with the rest of the language curriculum. Here is a wealth of ideas for encouraging students to read, and for using students' reading experiences for further language practice and learning. These creative and enjoyable speaking, listening, role-play, reading, writing, and vocabulary activities are suitable for students of all ages and levels. Each activity is clearly explained, together with a personal note from its author. This is a handbook for teachers of general language courses, or grammar, listening, speaking, writing, or reading courses. It is written for teachers both non-native and native speaking, and for teachers both novice and experienced. It will also be of interest to teacher-educators.

As the most advanced human thinking is expressed by special language there are exciting possibilities for research in which philosophical, semantic, semiotic, text-linguistic and pragmatic approaches are utilized.

This comprehensive book by renowned scholars Paul Nation and Rob Waring accessibly covers all aspects of extensive reading in second and foreign language contexts. The book serves as a major update to the field on the topic, with current research findings on extensive reading as they relate to motivation, reading fluency, and vocabulary learning, among other topics. Clear and straightforward, it includes case studies, strategies, and methods for implementing and assessing effective extensive reading in the classroom and provides resources and tools for preservice teachers of ESL/EFL and foreign languages. Suitable for programs in TESOL and Applied Linguistics with courses in L2 reading, reading instruction, TESOL methods, and foreign language reading or teaching, it will appeal to students and preservice teachers as well as English language teaching professionals and EFL/ESL teachers.

Extensive Reading - revised edition is the ideal companion for teachers who would like to add the substantial benefits of extensive reading to their language programmes. It explains the research that shows how reading for pleasure helps learners to improve their English, and guides teachers through the different approaches they can use, focusing on: The importance of extensive free reading How extensive reading materials are developed and how to choose the right graded readers for the class Introducing and exploiting class readers Developing class libraries Setting up and running reading circles In addition, five extensive reading case studies describe projects in a range of learning environments. Extra resources are available on the website: www.oup.com/elt/teacher/itc