To what extent does extensive reading affect the l2 proficiency of students at lower intermediate level of english in vinh phuc high school for the gifted

S GIÁO D C VÀ ĐÀO T O T NH VĨNH PHÚC Ở GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TỈNH VĨNH PHÚC ỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TỈNH VĨNH PHÚC ẠO TỈNH VĨNH PHÚC ỈNH VĨNH PHÚCTR ƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG CHUYÊN VĨNH PHÚC NG TRUN

S GIÁO D C VÀ ĐÀO T O T NH VĨNH PHÚC Ở GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TỈNH VĨNH PHÚC ỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TỈNH VĨNH PHÚC ẠO TỈNH VĨNH PHÚC ỈNH VĨNH PHÚC

TR ƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG CHUYÊN VĨNH PHÚC NG TRUNG H C PH THÔNG CHUYÊN VĨNH PHÚC ỌC PHỔ THÔNG CHUYÊN VĨNH PHÚC Ổ THÔNG CHUYÊN VĨNH PHÚC

Examining the impacts of Extensive Reading on the English language proficiency of grade 11 students in Vinh Phuc high

school for the gifted: A pilot study

Giáo viên: Tr n Th Thùy ần Thị Thùy ị Thùy

Môn : Ti ng Anh ếng Anh

T b môn ổ bộ môn ộ môn : Ngo i Ng ại Ngữ ữ

Part 1: Introduction 2

1 Reasons for choosing the study 2

2 Research question……… 2

3 Aims and significance of the study 2

4 Subjects of the study 3

5 Limits of the study 3

6 Methodology 4

7 Research time 4

Part 2: Theoretical background 5

2 1 Extensive reading: A definition 5

2 2 The benefits of extensive reading 5

2 3 Principles of an extensive reading programme 7

Part 3: The study………10

3 1 Participants………10

3 2 Materials……….11

3 3 Procedures………13

3 4 Results……… 16

3.5 Discussion of results and implications ……….18

Part 4: Conclusion……….20

Part 1: Introduction

1 Reasons for choosing the study

Various attempts at different levels have been made to improve thequality of teaching and learning English at school In fact, theMinistry of Education and Training has recently suggested that bythe year 2020, at least half of the young should be able to use Englishfluently, and this is a goal for teachers of English and educationauthorities to work towards The main challenges lay, however, inthe lack of human resources to cater for such need and the lack ofmotivation to learn English from the students

In a workshop in 2011, the writer was exposed to Extensive Reading,

an “aid to language learning” which has been reported to work inmany an Asian countries By doing a great amount of reading underthe language teacher’s instruction and facilitation, students areclaimed to make steady progress in all language components andlanguage skills It is therefore believed that extensive reading can bethe key to language improvement which may be appropriate in oureducational setting, since it provides an alternative to the morecommon teacher-centred mode in Vietnam and can hence deal withthe two aforementioned issues effectively Implementing aprogramme of extensive reading in a particular school, however,needs elaborate preponderance This study is therefore to serve asthe first cycle of an action research pilot study-the basis for theofficial formation of an extensive reading club within a seniorsecondary school for the gifted in Vinh Phuc

2 Research question

To what extent does extensive reading affect the L2 proficiency of students at lower intermediate level of English in Vinh Phuc high school for the gifted?

3 Subjects of the study

The primary subject of the study is the vast amount of literature onextensive reading Besides, there are eight students acting as thecontrol group and another eight participating in the first cycle of theextensive reading club

4 Aims and significance of the study

The study aims to explore the possible impacts of Extensive Reading

on learners’ L2 proficiency and examine the relevance of thisapproach in a special senior secondary school for the gifted in VinhPhuc This action research may subsequently encourage similarschools in the area to consider including extensive reading into theirteaching/learning, either as part of a required curriculum or as anextra-curricular programme

5 Limits of the study

Should there be more participants and a lengthier period ofprogramme implementation, this study could be considerablyimproved

6 Methodology

The study involves reviewing and summarising the literature onextensive reading This is followed by observation of and informalconversations with 16 students in both the control and experimentalgroup Finally, formal assessment of learners’ language proficiency inthe forms of tests ( pre-tests, progress tests, post-tests) and journalentries written by students during the implementation of theprogramme are also analysed and compared.

7 Research time

March 2014 – January 2015

Part 2 Theoretical background

1 Extensive reading: A definition

Extensive reading is understood as an approach to languagelearning/teaching which is “generally associated with reading largeamounts with the aim of getting an overall understanding of the material.Readers are more concerned with the meaning of the text than the meaning

of individual words or sentences.” (Day &Bramford, 2002)

2 The benefits of extensive reading

Bell (1998) summarised a number of advantages of extensive reading, frompositive psychological aspects to real language enhancement, of which themost important are listed below:

a The provision of authentic, 'comprehensible input'

It has always been proposed that that extensive reading will lead tolanguage acquisition, provided that certain preconditions are met,including adequate exposure to the language, interesting material, and alearner-friendly environment

b The enhancement of learners' general language competence

Extensive reading increases the opportunity for the learner-reader topractise his automaticity of word recognition and decoding the symbols onthe printed page (often called bottom-up processing) In a study on anextensive reading project with school children by Elley & Manghubai(1983), significant post treatment gains in word recognition and readingcomprehension was reported to be gained after the first year, and widergains in oral and written skills after two years

c The increase of the students' exposure to the language

It is a fact that the quality of exposure to language that learners receive is

of great importance to their ability to acquire knowledge, whether in terms

of grammar or lexico, from the input Elley’s (1991:404) researchedsubjects in an extensive reading programme showed rapid growth inlanguage development compared with learners in regular languageprograms He claimed to have seen a "spread of effect from readingcompetence to other language skills - writing, speaking and control oversyntax,"

d Increased knowledge of vocabulary

It is suggested that only a small percentage of vocabulary learning is due todirect vocabulary instruction, the remainder is acquisition of words fromreading Traditional approaches to the teaching of vocabulary, in which thenumber of new words taught in each class was carefully controlled (wordsoften being presented in related sets), is therefore not sufficient inpromoting vocabulary growth Exposing leaners to reading text can fill inthe gap

e Improvement in writing

With such regular peruse of “comprehensible input”, there have beenreported significant improvements in subjects' written work Extensivereading is accordingly an effective means of fostering improvements instudents writing

f Increased motivation for learners to read

As Bell (1998) put it “reading material selected for extensive readingprograms should address students' needs, tastes and interests, so as toenergize and motivate them to read the books” With some need analysis inadvance, the organiser/teacher can easily identify the appropriate genre(s)

for their students to read, for example by means of informal discussion orthe delivery of a need analysis questionnaire In many cases, familiarmaterial and popular titles reflecting the local culture, or, paradoxically,stories of faraway land and strange customs and practices could be themost popular among school children and even teenagers.

g Consolidation of previously learned language

The authentic, or near-authentic choice of books to read also mean that byreading students can experience what is termed the “recycling” oflanguage This is by itself a form of reinforcement which helps to ensurethat new input is “retained and made available for spoken and writtenproduction” (Bell, 1998)

h Confidence with extended texts

It is the case that all classroom reading work in our course books aretraditionally focused on the exploitation of shorts texts Gradually theaverage student could be accustomed to reading those “simple-looking”texts that he/she would back up when asked to read longer, more complexones for academic purposes Extensive reading can therefore provide a

“fun”, stress-free approach to the acclimatisation of students with theselonger texts

3 Principles of an extensive reading programme

Drawing on their experience with different extensive reading programmes,researchers (Day, 2002; Bramford, 1998; Maley, 2008) have proposed anumber of criteria on which to develop a standard programme which could

be useful for future reference Some of the most widely known and wellsupported ones are as follows:

a Maximize Learner Involvement

This is meant to reduce the feeling of obligation which may impedestudents’ automaticity both during the whole programme and during theirindividual act of reading Particularly, students should be encourageddiscuss with the teacher to identify their own interest in reading, forinstance, whether it is books about the environment/space or fictionbooks For students in Vinh Phuc senior secondary school for the gifted,this involvement is highly desirable From a psychological point of view,most of the students here, being teenagers, have very strong face-savingneeds and the teacher’s failure to give them a sense of “ownership” of theirreading project may cause feelings of compulsion and later dissatisfaction

b Provide a wide range of texts

It is strongly believed that some variety in terms of genre and length oftexts can minimize the student’s chance of feeling bored For the success ofany lengthy project, there should be abundant reading materials available

in a range of genre and length The teacher should note, however, thatwhatever type of material, the language presented must be within thelanguage competence of the reader-student

c Avoid the use of tests

As testing in our context is often associated with rote learning,memorization and lack of freedom, extensive reading done at home orduring an agreed period of time assigned should be totally detached fromtesting

d Discourage the over-use of dictionaries

Dictionary use may harm the flow of the reader if she/he concentrates toomuch on looking up the meaning of every single new word Pickard(1996:155) comments that, for the extensive reader-learner "Use of the

dictionary was sparing, with the main focus on meaning" Similarly, Day(2002) suggests no dictionary use during reading as most of the chosenmaterial should be “comprehensible input”

e The teacher’s role

There is a shift in the roles that the teacher plays in an extensive readingprogramme with those she/he does in a normal classroom setting He/she

no longer directs the students’ learning Rather, she/he facilitates it.Besides, Bramford (1998) points out that in order to administer theresources efficiently, and to trace students' developing reading habits andinterests, effective monitoring from the teacher is fundamental

f Maintain the entertainment factor

This is in fact the key to any extensive reading programme Only whenstudents are delighted with what they are doing can they continue withtheir work Once the fun is kept, automaticity and self-adjustment along theway can be more feasible Entertainment can be achieved by different waysyet the vast amount of responsibility is on the teacher as a facilitator Her/his creativity, suitable follow-up activities, good management skills mayhelp

Part 3 The study

3.1 Participants

The participants in this study were 16 students from an majored class in Vinh Phuc high school for the gifted Being from thesame class, they have the same amount of exposure to English,which is five periods a week (three hour and a half) in the morning.The participants were selected on the basis that their languageproficiency were roughly the same, i.e intermediate level Thestudents were at grade 11 and studied English with the same teacher

English-in their (compulsory) mornEnglish-ing classes None among them went to anextra English course of any kind or had any exposure to Englishduring the time of the study The researcher decided to introduceExtensive Reading in the form of a reading club with a membership

of nine (one teacher/researcher functioning as a participant andeight students) The club met once every four weeks Participation isvoluntary and full consent was granted from their parents

3.2 Materials

3.2.1 Reading materials

An important principle of ER is that the input should not be imposedupon the readers, but rather be chosen by the readers based on theirpersonal preferences and interests For the project to work, theteacher had to make sure that the “comprehensible input” students

get exposed to is abundant and validated In total, there were 50stories, 15 poems and 20 non-fiction books of various levels (2-5)being used throughout the project (See Appendix 1 for a sample ofthe material) Prior to project implementation, the participants wereconsulted regarding the genres of the books to be purchased, whichexplains how fiction seemed to predominate.

3.2.2 Tests

These included a pre-project test (hereby pre-test) and a project test (hereby post-test) selected from the abundance availableonline for classifying students into suitable reading levels (gradedreaders, level 1-6) It should be noted that the two tests weredesigned in such a way that they were considered of the samedifficulty level, which the participating students were unaware of.The tests comprised of two sections: writing, which occupied twothird of the total score, and reading, which made up for theremaining one third

post-3.3 Procedures

Pre-tests were administered at the beginning of the programme,which helped in determining the level(s) of the students andchoosing the most suitable candidates from the volunteers The 16chosen participants were then divided into two groups of equalmembership The control group did not join the extensive readingclub and functioned as the reference point from which to assess theassumed progress of the experimental group The latter’s membersunderwent a process of needs analysis in the form of informalconversations in order that the appropriate reading materials could