English graded reader efl university students perspectives and practices within the context of reading fluency and reading comprehension m a 60 14 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERS

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF READING FLUENCY

AND READING COMPREHENSION

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

By HUYNH THI MY VAN

Supervised by NGUYEN THU HUONG, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2016

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF READING FLUENCY

AND READING COMPREHENSION

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

By HUYNH THI MY VAN

Supervised by NGUYEN THU HUONG, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2016

Acknowledgements

This thesis would have not been completed without the guidance, encouragement, suggestions and assistance from many members

First and foremost, I would like to send my deepest thanks to my supervisor,

Dr Nguyen Thu Huong, who has supported me and guided me through the thesis, and forgiven me for my occasional tardiness and lateness during the thesis He has always given me great encouragement, and thanks to that I was more determined to complete my work

Next, I would like to express my special thanks to my beloved colleagues who gave me the valuable suggestions for the thesis, who took time to correct my questionnaire and who frequently asked me about the progress of the thesis so that I could feel a great sense of warmth and care which motivated me to fulfil the thesis more

I would also like to send my thanks to my students, who accompanied with

me during the thesis

Last but not least, I would like send my special thanks to my husband and my brother, who have encouraged me to complete my thesis

Statement of originality

I declare that the thesis entitled:

ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES IN THE CONTEXT OF READING FLUENCY AND READING COMPREHENSION

is written by me, Huynh Thi My Van, who takes full responsibility for the contents of the thesis

I declare that the contents of this thesis are original and that no other sources apart from those mentioned

in the thesis and its references have

been used to create it

Ho Chi Minh City, July 2016

Huynh Thi My Van

Retention and use of the thesis

I hereby state that I, Huynh Thi My Van, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s theses deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis

Ho Chi Minh City, July 2016

Huynh Thi My Van

Table of contents

Title page i

Acknowledgements ii

Statement of originality iii

Retention and use of the thesis iv

Table of contents v

List of abbreviations x

List of tables xi

List of figures xiii

Abstract xiv

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Research hypotheses 3

1.5 Significance of the study 4

1.6 The organization of the thesis 4

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 A brief account of reading 6

2.1.1 Successful reading in English as first language 6

2.1.2 Reading fluency 7

2.1.2.1 Components of reading fluency 7

2.1.2.2 Definitions of reading fluency 8

2.1.2.3 Oral reading fluency versus silent reading fluency 10

2.1.3 Reading comprehension 11

2.1.4 The role of reading fluency in fostering reading comprehension 12

2.2 Teaching reading in the ESL and EFL context 13

2.2.1 Intensive reading 13

2.2.1.1 Features of intensive reading 13

2.2.1.2 Reading strategies 14

2.2.2 Extensive reading 14

2.2.2.1 Features of Extensive Reading 14

2.2.2.2 The role of Extensive Reading in fostering learners’ reading fluency 15

2.2.2.3 The impact of the amount of reading on learners’ reading fluency 16

2.2.2.4 The role of strategy use in Extensive Reading in fostering reading fluency and reading comprehension 17

2.2.5 Graded Readers (GRs) 18

2.2.5.1 Definitions of GRs 18

2.2.5.2 Types of GRs 19

2.2.5.3 Levels of GRs 20

2.2.5.4 Learners’ selection of GRs 21

2.3 Relevant studies 21

2.3.1 Relevant studies on students’ attitudes towards GRs 21

2.3.2 Related studies on students’ practices of using GRs 23

2.3.3 Related studies on students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs 23

2.3.4 Related studies on the impact of GRs on reading fluency and reading comprehension 26

2.3.5 Al-Homoud and Schmitt (2009)’s study 29

2.4 Gaps from the studies reviewed 30

2.5 The conceptual framework of the study 32

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 34

3.1 Research setting 34

3.2 Participants of the study 34

3.3 Research design 35

3.4 Research instruments 36

3.4.1 The questionnaire 36

3.4.1.1 The content of the questionnaire on attitudes and perceptions 37

3.4.1.2 The content of the questionnaire on practices 39

3.4.2 The reading fluency pretest and posttest 40

3.4.3 The reading comprehension pretest and posttest 40

3.5 Research procedure 42

3.5.1 Before the implementation of GRs 42

3.5.2 During the implementation of GRs 45

3.5.3 After the implementation of GRs 45

3.6 The scoring method of the reading rate and reading comprehension pretest and posttest 45

3.7 Data collection 46

3.8 Data analysis 46

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 48

4.1 Research question 1 48

4.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards GRs 48

4.1.1.1 Enjoyment 48

4.1.1.2 Confidence 48

4.1.1.3 Students’ reactions to GRs in the future 49

4.1.2 Students’ practices of using GRs 51

4.1.2.1 GRs selection strategies 51

4.1.2.2 Pre-reading strategies 52

4.1.2.3 While reading strategies 53

4.1.2.4 Post-reading strategies 55

4.2 Research question 2 56

4.2.1 Statistical analysis of test results 57

4.2.1.1 Statistical analysis of test results on reading rate 57

4.2.1.2 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension that followed the reading rate test 57

4.2.1.3 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension 58

4.2.1.4 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension of main ideas 58

4.2.1.5 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension of details 58 4.2.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs 59

4.2.2.1 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their

reading fluency 59

4.2.2.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading comprehension 60

4.2.2.3 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the follow-up activities in improving their reading fluency and reading comprehension 62

4.2.2.4 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the amount of reading required in improving their reading fluency and reading comprehension 62

4.2.2.5 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading skills 63

4.2.2.6 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their vocabulary 64

4.3 Discussion of the results 66

4.3.1 Research question 1 66

4.3.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards GRs 66

4.3.1.2 Students’ practices of using GRs 67

4.3.1.2.1 Students’ GRs selection strategies 67

4.3.1.2.2 Students’ pre-reading strategies 68

4.3.1.2.3 Students’ while-reading strategies 68

4.3.1.2.4 Students’ post-reading strategies 69

4.3.2 Research question 2 69

4.3.2.1 The impact of GRs on students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension 69

4.3.2.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs 71

4.3.2.2.1 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading fluency 71

4.3.2.2.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their comprehension 72

4.3.2.2.3 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the follow-up activities in improving their RF and RC 73

4.3.2.2.4 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the amount of reading in

improving their RF and RC 73

4.3.2.2.5 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their vocabulary 74

4.3.2.2.6 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading 75

4.4 Summary of key findings 76

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 77

5.1 Conclusion 77

5.2 Implications of the study 77

5.3 Limitations of the study 79

5.4 Recommendations for further research 80

References 81

Appendix 1: The English version of the questionnaire 87

Appendix 2: The Vietnamese version of the questionnaire 92

Appendix 3: Al-Homoud and Schmitt’s questionnaire 97

Appendix 4: The reading fluency pretest 106

Appendix 5: The reading fluency posttest 109

Appendix 6: The reading comprehension pretest 111

Appendix 7: The reading comprehension posttest 119

Appendix 8: IELTS Reading answer sheet 128

Appendix 9: Book report form 129

Appendix 10: Sample quiz 130

Appendix 11: Raw score conversion of the IELTS test 132

FFL Faculty of Foreign Languages

UTE University of Technology and Education

CORI Concept-oriented reading instruction

BNESC Books for native English speaking children

RCFPre Reading comprehension of reading fluency pretest RCFPost Reading comprehension of reading fluency posttest RCMIPre Reading comprehension of main idea pretest

RCMIPost Reading comprehension of main idea posttest RCDTPre Reading comprehension of details pretest

RCDTPost Reading comprehension of details posttest

List of tables

Table 2.1 Processes involved fluent reading comprehension 12

Table 2.2 A list of reading strategies 17

Table 2.3 Publishers’ headwords at each level of GRs 20

Table 2.4 A summary of the reviewed studies on students’ attitudes, practices and perception of Graded Readers 25

Table 2.5 Experimental studies on the impact of GRs on learners’ RF and RC 28 Table 3.1 A summary of the participants 35

Table 3.2 The organization of the questionnaire and its related categories 36

Table 3.3 A summary of the questionnaire on attitudes and perception 39

Table 3.4 A summary of the questionnaire on practices 39

Table 3.5 The structure of the RC pretest 41

Table 3.6 The structure of the RC posttest 42

Table 3.7 Information about the chosen GRs 43

Table 4.1 Results on students’ enjoyment of reading GRs 48

Table 4.2 Results on students’ confidence as a result of reading GRs 49

Table 4.3 Results on students’ reactions to GRs in the future 50

Table 4.4 Results on students’ GRs selection strategies 51

Table 4.5 Results on students’ pre-reading strategies 52

Table 4.6 Results on students’ while reading strategies 53

Table 4.7 Results on students’ word attack strategies 55

Table 4.8 Results on students’ post-reading strategies 56

Table 4.9 Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-reading rate test 57

Table 4.10 Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-RC test that followed the reading rate test 58

Table 4.11 Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-reading comprehension test 58

Table 4.12 Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-reading comprehension of main

ideas 58 Table 4.13 Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-reading comprehension of details

59 Table 4.14 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their RF

60 Table 4.15 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their RC

61 Table 4.16 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the follow-up activities 62 Table 4.17 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the amount of reading

required 63 Table 4.18 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their

reading skills 64 Table 4.19 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their

vocabulary 65

List of figures

Figure 2.1 The conceptual framework of the study 33

Figure 4.1 Students’ GRs selection strategies 51

Figure 4.2 Students’ pre-reading strategies 52

Figure 4.3 Students’ while reading strategies 54

Figure 4.4 Students’ word attack strategies 55

Figure 4.5 Students’ post-reading strategies 56

ABSTRACT

Extensive Reading has been recognized for long as a means to improve learners’ attitudes and perception towards reading, to develop their reading fluency and reading comprehension and to improve their language skills This study investigated the attitudes and practices of 21 first-year English majors towards the 15-week application of Graded Readers In addition, it also looked into the impact of Graded Readers on students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension as well as students’ perception of the effectiveness of Graded Readers in improving their reading fluency, reading comprehension, reading skills and vocabulary

This study adopted quantitative research method by which a questionnaire was administered to probe into students’ attitudes, practices and perception of the effectiveness of Graded Readers, and one-group pretest-posttest design was used to discover students’ changes in their reading fluency and reading comprehension after the application of Graded Readers

The results indicated that (a) students showed positive attitudes towards Graded Readers in terms of enjoyment and positive reactions to Graded Readers in the future, but not in terms of confidence, (b) students employed a variety of strategies when reading Graded Readers, some of which are not appropriate for developing reading fluency, (c) Graded Readers improved students’ reading fluency, but not reading comprehension, and (d) students showed positive perception of the effectiveness of Graded Readers in improving their reading fluency, reading comprehension, reading skills and vocabulary

Several implications are drawn from the results of this study in terms of reading instruction and guidelines for Extensive Reading practices

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study

Reading is an important skill to English learners It is the most popular means

to acquire knowledge, not only knowledge of their subjects but also knowledge of the world In addition, it is also a source of entertainment They can be hooked on an interesting novel, or they can burst out laughing at a funny story More importantly, gaining competence in reading lays a solid foundation for later higher education Therefore, helping learners to become competent readers in English is one of the most important objectives of every school, college and university

Two common approaches to teaching and learning reading are Intensive Reading (IR) and Extensive Reading (ER) (Nation, 2009) The former relates to reading short authentic texts with a close examination of their language features such

as vocabulary and grammar in order to gain a detailed understanding In addition, with this approach, learners are also equipped with reading skills and strategies to help them tackle reading texts In contrast, the later refers to reading a large number

of texts within learners’ linguistic ability in terms of vocabulary and grammar in order

to foster their reading enjoyment, to gain a global understanding and to develop reading fluency (RF) The materials used in this approach are often simplified texts,

or Graded Readers (GRs), which are written under a control of lexis and syntax to facilitate reading fluency and reading comprehension

At the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL), University of Technology and Education (UTE), it seems that the later has been neglected for a while Here, ER has not been applied to any courses, and IR forms a major means of instruction in and outside classroom As perceived by the researcher, teaching and learning reading at FFL is becoming a routine; that is, in each lesson, students read the same short passage, learn unknown vocabulary and grammar, answer reading comprehension questions and learn reading strategies Moreover, reading instruction is also geared

to standardized tests since students are expected to pass a certain level in The

Common European Framework of Reference after each reading course For example, students at FFL are expected to pass level B1 after Reading 1 and Reading 2 courses, and level B2 after Reading 3 and Reading 4 courses It can be seen that under the pressure of tests and exposure to repetitious procedure of IR, students are robbed of the joy in reading, which later can lead to the decrease in their motivation and reading engagement

Another problem with students at FFL is slow reading They keep moaning and groaning about being unable to complete a reading test because of insufficient time

or too long passages, but the root cause is actually their slow reading One possible reason is the lack of instruction and practice for fluency development RF, although proved to play a critical role in reading comprehension (RC) (Laberge and Samuels, 1974; as cited in Pikulski & Richard, 2005), does not receive much attention here at FFL In other words, reading instruction only focuses on RC but ignores RF, an important factor that facilitates RC

Many researchers have established the close relationship between ER, especially ER using GRs, and pleasure reading and fluency development Day et al (2011) explained that ER gives learners a chance to read within their comfort zone with very few encounters with unknown words or complicated structures, which brings them a sense of joy like they are reading in their first language In addition, engaging in a large amount of ER increases learners’ sight vocabulary and their vocabulary size which are two important factors building reading fluency (Day & Bamford, 1998) In addition, reading extensively in English enhances learners’ knowledge of text types and widens their world knowledge, which assists them in building RF and RC (Day & Bamford, 1998) Needless to say, ER is an effective approach to fostering learners’ reading interest and improving their RF and RC Given the mentioned benefits of ER and lack of fluency instruction at FFL, UTE, it is necessary to conduct a study that investigates FFL students’ attitudes and perceptions of the effectiveness of ER in developing their RF and RC In addition, although the positive impact of ER on RF and RC is widely researched, there is a paucity of studies that look into students’ practices of ER It should be noted that practices of ER affect RF and RC Several researchers indicated that improper

practices of ER hamper reading fluency development For example, Day and Bamford (1998) pointed out that stopping to use a dictionary hinders fluent reading,

or Sakurai (2015) found a negative correlation between translation and reading speed

It can be seen that investigating students’ practices of ER can help improve ER guidelines so that students can take full advantage of ER

1.2 Aims of the study

This study was aimed (1) to explore students’ attitudes towards Graded Readers (GRs), the type of material used in ER, (2) to discover students’ practices of using GRs that nurture and hinder the development of reading fluency and reading comprehension, (3) to explore the impact of GRs on students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension, and finally (4) to gain knowledge of students’ perception of

the effectiveness of GRs

1.3 Research questions

This study attempts to answer the following two research questions:

1 What are students’ attitudes towards and practices of using Graded Readers?

2 What is the impact of Graded Readers on students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension, and their perception of the effectiveness of the application of Graded Readers?

1.4 Research hypotheses

Based on the two research questions, three hypotheses were formulated

1 Students have positive attitudes towards Graded Readers

2 Students positively perceive the effectiveness of the application of Graded Readers

3 There is a significant improvement in students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension after the application of Graded Readers

1.5 Significance of the study

The application of GRs in the present study can be considered as the most rigorous one at FFL, UTE Before that, one teacher at FFL used GRs, but for the purpose of improving pronunciation, not reading Apart from him, no other teachers have ever used GRs in any courses Students in this study read GRs for credits Their work on GRs was marked and added up to other forms of assessment of the reading course In addition, they were provided with a large number of GRs of different genres to cater for their reading interests Their reading of GRs was also monitored

by weekly informal interviews, submission of book reports and doing quizzes It can

be said that this study is locally significant in the sense that it is a pioneering work in the field of ER at FFL, UTE

Moreover, the results of this study will shed light on whether teachers and curriculum designers that for long embrace IR persistently without recognizing the importance and effectiveness of ER should make a fundamental change to their reading instruction and reading syllabuses so that their learners can enjoy the benefits

of ER In addition, the conduct of this study also awakens teachers and students to the importance of RF Although reading instruction attempts to boost students’ RC; factors underlying RC, including RF, have not received as much attention That results in lack of RF instruction in most reading courses When teachers are well aware of the importance of RF, it is likely that this gap can be filled

1.6 The organization of the thesis

This thesis consists of five chapters Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction of the background of the study and states the aims of the study, the research questions and the research hypotheses In addition, it also highlights the significance of the study Finally, it ends with a summary of the organization of the thesis Chapter 2 starts with

a brief account of reading which focuses on reading fluency and reading comprehension, followed by two approaches to teaching reading including IR and

ER, with a focus on ER Then an overview of GRs is presented, which closes the theoretical section of the chapter Relevant studies are reviewed afterwards in relation

to students’ attitudes, practices and perception of the effectiveness of GRs, and the

impact of GRs on their RF and RC Finally, the chapter identifies the gaps in the reviewed studies and constructs the conceptual framework of the present study Chapter 3 gives a detailed account of the research method including research setting, participants of the study, research design, research instruments, research procedures, scoring methods, data collection and data analysis Chapter 4 shows the results of the study in relation to the two research questions Based on the results, major discussions are generated and presented The chapter ends with a summary of key findings Chapter 5 wraps up the main points of the thesis in the conclusion section and states the implications of the study In addition, the limitations of this study are also

addressed, and the recommendations for further research are given

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter contributes to lay the theoretical foundation for the present study

by first giving a brief account of reading that examines the nature of reading fluency (RF) and reading comprehension (RC) as well as the role of RF in fostering RC Then

it presents two approaches to teaching reading in the ESL and EFL context which are Intensive Reading (IR) and Extensive Reading (ER), with a focus on ER and its role

in fostering RF In addition, the role of strategy use in ER in developing RF and RC

is also explained Subsequently, the chapter provides basic information about Graded Readers (GRs), the type of material used in ER, in terms of their definitions, types and levels Then the chapter proceeds with a review of related studies that looked into learners’ attitudes, practices and perception of the effectiveness of GRs, and a review

of empirical studies that investigated the impact of GRs on RF and RC Finally, the gaps from the studies reviewed are identified, and the conceptual framework of the present study is established

2.1 A brief account of reading

2.1.1 Successful reading in English as first language

Research into reading has attempted to shed light on how reading works There

is a widespread agreement among researchers that reading is a complex task that generates multiple cognitive processes Grabe (2009) pointed out two groups of processes that play a critical role in building reading comprehension which are lower-level processes and higher-level processes Below is a brief account of lower and higher processes of reading provided by Grabe (2009)

Lower-level processes are processes that have the potential to operate effortlessly without conscious awareness of readers These processes include word recognition, syntactic parsing (making use of grammatical information) and semantic-proposition encoding (forming meaning units at phrase or clause level from words and structures decoded) Word recognition processing includes other sub-processes such as orthographic processing, phonological processing, semantic and

syntactic processing and morphological processing Being termed lower-level does not mean that these processes are not important or less demanding, it is because they are more likely to become automatic

Working memory is an important concept in RC It is the place where lower and higher-level processes take place However, it is known as a limited-capacity system which cannot carry out multiple tasks at the same time Therefore, in order for comprehension to occur, lower-level processes must consume very few resources in working memory, or even be done automatically, leaving most of the resources devoting to comprehension In other words, these lower processes have to proceed fluently and effortlessly in working memory so that higher processes of comprehension can take place

Higher-level processes refer to the ability “to build a text model of reader comprehension, a situation model of reader interpretation and a set of reading skills and resources under the command of the executive control mechanism in working memory.” (Grabe, 2009, p 39) A text model of reader comprehension refers to the ability of readers to understand what the text is about while the situation model of reader interpretation emphasizes the combination of prior knowledge that readers bring to the text with the text itself in creating his own understanding of the text

It can be seen from the framework of cognitive processes of reading established

by Grabe (2009) that RC requires multiple processes However, successful comprehension occurs only when all lower-level processes are processed fluently and automatically in the working memory, leaving the remaining resources in the working memory devoting to comprehension Therefore, the role of building fluency in lower-level processes is very important in enhancing RC The next part will look into the nature of RF and its major components

2.1.2 Reading fluency

2.1.2.1 Components of reading fluency (RF)

As noted from the literature, most definitions of RF are built up from its central components; therefore, it is plausible to explore major components of RF before providing its definitions

According to Grabe (2009), RF consists of four central components: automaticity, accuracy, rate and prosody Automaticity possesses four characteristics: speed, effortlessness, autonomy, and absence of conscious awareness (Logan, 1997) Accuracy refers to the precision in word recognition (Grabe, 2009) The fluent word recognition must be not only fast and automatic but also complete and accurate Rate, the third component of RF, refers to the ability to read texts rapidly while at the same time maintaining comprehension throughout the texts (Grabe, 2009) The final component of RF, prosody, emphasizes the use of phrasing and expression during oral reading In oral reading, the fact that readers use appropriate volume, tone, emphasis, and other elements in oral expressions proves that they are actively building meaning from texts (Rasinki, 2004) In brief, there are four components that make up RF, but the component of prosody just applies to oral RF, not silent RF

2.1.2.2 Definitions of reading fluency

Many researchers have defined RF in relation to its four components Pikulski and Richard (2005) defined RF as follows:

Reading fluency refers to rapid, efficient, accurate word recognition skills that permit a reader to construct the meaning of text Fluency is also manifested in accurate, rapid, expressive oral reading and is applied during, and makes possible, silent reading comprehension (p 510)

This definition indicates that RF is a bridge to comprehension when the process of word recognition becomes automatic and accurate In addition, fluency can be observed in oral reading when readers read texts accurately and rapidly with expression It is also an integral part of silent RC

Kuhn, Schwanenflugel, Meisinger (2010) provided a very comprehensive definition of RF which takes into account most of its major components

Fluency combines accuracy, automaticity and oral reading prosody, which taken together, facilitate the reader’s construction of meaning It is demonstrated during oral reading through ease of word recognition, appropriate pacing,

phrasing and intonation It is a factor in both oral and silent reading that can limit or support comprehension (p 240)

This definition is similar to that of Pikulski and Richard (2005) in the way that it emphasizes the role of components of RF in assisting meaning construction In addition, the definition also indicates that components of RF can exhibit clearly through oral reading Moreover, the impact of RF on comprehension is also highlighted However, the component of rate is not mentioned in the definition although being able to read rapidly and maintain comprehension is an important criteria of RF

Several other authors viewed RF from the concept of eye fixation, which refers

to momentary pauses of the eyes on a line of print (Samuels, Rasinki, & Hiebert; 2011) Samuels, Rasinki, & Hiebert (2011) also suggested a definition of RF in relation to eye fixation, which is the ability to “decode and comprehend during the time span of a single eye fixation” (p 40) They argued that fluent readers can perform two tasks of decoding and comprehension within a single eye fixation while non-fluent readers perform the task of decoding in one fixation and the task of comprehension in another fixation, resulting in more eye fixations The more eye fixations readers generate, the slower their reading becomes

Nation (2009) did not give a specific definition of RF, but he described several physical symptoms of a slow reader: “fixating on units smaller than a word (word parts, letters, parts of letters), thus making several fixations per word; spending a long time on each fixation or on some fixations; making many regressions to look back at what has already been read” (p 63) These symptoms reveal that slow readers tend to decode at word or even sub-word level, which results in spending more time on reading certain words In addition, they are not able to retain information long enough

to interpret meaning of what is read; as a result, they end up looking back and rereading the text in an attempt to interpret it again It can be seen that problems with eye fixation can slow down the reading process and make reading less fluent

In brief, the definitions of RF are built around its central component including automaticity, accuracy, rate and prosody In addition, the generation of eye fixations

while reading also affects fluency development The definitions also indicate that RF can be assessed in oral reading and silent reading The next part will look into the basic difference of oral reading and silent reading, and identify which type of fluency

is more appropriate to assess in the EFL context

2.1.2.3 Oral reading fluency versus silent reading fluency

It can be seen that the definitions on RF above did not differentiate between oral

RF and silent RF Kuhn et al (2010) even stated that the literature on RF implies that oral and silent reading are essentially the same process However, one component of

RF, prosody, can only be observed in oral reading If readers read a text silently, it is impossible to perceive their intonation, stress, phrasing and expression Nonetheless, Rasinski (2012) argued that prosody is not an element solely for oral reading because most adults he had surveyed reported that they also hear themselves when they read silently However, in case an observer is observing a reader reading silently, it is impossible to assess prosody

There are several criticisms of the use of oral RF to assess reading

comprehension of foreign language learners (FLLs) As Lems, Miller and Soro

(2010) pointed out, oral RF can be an effective measure of RC for native speakers; however, it may not be applicable for FFLs They argued that during oral reading, FLLs are likely to make inherent pronunciation mistakes, which renders their reading comprehension ability misinterpreted For example, they may mispronounce a word

in English because their first language does not have an equivalent sound, although they still understand that word Therefore, using oral reading to assess RC may arrive

at an inaccurate evaluation of learners’ RC ability

It should be noted that for adult English language learners, especially those who are taught in the context that play downs supra-segmental features of language (stress and intonation), it is more appropriate to assess silent RF than oral RF First, adult learners often read silently rather than orally, and their silent reading speed is faster than the oral reading speed Second, prosody, or stress and intonation, often receives very little attention in instruction and practice in EFL context Teaching

pronunciation mostly focuses on sounds rather than stress and intonation Therefore, assessing prosody may not be fair for FLLs

2.1.3 Reading comprehension

Besides reading fluency (RF), which contributes to successful reading in English as first language, another important aspect of reading which is the ultimate goal of reading instruction is reading comprehension (RC) This section provides major definitions of RC

Harris and Hodges (1995) defined comprehension as “the construction of meaning of a written or spoken communication through a reciprocal, holistic interchange of ideas between the interpreter and the message in a particular communicative context” (as cited in McLaughlin, Homeyer and Sassaman, 2006, p 126) It can be seen that this definition refers to both reading comprehension and listening comprehension, but it can be inferred from this definition that the act of RC

is an interacting process between the reader, the text and the context that the text occurs, and RC is not a passive process but a dynamic one in which readers bring their own knowledge and experience to interpret the text

Based on the concept of situation model, Zwaan and Radvansky (1998) defined

RC as “the construction of a representation of the state of affairs described in a text” (p 162) It means that comprehension goes beyond literal understanding of texts, and readers integrate their prior knowledge with what they are learning from texts to create a mental representation of texts The authors argued that it is this representation that stays in long-term memory of readers and is available for retrieval Situation model of comprehension is often applied to narrative texts

Guthrie, Wigfield and Perencevich (2004) in their book about concept-oriented reading instruction (CORI) defined RC as “the processes of constructing conceptual knowledge from a text through cognitive interaction and motivational involvement with the text” (p 227) Conceptual knowledge consists of “concepts that are related

to each other structurally and associated with important examples or supporting evidence” (p 227) Cognitive interaction with the text refers to cognitive strategies that are important to reading comprehension process, and motivational involvement

relates to motivational processes necessary to reading such as providing interesting texts, etc However, as claimed by these authors, this definition just applies to informational texts because CORI integrates reading with science; therefore, it may not work on other kinds of text such as literary texts

Grabe and Stoller (2013) suggested that RC can be defined simply as “the ability

to draw meaning from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately” (p 11), yet they contended that the nature of RC is far more complex than the definition signifies Therefore, they maintained that a more accurate definition of RC must take into account all the necessary processes involved in RC These processes are illustrated in Table 2.1 below

Table 2.1: Processes involved in fluent reading comprehension (Grabe, 2013)

Fluent reading is:

2.1.4 The role of reading fluency in fostering reading comprehension

The fact that RF plays a crucial role in assisting RC has been approved by many researchers

According to LaBerge and Samuels (1974; as cited in Pikulski & Richard, 2005), two basic cognitive tasks of reading are decoding (word recognition) and comprehension, and both tasks need cognitive resources However, these resources are very limited At any given time, if the resources are consumed too much for the

process of decoding, there are not many resources left for comprehension Therefore,

in order to obtain the optimal RC, the task of decoding must be done automatically

so that most of the cognitive resources will be reserved for constructing meaning of what is read

This argument was further developed in verbal efficiency theory by Perfetti (1985; as cited in Hudson, Pullen, Lane & Torgesen, 2009) He argued that reading processes make use of limited capacity processing resources termed working memory Higher-order processes of comprehension such as inferring, interpreting, and integrating information, by their nature, consume a large number of resources; in contrast, reading processes such as letter recognition, word recognition, and semantic encoding require far fewer resources and can become automatic If these processes are sufficiently automatized, this does not take up much space in the working memory, leaving most of the working memory devoted to comprehension

Hirsch (2003) also explained that “if decoding doesn’t happen quickly, the decoded material will be forgotten before it is understood.” (p 12) Actually, if readers are busy figuring out what an unknown word means, they may lose track of the text later and have to reread it to retrieve understanding Thus, decoding must proceed quickly so that the information still retains in working memory to be processed and understood

So far, it cannot deny that RF is an integral part of RC If the task of word recognition becomes automatic, the task of comprehension will become much easier

2.2 Teaching reading in the ESL and EFL context

Two popular approaches to teaching reading in the ESL and EFL context are intensive reading (IR) and extensive reading (ER) (Nation, 2009) Both approaches aim to develop students’ reading comprehension, but they differ in their objectives and procedures Although the focus of this study is on ER, it is worth noticing some features of IR before getting an insight into ER so that one can see the differences between the two approaches

2.2.1 Intensive reading

2.2.1.1 Features of intensive reading

The objective of IR is to get readers to understand texts by examining closely their language features such as vocabulary and grammar It also aims to increase their control of reading strategies in order to cope with reading texts In IR, students often read short reading passages chosen by teachers, and the passages are often more difficult than their levels There is often direct teaching of strategies In addition, after finishing reading, students’ comprehension is often checked through answering comprehension questions It can be seen that with IR, students are learning to read in

a controlled manner, and it is teacher-centered in their nature

2.2.2 Extensive reading

2.2.2.1 Features of extensive reading

Day et al (2011) defined ER in the EFL/ESL context as “an approach to teaching reading whose goal is to get students reading in the English language and enjoying it” (p.10) Day and Bamford (2002) established top ten principles for ER as

follows:

1 The reading material is easy

2 There’s a wide variety of materials on a wide variety of topics

3 Learners choose what they want to read

4 Learners read as much as possible

5 The purpose is usually pleasure, information and general understanding

6 Reading is its own reward

7 Reading speed is fast

8 Reading is individual and silent

9 Teachers guide their students

10 The teacher is a role model

It can be seen that ER is a more learner-centered approach to reading in which students can choose their own reading materials and take control of their process of reading In ER, teachers just act as a facilitator who display a reader model and guide their students through the process of reading

2.2.2.2 The role of ER in fostering learners’ reading fluency

Day and Bamford (1998) pointed out that fluent second language reading depends on three factors: a large sight vocabulary, a wide general vocabulary and knowledge of the target language, the world and text types Below is the explanation

of how ER connects with these factors to make readers become more fluent in reading

First, ER helps readers develop a large sight vocabulary Sight vocabulary are words that “are automatically recognized in their printed form” (Day & Bamford,

1998, p 16) When readers read a large volume of books, they have an opportunity

to encounter the same words multiple times Gradually, they become familiar with these words, and they enter students’ sight vocabulary In addition, because the reading material in ER is easy, this provides a good way to meet the high frequency words of English, and multiple encounters with these high frequency words are likely

to make them become students’ sight vocabulary too As CIERA mentioned in Every Child a Reader 1 (Topic 4), “the rapid recognition of these high frequency words forms the foundation of fluent reading”

Second, ER enriches readers’ general vocabulary knowledge They provide a good chance to reinforce the existing vocabulary and learn new vocabulary incidentally As mentioned above, multiple encounters with a certain word will strengthen the knowledge of that word in readers’ memory Moreover, the vocabulary coverage in ER material is high enough for readers to guess the meaning of unknown words from context This argument is supported by Krashen (1982)’s comprehensible input theory, which states that learners are able to acquire new language that is

beyond their current level, or “i plus 1”, when they are immersed in learning materials rich in comprehensible input He argued that it is not necessary to teach new language deliberately; instead, provide learners with materials containing new knowledge surrounded by comprehensible input, and they can acquire this knowledge incidentally

Finally, as many studies indicate, ER helps readers increase knowledge of the language, the world and text types Apart from vocabulary knowledge mentioned above, ER for a long period of time also increases gains in grammar, spelling, listening and writing skill, world knowledge and conceptual knowledge (Grabe, 2009) Knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and spelling will facilitate the processes

of word recognition and syntactic parsing, making them become more automatic and effortless Moreover, the topics in ER are various, which brings readers a large amount of world knowledge This knowledge will assist readers in building the text model and the situation model of reading for certain texts they read; thus, their understanding of these texts enhances Regarding text types, since ER material is composed of fiction and non-fiction whose text genres are narrative and information reports respectively (Derewianka, 1990; as cited in Sadeghi, Hassani & Hemmati, 2013), readers are likely to get used to these genres after reading GRs As Shafizadeh and Sajedi (2013) pointed out, genre familiarity breeds the improvement of RC

2.2.2.3 The impact of the amount of ER on learners’ reading fluency

The amount of ER plays a significant role in fostering RF If readers read a large number of easy books, they will encounter the same patterns of letters, words and collocations again and again; gradually, they will become their sight vocabulary (Day and Bamford, 1998) As mentioned earlier, sight vocabulary helps develop RF Moreover, a large amount of reading also provides sufficient repetitions of new language so that they will not be lost from memory (Waring, 2000) If readers read less than a proper amount, they are unlikely to retain new language in memory, so it

is forgotten the next time they encounter it As a result, they have to decode it gain, which makes their reading become slow and less fluent

Although a large amount of reading is highly recommended by researchers as

a way to promote fluent reading, Day and Bamford (1998) advised that there should

be a reading target for students so that they know how much they have to read and strive for that target; otherwise they may end up doing other work rather than reading Waring (2000) and Day et al (2011) suggested a book a week at an appropriate level

as the minimum amount while Nation (2009) recommended a target of 500,000 running words per year It can be seen that a book a week seems to be an approachable and manageable target for students

Grabe and Stoller (2013) suggested a list of reading strategies that learners can employ to enhance RC (see Table 2.2) As can be seen from Table 2.3, most of the strategies listed are top-down strategies However, during the practices of ER, learners also employ bottom-up strategies as well Some bottom-up strategies found

in other studies are referring to the glossary at the back of GRs for meaning of new words (Nishino, 2007) and translation (Sakurai, 2015) In addition, learners also had book discussions with their friends about the story and characters after reading (Lin, 2010) Learners with auditory learning style may read aloud or listen to the audio recordings of GRs while reading

Table 2.2: A list of reading strategies (Grabe & Stoller, 2013)

Reading strategies

 Specifying a purpose for reading

 Planning what to do / what steps to take

 Previewing the text

 Predicting the contents of the text or section of

 Posing questions about the text

 Finding answers to posed questions

 Connecting texts to background knowledge

 Summarizing information

 Making inferences

 Connecting one part of the text to another

 Identifying difficulties

 Taking steps to repair faulty comprehension

 Critiquing the author

 Critiquing the text

 Judging how well purposes for reading were met

 Reflecting on what has been learnt from the text

Another point that that needs to be emphasized is that adopting certain reading strategies in ER is likely to improve or impede RF For instance, Sakurai (2015) found out that decrease or refraining from translation leads to improvement in reading speed Luppescu and Day (1993) conducted a study in which they discovered that it took a group of students who used dictionaries twice the time to read a short story compared with another group who did not use dictionaries (as cited in Day and Bamford, 1998) Day and Bamford (1998) also suggested that guessing the meaning

of, or ignoring, unknown words are important strategies of fluent reading In addition, Campbell et al (2015) reported that successful students of ER never take notes or use dictionary It can be seen that certain reading strategies are not appropriate in ER, and adopting these strategies while reading extensively can reduce the effect of ER on promoting RF

2.2.5 Graded Readers (GRs)

GRs are a popular type of material specially written for readers of ER They have distinctive characteristics that meet the principles of ER This section will present basic information about GRs

2.2.5.1 Definitions of GRs

Most of the definitions of GRs characterize four major aspects of GRs: their language features, their functions, their target audience and their types

Hill and Thomas (1988) and Nation and Wang Ming-tzu (1999) defined GRs

in terms of their language features and their types Hill and Thomas (1988, as cited

in Wan-a-rom, 2012) defined GRs as “a book written to a grading scheme, whether

it is a simplified version of a previously written work or an original work written in

simple language” (p 44) As can be seen from the definition, the language in GRs are simplified and written based on a grading scheme which is a word and structure list

at a level of GRs that guides the writer and editors in designing graded-reading books Nation and Wang Ming-tzu (1999) gave a clearer definition of GRs They defined GRs as books specially written or adapted for second language learners which have

a severe restriction of vocabulary and grammar that occur It can be seen that the two definitions above reveal two important characteristics of GRs: first, their language is controlled and simplified; second, they have two types: original and adapted

Day et al (2011) provided a definition of GRs that emphasizes their target audience They defined GRs as “narrative texts written for a particular community of language learners who share common characteristics such as slow readers, reluctant readers, unconfident readers, and readers with a limited competence in the target language” (p 22) The definition suggests that the target audience of GRs seem to be less proficient readers of English, and it also implies that the language in GRs must

be very easy and accessible to this type of audience Day and Bamford (1998) used another term for GRs: language learner literature By this term, they emphasized that the writing of GRs must take into account important features of SLLs such as limited language ability, lack of knowledge of foreign cultures and unfamiliarity with different text types It can be seen that GRs are written to serve non-native readers who do not have a good command of English

The Extensive Reading Foundation provides a different definition focusing on the function of GRs They defined GRs as “books (both fiction and non-fiction) written especially for language learners to build their reading speed and fluency and

to give them chances to practice ‘real reading’ for pleasure” (2011, p 2) As can be seen from the definition, GRs perform two functions: developing RF and fostering pleasure reading In addition, it reveals two more types of GRs: fiction and non-fiction

2.2.5.2 Types of graded readers

As mentioned above, GRs are classified into two types: originals and adaptations (Hill & Thomas, 1988; Nation & Wang Ming-tzu, 1999) The former are

books written specially for language learners in simplified language while the latter are books adapted from existing novels or short stories In addition, GRs can also be classified as fiction and non-fiction (Day & Bamford, 1988) Fiction consists of genres such as drama, thrillers, science, adventure, crime or classics of literature; non-fiction are composed of biographies, factual reports and profiles (Hill & Thomas, 1988; Hill, 2001, as cited in Wan-a-rom, 2012)

2.2.5.3 Levels of Graded Readers

According to Claridge (2012), there are 4 major publishers of GRs on the

market: Oxford University Press (OUP), Cambridge University Press (CUP), Longman Pearson Penguin and Macmillan, and each publisher divides GRs into levels based on the number of headwords However, this number varies from publisher to publisher For example, level 1 of Oxford Bookworms, the name of a series of GRs produced by OUP, consists of 400 headwords while that of Penguin Readers just includes 300 headwords There are other significant differences of headwords at each level among publishers which are shown in Table 2.3 below

Table 2.3: Publishers’ headwords at each level of GRs(sourced from publishers’

website)

Readers

MacMillan Readers

It is necessary to explain what a headword is A headword, as defined by Day

et al (2011), is “a word that forms a heading in a dictionary, under which its meaning

is explained” (p 23) A headword together with its derivatives and inflections is called a word family The derivatives and inflections are not counted as headwords, but they can be used in the text at that level without being glossed For example, the

word family love includes the headword love, and its family members loving, lover,

loves, unloved, etc As can be seen from Table 2.1, Cambridge GRs have the highest

number of headwords, 3800, while MacMillan GRs have the lowest, only 2200

2.2.5.4 Learners’ selection of Graded Readers

Learners can choose GRs based on four criteria: levels, visual attractions, content discovery and recommendations from friends In terms of levels, Claridge’s study (2012) indicated that learners should move systematically from lower levels to higher levels because this allows them to read more smoothly with fewer unknown vocabulary encounters In addition, reading books at or below their current levels is

a good way to develop their RF (Day & Bamford, 1998) Students are not recommended to choose GRs quickly by looking at the attractive titles, covers and illustrations because they may not reflect the true quality of the books (Eidswick, Rouault & Praver, 2011) In addition, students are advised to involve in some content discovery when choosing GRs because this can help them evaluate if the level of the book is suitable and if it is interesting enough to read

2.3 Relevant studies

This section synthesizes major studies that examine students’ attitudes towards and practices of GRs as well as their perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their RF and RC In addition, it also reviews related studies that investigate the impact of ER on RF and RC

2.3.1 Related studies on students’ attitudes towards GRs

Before reviewing related studies on students’ attitudes towards GRs, it is worth mentioning components of attitude proposed by researchers because most of the studies on attitudes examine these components From the psychological perspective, Schiff (1970) defined attitude as “an organized set of feelings and beliefs which will influence an individual’s behaviors” (p 6) He suggested that attitude should include three components: affection, cognition and conation which correspond to the concepts of feelings, beliefs and behaviors respectively in the definition This section reviews the studies on attitudes in relation to these components

Robb and Susser (1989) compared the attitudes of Japanese college freshmen towards two reading approaches: ER and skills-based approach The ER group engaged in a much larger volume of reading than the skill-based one Besides the reading done in class, they were required to read at least 500 pages at home during the year and write short summaries The skill-based group read only half of the pages and were assigned to read more in textbook at home The results showed that there was no difference in the attitudes of both groups regarding their sense of improvement, attitude towards method used and classwork; however, the ER group expressed a greater liking for homework than the skills-based one The authors assumed that being able to choose their favorite reading materials resulted in positive attitudes towards homework of the ER group

Taguchi, Maass & Gorsuch (2004) investigated the attitudes of two groups of first year Japanese linguistic students towards two methods of reading instruction: repeated reading (RR) and ER Both groups read GRs, but the ER group read far more GRs than the RR group The results showed that both groups had a positive attitude towards GRs in terms of enjoyment and evaluation of usefulness They reported that the methods helped them enjoy reading long passages in English and that they became better at dealing with unknown words by either guessing from context or skipping unimportant words

Yamashita (2013) investigated the effects of an ER course using GRs on students’ reading attitudes The participants were 61 second year students who came from three academic backgrounds: agricultural studies, economics and informatics The study looked into two components of attitude, namely affection and cognition Affection was measured in terms of comfort and anxiety while cognition was measured in terms of intellectual value and practical value The aim of the study was

to elucidate different effects of ER on different aspects of reading attitude The result indicated that ER helped subjects increase comfort and reduce anxiety while reading and that it created a positive effect on intellectual value, but not practical value Moreover, ER exerted a stronger effect on feelings than on thinking and beliefs

2.3.2 Related studies on students’ practices of using GRs

To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, studies on students’ practices of

ER are scarce Most of the research on ER practices mainly focuses on teachers’ practices of ER , and there is a paucity of studies that look into students’ actual practices of using GRs This section hopefully gives a general picture of what students actually do with GRs when they are assigned to read them

Nishino (2007) conducted a case study on two novice Japanese readers of ER with an aim to explore the development of their reading strategies over a period of two and a half years The study employed semi-structured interviews and observation

to investigate students’ employment of reading strategies The materials used in the study are GRs and books for native speakers of English The results of the interviews and observation showed that the two participants adopted a variety of strategies to cope with the comprehension of GRs and books, namely referring to glossaries and marginal glosses for meaning of unknown words, grouping words, using background knowledge, guessing word meanings and evaluating guesses, and using dictionary Campbell et al (2015) surveyed a group of successful students and teachers about their practices of ER in order to identify characteristics of best practices which would be used later as guidelines to develop future ER programs The students and teachers were interviewed about their attitudes, behaviors and strategies related to

ER The result indicated that successful students of an ER program were those who were eager to try new stories and unknown titles and chose books with easy quizzes

In addition, they made reading books part of their daily routine and read books wherever they went Regarding reading strategies, they never took notes or used dictionary while reading They also did sustained silent reading in their classes

2.3.3 Related studies on students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs

There are numerous studies investigating students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs, and these studies yielded very positive results

Leung (2002) conducted a diary study of which she was the subject She was a beginning learner of Japanese, and she kept a diary which recorded her daily practices

of reading Japanese books The aim was to find out whether ER in Japanese helped

her improve vocabulary, reading comprehension and reading attitude Besides the diary, she also used a vocabulary test to measure vocabulary progress and tutoring recordings made when she learnt with her Japanese friend As she was new to ER, she applied principles to ER established by other researchers The journal entry indicated that ER helped her improve word recognition and reinforce the words; moreover, it also helped her discover the meaning of new words through pictures and contextual clues and realize different meanings of a word Her reading comprehension improved, and her attitude became positive as long as reading materials were suitable for her level

Lemmer (2010) compared changes in the perception of a group of Japanese university students before and after the implementation of a 15-week ER course using GRs and other materials such as newspapers and reading lab materials The study investigated three areas of changes: student reading habits, perceived gains in skill areas and reading strategies used by students when reading in English The result showed that the amount of time students spent on reading in English per week was significantly higher after the course than before it Regarding reading habit, students showed a remarkable preference for reading novels, and all genres had a larger number of readers after the course Concerning perceived skill gains, gains were found higher in vocabulary, speed, and comprehension than in pronunciation, listening and writing Students also reported adopting more reading strategies after the course, and the strategy “guessing meaning of unknown words” was used by the largest number of students

Yphantides and Gallagher (2014) surveyed both teachers and students of an ESP course about their perception of a GRs program regarding their reading interest, reading fluency, vocabulary improvement, summarizing skill, writing ability and discussion ability The result showed that both teachers and students expressed a positive attitude towards the program and that GRs, as perceived by teachers and students, brought improvement in all areas mentioned The results looked very positive; however, the questions in the survey remained general, so it is difficult to gain insights into each area investigated

Tien (2015) conducted a large-scale study on an ER program in which he explored the attitudes and perception of 5711 non-English majors and 36 instructors towards this program Generally, the majority of teachers and students expressed a positive attitude and agreed upon such benefits of GRs as building up reading habits and reading fluency, improving reading comprehension and enlarging vocabulary In addition, the study also suggested factors that influenced students’ attitude, namely gender, the freedom in book selection, additional exposure to English, time spending

on reading and test pressure

Table 2.4 below summarizes the reviewed studies on students’ attitudes, practices and perception of GRs in terms of constructs focused and study results

Table 2.4: A summary of the reviewed studies on students’ attitudes, practices and

perception of GRs

Robb & Susser

- Cognition: Improved guessing skill

- Positive attitudes in terms of enjoyment and skills improvement

Yamashita

(2013)

- Affect: comfort and anxiety

- Cognitive: Intellectual value and practical value

- Increasing comfort and reducing anxiety, bringing intellectual value but not practical value

- Greater impact on feeling than on thinking and belief

Nishino (2007) Reading strategies A variety of strategies adopted

Campbell et al

(2015)

Best practices of ER in terms of attitude, behaviors and strategies

Profile of a successful student of an

ER course: being eager to try new stories and unknown titles, choosing books with easy quizzes, making books part of their daily routine, never taking notes or using dictionary

Leung (2002) Vocabulary acquisition, reading

comprehension, reading attitude

- Improving word recognition, reinforcing words, guessing the meaning of words and identifying multiple meanings of a word

- Improving reading comprehension and reading attitude

Lemmer (2010) Reading habit, perceived gains in skill

areas and reading strategies

- Increased reading time, preference for novels

- Perceived gains in vocabulary, speed and comprehension

- More strategies adopted