Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School Students: Its Effect and
Learner Attitude
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Background
Nowadays, high technology and convenient transportation makes the world a global
village. It’s more and more convenient for people to get together and interact with others. In
the 21’st century, English is the lingua franca that is being used all over the world. It is
English that provides a bridge for a Chinese and a Japanese, a France, a German, a Russian
and an Arab to communicate with one another. Today English is the language of world trade,
diplomacy and the internet, and it also dominates world’s tourism and sports. More than half
of college students’ textbooks are in English, and about half the world’s population will be
proficient in English in 2150 (Xiaoqiong, 2005). Due to the rapid growth of users of English
as a lingua franca in the world, people realize the importance of learning English. To increase
Taiwan’s competition in the international world, the government strongly implemented the
nationwide policy of English education. Thus, In Taiwan, started in 2001, all elementary
schools have begun to offer English education to their fifth graders and above. In some cities,
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
such as Taipei and Kaoshong, English education has extended to the third graders. According
to the Curriculum Standard for the Nine-year Compulsory Education, the three main goals of
elementary school English education are to develop children’s English communication ability,
explore their motivation and interest, and familiarize them with their native culture and the
culture of the target language in order to cultivate international view.
Another objective of carrying out elementary school English education is to coordinate
“National Reading Week for Children” launched by the Ministry of Education in 2001. The
aim of this campaign is to build children’s habit of reading because Taiwanese students lack
reading ability. Hence, it is important for parents and teachers to know how to create a
suitable environment and opportunities for reading and help children obtain knowledge
through various books. Unfortunately, reading education from school in Taiwan does not help
students develop motivation and ability of reading by themselves (Tsao, 1992). Furthermore,
teachers’ teaching methods of language are different, and the effect of teaching varies with
teachers. Some teachers emphasize communication with the Communicative Approach while
some stress the importance of translation and vocabulary through the Grammar-Translation
Approach. However, Tsao (1992) indicated that most teachers in Taiwan focus on the second
approach to carry out reading education. Consequently, vocabulary translation and analysis of
sentence structure may lessen students’ interest and confuse them (Shu-li Yang, 2002). Yet,
researchers have found that extensive reading is the key to achieving higher reading
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
proficiency (Bell, 2001; Camiciottoli, 2001; Elley and Mangubhai, 1983; Mason and Krashen,
1997).
Extensive reading means to read widely and in quantity. In recent years more and more
foreign language learners have been increasingly aware of the importance of extensive
reading, and it has been regarded as a tool for increasing learners’ language proficiency, in
both first and second language (Kao, 2004). In English as Foreign Language (EFL) or
English as Second Language (ESL) instruction, there has been a great deal of interest in
extensive reading over the past decade. There are numerous reports on extensive reading of
students learning English and on the benefits of reading extensively in English (e.g., Bell,
2001; Camiciottoli, 2001; Elley and Mangubhai, 1983; Mason and Krashen, 1997). Abundant
evidence showed the relationship between extensive reading and literacy – more reading
leads to better literacy (Krashen, 1993). Other studies (Cho& Krasen, 1994; Elley, 1991)
identified that learners made significant gains on reading comprehension test. Apart form
gains in reading proficiency, the advantages of extensive reading included vocabulary
development (Lao & Krashen, 2000), listening proficiency (Elley & Mangubhai, 1983),
writing ability (Tsang, 1996), positive affect (Mason & Krashen, 1997). In short, extensive
reading has been found to be a useful tool for English learners, and its influence is showed in
wide range, including reading comprehension, writing, listening, grammar, vocabulary, and
reading speed.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
1.2 Motivation
Most of the subjects of these researches on extensive reading are university students
who are more knowledgeable and may have better comprehension and reading skills than
younger language learners. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that university students may
understand the texts more and may get more interested in extensive reading than younger
language learners. Nevertheless, elementary schools start to provide English classes, and
elementary students begin to learn English. It is important to know if the same reading
activity works on children in order to promote children’s language learning motivation and
interest, and therefore improve their language ability. Since many studies have been on
university students with encouraging findings, but only a few studies are on elementary
school students, the researchers of this study are curious about how extensive reading affects
elementary school students’ language development and ability.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
While there are considerable studies investigating the extensive reading by university
level students, very little research examines extensive reading in the elementary school
environment in Taiwan. This study aims to investigate whether children learning English via
extensive storybooks reading outperform children learning without extensive storybooks
reading in class. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate if the fifth graders of
Xing-fu Public Elementary School can improve their reading proficiency through extensive
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
reading.
1.4 Significance of the Study
In studies of language learning (Yang, 2001), extensive reading is revealed in
language gains in a broad range of parts, including reading ability, writing, listening,
grammar, vocabulary, and reading speed. However, according to Sheu’s (2004) report, not
only has extensive reading been excluded from English teaching syllabuses, but it has also
lacked recognition among English language teachers and English teaching circles. Because
the merits of extensive reading are obvious to see, the researchers expect that the result of this
research could provide English teachers with new ideas in instruction, as well as a reference
for developing extensive reading and further facilitate English teaching and learning.
Moreover, by extensive reading, the researchers also anticipate that it could motivate children
to become interested in reading in English, enhance children’s motivation to learn English,
and proceed to the next step—learner autonomy. When the English ability of children is
enhanced, their ability to communicate with people from different countries can be increased
and reinforced and the vision that Taiwan becomes an internationalized country is a feasible
goal to achieve.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Chapter 2
Literature review
2.1 Extensive Reading
For Mikulecky and Jeffries (1986), extensive reading meant reading for pleasure. A
reader reads as much as possible and read anything he or she likes. The more students read,
the better they will read. Today, extensive reading is recognized as one of four reading skills.
The other three types of reading skills are scanning, skimming and intensive reading. Krashen
and Terell (1985) noted that extensive reading was rapid reading for main ideas of a large
amount of text. A reader should read the main ideas of a text rather than paying close
attention to details. Yet, this paper is not concerned with extensive reading as a type of
reading skills. Instead, it focuses on extensive reading as an approach to the teaching and
learning of second language reading instruction. In Day and Bamford’s (1998) conception of
extensive reading, they considered it as an aim to let learners read in the second language and
like it. “The purposes of reading are pleasure, information and general understanding” (Day
and Bamford, 1998, p. 8). Students select what they want to read and read as much as
possible, perhaps out of classrooms and materials students select are on a wide range of
topics. Reading is an individual activity and done anywhere and anytime. Therefore, for Day
and Bamford (1998), they believed that benefits and results of extensive reading are
impressive. They noted that extensive reading could result in gains in vocabulary, writing,
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
reading ability and linguistic competence, etc. Beginning readers would encounter repeated
words and recognize them through extensive reading. By reading a great deal of contexts,
vocabulary is met again and again, and then vocabulary would be memorized subconsciously.
As a result of appearance of repeated words, readers can develop sight vocabulary. Thus,
extensive reading is a way to acquire a second language subconsciously. According to
Krashen’s Acquisition-Learning hypothesis, acquisition is subconscious learning. The process
of acquisition is similar to the process in which children acquire their first language. That is,
“language acquirers are not aware of the fact that they are acquiring a language but are only
aware of the fact that they are using the language for communication” (Krashen, 1987, p.10).
On the other hand, learning refers to conscious second language learning. For example,
acquirers do not obtain formal grammatical rules; instead, they obtain second language by
communicating with the target language speakers or reading the target language books.
Contrary to acquirers, learners learn second language from instructional methods such as
grammar analysis.
Krashen (1987) has also advanced another hypothesis- The Monitor hypothesis- to state
the relationship between acquisition and learning and the roles they play in second language
performance. After a language acquirer obtains the language, he or she uses what he or she
has consciously learned as a monitor or editor to make changes in the acquirer’s performance.
Therefore, instead of learning the rules of the second language, it is more important for a
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
language acquirer to obtain the language subconsciously.
For Day and Bamford (1998), they encouraged that students should read easy materials
in order to arouse confidence and build both sight and general vocabulary. Reading easy
materials can make students enjoy reading if students are allowed to choose their own
materials on the basis of their interest and English ability. While students develop their
reading habits and language competence, it is important for them to ladder up. Some students
may choose more difficult materials for making progress. Thus, students read different kinds
of materials at different times. Some may read easier materials within their English ability
and some may read more difficult ones beyond their English ability and interests. Although
there may be some new words for students in stories that are beyond their ability, students
can use contexts to help them guess meanings of vocabulary and understand stories. However,
if texts are much beyond students’ ability and there are too many new words, it is quite
difficult for students to guess meanings of new words. Therefore, the Input hypothesis
(Krashen, 1987) indicates that language learners acquire the knowledge of a language in an
“i+1” order. In other words, if a language learner is at the stage “i”, it is relatively easy for the
learner to acquire the knowledge of the language when it is at the stage “i+1”. If the
knowledge of the language is beyond the stage “i+1”, the input is incomprehensible and the
acquisition does not take place. Accordingly, students should be allowed to choose extensive
reading storybooks by themselves according to their own language ability in order to acquire
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
the comprehensible input. Another hypothesis-The Natural Order hypothesis (Krashen,
1987)- states that language learners acquire a language in a predictable order. In other words,
language acquirers tend to acquire some grammatical structures earlier, and others later. For
example, Dulay and Burt (cited in Saville-Troike, 2006) indicated that English second
language learners acquire the articles a/the earlier than the copula be. It also applies to other
language rules such as grammar and sentence structure. However, the language knowledge
that acquirers learn by intensive grammar analysis may conflict with the order. Hence, except
providing intensive instruction, teachers should also provide students with other kinds of
materials to gain and obtain the language in a natural order.
Not only Krashen’s theories but also Ausubel’s learning theory can provide useful
learning manner for language learners. “The cognitive theory of learning as put forth by
Ausubel is perhaps best understood by contrasting rote and meaningful learning” (Brown,
1980, P. 70), and Ausubel thought that the latter one is more efficient than the former one.
Smith (1975) noted that “manufacturing meaningfulness” is a potentially powerful factor in
human learning. According to Ausubel, meaningful learning is a kind of process of relating
and anchoring new material to relevant established events in cognition. If learners could
relate new entities or items to already existing cognitive concepts, learners would not easily
forget what they learned. However, it is impossible to remember every thing for learners.
They still have the probability of forgetting, but in the case of meaningful learning, forgetting
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
happens in a much more intentional manner and is an obliterative stage of subsumption
(Ausubel, 1963). Brown (1980) assumed if human cognitive structure is a system of building
blocks, meaningful learning is the process which is established by blocks and become integral
part of existing categories clusters of blocks.When learners acquire new knowledge, the
information they got will be stored as an arbitrary item. Suppose learners do not hang new
items on existing pegs, the retention will be inefficient. On the other hand, if learners could
effectively relate a new idea to old concepts, the acquisition of knowledge will be in a
hierarchy, and subsumption process continues in retention, eventually relates to other items in
cognitive structure. Therefore, when learners are learning, they not only take previous
knowledge as a nonarbitrary basis but also immerse in getting new knowledge and try to
make them have relationship with existing items. When learners immerse in extensive
reading for subconsciously memorizing what they have read, they can unite, change and
assimilate new and old items. By non-stopping integration, learners will have their own
knowledge and make cognitive structure bigger and bigger.
What are the factors that motivate students to read? Why some students are highly
motivated to read, but some are not? Many research studies about motivation related to
reading activities (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002; Wentzel & Wigfield,
1998; Bandura, 1997; Deci, 1992) and showed that the different orientations of an individual
such as personality or background will be motivated by different elements.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Mastery-oriented students tend to be motivated by intrinsic factors that students may do
something because of interest, and enjoy the task, seek to improve the ability, and accept
challenges (Ames, 1992). Performance-oriented students tend to respond to extrinsic
motivation that students care about the performance and to avoid looking dumb to others, or
students study hard to obtain a good grade just because they want to be the best (Meece
&Miller, 1999). “The essential difference between the two types of motivation is the student’s
reason for acting-the locus of causality for the action is internal or external” (Woolfolk, 2004,
p.351). Self-efficacy is another aspect of motivation. Bandura (1997) defines self-efficacy as
“beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce
given attainments” (p.3). Schunk and Zimmerman (1997) reviewed research showed that
students have high sense of efficacy will set higher goals, regard advanced reading task as
challenge, and find new strategy to solve the problem. Flammer (1995) also verify that high
sense of self efficacy supports motivation. In addition, sociocultural views of motivation for
reading emphasize students’ interpersonal relations within the community. Students who like
to share books with peers in a community are apt to intrinsically motivated readers (Morrow,
1996). On the other hand, providing a good atmosphere or environment is also important to
motivate readers such as positive support or reward systems that can not only encourage
students to reach their goals but increase their self-confidence. Krashen’s Affective Filter
hypothesis states how affective factors such as motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
influence the second language acquisition. Language learners efficiently acquire the language
when affective filters are low. In other words, if learners are pleasant with an environment, it
can lower the anxiety and heighten the motivation or self-confidence to learn. Therefore, it is
important for language instructors to provide a low filter environment for language learners
to acquire the language.
In sum, students with different reading motivational orientations will lead to crucial
distinction among books choice, word acquisition, or reading comprehension. For example,
readers with intrinsic motivation, a mastery orientation, and high self-efficacy may be
motivated to read difficult texts and believe him/herself a capable reader and accomplish the
reading, and absorb the new things from the books to enhance the knowledge. Day and
Bamford believed that attitude and motivation played important roles in the second language
reading because they were the major variables to the decision to read in second language. If
students can develop positive attitudes and a strong motivation to read in the second language,
the whole undertaking of learning to read is transformed. Hence, Day and Bamford thought
extensive reading was the key to achieve the goal.
2.2 Previous Research on Extensive Reading
The benefits of extensive reading have been widely documented in studies that verify
the value of extensive reading in English learning. In Mason & Krashen’s (1997) research
done at a woman’s university in Japan showed that extensive readers outperformed traditional
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
students who focused on reading selections, comprehension questions, vocabulary and
grammar exercises on the test of reading comprehension and made better gains in writing and
reading speed. In addiction, this research also reported that extensive reading made a positive
effect to reluctant readers at the end of the research and motivated those unmotivated students
to read in English. Yamashita‘s study (2004) which investigated the relations between reading
attitude and extensive reading with 59 Japanese university students reported that extensive
reading program could promote the positive feeling toward reading and then motivate readers
to read more.
In Kao’s study (2004), a supplemental extensive reading program was implemented in a
normal English curriculum of a class of a prestigious girls’ senior high school in Taipei.
During the experimental period, the students in the experimental group read 12 graded
readers on average. After the experiment, students did the JCEE reading comprehension tests
and cloze-tests in the years 1999 and 2000 and SRA placement tests. The result showed that
both experimental and control group’s reading proficiency had been improved. However, in
general, the experimental group showed significantly better performance of reading rate than
the control group. Besides, the students who participated in extensive reading program had
positive attitude toward English reading and learning.
In Lin’s study (2004), the impact of extensive reading on vocational high school students’
reading, writing, and motivation was investigated. In this study, extensive reading program
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
was incorporated into regular school curriculum to compare its effects of traditional,
grammar-based, instruction of reading on learning. The experimental group spent 15 minutes
per period, 5 periods per week reading graded readers of their own choices and did three
meaning-focused activities, while the control group did three form-focused activities with a
traditional reading textbook. Research data were collected from reading comprehension tests,
student writings, motivational questionnaires, and interviews. Although students thought they
might face some problems as they were reading, the result showed extensive reading plays an
important role in promoting their reading ability, writing development, and arousing their
motivation. According to Kao’s (2004) and Lin’s (2004) investigation on extensive reading, it
is obvious to see that when students were in extensive reading training activity, they held
positive attitude toward reading, and they did not take English learning as a difficult lesson.
However, those two studies did not indicate that whether students accepting extensive reading
could have better English performance than students in traditional instruction.
Nevertheless, Chen (2004) made a research on the impacts of extensive reading on
2nd-yearjunior high school students in Taiwan. She found that there were no significant
improvements in English proficiency between the experimental group who did extensive
reading for two hours each week for twenty weeks and the control group who only had
review of target lesson in textbook. The significant differences were that the experimental
group students’ attitude toward extensive reading was more positive than the students in the
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
control group. For example, they believed extensive reading motivates interests in reading,
and they showed more belief in the practicability of school to develop extensive reading
program. Furthermore, they appreciate the importance of extensive reading, and they showed
more attempt to do extensive reading independently.
2.3 Question of the study
While much research has been devoted to the effect of extensive reading, few studies
have been done on the impact of extensive reading on students of elementary schools. In this
study, the researchers investigated the influence of extensive reading on fifth graders’ reading
comprehension ability and motivation. Therefore, the research question this study intended to
address is as follows: whether fifth graders of Xing-fu public elementary school can improve
their reading proficiency and arouse motivation through extensive reading? It is hoped that
findings of this study could be an alternative of evaluating the practicability of extensive
reading program and that the result may be useful for EFL educators who are responsible for
English curriculum design and program development.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Chapter 3
Method
3.1 Research Design
A quasi-experimental design with one control group and one experimental group was
used in this research.
3.2 Subjects
The subjects were 56 fifth graders in Xin-Fu Public Elementary School in Guishan,
Taoyuan. Xin-Fu elementary school offered English courses from the third grade, so the
subjects had been learning English for at least two years. The experimental group was a class
of 32 students, and the control group was a class of 24 students.
The experimental group
The control group
Male
15
10
Female
17
14
Table 1: Gender of the experimental group and the control group
There were 15 male subjects and 17 female subjects in the experimental group, and there
were 10 male subjects and 14 female subjects in the control group.
3.3 Instruments
Teaching feature
Two classes of Xing-Fu elementary school participated in this program and were divided
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
into the experimental group and the control group. The instructions in the two classes were
different. In the control group, except that textbook storybooks were used as additional
material for reading practices, the researchers used the traditional instruction included
teaching vocabulary, grammar, sentence patterns. In the experimental group, storybooks were
the major teaching material, but the researchers did not give specific instruction. Instead, in
the initial weeks of the reading activity, the researchers told stories to raise students’ interest
in reading and then guided them to read voluntarily in the storybooks. Besides, in class,
researchers picked several students to share their reflection with classmates. The researchers
also asked students to read at least two storybooks in a week and encouraged them to write
down the reflection after finishing the reading. There is no conventional instruction like
vocabulary as well as grammar learning in the process of teaching.
Typical day teaching manuals
The experimental group.
In the experimental group, researchers usually divided the
40-minute class hour into two parts. The first part was silent reading which took about thirty
minutes. In the last ten minutes, the researchers did some interactive activities such as a
simple presentation with students, which was related to the storybooks students had read.
Following is the typical day manual:
Step 1:
Before starting silent reading, the researchers asked every student to borrow one
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
storybook in advance and made sure every student had his/ her own book. In the process of
silent reading, students were not allowed to read textbook or do their own business.
Step 2:
Students started to read storybooks. In the mean time, the researchers observed every
student’s condition. When the researchers found that students read books in perplexity, the
teachers would help and encourage them to continue reading. If the researchers noticed that a
student finished reading one book, the researchers would request the student to borrow
another storybook.
Step 3:
After silent reading, the researchers demanded one student in every group to do a simple
presentation which included the summary of the book and the student’s reflection about the
story. When presentations were over, all of the students voted for the best presenter who
could add extra points in his/her English course.
Step 4:
The last minutes, researchers collected students’ reading reflection assignment, while
encouraging students to keep reading and writing.
The control group.
The instruction of the control group focused on grammar analysis,
translation, and reading exercise. Following is a typical teaching manual.
Step 1
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
At the beginning of the class, the researchers led the students to read through the text
taught in the last class to review for five to ten minutes.
Step 2
The researchers led the students to continuously read the target language, including
vocabulary and text which were going to be taught.
Step 3
The researchers translated the vocabulary and the text to the students.
Step 4
Grammar was being explained to the students and the students were asked to make
sentences for practices.
Step 5
The researchers asked several capable students to lead the whole class to read the text
and the vocabulary.
Step 6
The researchers read the text and the vocabulary that were going to be taught in the next
class to preview.
Stories
Sixty storybooks were published by Scholastic. Scholastic has been established for over
85 years, it has created quality products and services that educate, entertain and motivate
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
children and are designed to enlarge children’s understanding of the world and help children
read and learn. These books are original version instead of rewriting from famous children
literature. Storybooks are classified into three levels: thirty books are level A- beginning level,
fifteen books are level B- intermediate level, and fifteen books are level C- advanced level,
according to the difficulty of sentence pattern, quantity of vocabulary, and the proper
relationship between illustration and content.
Test
The test used in investigating the participants’ reading ability was adapted from the
Beginning Level of National English Test in Proficiency for All on the Web. National English
Test in Proficiency for All on the Web is the test designed by Ministry of Education and aims
to evaluate the English proficiency of individuals whose native language is not English. The
test employed in the program composed of two sections and test items are multiple choice
questions with three possible answers per question. Section one was to identify the word,
phrase and sentence according to the picture and intended to test the students’ vocabulary
acquisition. Section two was to choose the correct answer according to the article and aimed
to examine the students’ comprehension ability. The same test was used for both the pre- and
the post-tests
Questionnaire
The questionnaire consisted of 17 Likert-Type items (3-point scale) which were divided
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
into three parts. The first part invited the learner participants to give their general information
such as their initial age of English learning, and whether they were interested in learning
English or not. The second part was to investigate the kinds of teaching style students
preferred such as textbooks lecture or additional materials, and whether students were
interested in participating in reading activity. In the third part, students were asked whether
they had problems with reading in English, and what they had gained or what aims they had
achieved through the reading instruction.
3.4 Procedures
To survey if children learning English with extensive storybooks reading outperform
children learning without extensive storybooks reading in class,
Fifty-six fifth graders from Xing-fu Public Elementary School were tested. The subjects were
from two classes chosen randomly from all fifth grad classes. One class was control group
receiving traditional curriculum, and the other was experimental group with extensive reading
activity. The study employed a pre- and posttest design. A 30-item multiple choices were
given as a pre- and post-test to both groups.
Both classes were held twice a week for 80 minutes for eight weeks and were taught by
different teachers. While the control group continued with traditional instruction for eight
weeks, the experimental group also spent eight weeks reading storybooks both in class and in
free time. At the end of the program, a test containing 30 multiple-choice items was given to
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
both groups. Except for posttest, students in each group were asked to take the questionnaire
investigating whether they like the teaching methods they experienced and whether they felt
their English had improved.
3.5 Data collection
The data were collected by means of the pre-and post-test and questionnaire. The preand post-test scores for two groups were analyzed to exam whether students made better
gains than before. The questionnaire was designed with the Likert-Type Three-Point scale to
measure the subject’s response about the program. Hence, the scores from pre- and post-test
were discussed about the efficiency of the program, and the response from the questionnaire
about the subject’s attitudes toward the two teaching methods was analyzed using descriptive
and inferential statistics.
3.6 Data analysis
The data from the program were analyzed by inferential statistics and descriptive
statistics. The pre- and post-test scores for two groups were analyzed using the statistic
software Minitab. In order to judge the gains between two tests for two groups, mean and SD
were taken to compare and evaluate which group made better gains than before. SD presented
the results of pre- and post-test. The smaller the SD is, the fewer the discrepancy is. The
response from the questionnaire was analyzed with Minitab as well. Mean and SD were
judged to know about student’s attitudes and the program’s efficiency.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Chapter 4
Discussion
The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the fifth graders of Xing-fu Public
Elementary School can improve their reading proficiency through extensive reading and the
results of the current study was presented in this chapter.
Results of the Study
Pre-test and post-test comparison between the experimental group and the control group.
The pre-test results of both the experimental group and the control group came from normal
distribution. Therefore, the results of the experimental and control’s pre- and post-tests were
compared by 1-Sample t. First, the results of pre-test in the experimental and the control
group (Table 1) showed that in the experimental group, the mean score is 14.88 and SD is
5.43; in the control group, the mean score is 18.67 and SD is 4.93. The results also revealed a
significant difference (P<0.05) excited in pre-test between the two groups. Second, the results
of the post-test (Table 2) revealed that there was no significant difference between the two
groups. In the experimental group, Mean is 15.41 and SD is 5.10; in the control group, Mean
is 18.08 and SD is 5.66.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Table1. Pre-test comparison between two groups
Test
Group
n
Mean
SD
Experimental
32
14.88
5.43
Pre-test
t-value
-2.73*
Control
24
18.67
4.93
*P < 0.05
Table2. Post-test comparison between two groups
Test
Group
n
Mean
SD
Experimental
32
15.41
5.10
Post-test
t-value
-1.83
Control
24
18.08
5.66
*P < 0.05
The comparison of gains made by the experimental group and the control group
In order to understand whether extensive reading can help students improve their
English reading comprehension ability, researchers made a comparison of gain in scores
between the experimental and the control group (Table 3). The results clearly showed that
students in the experimental group indeed made gains in post-test (Mean is 0.53) though the
gain in mean score was not significantly higher than that for the control group.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Table3. Comparison of gains made by both groups
Group
n
Mean
SD
Experimental
32
0.53
3.47
t-value
0.66
Control
24
-0.58
7.73
Students’ attitude toward the reading program in experimental and control group.
A questionnaire was also administered to the two groups in order to investigate their
attitude toward extensive reading activity. The results of questionnaire showed that both
groups had positive attitude toward the reading program.Question1 to Question6 were
designed to examine students’ satisfaction with the teaching style in each of the class. In the
experimental group, the mean score is 15.9688 and SD is 1.94. In the control group, the mean
score is 14.75 and SD is 14.75. Question7 to Question10 were to investigate students’ attitude
toward whether the reading activity was helpful to their English ability or not in each class. In
the experimental group, the mean score is 11.03 and SD is 1.20. In the control group, the
mean score is 10.4583 and SD is 1.64. For all of the questions, the mean score is 27.00 and
SD is 2.85 in the experimental group. In the control group, the mean score is 25.2083 and SD
is 3.36 (see Table 4). Both of the experimental and the control groups have a positive attitude
toward the reading program in their class probably because the new teachers (as we were) or
the new teaching instruments attracted students’ attention and aroused their interest. For
students, it was fresh to have a chance to meet new instructors. Moreover, when students
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
were at school, they usually read traditional textbooks. Although students had chances to read
some extracurricular books and other reading materials, those were always in Chinese instead
of English. In this reading program, researchers used some simple activities and tasks to help
students learn. For students, the interested activities could easily attract them and make them
immersed in learning. Another reason may be that the atmosphere in the classroom was free
and cheerful even for the control group. Students did not have to take any tests and be
worried about their grades. Hence, students liked the different reading activity in the relaxed
and pleasure condition.
Table 4. Results of questionnaire
Question
Group
Mean
SD
t-value
Q1-Q6
Experimental
15.9688
1.9425
11.65*
Control
14.7500
2.0483
6.58*
Experimental
11.0313
1.2044
14.24*
Control
10.4583
1.6413
7.34*
Experimental
27.0000
2.8511
13.89*
Control
25.2083
3.3619
7.59*
Satisfaction with the
teaching method
Q7-Q10
Satisfaction with the
efficiency of reading
activity
Q1-Q10
Satisfaction with the
whole reading activity
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
However, worth noticing is students in the experimental group had a more positive
attitude toward the instructional practices in their class than the control group.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Chapter 5
Conclusion
5.1 Summary
Though the gains made by experimental group were better than control group, the preand post-test results showed that there were no significant improvements in reading
proficiency between experimental and control group. However, the result did show that
experimental group’s reading proficiency was improved. Besides, the students who
participated in the extensive reading program had a more positive attitude toward reading and
would like to read more. The result of this study regarding attitudes is consistent with
previous studies on extensive reading. According to Mason & Krashen’s (1997) research,
Kao’s (2003) and Lin’s (2003) investigations and Chen’s (2004) research, extensive reading
could promote a positive attitude toward reading and motivate interests in reading. On the
other hand, the result of this study showed that the experimental group made only moderate
gains in their reading comprehension. In contrast, In Mason & Krashen’s research, extensive
readers made better gains and improvements not only in reading comprehension but also in
writing and reading speed. In Kao’s (2003) study, the result verified and showed significantly
better performance of reading rate in extensive readers. These studies have proved and
confirmed the value of extensive reading and the gains due to extensive reading. Yet, the
result of this research was not strong enough to support the benefits of extensive reading.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
Perhaps the duration of the experiment was not sufficient and the number of class hours was
not enough to carry out extensive reading program effectively. As for the instructors as a
variable, the inexperienced instructors as we were might have affected the teaching quality
and, hence, affected the conduction of the extensive reading program.
5.2 Implications
There were no significant differences between the results of the experimental group and
the control group in this study. However, comparing the result of the pretest and the posttest,
the discrepancy between the two groups in the posttest was slighter than the discrepancy in
the pretest. In other words, the students in the experimental group improved more than the
students in the control group. In addition, although both groups had a positive attitude toward
the reading practices in their class, the students in the experimental group’s attitude was much
higher than the control group’s. Therefore, extensive reading can be one of the useful
teaching methods teachers may use in class. The following are the guidelines and the
recommendations for teachers when practicing extensive reading program in the classroom:
1. The interaction between the teacher and the students is important. Teachers’ assistance
can give students support or help to reduce students’ anxiety of facing difficulties and
increase their interests, motivation and self-confidence in reading. Affective Filter
hypothesis (Krashen, 1987) states that low anxiety and high motivation raise students
learning achievements. Therefore, the interaction between the teacher and the students is
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
crucial to students’ learning.
2. The duration of silent reading should be limited in twenty to thirty minutes. In this study,
most students easily got tired or lazy after twenty or thirty minutes of silent reading. They
could not concentrate, and some of them started to talk with their classmates nearby. Thus,
the duration of silent reading is suggested to be less than thirty minutes to attain the most
efficient and successful learning.
3. Various learning activities are necessary. There are many kinds of learning activities such
as reading aloud, storytelling, response sharing, peer or group discussion, and playing
games. Different learning activities provide different advantages to learning. For example,
reading aloud gives students chances to speak up in front of the class. Peer or group work
enhances students’ motivation to learn and gives them more opportunities to use the
language. Playing games arouses students motivation to join the practice in class but not
aware that they are learning (Hsu, 2005). Therefore, providing different kinds of learning
activities is important to offer students with varied learning processes and experiences
4. Written reflection after reading can be helpful to students’ English learning. With the
experience of writing, students can reconstruct and have a better understanding of the
story (Mason & Au, 1986). It also provides students with more chances to practice and
memorize the new vocabulary they met in the story. By writing down the summary or
reflection, students’ reading and word recognition are improved.
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
5.3 Limitations of this Study
Although the study has demonstrated in some way a possible effect of extensive reading
on students' reading ability and motivation, some limitations in this study should be
mentioned.
First, the biggest limitation was the condition in which the researchers were not the host
English teachers, so extensive reading program could only be administrated before the first
class began which was usually the time for individual study not in the normal curriculum.
Within the limited time available, the time allowed for in-class reading activities were more
limited than they would be in a complete and ideal extensive reading program.
Second, in the present study, there were 56 students as the subjects of this study and only
32 students served as experimental group. As the result showed, the students in the
experimental group did actually make certain progress but not to a statistically significant
degree. One possible reason of this result was the limited number of the participants. The 32
participants might be an appropriate number in the pedagogical field, yet sometimes the data
of the 32 participants for quantitative analysis were not enough to reflect the result.
Third, the duration of this study might not have been long enough to see the long-term
effects of extensive reading on English skills, especially on reading comprehension ability.
The experiment lasted for 8 weeks and might be too short to have significant effects.
Fourth, this study was also limited in controlling subjects' time devoted to the reading
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
activities. The subjects sometimes lost the concentration and bother other students during the
reading activities. Such condition might knock down the quality of the reading atmosphere
and students’ absorbability.
To sum up, the limitations noted above might directly or indirectly influence the results
and the reliability of this study. If similar studies are to be conducted in the future, these
potential variables should be considered.
5.4 Suggestions for Future Research
Possible directions for future research include further investigation of extensive reading
on other effects such as effects on writing ability or oral skills and some guidance for the
administration of the extensive reading program.
First, owing to the practical limitation of the situation, the present extensive reading
program could only play a supplemental role in English learning. If the situation could be
allowed to increase the proportion of extensive reading activities and reduce the traditional
English instruction the effects of extensive reading might be stronger.
Second, it is recommended for future research to use a larger sample of participants.
Specifically, if the number of the participants can be doubled or tripled to the present study,
the results might manifest statistical significance and be generalized to a reliable extent.
Third, future research can last for a longer period of time to see whether the findings
from the current study remain consistent. One limitation of this study was due to the time
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
constraint that the present study lasted only for 8 weeks; therefore, in order to ensure the
positive effects of extensive reading, it is likely to conduct for one year or longer, as many
previous studies were.
Fourth, it is suggested that future research is needed to take into account the factors of
subjects' time devoted in reading activity. To ensure each subject of the experiment can be
totally involved in the reading activities and to reach the goals of extensive reading, the key
factor is to check the condition of the subjects during the reading activities.
In short, it is hoped that the present study can provide practical insights into the
promotion and effects of extensive reading.
5.5 Significances of the study
While there are considerable studies on extensive reading by university students, very
little research examines the practicability of extensive reading in elementary school
environment in Taiwan. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of extensive reading on
the fifth graders’ reading comprehension and motivation. Although the result showed that
there were no significant differences between the two groups, the experimental group did
make improvements in reading comprehension. Moreover, the students in extensive group
held a more positive attitude toward reading and extensive reading activity. They had
pleasure in reading and attempted to read independently. According to previous studies, all
proved that extensive reading was beneficial for English learning. English learners can find
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Extensive Reading for EFL Elementary School students
reading interesting and entertaining rather than a hard work. In the meantime, English
learners make gains and improvements in reading comprehension, reading speed and writing
etc. Besides, the progress in reading ability brought forth by extensive reading would be
foreseeable if English learners develop a habit of reading extensively. Finally, wide reading in
English can be one alternative for English teachers or educators to help English learners
improve reading skills and arouse positive motivation. English instructors can conduct the
extensive reading activity in class and display various books to attract students. Therefore,
extensive reading may be useful for educators to integrate it into the English curriculum.
Then, student’s English ability may be greatly enhanced and reading skill, increased as well.
Consequently, extensive reading may be one of the best ways for students of English as a
foreign language to make progress in English.
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