The Effects of Extensive Reading on the Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension of Primary Grade Students in a Bhutanese ESL Context
Keywords:
extensive reading, reading comprehension, reading fluencyAbstract
A few extensive reading (ER) studies have been carried out with children in second- or foreign-language contexts. This study adds to the studies in this field, of the impacts of ER on young learners by investigating the effects of extensive reading over a twelve-week ER instruction on the reading fluency and reading comprehension of Bhutanese primary grade students. A quasi-experimental mixed method design was employed with one group of fourth grade primary students (n=16). The participants received 50 minutes of extensive reading instruction twice a week. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed significant differences between the pre- and post-tests, indicating a drastic improvement in reading fluency and reading comprehension after the ER instruction. Similarly, qualitative analysis of the second- and eleventh-week’s reading logs showed improved reading fluency, with the highest reading speed score, compared to the second week. Likewise, participant's reading comprehension responses were comparatively more improved in the eleventh week. These findings suggest that extensive reading instruction be implemented in Bhutanese second-language learning classrooms to promote reading fluency and reading comprehension, and hint at the possibility that extensive reading may contribute to academic achievement in other English-related content subjects.
References
Aka, N. (2019). Reading performance of Japanese high school learners following a one-year extensive reading program. Reading in a Foreign Language, 31(1), 1-18.
Al-Nafisah, K. (2015). The effectiveness of an extensive reading program in developing Saudi EFL university students’ reading comprehension. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 6, 98-109. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol6no2.8
Alptekin, C. (2006). Cultural familiarity in inferential and literal comprehension in L2 reading. System, 34(4), 494-508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2006.05.003
Álvarez-Cañizo, M., Suárez-Coalla, P., & Cuetos, F. (2015). The role of reading fluency in children’s text comprehension. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1810. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01810
Arai, Y. (2019). Extensive reading definitions, effectiveness, and issues concerning practice in the EFL classroom. Journal of Extensive Reading, 7, 15-32.
Bamford, J., & Day, R. R. (2004). Extensive reading activities for teaching language (Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers). Cambridge University Press.
Bhutan Council for School Examinations and Assessment. (2019). Education in Bhutan: Findings from Bhutan’s experience in PISA for development. Bhutan Council for School Examinations and Assessment.
Birketveit, A., Rimmereide, H. E., Bader, M., & Fisher, L. (2018). Extensive reading in primary school EFL. Acta Didactica Norge. 12(2), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.5617/adno.5643
Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles. Pearson Education Inc.
Chang, A. C., & Renandya, W. A. (2017). Current practice of extensive reading in Asia: Teachers’ perceptions. The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 17(1), 40-58.
Day, R. R. (2018). Extensive reading. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 1-7.
Denman, B. D., & Namgyel, S. (2008). Convergence of monastic and modern education in Bhutan. International Review of Education, 54(3-4), 475-491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-008-9085-0
Education, M. O. (2014). Bhutan Education Blueprint 2014–2024: Rethinking Education. Ministry of Education.
Endris, A. A. (2018). Effects of extensive reading on EFL learners’ reading comprehension and attitudes. International Journal of Research in English Education, 3(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.29252/ijree.3.4.1
Extensive Reading Foundation. (2011). The Extensive reading foundatons guide to extensive reading. Pearson. https://erfoundation.org/guide/ERF_Guide.pdf
Huffman, J. (2014). Reading rate gains during a one-semester extensive reading course. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26(2), 17-33.
Jeon, E.-Y., & Day, R. R. (2016). The effectiveness of ER on reading proficiency: A meta-analysis. Reading in a Foreign Language, 28(2), 246-265.
Jude, W. I., & Ajayi, O. (2012). Literal level of student’s comprehension in Nigeria: A means for growing a new generation African scholars. Journal of Education and Practice, 3(7), 120-129.
Khansir, A. A., & Bafandeh, L. (2014). The study of effect of extensive reading on enhancing reading comprehension and word recognition of Iranian learners. International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 3(3), 266-281. http://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0507.25
Krashen, S. D. (2003). Explorations in language acquisition and use. Elsevier.
Larson-Hall, J. (2015). A guide to doing statistics in second language research using SPSS and R. Routledge.
McLean, S., & Rouault, G. (2017). The effectiveness and efficiency of extensive reading at developing reading rates. System, 70, 92-106.
Mermelstein, A. D. (2015). Improving EFL learners' writing through enhanced extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 27(2), 182-198.
Mikami, Y. (2020). Goal setting and learners’ motivation for extensive reading: Forming a virtuous cycle. Reading in a Foreign Language, 32(1), 28-48.
Milliner, B. (2021). Stories of avid extensive readers in a university-level EFL course. Journal of Extensive reading, 8. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.98.4.839
Nakanishi, T. (2015). A meta‐analysis of extensive reading research. Tesol Quarterly, 49(1),
-37. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.157
Ng, Q. R., Renandya, W. A., & Chong, M. Y. C. (2019). Extensive reading: Theory, research and implementation. TEFLIN Journal, 30(2), 171-186. https://doi.org/10.15639/teflinjournal.v30i2/171-186
Padak, N., & Rasinski, T. (2007). Family involvement: Is being wild about Harry enough? encouraging independent reading at home. The Reading Teacher, 61(4), 350-353.
Park, A. Y. (2017). Comparison of the impact of extensive and intensive reading approaches on the Korean EFL learners’ reading rate and reading comprehension development. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 6(3), 131-142. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.3p.131
Rasinski, T. V., Padak, N. D., McKeon, C. A., Wilfong, L. G., Friedauer, J. A., & Heim, P. (2005). Is reading fluency a key for successful high school reading?. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(1), 22-27.
Sánchez-Hernández, A. (2018). A mixed-methods study of the impact of sociocultural adaptation on the development of pragmatic production. System, 75, 93-105. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.03.008
Suk, N. (2017). The effects of extensive reading on reading comprehension, reading rate, and vocabulary acquisition. Reading Research Quarterly, 52(1), 73-89. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.152
Wangmo, P. (2002). How to use TV, video and movies to promote reading. Rabsel the CERD Educational Journal, 1(1).
Westby, C. (2017). Marion Blank’s levels of language abstraction. Word of Mouth, 29(1), 12-15.
Zucker, T. A., Justice, L. M., Piasta, S. B., & Kaderavek, J. N. (2010). Preschool teachers’ literal and inferential questions and children's responses during whole-class shared reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(1), 65-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.07.001
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 An Online Journal of Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
