Effect of Extensive Reading on Incidental Vocabulary Retention

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1 Available online at ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Scien ce s 116 ( 2014 ) th World Conference on Educational Sciences - WCES 2013 Effect of Extensive Reading on Incidental Vocabulary Retention Maryam Ghanbari a*, Amir Marzban b b Department of Education, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran b English Language Departement, Qaemshahr Branch,Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr,Iran Abstract This study addresses the role of extensive reading on vocabulary retention. Much has been written, on both theoretical and empirical levels, about the idea of extensive reading and the suggestion that some kind of extensive reading activities need to be incorporated into second language (L2) communicative contexts. However, this article will first elaborate on the need to utilize extensive readings in our pedagogy and L2 teachings. Pedagogical possibilities and strategies will then be suggested, and examples provided of tasks that may help to realize this goal in classroom contexts. Relevant empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such tasks will be presented and discussed Selection 2013 The and peer Authors. review Published under the by responsibility Elsevier Ltd. of Prof. Open Dr. access Servet under Bayram CC BY-NC-ND license. Keywords: Selection and/or Extensive peer-review Reading, Incidental under responsibility Vocabulary Learning, of Academic EFL World Education and Research Center. Keywords: 2013 The Extensive Authors Reading, Published Incidental by Elsevier Vocabulary Ltd. All Learning, rights EFL reserved 1. Introduction The field of second language pedagogy is faced with an increasing interest in the idea of the role of vocabulary in reading text. The role of vocabulary and reading is a complex one, as reading researchers have long recognized this fact. In 1925, Whipple described the central role of vocabulary thus: "Growth in reading power means, therefore, continuous enriching and enlarging of the reading vocabulary and increasing clarity of discrimination in appreciation of word values".in 1942, Davis described comprehension as comprised of two skills: word knowledge, or vocabulary, and reasoning. Words represent complex and, often, multiple meanings. Furthermore, these complex, multiple meanings of words need to be understood in the context of other words in the sentences and paragraphs of texts. Not only are students expected to understand words in texts, but also texts can be expected to introduce them to many new words. The vocabulary of written language is much more extensive and diverse than the vocabulary of oral language (Hayes, Wolfer, & Wolfe, 1996). The National Reading Panel (NICHD, 2000) identified the components of reading as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Vocabulary holds a special place among the other components in reading. Vocabulary is not a developmental skill or one that can ever be seen as fully mastered. The expansion and elaboration of vocabularies is something that extends across a lifetime. A first consideration in delineating the construct of "vocabulary" in research and practice is that individuals have various types of vocabulary that they use for different purposes. Failure to distinguish among the different Corresponding Author: Maryam Ghanbari.Tel: address: ghanbari_me@yahoo.com The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center. doi: /j.sbspro

2 Maryam Ghanbari and Amir Marzban / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 116 ( 2014 ) kinds of vocabulary can lead to confusion and disagreement about both research findings and instructional implications. Generically, vocabulary is the knowledge of meanings of words. 2. Vocabulary Learning There have been many studies about the significance of vocabulary in language learning. For example, Walker, Greenwood, Hart and Carta (1994) stated that early vocabulary knowledge has been shown to be a strong predictor of school progress in the first language (L1). They found that vocabulary knowledge was particularly important in reading achievement. In addition, Tschirner (2004) states that vocabulary size has been identified as one of the most important indicators of L2 reading proficiency and of academic language skills in general. He discusses the relationship between the extent of participants L2 English vocabulary and other background information such as length of time spent in English language-speaking countries, number of English books read per one year, learning strategies, etc. Furthermore, Duin and Graves (1987) found that if students are given a related set of words (through an intensive vocabulary instruction as a prewriting technique) before they write an essay in which the words might be used, the quality of their writing improves. In another study, Read (2004) found that L2 learners are typically aware of the extent to which limitations in their vocabulary knowledge hinder their ability to communicate effectively in the target language. This is because lexical items carry the basic information load of the meanings they wish to comprehend and express. In other words, the learners realize that knowing more vocabulary will have a direct effect on their ability to use and further develop the L2 they are learning. Thus, vocabulary can lead the learners to be more confident in using the language. The second approach is the focus of this study. In particular, it will consider the individual learners application of learning words through context as a vocabulary learning strategy. Learning strategies can play an important role in development because they encourage the learner s active involvement in the learning process. Vocabulary instruction is most effective when students are positively and actively involved in their learning and they are allowed to use their own strategies to learn the vocabulary. 3. Different Types of Reading Reading has traditionally been divided into two types: intensive and extensive. In broad terms, intensive reading may be described as the practice of particular reading skills and the close linguistic study of text. Extensive reading, on the other hand, can be defined as reading a large quantity of text, where reading confidence and reading fluency are prioritized. Although this twin categorization of reading into two basic types can be found in many teacher resource books for the teaching of English as a foreign language (Grellet: 1981, Nuttall: 1982, for example), it is not the whole story, as the student's learning history clearly pointed out. We need to extend the categorization. We can do this by adding, first, oral reading, or reading aloud in class, where considerable focus is put on correct pronunciation of the text - and, second, text translation, where correct translation of the foreign language text into the learners' mother tongue is emphasized in tandem with the study of an array of grammatical, lexical and phonological points. This creates a four-way methodological categorization of reading in a foreign language, summarized in the following table. Methodological Choice Classroom Focus Extensive Intensive Oral reading Text translation Students read a lot of text Students practice particular reading skills Students listen and read aloud Students translate from L2 to L1

3 3856 Maryam Ghanbari and Amir Marzban / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 116 ( 2014 ) We can encourage indirect learning of vocabulary in two main ways. First, read aloud to your students, no matter what grade you teach. Students of all ages can learn words from hearing texts of various kinds read to them. Reading aloud works best when you discuss the selection before, during, and after you read. Talk with students about new vocabulary and concepts and help them relate the words to their prior knowledge and experiences. The second way to promote indirect learning of vocabulary is to encourage students to read extensively on their own. Rather than allocating instructional time for independent reading in the classroom, however, encourage your students to read more outside of school. Of course, your students also can read on their own during their free time The Role of Extensive Reading in Language Learning 1. It can provide 'comprehensible input' 2. It can enhance learners' general language competence 3. It increases the students' exposure to the language 4. It can increase knowledge of vocabulary 5. It can lead to improvement in writing 6. It can motivate learners to read 7. It can consolidate previously learned language 8. It helps to build confidence with extended texts 9. It encourages the exploitation of textual redundancy 10. It facilitates the development of prediction skills 3.2. The Instrumentalist Hypothesis The common sense model of the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension is that knowing more words makes someone a better reader. That is, there is a causal connection between vocabulary size and the ability to comprehend text. Anderson and Free body (1981) labelled this model the instrumentalist hypothesis. One might wonder why this is called a hypothesis. It is obviously true -just try to read a text that contains a lot of words that you do not know. Indeed, a number of studies have demonstrated that teaching words can improve comprehension (Beck & McKeown, 1991; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986). The instrumentalist hypothesis seems perfectly reasonable until we realize that the correlation between vocabulary and comprehension might be the result of other factors. The problem with the instrumentalist hypothesis is not that it is wrong, but that it is incomplete (and hence misleading, if one takes it to be the whole picture). 4. Justification of the Study Most of the research in the field of learning strategy instruction has focused on reading strategy as one of the important language skills. The present study focused on extensive reading as a means of learning vocabulary and its impact on lexical knowledge improvement of Intermediate EFL learners. Recently more attention has been given to learning through reading in language classes. One activity which can be used in reading classes is reading some related passages at home. And then ask them to prepare summaries from them. Such an activity will make the students involved in learning process (Day, R.R.&Bamford, J, 2003). In this study, the researcher tried to solve the problem of gap between the student's scopes of vocabulary and reading texts. It was hoped that student's scope of vocabulary through extensive reading would aid in better understanding the educational effects of text readings. To achieve the purpose of the study the following research question was proposed: Does extensive reading have any effect on the development of incidental vocabulary retention among Iranian intermediate EFL learners?

4 Maryam Ghanbari and Amir Marzban / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 116 ( 2014 ) Tables Table1.Corelational analysis of Teacher-made test and Nelson test Mean Std. Deviation r(x,y) R Square P Nelson Test Teacher-made Test Table 2. Inferential statistics through Independent sample test in pre-test Table3. Inferential statistics through Independent sample test in post-test Independent Samples Test Post_test Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed Levene's Test for Equality of Variances F P t-test for Equality of Means 95% Confidence Interval of the Mean Difference t df P Difference Lower Upper

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