ExtensiveReadingHasPositiveEffectonSecondLanguagelearners’ReadingAbility

沈雅琪

Reading ability is one of key components for second language learners to study a second language. With the respect of the importance of reading ability， the crucial question is the best way to improve second language learners （L2） reading ability. In the past decades， a lot of research on extensive reading has been carried out to explore its effect on second language learners reading ability. In the past decades， the original definition of extensive reading is that reading a lot of materials， reading fast， and a lot of reading experiences， and these aspects are applied in early extensive reading. After that and with more and more researchers pay attention to improving second language learners reading ability， extensive reading becomes one of the controversial instructions for second language learners. With the respect on researches which have been done， reading ability is likely to be enhanced when L2 has gotten great deal of reading input through extensive reading. “Extensive reading has been proposed as one of the most effective methods for developing reading abilities because it can expose L2 learners to ample amounts of meaningful input， motivate L2 learners to read， and lead to the development of skilled reading.” （Grabe， 2009， p. 375）

Its important to know that for extensive reading which is affected a lot by which way it is perceived. Grabe defined extensive reading as an approach “in which learners read large quantities of materials that are within their linguistic competence”（Grabe， 2011， p. 27）. And Bamford also stated that， “extensive reading is an approach to language teaching in which learners read a lot of easy materials in the new language” （Grabe， 2009， p. 377）. From these two descriptions of extensive reading which we can know that learners will read a lot of reading materials and gain a great deal of reading exposure from extensive reading， and learners need to read the reading materials which can be suitable for their English levels to gain great deal of exposure from extensive reading. For more specific definition of extensive reading， there are three aspects of it. One is that reading materials should be suitable for L2s language levels which means reading materials must be easy enough for them to comprehend without burden. Bamford （1998） stressed that “reading within the readers linguistic competence can contribute to developing a sight vocabulary and thus lead to reading fluency. “（Bamford， 1998， p. 105） The second is that extensive reading requires great deal of meaningful exposure in the second language， which is the key for second language learning. “By being exposed to large quantities of meaningful reading materials for an extended period of time， reading fluency and reading comprehension can develop incrementally”（Grabe， 2009， p. 350）. The third is that extensive reading provides readers opportunities to select reading materials which they are interested in， which will enhance L2 learners motivation to read. These three aspects of extensive reading require L2 to reading a lot of reading materials which they are interested in and which are suitable for their language levels， leading second language development.endprint

In the past decades， a lot of researches have been conducted and most of them show that extensive reading can improve L2s reading ability with positive results in the areas of vocabulary development， and improving reading fluency and reading comprehension. In this paper， my statement is that extensive reading has the positive effect on second language learners reading ability through improving their vocabulary development， reading rates and reading comprehension.

Studies have been done to explore whether extensive reading has positive effect on vocabulary development. Studies have identified positive effects of extensive reading on vocabulary acquisition. Extensive reading can enhance L2s vocabulary development through vocabulary acquisition. Pigada and Schmitt （2006） stated that second language learners lexical knowledge can be enhanced through extensive reading. （Pigada & Schmit， 2006） Pigada and

Schmitt did a case study on a male second language learner in French settings. They arranged one month extensive reading for the participant including 4 levels reading materials and each week the participant read one level materials. There were 133 target words which would be assessed after one month extensive reading and these words were assessed through face to face interview. The study showed that around 65% of target words were improved and spelling was one aspect which was improved most， as well as grammar and meaning were also improved although they were not improved dramatically like spelling. Pigada and Schmitt stated that “both different facets of lexical knowledge and partial degrees of that knowledge， found that about two-thirds of the target words tested were enhanced in at least one of their word knowledge aspects was enhanced by extensive reading because of receptive exposure of words in reading. “ （Pigada & Schmit， 2006， p. 24） Spelling， grammar and meaning were not equally enhanced through extensive reading but it was very useful for spelling enhancement by extensive reading.

Extensive reading is an effective way for L2 to read to learn and read to improve their reading abilities. “Despite the effectiveness of extensive reading， it seems that extensive reading has not been widely implemented in various L2 settings， especially in EFL settings” （Grabe， 2009）. L2 researcher （Nation， 2009） has suggested some reasons why extensive reading is not accepted in L2 language studies. First， fluent reading is not regarded as the reading goal of L2. Second， it takes a long time to get improvement by extensive reading. Third， it takes teachers a lot of time to find suitable graded readers for students.endprint

Furthermore， researchers can explore how to implement extensive reading into curriculum successfully and how teacher apply effective instruction to extensive reading curriculum. That is， future research need to identify how incorporate extensive reading into curriculum with effective teaching instruction. The instruction of extensive reading in L2s curriculum is profound. It will be helpful， if schools incorporate extensive reading into their curriculum. By assigning students to do extensive reading， students can have a great deal of exposure of target language which will lead to improvement of vocabulary， reading fluency and reading comprehension. For teachers who will give extensive reading class need to choose reading materials carefully and choose reading material which are suitable for students language proficiency and their interests.

References：

[1]Bamford，J.，&Day，R.R.（Eds.）.（2004）.Extensive reading activities for teaching language.New York，NY：Cambridge University Press.

[2]Bell，T.（2001）.Extensive reading：Speed and comprehension.The Reading Matrix，1（1），1–13.

[3]Bamford，J.（1998）.Extensive reading in the second language classroom.New York，NY：Cambridge University Press.

[4]Grabe，W.（2009）.Reading in a second language：Moving from theory to practice.New York，NY：Cambridge University Press.

[5]Grabe，W.，& Stoller，F(xiàn).L.（2011）.Teaching and researching reading（2nd ed.）.New York，NY：Routledge.

[6]He，M.l.（2014）.Does Extensive Reading Promote Reading Speed？.Reading Matrix：An International Online Journal， 14（1），16-24.

[7]Horst，M.（2005）.Learning L2 vocabulary through extensive reading：A measurement study.Canadian Modern Language Review，61（3），355–382.doi：10.3138/cmlr.61.3.355.

[8]Huffman，J.（2014）.Reading rate gains during a one-semester extensive reading course.Reading in a Foreign Language，26（2）， 17–33.

[9]Krashen，S.（2007）.Extensive reading in English as a foreign language by adolescents and young adults：A meta-analysis.International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching，3（2），23–29.endprint