Investigating Guided Extensive Reading And Vocabulary Knowledge Performance Among Remedial Esl Learners In A Public University In Malaysia
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Date
2016-01
Authors
Tan, Debbita Ai Lin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Research supports extensive reading, which draws on incidental learning, as a
primary tool for second/foreign language vocabulary knowledge development.
However, while it is deemed useful for vocabulary learning, the claim that extensive
reading on its own is sufficient for learners to experience significant lexical gains has
been challenged. Instead, a more fitting measure appears to be a combination of
incidental and intentional vocabulary learning, with extensive reading followed by
direct vocabulary study. Given the issue of Malaysian tertiary students lacking English
vocabulary knowledge, this quasi-experimental research implemented a method of
vocabulary learning incorporating extensive reading using graded readers and direct
vocabulary study (GER Plus) in an effort to observe its effectiveness for receptive and
productive vocabulary knowledge development, as compared against another method
(GER) in which only extensive reading was utilised. The research was carried out in a
Malaysian public university employing three groups of students (GER Plus, GER,
Control) registered for a preparatory English language course, a remedial English
language proficiency course. Pre-reading vocabulary size testing was conducted to
determine the graded reader level at which to start the participants. On the whole, the
intervention period lasted approximately 10 weeks and each of the 93 participants was
subjected to a pre-, post- and delayed post-test using the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale.
Results from two-way mixed ANOVA analyses indicate that the GER Plus group
performed significantly better than the GER and Control groups for both receptive and
productive vocabulary knowledge recall and retention. In addition, to establish better
data certainty, all the participants were administered questionnaires and the teachers of
the involved groups as well as the chief coordinator of the preparatory English language
course were interviewed. The research concludes that GER Plus represents an option
that is both viable and effective for significant and sustained vocabulary knowledge
development. The findings of this research have, in essence, provided a comprehensive
insight of the potentials as well as the prerequisites of a reading and vocabulary
development method that go beyond conventional extensive reading, and are
particularly vital to the interests of remedial English language learners, language
instructors and course planners at the Malaysian tertiary level.
Description
Keywords
Extensive reading