Extensive Reading for Efl Learners: a Library Research Essay

Abstract Most of EFL learners do not like reading and they rarely read. It is because some factors such as difficult reading material, uninteresting material and low motivation to read. However, reading skill is important skill to improve learners’ ability in learning a language. From reading, the learners will get much exposure to the language. Therefore, the teachers should introduce a good reading approach for the learners to help them in reading. Extensive reading is one approach which gives the learners an opportunity to get contact with the target language. Extensive reading will motivate learners to read and also learn English. Therefore, it will also enhance the learners’ vocabulary and improve the learners’ language proficiency. Keywords: EFL, Extensive reading, learner. Introduction Reading is one of basic skills which is learnt in English as Foreign Language (EFL) besides listening, writing and speaking. Reading will influence learners’ success in the learning process. Without having a good reading ability, learners will have problems in getting any information from reading sources such as book, newspaper, or journal. As stated by Richard Anderson and the Commission on Reading â€Å"reading as the process of constructing meaning from written texts†. Reading is one way to get information from the source that was written. However, reading is not an easy skill to be learnt. There are some factors that influence the result of the reading activity such as the type of reading, environment, and reading material. In most EFL classes, the focus of the reading skill is on the study of vocabulary and grammar, which is known as intensive reading. That kind of language lesson is not reading at all (Alderson and Urquhart, 1984; Robb and Susser, 1989 in Sheu, 20 03). Moreover, the reading itself should be more than studying the vocabulary and the grammar. The most important of reading is to understand the information in the text, in the other words the focus of the reading is in the reading comprehension. It makes the learners have little time for reading practice in their learning process. As the result, they are maintaining their ability which can help them to read extensively and understand the content of the text latter. Some researchers have introduced some approaches which can help the learners to develop their reading comprehension. One of the approaches is extensive reading. Extensive reading is contrasted with the intensive reading which is slow reading and careful reading which will take much time. According to Sheu (2003) â€Å"an extensive reading (ER) approach appears to be most appropriate option for improving learners’ language proficiency and reading ability†. This kind of reading approach can help the learners to maintain their reading skill and reading ability, because they do not need to know the meaning of every word in the text. It concerns more in the context meaning which help the learners to reduce the time spent for reading. This article will show some reasons why the teacher should use extensive reading (ER) in teaching EFL. Definition of Extensive reading Extensive reading is an approach to language learning, including foreign language learning, by the means of a large amount of reading. The learners’ view and review of unknown words in specific context will allow them to infer the word’s meaning, and thus to learn unknown words (Wikipedia.org). Extensive reading is a kind of reading that ask the learners to read large amount of books which are relative easy and understandable for the learners. It also means reading for pleasure, because the learner read what they want to read or their favourite books. The aim of this approach is to develop the learners’ reading interest and to give them more opportunities to get a large contact with the foreign language in order to master it. Extensive reading will help the learners to understand the meaning of a text or to get the information in the text as quickly as possible. Moreover, reading is one way to get a large contact with the foreign language. However, the learners have limited time in the class to get large amount of reading practice. Therefore, they need to have their own reading practice outside the class. The reading source should be understandable and also should fit with their current level of language comprehension. Therefore, in this approach, the learners are given a freedom to choose and read their favourite books or anything that they want to read. As stated by Nancy (2000) by reading many books that fit in with their language level and also understandable for them, there will be some changes occur in the learner, such as: a.Learners become able to visually and mentally process written English in a smoother, more natural way, rather than in a halting process of translating. Because the readers progress smoothly and comprehendingly through short and easy books, they are able to understand the overall flow of stories and organization of nonfiction texts. b.The foundation of English vocabulary and grammar become better established and remembered by being processed in the mind dozens or hundreds of times in natural, comprehensible contexts. c.Many of the variations of high frequency vocabulary and grammar elements that are too numerous to learn explicitly, can be learned incidentally by reading texts composed exclusively of this high frequency lexical and grammatical core. d.Learners feel satisfied and enjoy a sense of accomplishment from reading many books on their own. This increases their confidence and autonomy. e.Learners who have experienced successful English reading on their own are more appropriate to develop a reading habit. They are more likely to read outside of their courses and after their formal education ends. The characteristics of Extensive Reading 1.Reading Material In this reading approach, the teacher need to provide the learners with large amount of books which are appropriate with the language level of the learners and also the books which the students may interested in. It will be better if the books are kept in the classroom because it will give the learners an opportunity to read in their leisure time and also give them the opportunity to borrow the book. It will also help the teacher to direct the learners to read. 2.Students choice In extensive reading approach, the learners are given freedom to choose the books that they want to read based on their interest. If the learners find difficulties in reading that books, they can return the book and choose other books. 3.Reading for pleasure and information Usually learners do not like to read. They feel frustrated to understand the reading text which is too far from their language level, because they are asked to understand the whole words in that text. It will make them do not want to try to read. In the extensive reading, the learners are asked to understand the text without forcing them to understand every single word in the text. This approach will maintain the learners’ interest in reading. 4.Extensive reading out of class In extensive reading, the teacher can persuade the learners to read a lot even outside the classroom. As stated before, when the books are kept in the classroom, it will encourage the learners to borrow books and take it home, it will help to maintain learners’ reading ability. 5.Language level The level of vocabulary and grammar in the books that the learners read should not pose difficulty. It is because the purpose of the extensive reading approach is motivating the learner to read and also encouraging the learner’s reading fluency. However, the books should not too easy, because it will lead the learners’ feeling that they get nothing from reading that kind of books. 6.Use of dictionary Reading becomes a boring activity for the learners because they need to stop their reading to look up every word that they do not understand in the dictionary. Therefore, the use of the dictionary in this kind of reading should be avoided when their reading flow. They can write or take note for some difficult words and can look them up after they have finished their reading. 7.The teacher role in Extensive Reading In the extensive reading, the teachers’ roles are to encourage, to motivate, and to help the learners with their reading. The teachers can involve their individual counseling in the learning process. This situation gives the teachers an opportunity to ask learners’ reading experiences and also ask learners’ problems in reading during or after class time by checking and commenting on written summaries that learners do of their reading (Susser and Robb, 1989). By making summaries, the learners are given opportunities to demonstrate what they get from reading and allow the teacher to check their understanding to the texts or books that they have read. The teachers’ role is also as a model for the learners. When the teachers are also seen to be a reader by the learners, it will encourage them to read. The teachers can talk in class about the books that they have been read. If the teachers are knowledgeable about the books in the class library and having them r ead, they can give recommendations to learners about what to read. The teachers can also read aloud to the learners, as a way of introducing students to different genres or individual books. Benefits of using Extensive reading technique for EFL students Many researchers have been held some research to know the benefit of using Extensive reading technique (ER) and also to demonstrate the effectiveness of ER to support the development of language acquisition for the learners. First, extensive reading can improve learners’ motivation in learning English. One characteristic of extensive reading is that the learners can choose books or articles in which they are interested because learners have their right to choose books or articles that they like to read. According to some result of experiment by Shang, Briody and Lin (2006), the learners prefer reading articles or books which they are interested in, rather than reading textbooks. Therefore, learners have more motivation to read English materials. Second, extensive reading can enhance learners’ vocabulary. In the process of extensive reading, the learners can read some words which show up frequently in the articles or books. When the learners read more and more, they will become familiar with the words that they usually read. They can understand those words and memorize them easier. In addition, learners have greater motivation to learn some special or interesting words through reading. Consequently, extensive reading can enhance learners’ vocabulary, these findings fit into the literature (Lai, 1993). Third, extensive reading can improve learners’ reading comprehension. Learners can comprehend more extensive vocabularies, build their reading ability, and access to background information through extensive reading. When learners read more, their vocabularies could be developed. Once the learners’ ability in vocabulary has been developed, it will be easier for them to get and understand the main idea from articles and other texts. Fourth, extensive reading can improve learners’ overall language proficiency. It does not only improve their reading skills but also improve learners’ skills in listening and also speaking as reported by Cho and Krashen (1994). Writing skill is also impacted by reading extensively as reported by Elley and Mangubhi, (1981) and Janopoulos, (1986). The most important thing is that extensive reading will make the learners become better readers. Research in languages learning shows that learners learn to read by reading. It means that the more they read, the better reader they become. Conclusion Extensive reading is an approach which give the learners high amount of reading chance. It is a good technique which can give the learners high contact with the target language which can help them to master the language. There are some benefits of using extensive reading for EFL learner such as: improving learners’ motivation in learning English, enhancing learners’ vocabulary, improving reading comprehension, and also improving language proficiency (speaking, listening, writing and reading skill). References Alyousef, Hesham Suleiman. (2005). Teaching reading comprehension to ESL/EFL learners. Retrieved from www.readingmatrix.com/articles/†¦/article.pdf. Bell, Timothy. (1998). Extensive reading: why? and how?. Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/articles/bell-reading.html Hafiz, F.M., &Tudor, I (1989). Extensive reading and the development of language skills. English language teaching Journal, 43, (pp 4-13) Lan, Yu-Ju., Sung, You-Ting., & Chang, Kuo-En (2006) Collaborative early reading EFL reading among distributed learners: a simulation pilot study. The JALT CALL Journal, 2006, vol.2, No.2, pp3-18. Maley, Alan. (2009). Extensive reading: why it is good for our students†¦ and for us. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/extensive-reading-why-it-good-our-studentss†¦-us Mason, B., & Krashen, S. D. (1997). Extensive reading in English as a foreign language. System, 25, 91-102. Retrieved from http://www.benikomason.net/†¦/extensive_reading2.pdf Richard, R.D. The benefits of extensive reading (ER). Retrieved from www.oup-bookworms.com/†¦reading/er_article. Shang, Hui-Fang., Briody, Paul., Lin, Chia-Yun. (2006) The effect of extensive reading strategies on