Ảnh hưởng của chương trình đọc rộng đối với khả năng phát triển từ vựng của sinh viên năm thứ hai không chuyên ngữ trường Đại học Hà Hoa Tiên = The effects of a

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES



VŨ THỊ THU GIANG


THE EFFECTS OF AN EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAM
ON THE SECOND YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS’ VOCABULARY
ACQUISITION AT HA HOA TIEN UNIVERSITY

Ảnh hưởng của chương trình đọc rộng đối với khả năng phát triển từ vựng của
sinh viên năm thứ hai không chuyên ngữ trường Đại học Hà Hoa Tiên



M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111






Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES



VŨ THỊ THU GIANG


THE EFFECTS OF AN EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAM
ON THE SECOND YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS’ VOCABULARY
ACQUISITION AT HA HOA TIEN UNIVERSITY

Ảnh hưởng của chương trình đọc rộng đối với khả năng phát triển từ vựng của
sinh viên năm thứ hai không chuyên ngữ trường Đại học Hà Hoa Tiên


M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS


Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: PROF. NGUYỄN HÒA





Hanoi, 2014

i
DECLARATION

To the best of my knowledge and belief, this minor thesis contains no materials which has
previously been submitted and accepted for any other degree at any university. The thesis
is my own work and based on my own research. It is submitted to Faculty of Graduate
Studies, ULIS, Hanoi for Degree of Master in TESOL and has not been published
anywhere.


Hanoi, August 2014





VŨ THỊ THU GIANG

ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my special thanks to all the following people for having helped me
complete this minor thesis.
First and foremost, I am deeply grateful for all the help of Prof. Nguyen Hoa, my
supervisor. Without his extremely tremendous support, ultra-careful revision as well as
thoroughly critical comments in a really intensive period of time, my thesis could not have
been finalized.
In addition, my gratitude is reserved for all my colleagues and students at Ha Hoa Tien
University for their valuable information, assistance and cooperation.
Last but not least, I am thankful to all of the members in my family, my husband, my son,
and all of my dear friends who gave me so much encouragement and support in carrying
put this research paper.

iii
ABSTRACT

Ha Hoa Tien University first implements the extensive reading program to improve
students‘ vocabulary acquisition in March, 2014. This calls for the need to access the
program to create a better path for the program in the future. Therefore, the study is
conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the extensive reading program on the second
year non-English majors‘ vocabulary acquisition. In this case study, the data are collected
by a vocabulary test and a survey questionnaire for students. The results show that the
program has the effectiveness on the second year non-English major students‘ vocabulary
acquisition at Ha Hoa Tien University. However, there is still room for improvement in
terms of facilities, environment, teaching methods for students‘ extensive reading. Based
on the findings, the thesis suggests some recommendations to promote the maximum
effectiveness of the for students‘ long-term benefits in learning English in general and in
acquiring vocabulary in particular.











iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 2
4. Scope of the study 2
5. Methods of the study 2
6. Design of the study 3
7. Concluding remarks 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1. Overview of evaluation 5
1.1.1. Definition of program evaluation 5
1.1.2. Criteria of program evaluation 6
1.2. Extensive reading 6
1.2.1. Definition of extensive reading 6
1.2.2. Models and principles of an extensive reading program 8
1.3. Previous research of vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading 9
1.4. Concluding remarks 11
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 12
2.1. Restatement of research question 12
2.2. Participants 12
2.3. Setting of the study 12
2.4. The extensive reading program 13
2.5. Data collection instruments 17
2.5.1. Vocabulary Test 17

v
2.5.2. Questionnaire 17
2.6. Data collection procedures 18
2.6.1. Test procedure 18
2.6.2. Questionnaire survey procedure 18
2.8. Concluding remarks 20
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 21
3.1. Findings 21
3.1.1. Total test scores 21
3.1.2. Component test scores 22
3.1.3. Students’ perception on the ERP 23
3.2. Discussion 26
3.2.1. An evaluation on the effectiveness of the ERP based on the findings of
vocabulary test scores 26
3.2.2. An evaluation on the effectiveness of the ERP based on the findings of
survey questionnaire 27
3.2.3. The correlation between vocabulary test scores and results of survey
questionnaire 28
3.4. Concluding remarks 29
1. Recapitulation 30
2. Conclusion 31
3. Implications 31
4. Limitations of the study 32
5. Suggestions for further research 33
REFERENCES 34
APPENDICES I
Appendix 1 : Vocabulary Test I
Appendix 2: The extensive reading program questionnaire III

Appendix 3: Lists of Graded Readers V
Appendix 4: Reading Lesson VIII
Appendix 6: A sample story XIII
Appendix 7. A sample of reflection story XIX



vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as a foreign language
ESL: English as a second language
ER: Extensive reading
ERP: Extensive reading program

vii
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Chart 3.1. The validity of total test scores 21
Table 3.1. The validity of component test scores 22
Table 3.2. Students‘ opinions on the ERP 23



















1

PART A: INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents a brief of the rationale, the aims of the study, the research question,
and the scope of the study, the research methods, and the design of the study to give reader
an overview of the study
1. Rationale
Vocabulary is an important component of overall communicative competence. It links all
language skills as listening, speaking, reading, and writing together and helps
communication smoothly. According to Hatch (1983:74), "when our first goal is
communication, when we have little of new language at our command, it is lexicon that is
crucial The words will make basic communication possible". In deed, many students
share the view that they have lots of difficulties in leaning English because of lack of
vocabulary. For example, many students have fairly good knowledge of grammar, but they
are hardly able to express themselves properly with lack of vocabulary. Therefore,
vocabulary learning and improving become central to students‘ language acquisition.
In the case of Ha Hoa Tien University, where I am teaching English, students also have a
lot of difficulties in learning English because of their limited vocabulary. An inappropriate
word choice and lack of vocabulary prevent students from expressing their ideas properly.
This increasing demand for improving students‘ vocabulary leads to an extensive reading
program carried out at Ha Hoa tien University. With an extensive reading program (ERP),
the teachers here supplied more reading materials with more interesting topics and easier
words to learners. That can encourage them in learning vocabulary and develop their
vocabulary acquisition.
For the long time, extensive reading has been studied and developed in many language
aspects through research done by Krashen (1982), Lewis & Hill (1992), Cho & Krashen
(1994: 662-667), (Huckin, 1999: 182-193), Pigada (2006: 1-28). These researches have
shown that extensive reading program has positive effects on language learners. Seeing the
benefits of ERP in language learning, the educators have applied the program in teaching
English in Vietnam for the past few years. However, there has been no research conducted

2
to evaluate the effectiveness of ERP on students‘ vocabulary acquisition in Vietnam in
general and at Ha Hoa Tien University in particular. In fact, every program needs
evaluating from time to time to improve the quality of teaching and learning for all
learners. This ensures the teaching is on track and that learners are learning what they are
supposed to learn so that the desired results can be attained. These are incentives for me to
conduct this study.
2. Aims of the study
The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an extensive reading program currently at
Ha Hoa Tien University on students‘ vocabulary acquisition with the hope to create a
better path for the program in the future.
3. Research questions
The above aim could be achieved by seeking answer to the research question: „How does
extensive reading program currently have the effect on the second year non -English
majors‟ vocabulary acquisition at Ha Hoa Tien University?‟
4. Scope of the study
The effectiveness of an ER on students‘ vocabulary acquisition is evaluated through a
vocabulary test and a survey questionnaire for students in Ha Hoa Tien University. The
researcher focuses on investigating the effectiveness of ER program after implementation
in a term. The effectiveness of the ER program in this study is identified as the
achievement of the purposes of the program. In addition, the details about characteristics of
participants and the research instruments involved in the following chapters are going to
reveal more the scope of the study.
5. Methods of the study
This evaluation study is carried out at class DK6 of Accounting Faculty in Ha Hoa Tien
University. The information is collected by quantitative method with the instruments of the
vocabulary test and the survey questionnaire.


3

Firstly, the students are given a vocabulary test after the completion of the extensive
reading program for the purpose to evaluate the effectiveness of the program on
quantitative aspect. Then, the students are received a survey questionnaire involving their
feedbacks to the extensive reading program. Finally, the researcher analyzes the obtained
results from test scores and respondents of survey questionnaire to evaluate the
effectiveness of ER program on students‘ vocabulary acquisition.
6. Design of the study
This study consists of three parts as follows:
Part A is an overview of the study. In this part, it presents the rationale, the aims, the
research questions, the scope, the research methods, and the design of the study briefly.
Part B is the development of the study. It is divided into three chapters.
Chapter one reviews the literature of the study. It includes the knowledge relevant to
evaluation, and extensive reading with related issues such as its definition, purposes,
models, principles, and incidental language learning. It also points out some previous
researches related to the study.
Chapter two describes the methods used in the study, the participants, the research tools,
the extensive reading program, and the procedures in detail.
Chapter three presents the most important part of the study - the findings of the study and
discusses the major findings as well as implications for the study.
Part C summaries the process of the study to give its conclusion. It also points out some
limitations of the study and suggestions for further study on this issue.
7. Concluding remarks
This chapter has provided an overview of the study through its rationale, aims, and
objectives at first. Then, it mentions to the scope and the methods of the study. The last
section of the study is the organization of the thesis. On the whole, the aim of this part is to


4
give the readers a general picture of the study before elaborating on the research theme in
the following parts.

5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is divided into two main themes: literature review of program evaluation, of
vocabulary, of extensive reading, and previous ER research. The knowledge not only
contributes to the research process but also reveals differences and gaps between previous
studies and this research.
1.1. Overview of evaluation
1.1.1. Definition of program evaluation
In English, evaluation only means to make a reasoned judgment about or to give a
plausible account of something. Various ideas and definitions of evaluation are given by
different researchers.
According to Lee (1999:23), evaluation itself is value judgment for an object or its
meaning. In educational context, ―evaluation is a purposeful activity that includes the
collection of relevant information, interpretation of that information and making decisions
about teaching and learning‖ (Genesee & Upshur,1996: 256). In words of Yoloye
(1981:12) defined evaluation as the assigning of some values to an entity in relation to
some criteria values or objectives. To make it clearer, Aldeson (1986:5), ―evaluation is the

process of seeking to establish the value of something for some purpose, test is an
instruments for gauging learning outcomes‖ ( Alderson, 1986 as cited in Brown and
Rodgers, 2002:227).
More specifically in using the phrase language program evaluation, it is meant ―the
systematic process of judging the worth, desirability, effectiveness, or adequacy of
something according to definite criteria and purposes‖ (Steele, 1970:6). Share the idea,
Brown (1989:223 cited in Brown & Rogers, 2002:227) defined program evaluation as ―the
systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the
improvements of all curriculums and access its effectiveness and efficiency as well as
participants‘ attitudes within the context of a particular institutions involved‖.


6
In more detail, Steele (1970:7) showed that program evaluation consists of three essential
elements which are criteria, evidence, and judgment. He asserted that program evaluation
does not occur without an element. There must be criteria against which the program is
judged, evidence of the extent to which the program meets those criteria, and a judgment
of the extent to which the criteria were met (p. 8). In addition, he also confirmed more that
evaluation must be purposeful and not done just for its own sake and it should contribute to
the present program or future program (p. 7).
In all, ‗the program evaluation is the process of judging the worth or value of a program.
This judgment is formed by comparing evidence as to what the program is with criteria as
to what the program should be‘ (Steele, 1970:8).
1.1.2. Criteria of program evaluation
Steele (1970: 9) confirmed criteria are one of the essential elements for evaluation. He
defined criteria as ―a rule, a standard, a norm, or an object, condition, or behavior that is
considered good or ideal‖. The evaluator must identify the range in appropriate criteria,
and which ones are most relevant to the purpose of the program. He also pointed out that
the criteria for the effectiveness of a program are bases on the questions as what its
objectives accomplished and how well its objectives accomplished. The criteria can be

developed from principles or basic truths of the program.
In the context of Ha Hoa Tien University, an extensive reading program is implemented
for the purposes of increasing students‘ vocabulary knowledge in terms of form, meaning,
and use. Therefore, the achievement of these purposes of the program is criteria to evaluate
it. In other words, the effectiveness of the ER program on vocabulary acquisition in this
study is evaluated on the above criteria.
1.2. Extensive reading
1.2.1. Definition of extensive reading
For those who know the meaning of the word ―extensive‖, this phrase does not take them
much time to work out. Since ―extensive‖, according to The Little Oxford Dictionary,


7
means ―large, far-reaching‖, this phrase can be understood simply as ―reading a lot‖. Put it
in the academic context, this definition conveys little. Instead, a definition that can reveal
the nature of extensive reading seems to be expected. This is the way most linguists and
practitioners follow when introducing this approach in teaching writing. Nevertheless,
working out a thorough definition of extensive reading is a difficult task. In fact, many
trials have been made by those who are interested in this approach. Among them is the one
by Lewis and Hill (1992) in which extensive reading means that ―students have general
understanding of the text without necessarily understanding every word‖. Obviously, this
definition fails to help learners imagine the whole picture of extensive reading since only
one respect of it is shed light on, that is, the purpose of extensive reading (general
understanding). The definition given by Carrel and Carson (1997) which says that
―extensive reading generally involves rapid reading of large quantities of material or long
readings‖ also shed light on only the length of the reading materials (p. 47).
The definition that seems to be more satisfying than those mentioned above is the one
introduced by Susser and Robb (1990) . According to them, extensive reading as a
language teaching or learning procedure is reading (a) of large quantities material or long
texts; (b) for global understanding; (c) with the intention of obtaining pleasure from the

text. Further, because (d) reading is individualized, with students choosing the books they
want to read, (e) the books are not discussed in class.
What makes this definition distinctive from other definitions is the summary of the general
characteristics of extensive reading it provides including the issues related to the amount
and primary purpose of reading and the role of learners in such a kind of reading.
However, since extensive reading cannot be implemented in isolation from an
instructional program, the last characteristic mentioned in this definition is questionable.
Given the fact that there is hardly any definition that can work in all contexts, a working
definition of extensive reading for this study is needed. Considering various definitions
offered previously and the context of the present study, we have finally come up with the
following definition in which extensive reading is understood as reading of (a) large
quantities of graded readers, (b) chosen by learners themselves, (c) at their own level of


8
proficiency, (d) for global or general understanding, (e) with primary intention of
obtaining pleasure form the reading materials and (f) done both in and out of class.
1.2.2. Models and principles of an extensive reading program
From the time the term ―extensive reading‖ was fist coined by Palmer (1917), a number of
different models for ER in second language contexts have been developed throughout the
world.
There are four common models to organize an ER program as follows:
- Purist ER program: In this version of ER, the students only read large amounts of
self-selected comprehensible input at their own pace with no tests, and little follow-up
work.
- Integrated ER program: This design of ER program exists as part of an existing
class or curriculum whereby students would probably read their self-selected materials and
then make discussions, reports or do other follow up class work.
- Class reader ER program: In this mode, all the students read the same book and
work through it slowly, often over a period of weeks then stop to check comprehension and

discuss the story. Often there is some language work developing vocabulary, reading skills
and grammar.
- ER as literature: In this design of an ER program students read the same book
usually slowly and treat it as a work of literature examining the plot, characters and various
literary aspects of the book.
Based on the model of the Integrated ER program, the ERP in Ha Hoa Tien University is
implemented with using graded readers to examine the effects of reading on students‘
vocabulary acquisition. The design of this extensive reading program can exist as a part of
the current curriculum. This made the program possible to be carried out easier. The
learners in the ER program are flooded with comprehensible input with the purpose of
getting the readers to enjoy reading and simultaneously improve their vocabulary


9
acquisition. Furthermore, when designing the ER program, some of the principles for
teaching ER by Day and Bamford (2002: 136) are applied.
Principles for teaching Extensive reading which are applied in the program:
1. The reading material is easy.
2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available.
3. Learners choose what they want to read.
4. Learners read as much as possible.
5. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information, and general
understanding.
6. Reading is its own reward.
7. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower.
8. Reading is individual and silent.
9. Teachers orient and guide their students.
10. The teacher is a role model of a reader.
Using all ten principles in an extensive reading program will create the ideal conditions for
reading, which will lead to students enhancing their language skills and proficiency.

So far, the theory of the different models and principles has been studied. However, to
understand the path extensive reading effects on vocabulary acquisition, the next section in
this chapter will present this issue.
1.3. Previous research of vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading
This section is to describe previous researches on vocabulary acquisition through extensive
reading. Researches have proved that new vocabulary knowledge can be acquired through
incidental learning of word meanings from context (Huckin, 1999: 182).
Pitts, White and Krashen (1989:271-275) after conducting an experiment on ER among 35
ESL learners, found that students gained 6.4% of the total number of words that they were
exposed to. Grabe and Stoller (1997) report some interesting conclusions that further
complicate the issue of incidental vocabulary acquisition and reveal the relative learning


10
difficulties of different words; it seems that "some words needed to be looked up only once
while others required multiple exposures and multiple dictionary consultations" (p. 112).
Based on that, they argue "each learner seems to encounter some sets of words that just
will not be remembered" (p. 115). Horst, Cobb and Meara (1998) conducted a study on
students‘ ER with the material for reading were novel for native speakers and found that
the number of words one student gained increased when he or she increased the reading
amount (p.207-223).
In a recent study of extensive reading that took place in an authentic extensive reading
environment (Horst, 2005: 374), participants appeared to have learned "well over half of
the unfamiliar" words they encountered in the simplified readers (although there might
have been "a role for other sources of exposure in learning" for some of these words). This
seems a very encouraging result, however, that the procedure involved a self-rating test,
and that as Horst acknowledges, the pre- and post-tests were not the same.
Pigada and Schmitt (2006) used 70 nouns and 63 verbs in their study in investigating
incidental vocabulary acquisition with a participant, G, a native Greek speaker, by using
four graded readers in French. Because the texts were short, Pigada and Schmitt included

only ―the most common parts of speech found in natural text‖ (p. 9), in the hope that
further research would include other word classes. They organized the two word classes
into six different frequency groups according to the number of encounters and tested three
types of word knowledge (meaning, spelling, and grammatical behavior). They found that
substantial word learning occurred during the ER, although the improvement was not
uniform across the three types of word knowledge.
In Vietnamese EFL context, there are not any researches on vocabulary acquisition through
extensive reading. Researches in the ER field focus mainly on the effect of ER on students‘
reading ability and the practice of ER by EFL students. Quach Ngoc Anh (2007) examined
the effect of an ER program on students‘ reading proficiency at College of Foreign
Languages – Vietnam National University (Hanoi). Tran Hoai Giang (2009) carried out a
survey at Vietnam National University (Hanoi) to find out the practice of ER by second
year English majors.


11
In summary, the above researches provide good evidence that vocabulary is learned
incidentally from extensive reading, but participants are not Vietnamese students. In
addition, there are still large gaps in our knowledge of this learning in an authentic
extensive reading context. For example, we do not know much about how extensive
reading enhances vocabulary acquisition in terms of size and depth. Therefore, it is
necessary to carry out a research to investigate the effect of extensive reading on
Vietnamese EFL students‘ vocabulary acquisition.
1.4. Concluding remarks
This chapter has presented theories related to ER and evaluation as definitions, principles,
criteria, approach, and previous researches. The next chapter deals with the research
methods used in the study and reports of the pilot study that was conducted prior to the
main study to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of the instruments to be used for the
main data collection.

12
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Chapter two is devoted to a brief presentation of the research. It consists of the description
of the participants and setting of the study, the tool for data collection, and the extensive
reading program used in this study.
2.1. Restatement of research question
In order to investigate the effect of an ERP on the second non- English major students‘
vocabulary acquisition in Ha Hoa Tien University, the researcher attempts to find out the
answers to the following questions:
‗How does the current ERP of Ha Hoa Tien University have the effect on the second year
non-English majors‟ vocabulary acquisition?‟
The criteria to identify the effectiveness of the ERP are formed under the accomplishment
of the ERP‘s objectives. The evidence to show this effectiveness is the results of a
vocabulary test and survey questionnaire. And the judgement on the effectiveness of the
ERP is based on these evidences compared to the given criteria.
2.2. Participants
The subjects include 25 of the second year non-English major students at DK6 of
Accounting Faculty at Ha Hoa Tien University. They are aged from 19 to 21, in which
there are 13 female and 7 male students. They all have been learning English for one year
of General English at Ha Hoa Tien University. In the first year at Ha Hoa Tien University,
they have attended two 45-minute reading periods in the class per week. And they do not
engage in any kind of extensive reading activities besides the textbooks in the class. The

study is conducted after the program has been taken for a semester with the hope that
students can have enough time to get its effect as much as possible.
2.3. Setting of the study
Ha Hoa Tien University, where the ER program described in this study is conducted, is a
private university. Ha Hoa Tien students have lower proficiency in English than other


13
university students of the same age. Therefore, we often examine students‘ vocabulary
level at the end of each term to find a suitable method for developing their next level. The
result of this test shows that students‘ vocabulary acquisition in Ha Hoa Tien University is
quite weak. For instance, in DK6, about 37% of students obtain scores over the average in
this test. Therefore, Ha Hoa Tien University decides to implement an ER program to focus
on improving the second-year students‘ vocabulary acquisition from the first semester of
the year 2014 in course 6 of Accounting Faculty.
2.4. The extensive reading program
The ER program at Ha Hoa Tien University is designed as part of an existing class or
curriculum whereby students would probably read their self-selected materials and then
make discussions, reports or do other follow up class work and applied ten reading
principles of Day and Bamford (2002). It provides students not only guidelines on reading
but also comprehensible inputs, and to lower down their affective filter, on the other hand,
so as to let the comprehensible input internalized because they were allowed to read with
their own pace. The program lasts for 20 weeks with 90 periods attended in the classroom.
The program exploits the collections of graded readers available and involved several
study activities taking place both inside and outside classroom. A detailed description of
the purposes, materials, activities, as well as the students and teacher‘s role in the ERP is
presented below.
Purposes of ERP
Ha Hoa Tien University proposed the ERP with the following objectives:
1. Recognizing the word form (spelling)

2. Knowing the synonyms and antonyms of the word
3. Knowing the use of the word in grammatical structures and collocations
Reading materials
Simplified materials are preferred instead of authentic ones since they "compare
favourably to the much more lexically dense literary originals" (Horst, 2005: 375).


14
Therefore, after considering student‘s vocabulary competence, the chosen reading
materials are graded readers (level 1) from different publishers. Graded readers are
simplified short story books written within a limited vocabulary and are in common use in
second language and foreign language teaching (Wodinsky and Nation, 1988).
The main reading material is the book Facts & Figures level 1 about 700 words of Patricia
Ackert & Linda Lee. It is also prior to examine in order to gain an overview of students‘
vocabulary acquisition when the program completed.
The book has seven main topics such as animals, phenomena, plants, music, work and
leisure, people, and exploration and adventure. Each topic contains five lessons, in which
about 12 words are introduced in each lesson. All of the new vocabulary items are used
several times in the lesson, and then are systematically recycled through out the text. Each
lesson includes exercises and activities to support new words organized as follow:
- Pre-reading questions provide a motivation for reading the text.
- Vocabulary in the text takes sentences directly from the text. All new words are
included. This is for practice in writing the new words.
- Vocabulary in new context gives further practice with the new words in a
different context but with the same meaning.
- Vocabulary review is used in subsequent texts and exercises to give additional
review. They are filling or matching synonyms and antonyms.
- Questions and main ideas focus on the comprehension of the text.
Furthermore, a word study section is provided near the end of each topic. It reinforces
vocabulary knowledge as word form, word meaning, and word use. In addition, each topic

ends with a set of high interest, interactive tasks as watching CNN video highlights, or
playing games to help students practice the new vocabulary and the skills they have
learned in more open-ended contexts.


15
Beside this book, 30 other graded readers from some publishers (eg. Foundations Reading
Library, Collins English Library, Heinemann Guided Readers, Nelson Readers, Macmillan
Readers, Oxford Bookworm, and Streamline Graded Readers) are selected as the ER
materials to be read as homework. Each student is required to read continuously one book
within two weeks, based on their own choice from among the ER collection. This amount
of reading is considered by Day and Bamford (2002:136) as the goal for a successful
extensive reading program. It is also consistent with Nation and Wang's (1999: 355)
suggestion that "learners need to read graded reader per week in order to meet repetitions
of the new words soon enough to reinforce the previous meeting," assuming that the
learners do not meet the words in other language activities. The collection consists of
simplified story books with a range of books that have been adapted to learners in the areas
of vocabulary and syntax. These books are available at the English department library,
making it easy for students to borrow and keep for reading in their own time. With a wide
variety of topics from science stories to those touching upon social issues in real life and
the varieties of genres, these reading materials are believed to cater to all students‘
interests. The names of the graded readers (appendix 3) are included in a table to be later
introduced to students for their selection.
Students‟ and teacher‟s role
In such an extensive reading program, the students play the leading role who will actively
take part in the reading as well as all the activities that follow under the instructions of the
teacher. The teacher acts as an instructor. As extensive reading can be said to be quite new
to the students, the teacher needs to help learners understand how to read in the ERP. The
teacher should also become a role model for the learners as well as create an environment
that encouraged learners to read.

The performance of the ERP
The extensive reading program is implemented from week 2 to week 19. The textbook is
Facts & Figures level one about 700 words of Patricia Ackert & Linda Lee. The reading
class includes three stages as follows:


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Step 1: Pre-reading
In this stage, students are encouraged to express their expectations and predictions by
discussing pictures, the cover page, titles, or the author's biography, brainstorming the
relevant vocabulary, matching titles and parts of a text, ordering parts of a text, or
answering questions.
Step 2: While-reading
Students are offered to read books silently at their own pace, without referring to
dictionaries, and recorded new words, or word phrases encountered while reading to a
personalized vocabulary notebook. Then, students will discuss about the meaning, form,
and use of these words with their classmates and teacher. The teacher also instructs
students doing exercises as vocabulary in text, vocabulary in new context, vocabulary
review in the form matching synonyms and antonyms or collocations, guessing the word
meaning, identifying the word form, cross-words, word-search puzzles, and traditional
comprehension exercises of true or false questions. Further, teacher also supply students
some basic rules for word study at each aspect of word to support their vocabulary
knowledge systematically and strengthen their vocabulary acquisition.
Step 3: Post-reading
In the final stage of reading, students are supported to consolidate new words through
applying them creatively in other contexts. They are encouraged to participate in activities
as role play, retelling, interview, dramatization or even playing games. The vocabulary are
personalized and related to the students' personal experience, understanding, knowledge,
and interest in order to stimulate their vocabulary acquisition. Students are strongly
recommended to do out of class reading as well. They also are encouraged to check out

books and read them at home. Specially, they are required to read one book every two
weeks, after reading the book, they are required to write down the new words or phrase
they are interested and the form, meaning, use of these words in that context. The whole
organization and activities are determined by the objectives of the program.