Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in australia international english center a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of maste

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in
Australia International English Center

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master
of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by TRINH THI NGOC THAM

Supervisor DANG TAN TIN, Ph.D.

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult
learners in Australia International English Center” is my own work.
Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contain material
published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have
qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma.
No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text
of the thesis.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other
tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016

Trinh Thi Ngoc Tham

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank such important people for their great help and encouragements.
First, I want to express my deepest appreciation to Dr Dang Tan Tin for his guidance
and constructive comments during my study. He is my great supervisor.
Next, I would like to say I am greatly indebted to my teacher- Mr Le Huy Liem for
helping me complete my thesis.
I also readily acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr Pham Vu Phi Ho for being always
supportive and understanding. In fact, without him I couldn’t complete my thesis.
Moreover, I owed my students for their great contribution in the paper.
Finally, I do not know how to express my deep gratitude to my parents, grandma and
siblings who always stood by me during this hard time, and especially, to my partner
who gave me motivation to complete the thesis and to win myself since I nearly gave
up.
I am greatly indebted to all lecturers of TESOL program at Ho Chi Minh City Open
University for their insightful knowledge which set a solid foundation for me to carry
out my thesis.

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ABSTRACT
Extensive reading (ER) is an approach to teaching and learning a foreign language
without looking up unknown words in the dictionary or answering comprehension
questions, but aiming to have learners read extensively for pleasure. The approach
follow strictly Day and Bamford (2002) guideline of having learners choose books and

read on their own pace for general comprehension and enjoyment (Day and Bamford
1998; Prowse 1999). It was conducted in the Vietnam context with English as a foreign
language (EFL) in Australia International English Center (AIEC) during a period of
nine weeks from August 1st to October 3rd in 2015.
37 learners (N=37) at intermediate level from 18 to 22 years old who are taking a
two-year communication course taught by the researcher in Australia International
Center (AIEC). They were invited to join into the extensive reading program. At the
beginning, the researcher met the participants in her AIEC to discuss the materials and
provide reading diary for recording during the treatment time. Learners were given
instruction to select an easy interesting book, and to read as much as possible, preferably
at least one book a week. Keeping and completing the reading diaries in order to submit
for the researcher in late of week ninth of the treatment time.
The current research aimed at investigating two questions. First, what patterns of
ER the learners employ during the period of ER practice. Second, do the learners hold
a positive attitude toward ER after their ER practice. Three main instruments were used
to collect data to achieve the current research purposes. First, reading diary was used to
collect data to answer what patterns of ER the learners employ during the period of ER
practice. Reading diary was considered one of the key instrument to collect dada for
such a primarily qualitative research. Second, the post experiment questionnaire was
delivered and collected after the treatment to gather data to answer if the learners’ hold
a positive attitudes towards ER after their ER practice. Third, the in- depth interview
was also considered a supplement for the interpretation of the results of the attitude
questionnaire. The findings suggest four pattern of ER that the learners employed during
nine weeks and provide conclusive evidence of learners’ positive attitude towards ER.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 1
1.1 Rationale of the study ......................................................................... 1

1.2 Research aims ..................................................................................... 3
1.3 Research questions.............................................................................. 4
1.4 The significance of the study .............................................................. 5
1.5 Scope of the study............................................................................... 6
Chapter 2. Literature review ....................................................................................... 7
2.1 Theoretical framework........................................................................ 7
2.1.1 Definition of reading skill ......................................................... 7
2.1.1.1 The Bottom-up Reading Model ..................................... 8
2.1.1.2 The Top-down Reading Model ..................................... 9
2.1.1.3 The Interactive Reading Model ..................................... 9
2.1.2 Reading sub-skills used in the study ....................................... 10
2.1.2.1 Scanning ...................................................................... 10
2.1.2.2 Skimming .................................................................... 10
2.1.2.3. Careful reading ........................................................... 10
2.1.2.4. Predicting.................................................................... 10
2.1.3 Extensive Reading ................................................................... 11
2.1.3.1 Definitions of ER......................................................... 11
2.1.3.2 The nature of ER ......................................................... 11
2.2 Review of related literature .............................................................. 14
2.2.1 Patterns of ER ......................................................................... 14
2.2.2 Positive attitudes towards ER ................................................. 14
2.2.3 Implications for the study ....................................................... 18
2.3 Chapter summary .............................................................................. 18
Chapter 3. Methodology .......................................................................................... 20
3.1 Research context ............................................................................... 20
3.2 Participants ....................................................................................... 21
3.3 Research design ............................................................................... 22
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3.4 Instructional design ........................................................................... 23
3.4.1 Teaching Material: Four Corners ............................................ 23
3.4.2 Treatment materials: Graded readers ...................................... 23
3.4.3 Training procedure .................................................................. 24
3.5 The measurement instruments .......................................................... 25
3.5.1 Reading diary .......................................................................... 25
3.5.2 Post experimental questionnaire ............................................. 25
3.5.3 The in- depth interview ........................................................... 26
3.6 Methods of analysis .......................................................................... 26
3.6.1 Reading diary .......................................................................... 27
3.6.2 Post experiment questionnaire ................................................ 28
3.6.3 The in- depth interview ........................................................... 28
3.7 Data collection .................................................................................. 29
3.7.1 Reading diary .......................................................................... 29
3.7.2 Post experiment questionnaire ................................................ 29
3.7.3 The in- depth interview ........................................................... 30
3.8 Summary ........................................................................................... 30
Chapter 4. Results and Discussion ............................................................................ 32
4.1 Result and Discussion regarding Patterns of ER .............................. 32
4.1.1 Results regarding Patterns of ER ............................................ 32
4.1.2 Comparison of the four ER patterns ....................................... 41
4.1.3 Discussion regarding patterns of ER ....................................... 45
4.1.4 Summary on the four patterns of ER in the current study ...... 49
4.2 Results and Discussion regarding Attitudes toward ER ................... 50
4.2.1 Results regarding Attitude toward ER .................................... 50
4.2.1.1 Results of Attitude Post- Questionnaire ........................ 50
4.2.1.2 Results of Attitude In-depth Interview .......................... 53
4.2.2 Discussion on Attitude toward ER .......................................... 58
4.2.3 Summary on Attitude toward ER ............................................ 61
4.2.4 Factors behind the learners’ positive Attitude towards ER .... 62

4.3 Summary ........................................................................................... 63
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Chapter 5. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 64
5.1 Summary of the findings .................................................................. 64
5.2 Contributions of the study ................................................................ 66
5.3 Limitations of the study .................................................................... 66
5.4 Suggestion......................................................................................... 66
5.5 Recommendations for further research............................................. 68
References…………………………………………………………………………… 69
Appendix A: Post experiment questionnaire ................................................................ 79
Appendix B: Grade Readers used in the study ............................................................. 81
Appendix B1: Graded Readers Learners Selected ....................................................... 85
Appendix C: Reading Diary ......................................................................................... 88
Appendix C1: A typical reading diary from a learner .................................................. 89
Appendix C2: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 1 ............................................. 91
Appendix C3: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 2 ............................................. 94
Appendix C4: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 3 ............................................. 97
Appendix C5 : Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 4 ............................................ 99
Appendix D: Results of Post- Questionnaire.............................................................. 102
Appendix E: In- depth Interview ................................................................................ 104

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.4 : Data collecting instruments used in the present study .............................. 27

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The number of books read during 9 weeks of learners in pattern 1 ............... 34
Table 2: The number of books read during 9 weeks of learners in pattern 2 ............... 36
Table 3: The number of books read during 9 weeks of learners in pattern 3 ............... 38
Table 4: The number of books read during 9 weeks of learners in pattern 4 ............... 40
Table 5: The average number of books read per week of learners in four patterns ..... 42
Table 6: Learners’ attitudes toward ER ........................................................................ 52
Table 7: The Frequency of positive statements seen in learners’ diaries. .................... 61

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LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: The number of books read among 10 learners in pattern 1 ............................ 34
Chart 2: The number of books read among 5 learners in pattern 2 .............................. 36
Chart 3: The number of books read among 10 learners in pattern 3 ............................ 38
Chart 4: The number of books read among 12 learners in pattern 4 ............................ 40

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LIST OF ABBREVIATION

AIEC: Australia International English Center
EFL : English as a foreign language
ER

: Extensive Reading

L1

: First Language

L2

: Second Language

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Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Rationale of the study
In Vietnam, English, which is viewed as the most dominant foreign language, is
an important subject taught in all educational levels. It is also the compulsory subject
and the most popular elective subject among several foreign languages since it is
regarded as the language for international communication. It is also one of the world’s
most important languages (Graddol, 2004). Most Vietnamese students, thus, take
English as their foreign language subject. Moreover, in Vietnam, the national entrance
examination focuses much on grammar and reading comprehension therefore studying
English in schools is synonymous with learning intensive reading and grammar more
than speaking or listening. Thus, most Vietnamese teachers who teach English focus
their teaching on reading, grammar and reading comprehension more than speaking. In
other words, reading is the most important among the four language skills – listening,
speaking, reading and writing – since students have more opportunity to read in English
than to use that language in spoken communication (Rattanavich 1987: 1). In fact, A
reading ability is often all that is needed by learners of EFL (Alderson 1984: 1).

According to Waring and Takahashi (2000), ER is one of the best solution for learners
at every level of English because:
Extensive Reading can provide wonderful opportunities for the
learners to revise what they have done in class by reading lots of
simple text at their own reading ability level. A huge advantage of
having an Extensive Reading program is that it does not take up much
class-time, because the reading practice is done out of class.
Waring and Takahashi (2000: 2)
Even though researchers in Singapore, Thailand and many countries in Asia have
paid attention to ER as an effective approach for teaching and learning to read because
many researchers asserted that the more students expose in ER, the more they develop
their language knowledge (Nation, 1997:31) since ER builds vocabulary and improve
reading comprehension, spelling, grammar usage and writing (Cho and Krashen 1994,
Krashen 1993). Yet, there is still rare research on ER in Vietnam. Therefore, it is more
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necessary to conduct studies on ER use Vietnamese learners subjects to figure out ER
patterns used in reading and their attitude toward ER to lay the foundation for further
studies on ER in Vietnam.
In addition, one of the big problems among the EFL learners in Vietnam is the
lacking of reading habit. In fact, a recent statistic of Ministry of Culture, Sports &
Tourism reveals that a Vietnamese read 0.8 book a year, on average. Consequently, a
question raising to many teachers is that how to foster reading among EFL adult learners
and how to inspire them the love for reading. Given this problem, it is of interest to
study about ER patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in Australia International
English Center with expectation to foster reading habit among EFL leaners in the
language center. Teacher’s job is to help students learn to read by themselves because
teacher cannot do the reading for them and ER is an effective approach to teach learners
to read by themselves. The study was conducted at Australia International English

center (AIEC) where the researcher has been working now that most English classes at
AIEC do not provide adequate opportunity for students to develop their reading skills.
Students do not actually read much, either in class or out of class. Moreover, the
condition of reading is usually controlled by teachers, not students, that is teachers will
tell students what, when and how to read. This is the typical English teaching
performance at AIEC in general and also the typical teaching of English reading in
particular, which is taught by translation procedure and focused on intensive reading.
Consequently, it has not been successful. Students have gained knowledge of the
language and reading skills acquired in intensive reading but it is not sufficient to
improve students’ overall reading ability. Therefore, one of the most effective ways to
help students improve their English is to provide extensive comprehensible language
through reading. As Nuttall (1982) stated, go and live among its speakers is the best
way to learn a foreign language. The next effective way is to read extensively in it since
ER builds vocabulary and improve reading comprehension, spelling, grammar usage
and writing (Cho and Krashen 1994).
However, recent studies on ER have not reported the ER patterns the learners
employed when experienced ER. It is therefore significant to investigate and analyze
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the ER patterns in this current research. It will provide teachers and researchers in
Vietnam more deep understanding about how the learners proceed their reading outside
classroom and the way EFL learners respond to ER practice. Yet, researchers have paid
much attention to learners’ attitude toward ER because attitude may be a decisive factor
to the learners’ decision to read. Most of them reported positive attitude toward ER.
Still , it is rare reports on Vietnamese students’ attitude regarding ER. Thus, hopefully,
this research will provide more understanding about EFL adult learners attitude toward
ER and pioneer for more studies on ER to foster ER in AEIC and in Vietnam.
1.2 Research aims
It’s undeniable that reading play a very important role in studying any languages,

how to learn it effectively need more effort to realize its precious value. In fact, the use
of ER in teaching and learning English is popular in the world. It has been researched,
introduced and practiced for more than seventy years at different levels of education in
many countries in the world (Day and Bamford, 1998). For instance, Camiciottoli
(2001), Tudor and Hafiz (1989) in Europe, Hitosugi and Day (2004), Leung (2002) in
North America, Al-Homoud and Schmitt 2009, Asraf and Ahmed (2003), Bell (1998),
Chiang (2009), Elley (1991), Lai (1993), Mason and Krashen (1997), Tsang (1996) in
Asia, Elley and Mangubhai (1983) in the South Pacific Ocean. The majority of the
studies above has proved ER benefits in different aspects, for instance gains in speaking
(Cho and Krashen, 1994), vocabulary (Yamazaki, 1996), reading ability (Elley 1991),
reading fluency (Robb and Susser, 1989), spelling (Polak and Krashen, 1988), writing
(Lai, 1993), listening (Elley and Mangubhai, 1983). Yet, ER in Vietnam is still strange
to EFL learners. EFL instruction in many parts of Vietnam is mostly accomplished
through a traditional learning model and the grammar-translation method. Students are
teacher-dependent and book-dependent. Thus, to the researcher’s best knowledge, this
current study is one of rare studies in Vietnam to introduce ER as a practice in EFL
classroom settings in a language center with adult learners subjects. However, there is
a fact that Vietnamese EFL learners have studied English for many years since
kindergarten or primary schools but their English proficiency is rather low. This may
be due to the fact that they do not have opportunities to read a lot. Most of the class time
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is devoted to learning about the language, that is learning grammar and learning to read
through translation. Learners are taught in a traditional way. They approach their
reading assignment by putting all of their effort and concentration into the passages they
read. They carefully read the passage word by word. When reading and encountering
an unfamiliar word, they stop reading and look up the meaning of the word in a
dictionary. This reading behavior not only slows down their reading speed, but also
hinders their reading comprehension (Nuttall, 1982).

In this regard, ER is one of the best solutions to solve the problem above. In this
present research, learners have opportunity to self- select reading easy and interesting
graded readers, read without anxiety for comprehension questions, read without looking
up for unknown words in the dictionary. The first purpose of this paper is to investigate
what patterns of extensive reading the learners employ during 9-week-exposure in ER.
the fluctuation of reading amount every week, the feeling when reading independently
outside classroom, their sense of achievement and the reasons for pause or stop reading
will be recorded to provide data for analyzing. Investigation of the ER patterns is
supposed to provide teachers in AIEC a general understanding of how EFL adult
learners proceed their ER outside classroom in the context of rare research on ER in
Vietnam. The criteria to identify the reading patterns will be explained clearly in chapter
4. Moreover, with an intention to bring ER closer to all learners of English in AIEC, it
is necessary to investigate students’ attitudes towards reading after their ER practice. It
is hoped that the findings and suggestions in this present research will provide more
ideas for enhancing the experiences for both leaners and teachers who use extensive
reading as part of their language learning and teaching and especially love to read
among EFL learners in AIEC. Hence, the study seeks to investigate
1) Patterns of ER the learners employ during the period of ER practice.
2) Learners’ attitude toward ER after their ER practice.
1.3 Research questions
The following research questions are formulated to achieve the above objectives
1) What patterns of ER do the learners employ during the period of ER practice?
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2) Do the learners hold a positive attitude toward ER after their ER practice?
1.4 The significance of the study
This extensive reading program seeks to investigate ER patterns and attitude of
EFL adult learners in Australia International English Center. The researcher
hypothesize that the participants will hold a positive attitude toward ER after their ER

practice.
Besides its contribution to the limited Vietnamese literature on using ER on
teaching and learning by pioneering in introducing and applying the ER approach,
which is quite unfamiliar to Vietnamese teachers and learners, to foster reading ability
into Vietnamese educational context. Particularly, the study has a great contribution to
AIEC, its teachers, and its learners.
To begin with, the ER approach has certain contributions to AIEC in the efforts
of creating an environment for EFL learners to practice English. In fact, a lot of seminars
and workshops for enhancing teaching and learning English have been conducted quite
frequently in AIEC. Thus, this research is the key to open a new window for researches
about this matter. Hopefully, this study will bring the bright light for the school’s
education. Then, the school will advantage from students’ contentedness. That would
contribute to step up the school’s reputation.
Most importantly, the ER program take part in rising teachers and learners’
awareness of reading in the target language outside classroom. Teachers may pay more
attention for ER and consider it as a supplemental choice for homework. Teachers can
also build good rapport with learners by reading and discussing the stories together.
Students will enjoy reading more and make themselves join in the reading activities
when the reading materials touch their needs and interests and especially when they
have the real feeling of self-engagement in the lessons. It is undeniable that teachers’
encouragement is also significant to learners to read learners’ attitudes towards reading.
will create great motivation for teachers to stand firm and be non-stop creative in their
teaching career. In sum, teachers can benefit in many aspects from ER.

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Last but not least, once the learners read extensively in English outside classroom,
they have chance to expose in the language and study it naturally as the way the native
speakers learn the language. Hopefully, they will find graded readers interesting to read

and maintain reading and form good reading habit. Usually, EFL learners found reading
is boring or challenging, especially in English; hence, it’s crucial when learners realize
graded readers are enjoyable and easy. Moreover, learners are likely to use their spare
time more properly once they enjoy ER.
For those reasons above, it draws a necessity to introduce ER approach to students
at AIEC in order to foster teaching and learning English in general and reading in
particular.
1.5 Scope of the study
The scope of this research is defined as an investigation into ER in AIEC.
Therefore, the study is limited to the context of AIEC. The subjects in the study involve
37 Vietnamese undergraduate students enrolled in an two-year English Communication
Course which focus on 4 skills at Australia International English Center (AIEC). The
students come from different universities in Ho Chi Minh City. The attitude postquestionnaire as well as the in- depth interview were conducted by the researcher to
investigate learners’ attitude toward ER after their ER practice. Moreover, the ER
patterns the learners employed during their ER practice were also identified by the
reading diaries. Since research findings can be interpreted differently in different
contexts, the research tools involved should help to reveal the scope of the study which
will be presented in chapter 3 and the extent of the implications which will be discussed
in chapter 4.

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Chapter 2. Literature review
This chapter sheds some light on previous studies in order to build the general
theory in the studied field. It also deals with such kinds of questions as follow: Why is
the subject of this study important? Who else thinks that this study is important? Who
has done something similar study? or what are the gaps in the research? (Murray, 2002:
115). The chapter first give some general view of the theoretical framework of the
research, the definitions and nature of ER and finally the review of related literature to

figure out the gaps for the current research.
2.1 Theoretical framework
2.1.1 Definition of reading skill
Reading is always considered as a fundamental skill to learn a foreign language.
Many researchers believe that reading is the most important among the four language
skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing since students have more opportunity
to read in English than to use that language in spoken communication (Rattanavich
1987: 1). In fact, reading skill is necessary to acquire a language since its positive
impacts on the other skills involve listening, speaking and writing in term of spelling,
vocabulary knowledge, colloquial expression, vocabulary size, word recognition,
grammar, fluency, etc, (Leung, 2002; Asraf and Ahmad, 2003; De Morgado, 2009;
Benettayeb,2010; Tamrackitkun, 2010).
Reading can be regarded as a process of interaction between a reader and a text
in which that reader construct meaning pre, while and after reading by using his
possessive knowledge to decode the information taken from a text. In other word,
reading is also called an interactive process between the reader and the writer in which
the reader interact with a message to understand the message of the passage and then to
decode (Goodman, 1973).
Grabe (1991) believed that reading is a complex cognitive process while Johnston
(1983) assumed it is a complex behavior. It is because reading requires the reader not
only a great deal of precise knowledge but also a lot of processing strategies including
problem-solving strategies to construct a model of meaning that needed to be repeated
7


many times to be familiar with it (Birch, 2014). Johnston (1983, as cited in
Tamrackitkun; 2010) also added that the using of these different strategies can be
conscious or unconscious to build a model of the meaning that the writer want to
convey.
Mention to the model of the meaning is mention to three popular "models" which

are used to explain for the nature of reading in a foreign learning. First, bottom-up model
which is also called data driven since it emphasizes the reader’s ability to decode the
words which are seen in the text without understanding the entire text. Second, topdown processing model, which requires the reader a background knowledge to
comprehend a reading passage. The third model is the combination between top-down
and bottom-up processing models called interactive model (Grabe and Stoller, 2013, as
cited in Dentisak, 2010).
2.1.1.1 The Bottom-up Reading Model
Bottom-up model which is also called data driven since it emphasizes the reader’s
ability to decode the words which are appeared in the text without understanding the
entire text. Simply, it happened when a learner is unfamiliar with the text topic and has
to use his knowledge of the vocabulary in the reading text to comprehend a text
(Mikulecky, 1990: 3). In other word, the bottom-up model suggests that comprehension
the whole text processes from meaning of single printed words in that text. As Nunan
viewed:
[…] These letters or graphemes are matched with The Phonemes
of the language. Theses phonemes, the minimal units of meaning
in the sound

system of Language are blended together to form

words. The derivation of meaning is thus the end of process in
which language is translated from one represent action to another.
(Nunan, 1991:64)
It means that comprehension is achieved after the process of decoding the letter,
encoding the sound and then build the text meaning (Dentisak, 2010). However, many
8


researchers argue that bottom-up model results in slow and laborious reading due to the
overloaded short-term memory so that the readers’ tend to forget what they have read

right away after finishing their reading (Nuttall, 1996). Alderson (2000) found that low
proficiency learners prefer bottom-up processing model than top-down model.
2.1.1.2 The Top-down Reading Model
Top-down is different from bottom-up model that readers bases more on their
existing knowledge rather than what is written in the text (Smith, 2004). The idea is in
line with Chinwonno (2001) that the readers’ guessing from context, predictions,
getting the main idea and their background knowledge are the decisive elements in their
reading comprehension. Hence, top-down reading model is applied much in L1 and L2
English teaching to foster learners’ guessing from context, predictions and getting the
main idea. In the reading process, readers engaged in a cyclic process of making guesses
about the writer’s message and checking the text to reject or confirm the cues, based on
the contextual clues (Carrell & Eisterhold, 1983, as cited in Dentisak, 2010).
2.1.1.3 The Interactive Reading Model
The interactive reading model is viewed as the most sufficient in reading
comprehension since it is “an integration of top-down processes that utilize background
knowledge and schema , as well as bottom-up processes that are primarily text or data
driven .” (Richards, 1990:77). Grabe (1991) believed that the term “interactive” comes
from the concept of the readers achieve the comprehension a half from the given
knowledge in the reading text and a half from their own prior knowledge (Barnett 1989,
as cited in Tamrackitkun; 2010). It means that “while reading, readers actively combine
their bottom-up processes, for example, the ability to decode and recognize words and
grammatical forms with their top-down processes, such as using background
knowledge to predict and confirm meaning” (Dentisak, 2010:12). This interaction
between the reader and the text caused interactive reading model the two-way exchange
of information.
In sum, a reader usually combine both bottom-up and top-down reading process
model or we also called interactive model to comprehend a text. A learner will figure
9

out an unknown word’s meaning base on his background knowledge of a known topic
and conversely, for those who have knowledge of the vocabulary in the reading text but
have no clue of text topic will mainly count on word knowledge to comprehend a text
(Mikulecky, 1990: 3).
2.1.2 Reading sub-skills used in the study
There are four main types of learning strategies were used in this current paper to
make reading easier, effective enjoyable and self- directed (Oxford, 1990). According
to Oxford (1990) reading strategies here refers to skimming, scanning, careful-reading
and predicting techniques that will help learners solve the problems encountered in
reading. The four strategies are also called sub-skills of reading in English.
2.1.2.1 Scanning
Scanning is viewed as a speed-reading technique that a reader use when he need
to get a purposive information such as a specific name or date or number without
reading the whole text. All a learner need to do is move his eyes over the text until
finding out that information
2.1.2.2 Skimming
Skimming is a useful technique in order to figure out the main ideas in reading
comprehension. Learner just moving his eyes over a text rapidly to follow the general
gist of the text. This technique can help learner cover a great deal reading amount in the
shortest time.
2.1.2.3. Careful reading
This reading strategy is used when a reader need to get detailed information from
the a text. This will take learner more time than skimming and scanning. Learner uses
this reading strategy can read more slowly at their own pace or reread many times until
he get completely the information.
2.1.2.4. Predicting
Predicting is one of the four sub- skills a reader use when encountering unfamiliar
words in a reading text in order to guess the idea of writer’s intention. Learner usually
10

forecast what will be read based on his background knowledge. While reading learner
then reject or confirm their forecast.
2.1.3 Extensive Reading
2.1.3.1 Definitions of ER
Elley (1981) calls extensive reading as ‘book flood’ while Krashen (1993) named
it "Free Voluntary Reading" (FVR). Clarity (2007) defines extensive reading is reading
a lot for pleasure that taking places over a sustained period. Moreover, Benettayeb
(2010) called ER “rapidly, reading book after book”. According to Benettayeb, ER
plays a significant role in foreign language learning. It provide learners opportunity to
expose in the target language outside classroom. Davis (1995, as cited in Sheu, 2003)
summarized that extensive reading is read pleasurably, at the learner own speed, as
many books as possible, without any testing. Day and Bamford (2002) further define
extensive reading is an approach to language teaching where learner can read many easy
materials in the target language and can stop reading if the material is not attracting or
not very easy to read. However, Sheu (2003) also believes that extensive reading is
indispensable means for learners’ to improve their reading ability and enrich knowledge
of the language and the world.
2.1.3.2 The nature of ER
Here are the 10 principles of extensive reading of Day and Bamford (2002) that
guide the teacher- researcher in this paper:
1) The reading material is easy.
Bamford (2002) believe that more than one or two unknown words a page may
make the reading text become so difficult for overall understanding. So, teacher or
researcher keep in mind that there will be no more than five difficult words per page so
that the learners can read independently. It means that learners must know at least 98%
of the words in a reading text (Day and Bamford, 2002).
2) A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available.

11

The success of extensive reading activities depends mainly on inspiring students
the love to read. Teacher can interview or ask learners for what they want to read.
Teacher can encourage learner’s desire to read by providing or giving them source to
varied kinds of text such as books, newspapers, magazines, any texts provided that
learners are interested (Day and Bamford 2002). Different kinds of reading material can
also encourage a flexible approach to reading. Students learn to read in different ways
(e.g., skimming, scanning, more careful reading) and for different reasons (e.g., ,
passing the ,intertainment, information). In this case, we appreciate using graded readers
of very famous publishers in the world written for EFL learners. In fact, graded readers
are so far the best solution for many researchers when conducting an ER program.
3) Learners choose what they want to read.
Allowing learners to choose what they love to read is the key to extensive reading.
Learners are free to select what, where and when they want to read. However, learners
can stop reading if they find the text is too easy, difficult or boring. Day and Bamford
(2002) believed that when a learner read on his/her own way can encourage that person
to become responsible for their own learning.
4) Learners read as much as possible.
As noted in Principle 1, the more the learners read the greater benefits they gain.
Day and Bamford (2002) also believed that a book per week is the minimum amount of
reading necessary for learners to achieve the benefits of extensive reading and to form
a good reading habit. To do that, teacher can set reading targets for learners like
minimum amount of reading is a book a week.
5) The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information, and
general understanding.
Learners are encouraged to read like every day reading in their mother tongue,
from entertainment to finding specific information. Achievement of one's purpose is
more important than a hundred percent of comprehension. Indeed, 100%
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comprehension is not always the goal. Only sufficient understanding to achieve the
readers’ purpose is required.
6) Reading is its own reward.
Obviously, ER is quite different from intensive reading that the learners are not
required to do any kinds of comprehension tests with questions after finish reading.
7) Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower.
It is obvious that reading easy and appropriate-level material a reader may begin
to read faster. Another reason is that readers are encouraged against using dictionaries
since it interrupts the reading process, causes fluent reading to be impossible. Learners
are advised skipping the word or guess the meaning in case they encounter with
unknown words.
8) Reading is individual and silent.
ER is also called reading for pleasure so that it is done outside classroom, at home,
on the learners' own time, whenever and wherever they desire to read. ER creates a very
individual and silent space for reading.
9) Teachers orient and guide their students.
Carefully giving explanation and instruction the benefits of ER at the beginning
of an ER program is what a teacher should take into consideration since the learners
may be unfamiliar to the freedom of making choices in school. According to Hitosugi
and Day (2004) ER may benefit learners’ vocabulary knowledge as well as reading,
writing, and oral fluency. Learners must be announced by the teacher about the freedom
to choose easy and appropriate materials to read at whenever and wherever they want
without tests or comprehension questions. Therefore, the choice of easy materials, selfselection and reading for overall understanding must be discussed clearly.
10) The teacher is a role model of a reader.

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Example is the most powerful instructor, said Hitosugi and Day (2004). It is very
beautiful if the teacher read and suggest reading material to individual learners or the
teacher and learner read the same material and then discuss together what they read. In
this way, both teacher and learners create an informal reading community where they
experience the value and pleasure of written works together.
2.2 Review of related literature
The goal of this section is as its name literature review to describe previous
research on EFL extensive reading that provide some general understanding of concepts
of this research. This section involves two main parts. The first part will be used to
review past research which was undertaken to investigate pattern of ER. Yet, to the best
of my knowledge, there is no investigation of patterns in ER using reading diary in an
ER program.
2.2.1 Patterns of ER
As we mentioned above, this part will review past research which was
undertaken to investigate pattern of ER. Yet, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge,
there is no investigation of patterns of ER among EFL adult learners. Among the
number of studies related to extensive reading, the researchers mainly investigated the
effect of extensive reading on EFL learners’ in term of reading comprehension
(Krashen, 1993; Lai, 1993; Nation, 1997), gain in vocabulary knowledge (cho &
Krashen 1994; Coady 1997; Nation 1997), perception/attitude (Camiciottoli, 2001;
Robb & Susser, 1989), grammatical knowledge (Elley, 1991; Elley & Mangubhai,
1983; Tudor & Hafiz, 1989), reading speed (Bell, 2001) but there is no report for pattern
of ER.
2.2.2 Positive attitudes towards ER
There are four previous studies on attitudes toward reading in L1 and L2 such as
Chiang (2009), Lao and Krashen (2000), Leung (2002), Al-Homoud and Schmitt (2009)
and few toward reading in the target language, Asraf and Ahmad (2003), Camiciottoli
(2001), Hitosugi and Day (2004). Day and Bamford’s (1998) asserted that attitude is
not the only factor affecting motivation to read but it is one of the central components
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