An evaluation of the appropriateness of the course book family and friends 4 for primary school learners in sunshine english school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF
LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF
POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



***

***

NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẠNH
USING GUIDED EXTENSIVE READING
TO IMPROVE INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING
FOR FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT
HUNG YEN TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE
SỦ DỤNG ĐỌC RỘNG CÓ HƯỚNG DẪN
NHẰM CẢI THIỆN VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG NGẪU NHIÊN
CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT
TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HƯNG YÊN

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

Hanoi – 2015


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF
LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF
POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



***

***

NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẠNH

USING GUIDED EXTENSIVE READING
TO IMPROVE INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING
FOR FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT
HUNG YEN TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE
SỦ DỤNG ĐỌC RỘNG CÓ HƯỚNG DẪN
NHẰM CẢI THIỆN VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG NGẪU NHIÊN
CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT
TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HƯNG YÊN

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Dr. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa

Hanoi – 2015


DECLARATION
I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work. I have provided fully
documented references to the others‟ work. The material in this thesis has not

been submitted for assessment in any other formal course. I also accept all the
requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation
Thesis deposited in the library.

Hanoi, October 2015

Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe my deepest gratitude to my supportive supervisor, Dr. Hoang Thi
Xuan Hoa, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as the
profound guidance she gave me while I was doing my research.
I would like to take this opportunity- to express my thanks to all my
teachers and lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of
Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for
their valuable instruction and assistance throughout the realization of this
thesis.
I am heartily thankful to the administrators, my colleagues, and first
year English major students at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College for their
willingness to participate in the research. Without their help, this program
could not be fulfilled.
Last but not least, I am indebted to my beloved family and friends who
have always inspired me to complete this study.

ii

ABSTRACT
The study aimed to examine whether EFL extensive reading could lead to
increase incidental vocabulary of elementary-level EFL learners and evaluate
the learners‟ opinions about the ER program. The participants were 25
freshmen majored in English at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College. They
were asked to read 6 graded readers within a twelve-week EFL extensive
reading program. The vocabulary pretest and posttests were administered to
measure learners‟ incidental vocabulary learning gains in the 118 selected
target words achieved through the program. Results revealed that the
significant vocabulary gains were achieved by the participants after the EFL
extensive reading program, suggesting that the EFL extensive reading
treatment had produced a beneficial effect on the incidental word learning
gains of the participants with elementary EFL competence.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION......................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................vii
LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................1
1.
Rationale...................................................................................................1
2.
Aims of the study......................................................................................3

3.
Scope of the study.....................................................................................3
4.
Method of the study..................................................................................3
5.
Design of the study...................................................................................4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT...................................................................................5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................5
1.1.
Reading.....................................................................................................5
1.1.1.
1.1.2.
1.1.3.
1.1.4.
1.1.5.

The roles of reading...........................................................................................5
Extensive Reading.............................................................................................6
Effective Extensive Reading..............................................................................7
Benefits of extensive reading.............................................................................8
Graded readers..................................................................................................9
1.2.
Vocabulary.............................................................................................. 10
1.2.1. Vocabulary in second language learning........................................................10
1.2.2. Incidental vocabulary learning....................................................................... 11
1.2.3. Reading and incidental vocabulary learning..................................................12
1.2.4. Difficulties in incidental vocabulary learning................................................ 14
1.3.
Previous research.................................................................................... 16
1.3.1. Researches on incidental vocabulary acquisition...........................................16

1.3.2. Researches on attitudes towards ER............................................................... 21

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY....................................................................... 24
2.1.
Participants.............................................................................................. 24
2.2.
Action research....................................................................................... 24
2.2.1.
2.2.2.

Action research procedures.............................................................................25
Selection of reading materials.........................................................................30
2.3.
Instruments.............................................................................................. 31
2.3.1. Vocabulary tests...............................................................................................31
2.3.2. Questionnaire.................................................................................................. 31
2.4.
Data presentation and data analysis......................................................... 32
iv


2.4.1. The pretest and posttest...................................................................................32
2.4.2. T- test..................................................................................................................33
2.5.
Chapter summary.................................................................................... 34

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.................................................. 35
3.1.
The results of the tests (Research question 1)......................................... 35
3.1.1. The pretest and the posttest 1..........................................................................35

Table 3 presents the paired sample T-test of pretest and posttest 1..............................36

Table 3.................................................................................................................... 36
3.1.2.

The posttest 1 and the posttest 2......................................................................37
3.2.
The results of questionnaire (Research question 2)................................. 38
3.2.1. Results of the first part of the questionnaire................................................... 39
3.2.2. Result of the second part of the questionnaire................................................41
3.3.
Discussion............................................................................................... 43
3.4.
Chapter summary.................................................................................... 43

PART C: CONCLUSION...................................................................................... 44
1.
Summary of the findings......................................................................... 44
2.
Limitations of the study and recommendations for further studies..........45
REFERENCES......................................................................................................... I
APPENDICES........................................................................................................V
APPENDIX 1: VOCABULARY TEST................................................................V
APPENDIX 2: THE VOCABULARY PRETEST RESULTS.............................IX
APPENDIX 3: THE VOCABULARY IMMEDIATE POSTTEST RESULTS.....X
APPENDIX 4: THE VOCABULARY DELAYED POSTTEST RESULTS.......XI
APPENDIX 5: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE................................................... XII
APPENDIX 6: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) .. XIV
CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA...................................................................................... XIV
APPENDIX 7: BOOK REPORT WORKSHEET............................................. XVI

APPENDIX 8: A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN............................................XVII

v


Adj
AR
EFL
ER
GR
GRP
HYTTC
L1
L2
M
N
P
SD
SPSS
ULIS
V
VNU
vi


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Action research model of Bride and Schostak (1991) ………………………………… ……............25

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: The Graded Readers Program ………………………………………………………….……………………………………27

Table 2: The pretest and immediate posttest paired samples statistics ………………………………33
Table 3: The sample T-test of pretest and immediate posttest ………………………………….……………36
Table 4: The immediate posttest and delayed posttest paired samples statistics …….….37
Table 5: The sample T-test of immediate posttest and delayed posttest ………………………….....38
Table 6: Students' opinions about the graded readers program …………………………………….…….39
Table 7: Students' suggestion for future program …………………………………….……………………………………..41

vii


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Vocabulary plays the most significant role in foreign language learning
because it is an element linking the four language skills in English as a
Foreign Language (EFL). In order to communicate well in a foreign language,
students should acquire a great number of words and should know how to use
and where to use them.
Most EFL learners learn vocabulary passively which can be resulted from
several factors although students realize the vital importance of vocabulary
when learning language. First, they consider the teacher's techniques such as
explanation for meaning or definition. In this case, language learners have
nothing to do in a vocabulary learning section but to listen to their teacher.
Secondly, students only focus on knowing the primary meaning of new words.
Thirdly, students usually only acquire new vocabulary through contextualized
new words in their textbooks or when given by teachers during classroom
lessons.
It is clear that comprehension is one of the most fundamental reasons for
reading, and vocabulary, in turn, plays significant part in comprehension.
Vocabulary clearly makes a critical contribution to understanding what has
been read. One important way to develop vocabulary knowledge is through

extensive reading. By reading extensively, students will be exposed to variety
scope of vocabulary which is necessary in reading comprehension. Extensive
reading (ER) is an important aspect of any English as a foreign/second
language reading program. Bell (2001) stated that ER is a type of reading
instruction program that has been used in EFL settings, as an effective

1


strategy of developing reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary
development.
The benefits of ER have been widely documented in studies which range in
scope from large-scale implementation across whole school districts to a case
study of single participant. The effectiveness of extensive reading has been
generally summarized to provide comprehensible input, to develop reading
speed and comprehension which lead to learners' motivation and confidence
and specifically to reinforce, confirm and deepen knowledge of vocabulary
(Bell, 2001; Pigada & Schmitt, 2006; Rashidi & Piran, 2011; Richards &
Schmitt, 2002; Soltani, 2011). Since ER offers a large number of graded
interesting materials of various topics in an anxiety-free learning environment
for general language improvement, it increases learners' motivation and more
positive attitude towards the target language. It is believed that since the
learner is reading for pleasure, he will be eager to see what happens next and
will therefore try to read more rapidly. Moreover, ER can help students to
automatically recognize the words that frequently appear in the reading texts
in a very pleasurable manner. While reading extensively, learners are engaged
in reading materials as naturally and comfortably as possible without
compulsory or strict follow-up assessments or precise confirmation of
meaning by teachers, so that learners experience fun and reward rather than
stress during the ER process (Allan, 2009; Hill, 2001) which can help develop

students‟ learning independence, confidence and autonomy (Bell, 2001;
Pigada & Schmitt, 2006; Cha, 2009).
It is the fact that until recently, Vietnamese learners have not paid enough
attention to vocabulary learning (Tran, 2006). This is true with the context of
my students at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College (HYTTC). Despite the
fact that these students had preciously studied English at lower secondary
2


schools for four years, their vocabulary, grammar and practical skills were
limited. When being informally interviewed, these students showed that they
had never read outside the class. However, these students expressed their
willingness to join in the study since they were really in need of improving
their vocabulary and reducing vocabulary learning stress. All these have
motivated me to carry the study “using guided ER to improve incidental
vocabulary learning for first year English major students”.
2.

Aims of the study

This action research mainly aims to improve first year English-majored
students‟ incidental vocabulary learning in the aspect of word meaning at
Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College using guided extensive reading.
To reach the aims, the researcher supposes two research questions as follows:
1. To what extent can the use of guided extensive reading improve the
students‟ incidental vocabulary learning?
2. What are the students‟ opinions about the extensive reading program?
3. Scope of the study
The study was conducted on a class of first year English major students at
HYTTC only. The study focused on incidental vocabulary learning through a

guided graded readers program (GRP) in the aspect of meaning. Therefore,
the findings of the research could just reflect the effects of the extensive
reading program on the subjects in the context.
4. Method of the study
To find out the answers to the above research questions, an action research
(AR) design was adopted. The research followed the model of an AR program
as McBride and Schostak (1991). The steps were carried out as follows: (1)
3


identifying the problem, (2) collecting and analyzing the data, (3) planning
and implementing the action, (4) collecting data to monitor change and (5)
analyzing and evaluating.
5. Design of the study
The study is composed of three following parts:
Part A - Introduction
This part includes rationale, aims, scope and design of the study to introduce
and to appeal the readers.
Part B
Chapter

1-

Literature

Review–

mentions

some

theoretical

background about extensive reading, factors affecting the effectiveness of ER
and vocabulary leaning. This chapter aims to provide the readers background
knowledge to have more understanding about the paper.
Chapter 2 – Methodology– discusses the methods or approaches
employed by the authors to collect the data for the study.
Chapter 3 - Results and Discussions– analyses the data collected in
the research process and introduces recommendations to make a good ER
program.
Part C - Conclusion
In this part, the author offers a summary of the findings, conclusion,
recommendations, limitations, and future directions for further study.

4


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Reading

1.1.1. The roles of reading
It is a fact that reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate
the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of
concentration and adds to the conversational skills of readers. It is observed
that children and teenager who have habits of reading have comparatively
higher intelligence quotients. Therefore, reading skills are essential for not
only students‟ academic success but also their social and business
advancement. Gradman and Hanania (1991) investigated between English as

a Second Language learners‟ language achievement and forty-four
background variables which include formal learning experiences, exposure to
the language in class and outside, and opinions about English. The results
indicated that the strongest effect to be that of extracurricular reading.
Walter (2004) stated that reading in a second language call for fast, automatic
word decoding and access to the mental lexicon. This means working on
building speed and fluency and on learning to recognize at least 10,000 words
in the new language. By reading, students got familiar with many topics,
acquired a lot of new words and were easy to deal with a number of reading
text without difficulty. Students would gradually be more confident about the
topics in the text and could read and write well.
Krashen (2005) mentioned to the power of reading in his work. He referred to
studies that consistently report a positive relationship between the amounts of
free reading done and various aspects of second and foreign language
competence as follows. Lee, Krashen, and Gribbons (1996) regarding the
5


acquisition of relative clauses; Stokes, Krashen, and Kartcher (1998)
regarding the acquisition of the present subjunctives in Spanish; S. Y. Lee
(2001) regarding factors which make writing difficult. To sum up, many
researchers have agreed upon the vital role of reading in language learning.

1.1.2. Extensive Reading
Many studies have been made on working out a definition of ER. Among
them is the one done by Lewis and Hill (1992) in which extensive reading
means that students have general understanding of the text without necessary
understanding every word. This definition fails to help learner imagine the
whole picture of ER but an aspect of purpose of ER. However, Bamford and
Day (1997) defined ER as an approach to foreign language teaching in

general, and to the teaching of foreign language reading in particular. To
follow Bamford and Day‟s (1997) ideas, Bruton (2002) suggested that ER can
apply to a number of “amounts”. The amount of new reading text which is
read, the amounts of text consumed and the amount of time spent reading.
Furthermore, the definition that seems to be more satisfying than those
mentioned before is concluded by Robb and Susser (1989). They defined ER
as a language teaching and learning procedure because it was reading (1) of
large quantities of material or long text, (2) for global or general
understanding, (3) with the intention of obtaining pleasure from the text, (4)
with students choosing what they want to read, (5) the books are not discussed
in class.
After considering various definitions and the context of the study, our working
definition is that extensive reading is reading authentic texts in the foreign
language without help at students' own level of proficiency for general or
global understanding with primary intention of obtaining pleasure from the
6


materials and done out of class without the added pressure of a
comprehension test to follow.

1.1.3. Effective Extensive Reading
To ensure students get the maximum benefit, extensive reading has to be
consistent and sustained (Schmitt, 2000). Lee and Hsu (2009) however
warned that many so called ER curriculums designed by Taiwanese educators
last a relatively short time, fail to provide a large volume of books, and
usually require some sort of oral/written reports or performance tests, which
could reduce students‟ pleasure of reading. Therefore, in planning an
authentic ER program, they suggested teachers take into consideration the
duration of time, amount of reading materials accessible for students and

finance.
Another key to successful ER is to supply materials that are comprehensible,
relevant, interesting and varied (Nuttall, 1996; Waring & Nation, 2004; Shen,
2008; cited in Lee & Hsu, 2009). According to Shen (2008; cited in Lee &
Hsu, 2009), to accomplish those characters, teachers should have students
involved in the book selection process.
•

Readability: The reading materials should be short and not far beyond

students‟ current linguistic levels (Coady, 1997; Huang & Liou, 2007).
Nuttall (1996) stated that improvement comes from reading a lot of easy
material.
• Appropriateness and Authenticity: Because one‟s prior
background
knowledge has an essential impact on reading comprehension, (Blachowicz &
Fisher, 2006; Paynter et al., 2006) the selected materials should be culturally
familiar and authentic (Coady, 1997).

7


•

Attraction: The materials need to be appealing to the students (Elley,

1989). When supplied with materials of high interest, students not only read
more (Glazer & Giorgis, 2005), they also apply more reading strategies
(Coady, 1979).
•

Variety: The reading materials should deal with a wide range of subject

matter. While narrow reading focuses on in-depth studying of one topic,
extensive reading instead stresses exposing students to different subjects and
genres in order to construct/expand their word schemata.

1.1.4. Benefits of extensive reading
The specific benefits of extensive reading are diversified and wide-ranging. A
large numbers of researched s have provided evidence through experiences for
these effects of extensive reading in language learning. Many teachers who
have been deeply involved in this instructional approach for a very long time
wrote about these benefits. From Day & Bamford (1998), Hill (2001), Nation
(2005), Robb (1998), and Waring (1997) the benefits of extensive reading
were reported as follows (Porcaro, 2009).
•

Extensive reading builds automaticity of word recognition.

•
Automatic recognition of a word allows lexical access – the
automatic
calling up from memory of a word‟s meanings and its phonological
representation.
•

Extensive reading builds vocabulary knowledge.

• Comprehension and fluent reading depend on automatic word recognition
and vocabulary knowledge, and thus are advanced through extensive reading.

8


• Fluent reading allows the reader to move from word-by-word decoding to
the processing of ideas, which is essential to higher level reading and thinking
skills.
•
Extensive reading builds awareness of grammatical structures and the
ability
to quickly and accurately process sentence structures.
•

Extensive reading enhances learners‟ background knowledge.

• Extensive reading promotes learners‟ positive attitude toward reading. It
fosters their confidence and motivation to read.
•Extensive reading increases exposure to English. The important role of
comprehensible input in foreign language learning has been strongly
demonstrated by Krashen (1993).
• Extensive reading reinforces a grasp of language that is taught in class. It
provides students with an excellent opportunity to consolidate what they have
learned, which is an essential aspect of foreign language learning.
•
Research studies also show that extensive reading improves
learners‟
writing skills, listening and speaking skills, and examination results.

1.1.5. Graded readers
Richard and Schmidt (2000) defined graded readers as a text written for

children learning their mother tongue, or for second foreign language learner,
in which the language content is based on a language grading scheme. A
graded reader (GR) may use a restricted vocabulary or a set of grammatical
structures. Currently, there are a wide variety of GRs‟ series available
worldwide, like the Oxford Bookworm by Oxford University Press, Penguin
Graded Readers by Longman, or Cambridge English Readers by Cambridge.
According to Nation‟s (2005) observation, although the levels in these series


9


are not identical with each other in number of levels, the amount of
vocabulary at each level, or the vocabulary lists on which they are based, they
share a lot of the vocabulary covered. Therefore, it is not important to stick to
only one series of GRs. To many language teachers and learners, GRs are
attractive option for several reasons. GRs not only offer controlled,
systematic, and comprehensive development of vocabulary and grammar, they
also fulfill the different interests and levels of learners.
After investigating the available materials at the bookstores and the level of
my students, the researcher decided to choose GRs of the Oxford Bookworm
Libraries. Stories in the series seem to be interesting and suitable for the
students in this study. Moreover, there are pictures which illustrate the content
of the stories. Some of the stories are very famous and made into films or
plays. The researcher also took books a level 1 for my student, who have
never had habit of extensive reading before.
1.2.

Vocabulary

1.2.1. Vocabulary in second language learning
In the very first part of his book “Vocabulary”, Michael Mc Carthy (1990, p.2,
cited in Quach, 2007) stated: “It is the experience of most language teachers
that the single, biggest component of any language course is vocabulary. No
matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how successfully the
sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wide range of
meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful
way”. It is impossible to deny the role of vocabulary in communication in an
L2. A leaner‟s vocabulary size plays a very significant part in his or her
ability to communicate due to the fact that “words are the

10


tools we use to think, to express ideas and feelings and to learn about the
world.” (Johnson and Johnson, 2004, p.1, cited in Quach, 2007)
In the book named “Understanding Vocabulary” (2000, p.16, cited in Quach,
2007), Alexander wrote: “Comprehension improves when you know what the
words mean” and “words are currency of communication. A robust
vocabulary improves all areas of communication – listening, speaking,
reading and writing”.
All the above quotations highly appreciate the important role of vocabulary in
language learning, especially in second language learning. Thus, teaching
vocabulary should be a part of the syllabus and vocabulary should be paid
more attention through well- planned lesson of language teachers‟ and serious
learning behavior of learners.

1.2.2. Incidental vocabulary learning
Most of the researches in the special matter of incidental vocabulary learning
(Wesche & Paribakht, 1999) have considered incidental learning as something

that is learned without specific focus of attention in a classroom context. In
Wesche and Paribakht‟s definition (1999), incidental vocabulary learning
refers to the process in which learners focus on comprehending meaning of
reading and listening contexts rather than on the intentional vocabulary
learning and acquire vocabulary as a “by-product” without the learner‟s
conscious decision, or intention to learn the words. While, Nation (2001) has
indicated that in incidental vocabulary learning the learners‟ attention is
focused on some other feature, usually the message that is conveyed by a
speaker or a writer. Considerable vocabulary learning can occur even though
the learners‟ attention is not directed toward vocabulary learning when the
amount of unknown vocabulary is low in such messages.
11


Another explanation of the incidental learning was set by Haynes (1998, cited
by Wesche & Paribakht, 1999). The author considered attention rather than
intention as the key to clarifying the construct, as well as a separation of
teaching considerations from those of learning. She proposed two continua,
one of them from “indirect teaching” to “direct teaching” and the other from
“incidental learning” (or automated learning, involving the learner‟s
peripheral attention while focal attention is elsewhere) to “attended learning”
(involving focal attention).
Although many researchers have defined incidental vocabulary acquisition
from different aspects, there is not an all-sided and authoritative definition of
incidental vocabulary acquisition. In this paper, the researcher adopted the
definition made by Nation and Wang (1999) that incidental learning takes
place when the focus is on the content of the story, not on vocabulary
learning. Learners‟ attention is on the meaning of the text and on developing
reading fluency.

1.2.3. Reading and incidental vocabulary learning
A case study implemented by Grabe and Stoller (1997) also found significant
gains in vocabulary through incidental vocabulary learning through extensive
reading.
They examined the vocabulary development of an American man learning
Portuguese
through extensive reading. The subject received three weeks of instruction
and

spent

additional hours reading outside of class. After being exposed to a large
amount

of

vocabulary, he showed a 20% increase on the final vocabulary test five
12


months

later.

They claimed that the study “strongly suggests that reading and vocabulary
will
develop as a result of extensive reading practice”
In the process of incidental vocabulary learning, word knowledge is thought
to be cumulated and developed gradually through multiple exposures in
various reading contexts. Extensive reading, as a form of comprehensible

input, has the effect of providing learners with rich contexts ideal for
vocabulary learning. During the reciprocal process of extensive reading, the
acquisition of words is the result of successes in inferring word meanings
from a meaningful context and through more reading experiences the
developed and matured vocabulary inference ability could in turn contributes
to reading level.
According to Krashen (1993), extensive reading is considered beneficial for
overall language competence and fundamental to vocabulary development as
well in the L2 learning. Researchers such as Krashen believe that similar to
L1 word learning, reading is the major means for acquiring vocabulary and
have thus strongly encouraged the implementation of extensive reading
programs in an L2 learning environment (Krashen, 1989). The proposition
that most vocabulary is learned incidentally has appealed to the default
argument that learning from context is the only way to account for most
vocabulary acquisition (Wesche & Paribakht, 1999).
Many studies results support the assumption of the important relationship
between incidental vocabulary learning and extensive reading. Milton and
Meara (1995, cited by Nagy, 1997) estimated that advanced students could
learn words at an annual rate close to 2,500 in a second language setting. A
13


substantial proportion of this growth is possibly from incidental learning.
Elley‟s (1991) survey of “book flood” studies (the essential element of such
studies is increasing the availability of books to the students) showed that L2
learners tended to benefit more from an increase in volume of reading than do
L1 learners because they encountered unfamiliar words at a greater rate than
L1 learners. The study suggested that language learning was for the most part
incidental, and it relied on essence motivation, primarily through the use of
interesting, well-illustrated books.

Horst, Cobb and Meara (1998) proposed a carefully controlled book-length
reading treatment (34 low-intermediate learners in Oman read 21,232 words
of the simplified Mayor of Casterbridge text in a ten-day period) when
replicating the well-known study by Saragi, Nation and Meiter in 1978. The
result showed that there was an average. Furthermore, Xu Hong selected
about one in every five new words and subjects with larger L2 vocabulary
sizes had greater incidental word learning gains. The study also found that L2
learners recognized the meaning of new words and built associations between
them as a result of comprehension-focused extensive reading. However, the
results of Day et al. (1991) demonstrated that exposure to previously
unknown or difficult words through sustained silent reading for entertainment
by Japanese EFL students had a positive effect on their ability to recognize
these words in a vocabulary test.

1.2.4. Difficulties in incidental vocabulary learning
In spite of the fact that extensive reading has an influence on incidental
vocabulary learning, other researchers have found that reading for L2
vocabulary development may lead to some problems. First, there were wrong
inferences that vocabulary was learned cursorily which prevents learners from
14


using words actively. Some lexical items such as words with a deceptive
morphological structure, idioms, words (Laufer, 1997) often misguide the
learners and make them misunderstand the words. It short-circuits readers‟
contextual guessing process.
Second, to have an effective guessing, the context is well understood and
almost all of the surrounding words in the text are known, which requires
good textual clues and substantial prior vocabulary knowledge on the part of
the learner. Different from native speakers, L2 learners have some difficulties

in guessing word meanings correctly, for they always have more opportunities
to encounter new words within various contexts with their lack of sufficient
word knowledge. Moreover, correct guessing of word meanings depends on
accurate recognition of surrounding words and good use of reading strategies
(Huckin & Coady, 1999). However, learners always feel frustrated in
comprehension when facing overwhelming texts in extensive reading, for
their word knowledge is insufficient and lack active use of different reading
strategies. So the readers may decide to ignore the words, or cannot infer a
word from context.
Last, Huckin & Coady (1999) stated that the non-recurrence of new words
cannot guarantee the acquisition of the vocabulary. This can be accounted for
by the fact that unlike native speakers, L2 learners have very few
opportunities to be exposed to the unknown words repeatedly, apart from the
high-frequency words. Accordingly, they cannot pick up the features of the
words incrementally to form the solid lexical knowledge in their mental
lexicon.

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