A study on the use of new english file elementary to teach speaking skills to first year students at the military technical academy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

SẦM THỊ LOAN

A study on improving first-year students’
vocabulary through extensive reading at
Hanoi University of Business and Technology
Nghiên cứu về cải thiện từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất
thông qua việc đọc mở rộng tại trường Đại học Kinh doanh và
Công nghệ Hà Nội

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2015


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

SẦM THỊ LOAN

A study on improving first-year students’
vocabulary through extensive reading at
Hanoi University of Business and Technology
Nghiên cứu về cải thiện từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất
thông qua việc đọc mở rộng tại trường Đại học Kinh doanh và
Công nghệ Hà Nội

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Dr. Trần Hoài Phương

HANOI – 2015


DECLARATION
I certify that the thesis entitled “A study on improving first-year students’
vocabulary through extensive reading at Hanoi University of Business and
Technology” is my own research requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at
the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International
Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Signature

Sam Thi Loan

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Tran
Hoai Phuong, my supervisor for her encouragement and inspirational review during
this process of writing the thesis. Without her precious support and invaluable
guidance, this thesis would never have been completed.
Besides, I would like to thank the authority of Hanoi University of Business
and Technology for allowing me to carry out this study and thank my colleagues
and all the students in class KT 19-05 for their participation in the study process.
Finally, an honorable mention goes to my families and friends for their assistance
and support for me in completing this thesis.

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ABSTRACT

Vocabulary plays an important role in second language learning process.
However, for most of Vietnamese students in general and learners at Hanoi
University of Business and Technology (HUBT) in particular, vocabulary seems to
be one of the most difficult problems in learning English. As a result, the researcher
planned to conduct an extensive reading program as a mean of vocabulary
improvement for first-year students at HUBT. The study was carried out in the form
of an action research study on 30 students of class KT 19-05. Before the
implementation, a questionnaire was used to collect information from the students
to identify the problem and the causes of the problem. The collected data were
analyzed to confirm the assumption that the lack of vocabulary really existed, and
the cause of this problem was due to students‟ limited reading in class as well as at
home.
Inspired by positive results in studies about extensive reading, the researcher
created a plan of action in which graded readers were used for extensive reading.

The action plan was implemented in 10 weeks‟ time. Then, the data were collected
from various sources, including questionnaires, a pre-test, a post-test and book
reports from students. The findings from the study showed that extensive reading
had a positive effect on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition and that there was a
significant change in the students‟ attitude towards extensive reading. Based on the
findings of the study, some discussion and limitations were presented along with
some important pedagogy of implications.

Despite the limitations, it is hoped that the study can be used as a reference
as well as a source of useful information for other teachers who wish to utilize
extensive reading in their class concrete context.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES ........................................................................vii
PART I: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1
1. Rationale of the study............................................................................................. 1
2. Aim of the study and research questions ................................................................ 3
3. Scope and significance of the Study ....................................................................... 3
4. Method of the Study ................................................................................................ 4
5. Design of the Study ................................................................................................. 4
PART II: DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................... 6
1.1.

Vocabulary ....................................................................................................... 6

1.1.1. The Notions of Vocabulary ............................................................................. 6
1.1.2. The place of vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning ............... 6
1.1.3. Approaches to Vocabulary Acquisition ........................................................... 7
1.2.

Extensive reading ............................................................................................. 8

1.2.1. Extensive reading and intensive reading ........................................................ 8
1.2.2. Definitions of extensive reading ...................................................................... 9
1.2.3. The basic principles of extensive reading ...................................................... 10
1.2.4 The relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension ............... 11
1.3.

Reading materials .......................................................................................... 12

1.3.1. Authentic materials ........................................................................................ 12
1.3.2. Simplified materials ....................................................................................... 13
1.4.

Graded readers ............................................................................................... 15

1.4.1. What are graded readers?............................................................................... 15
1.5.

Reading amount ............................................................................................. 16
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CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY .................................................................................. 18
2.1

Research Questions ........................................................................................ 18

2.2.

Description of Participants ............................................................................ 18

2.3.

Materials ........................................................................................................ 19

2.4.

Rationale for using action research................................................................ 19

2.5.

Data collection instrument ............................................................................. 21

2.5.1. Questionnaire ................................................................................................. 21
2.5.2. Book report .................................................................................................... 22
2.5.3. Tests ............................................................................................................... 22
2.5.4. Process of action research in this study ......................................................... 23
2.6.

Data analysis method ..................................................................................... 24

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .................. 26
3.1.

The students‟ vocabulary levels..................................................................... 26

3.1.1. Results from learners‟ survey questionnaire ................................................. 26
3.1.2. Results of the pre-test. ................................................................................... 31
3.1.3. Results of the post-test ................................................................................... 32
3.2.

Data collected from the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale ................................. 33

3.3.

Students‟ attitude towards extensive reading ........................................... 34

3.3.1. Data collected from the book report .......................................................... 34
3.3.2. The students‟ overall attitude toward reading materials ......................... 34
3.3.3. The students‟ opinions on the level of difficulty of reading material ... 36
3.3.4. Students‟ strategies to deal with new words ............................................ 38
3.4.

Data collected from attitude questionnaire .................................................... 40

3.5.

Discussion of research questions ................................................................... 42

3.5.1. Learners‟ vocabulary levels ........................................................................... 42
3.5.2. The reasons for their performance on the vocabulary test............................. 43

3.5.3. Positive effects of extensive reading on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition ... 43
3.5.4. Learners‟ attitude towards extensive reading ................................................ 44
3.5.5. Other findings from the project ..................................................................... 44

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PART III: CONCLUSION ..................................................................................... 45
1. Implications ........................................................................................................... 45
2. Limitations ............................................................................................................ 46
3. Conclusion............................................................................................................. 46
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 48
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE ............................................................. I
Appendix 2: PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA KHẢO SÁT ......................................................... III
Appendix 3: THE ATTITUDE QUESTIONAIRE .................................................... V
Appendix 4: THE ATTITUDE QUESTIONAIRE ...................................................VI
Appendix 5 : THE VOCABULARY PRE-TEST ................................................... VII
Appendix 6 : THE VOCABULARY POST-TEST................................................ VIII
Appendix 7: THE POST-TEST (second measure) .................................................... X
Appendix 8: BOOK REPORT ..............................................................................XIX
Appendix 9: The list of graded reading stories & articles students read in the project .... XXI
Appendix 10: The list of words marked YES, NS or NO in the pretest .............. XXII
Appendix 11: The list of words marked YES, NS or NO in the posttest ........... XXIII
Appendix 12: A sample of a lesson plan………………………………………. XXV

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LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES

Table 1.1: Number of word families at each graded reader level ............................. 15
Table 3.1: The students‟ self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge ............... 26
Table 3.2: Activities through which students learn English vocabulary most .......... 26
Table 3.3: Learners‟ solutions when meeting a new word ....................................... 27
Table 3.4: Students‟ opinions on the time for reading in class ................................. 28
Table 3.5: Students‟ opinion on the number of readings in their course book
in class ...................................................................................................................... 28
Table 3.6: Students‟ habits of reading materials in English outside classroom........ 28
Table 3.7: Reading topics chosen by the students .................................................... 29
Table 3.8: Students‟ attitude about being asked to read stories outside class........... 30
Table 3.9: The result of YES-marked words in the pre-test ..................................... 31
Table 3.10: The results of YES-marked words the post-test in terms of 20
additional words ...................................................................................................... 32
Table 3.11: Sample item requiring demonstration of word knowledge .................... 33
Table 3.12: An overview of descriptive statistics obtained from the
questionnaire responses ........................................................................................... 40
Figure 2.1: Action Research Cycle (McBride & Sckostak, 1989) ............................ 21
Figure 3.1: The students‟ overall attitude towards the reading materials ........ 35
Figure 3.2: Students‟ opinion on the level of difficulty of the reading
materials ................................................................................................................... 36

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PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Founded in 1996 with the original name of Hanoi Private University of
Management and Business, Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT)
has grown considerably in recent years and is becoming one of the most prestigious
private universities in Vietnam. At present, the university offers courses in three

educational levels: College, Bachelor and Master with 15 different academic areas
including Business Management, Trading Business, Tourism Business, Finance,
Banking, Accounting, Information Technology, and Architecture and so on. The
university continues to pursue the goal of providing its undergraduate and graduate
students with a practice-oriented education. Every graduate with an HUBT degree is
expected to master their professional knowledge, be proficient in using computer
and especially be able to communicate in English in daily life situations as well as
in business environment.
In order to meet the above demand, the university management board has put much
emphasis on the teaching and learning of English, which is one of the crucial factors
contributing to the success of both students and the university. Consequently,
HUBT spends a large volume of time teaching English for students from the first
year to the third year. The first-year students are expected to gain A2 level based on
the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) after finishing the second
term, before learning ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and TOEIC (Test of
English for International Communication). For this reason, the first year students
are required to learn at least 240 compulsory periods of English in the first and
second terms at the university. Every week, the students have eight periods of
English lessons; each is 45 minutes long. The major course book used for students
is Market leader (Elementary– 3rd edition by David Cotton, David Falvey and
Simon Kent, the 2013 edition). Each unit of the book includes a wide range of
activities: Vocabulary, Reading, Listening, Language review (Grammar) and Skills,
and Case study (Speaking).
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Among these activities, the researcher paid much attention to the Reading section
because in a recent conference of the English Department discussing the course
book Market leader Elementary, most of the English teachers teaching this material
agreed that the book is the most authentic and updated Business English materials

and it may meet the needs of teaching and learning English at HUBT to some
extent. However, only one or two short reading texts, which are about 100 – 300
words long with 10 – 15 new words are too few for students to read each week, so
the amount of vocabulary the students read is not sufficient for them to become
good readers. Therefore, it is necessary to provide students with more reading
materials to read, which helps the students not only develop reading habit but also
enhance their English vocabulary.
Based on the observation and experience from teaching English at HUBT, the
researcher found that many students have difficulties in expressing their own ideas
because of the English vocabulary deficiency even though they had learnt English
for at least three years at high schools prior to going to the university. Besides, after
discussions with other colleagues as well as learners, it seems that the students‟
shortage of vocabulary was due to the two following reasons: firstly, most of the
learners at HUBT usually have a habit of acquiring new vocabulary from short
passages in textbooks or from their teachers during classroom lessons. However,
these sources provide learners with only a small amount of vocabulary, which is not
enough for them to read well in English. Secondly, students‟ vocabulary learning
method is not very efficient. Learners only think of vocabulary learning as knowing
the primary meaning of new words, and they are not aware of all other functions of
the words. They only learn the Vietnamese translation of unfamiliar English lexical
items in isolation by writing on paper, trying to learn them by heart whereas the
vocabulary is difficult since most of them are business English. If they do not
develop a habit of learning vocabulary in contexts they may not to know how to use
vocabulary appropriately.

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In the process of trying different vocabulary teaching strategies and techniques, the
researcher found that reading is a suitable way for students to enhance their

vocabulary. As Lougheed (2008: 4) claims “One of the best ways to improve your
vocabulary is to read, and read often” The advantage of learning and enhancing
vocabulary through reading is that students can understand word meanings and can
use the words in concrete contexts. Moreover, the literature shows a positive role of
extensive reading in improving students‟ motivation to read and enriching
vocabulary acquisition (Horst, 2005: 356; Soltani: 2011: 61; Morgado, 2009: 31-32,
Pazhakh & Soltani, 2010: 387). In addition, extensive reading is still the missing
ingredient in the EFL context of HUBT.
From this real situation, the idea of applying extensive reading as a mean of
boosting students‟ vocabulary came to my mind. It led me to do this study entitled
“A study on improving first-year students‟ vocabulary through extensive reading at
Hanoi University of Business and Technology”. This study is expected to help my
students enrich their vocabulary.
2. Aim of the study and research questions
The research aims to find out whether extensive reading has good effects improving
first-year students‟ vocabulary at HUBT or not as well as the students‟ attitudes
toward the extensive reading activities. Especially, it is aimed at answering the
research questions as follows:
1. What are students’ vocabulary levels?
2. What are the reasons underlying their performance on the vocabulary test?
3. To what extent can extensive reading enhance students’ vocabulary acquisition?
4. What are the students’ attitudes toward the extensive reading activities in their
program?
3. Scope and significance of the Study
The present study was conducted on first-year students who were not specialized in
English. After 10 weeks of applying extensive reading, the researcher hoped that the
research would help to enhance the students‟ vocabulary knowledge and develop

3

their positive attitude towards extensive reading. If this research is successful, it will
significantly contribute to an improvement in teaching and learning English at
HUBT.
4. Method of the Study
To find the answers to the above research questions, an action research design has
been adopted.
- A survey questionnaire was used as an instrument to investigate students‟
vocabulary levels and their topics of interest.
- An attitude questionnaire was used to measure the effects of extensive
reading on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition as well as the learners‟ attitude towards
this activity.
- A vocabulary pretest and a vocabulary posttest were administered on 30
students to measure the differences in students‟ vocabulary acquisition.
- Eight book reports were used to monitor students‟ reading and examine how
the students liked the stories and articles, and how they dealt with the meanings of
new words. Every week, after reading two stories or articles the students were
required to complete a book report.
5. Design of the Study
This study is divided into three main parts. Each part deals with different aspects of
the study:
Part one presents an overview of the study in which the rationale for the research,
the aims, the research questions, the scope and significance of the study, the
research method as well as the design of the study are briefly presented.
Part two consists of three chapters.
Chapter one consists of a literature review in which the writer analyses some
general theories related to the importance of vocabulary and extensive reading.
Chapter two describes the research method, the rationale for the method and data
collection instruments. Detailed information about the participants of the study, the

4


design of questionnaire, the pretest and the posttest and the data collection
procedures are provided.
Chapter three presents significant findings of the study and discusses the results of
the study in relation to the research questions.
Part three includes some pedagogical implications and some limitations of the
study.

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PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1. Vocabulary
1.1.1. The Notions of Vocabulary
Linguists define vocabulary differently based on different criteria. The most
general one from Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied
Linguistics, (2002: 579) vocabulary is defined as “a set of lexemes, including
single words, compound words and idioms”.
Similar to the above notion, Penny (1996: 60) defines vocabulary as “the words
we teach in foreign language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more
than a single word: a compound of two or three words or multiword idioms”.
Nevertheless, Lewis (1993: 89) focuses on functions of vocabulary, according to
him vocabulary: “… may be individual words or full sentences – institutionalized
utterances – that convey fixed social or pragmatic meaning within a given
community”.
From these concepts of vocabulary, vocabulary can be understood as the total

number of all the words that a language possesses, including single words, two or
three word items expressing a single idea and multi-word idioms.
1.1.2. The place of vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning
Vocabulary is the smallest unit, yet the core of any language. If we do not have
words, we will not be able to communicate. As Wilkins (1972: 111) states, “without
grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”.
Wilkins also adds that learning all the structures but no vocabulary expansion
in courses can do no harm in the long term but in most situations, structure
and vocabulary are acquired together. It can be inferred from this that the
necessity and the role of vocabulary is paramount. Sharing this idea, Dellar and
Hocking believe that “if you spend most of your time studying grammar, your
English will not improve very much. You will see most improvement if you learn

6


more words and expressions. You can say very little with grammar, but you can say
almost everything with words” (cited in Thornbury, 2002: 13). Richards (1976: 77)
explains the role of vocabulary in terms of the nature of lexical competence
“knowing a word entails knowledge of the network of associations between
that word and other words in language”. Flower (2000: 5) claims that “words are the
most important things you can learn. English has the largest vocabulary in the
world. Grammar is important, but vocabulary is much more important.”
From the above views, it can be acknowledged that vocabulary learning is critical in
language acquisition. The learners must attain a certain level of vocabulary
knowledge in order to understand the written and spoken forms of the target
language. Second language learners are unable to understand and communicate in
the target language if they know nothing about its lexis.
1.1.3. Approaches to Vocabulary Acquisition
Incidental vocabulary acquisition and intentional vocabulary learning

Many linguists have stated their definitions of incidental vocabulary learning.
According to Nation (2001:134), incidental vocabulary learning is an important
strategy in vocabulary learning. It refers to the learning which occurs without
specific intention to focus on vocabulary. One can develop vocabulary knowledge
subconsciously while being engaged in any language activities, especially reading.
Nation (2001: 232) claims incidental learning is a by-product of learning something.
That means learners master vocabulary when they are involved in some learning
activities, such as reading, speaking, doing a task, and interacting with others.
Richards and Schmidt (2002: 252) also define that incidental learning is the process
of learning something without the intention of doing so. It is also learning one thing
while intending to learn another.
Incidental vocabulary learning motivates learners in extensive reading. It involves
learners' ability to guess the meaning of new words from the contextual clues.
Incidental learning occurs more frequently through extensive reading in input-rich
environments (Coady, 2001, as cited in Ahmad, 2011: 67). According Ahmad

7


(2011: 67) incidental vocabulary promotes deeper mental processing and better
retention. The learners get themselves fully involved in the process of deciphering
the meaning through the clues available in the text. They think and rethink about the
new words involving cognitive process which helps the learners retain the words for
a longer period of time. Cognitive process includes both receptive and productive
aspects of vocabulary. Learners understand not only the meanings in the given text
but the related grammatical patterns, common lexical sets and typical association of
the word with the context.
On the other hand, intentional learning of vocabulary is the method of learning
vocabulary by using tools to bring the learner‟s attention into direct contact with the
form and meaning of words, such as dictionaries, vocabulary lists, and direct

vocabulary explanation. Intentional learning is quick and usually preferred by
learners, but it also causes some problems. Learners often encounter vocabulary in
an isolated form and remain incapable of using it correctly in context (Ellis, 1999,
as cited in Shokouhi, 2009: 14).
Ahmad (2011: 68) claims intentional vocabulary learning based on synonyms,
antonyms, word substitution, multiple choice, scrambled words and crossword
puzzles, regardless of context. In addition, students often cram the meaning of the
new words without undergoing cognitive process. Moreover, when students learn
vocabulary in this way, they are more prone to rote learning. Therefore, a very few
words learned through this method get transformed into active process.
1.2. Extensive reading
1.2.1. Extensive reading and intensive reading
Reading is classified in many different ways. In terms of the scope and objects of
this study, only intensive and extensive types of reading are focused on.
According to Dawson (1984: 43), students reading intensively look at every word,
take notice of punctuation, sentences and paragraphs, as well as understand the
grammar. Intensive reading is often used as an exercise to teach the students new
vocabulary as well as present and/or practice the rules of the English language.

8


Most textbook readings have, until recently, been intensive. Intensive reading is
also called “reading for accuracy” and is described as a detailed study of text
designed to train students in reading strategies such as skimming or scanning.
(Nuttall, 1982: 23) regards, in intensive reading, students read and often translate
fairly short, difficult foreign language texts with the teacher‟s close guidance.
Teachers in their reading lessons usually use short texts of about one or two pages at
the maximum and a range of activities is used before, during and also after reading.
Exercises such as true/false comprehension questions or arranging information are

used.
While intensive reading focuses on individual words and sentences, extensive
reading stresses overall understanding. Compared to intensive reading, students read
a relatively large amount of generally simpler materials while enjoying reading, and
are not required to demonstrate a detailed understanding of materials through
translation exercises or comprehension questions. Extensive reading is intended to
develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structures,
and to encourage a liking for reading (Nation, 2001: 232, Loucky, 2003, as cited in
Pazhakh & Soltani, 2010: 389).
1.2.2. Definitions of extensive reading
Jacobs and Renandya (1999: 91-92) define extensive reading as the reading of large
quantities of material for information or pleasure. In extensive reading, the
immediate focus is on the content being read, rather than on language skills. Many
names have been given to ER programs, including Book Flood, Uninterrupted
Sustained Silent Reading (USSR), Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Silent
Uninterrupted Reading for Fun (SURF), and Extensive Reading and Information
Literacy (ERIL).
According to Harmer (2003, as cited in Ahmad, 2001: 67) “extensive reading is a
pleasurable reading situation where a teacher encourages students to choose what
they want to read for themselves from reading materials at a level they can
understand”. It means that readers can choose what they want to read according to

9


their interests. Reading materials should be of a level that learners are able to read
and understand the text without difficulty. While Richards and Schmidt (2002, cited
in Yamashita, 2008: 661-662) claim that extensive reading is a form of reading
instruction. Its definition and purpose are expressed as follows: „„extensive reading
means reading in quantity and in order to gain a general understanding of what is

read. It is intended to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of
vocabulary and structure, and to encourage a liking for reading.”
From Day and Bamford‟s (1997: 7) point of view, extensive reading is “an
approach to learning to read a second language, extensive reading may be done in
and out of the classroom. Outside the classroom, extensive reading is encouraged by
allowing students to borrow books to take home and read. In the classroom, it
requires a period of time, at least 15 minutes or so to be set aside for sustained
silent reading, which is for students – and perhaps the teacher as well – to read
individually anything they wish to.”
From the above mentioned definitions, it can be seen that extensive reading is an
approach to language teaching in which learners read a large amount of materials in
a new language. They choose their own reading material and read it independently
of the teacher. They read for general, overall meaning, and they read for
information and enjoyment.
1.2.3. The basic principles of extensive reading
Day and Bamford (1998:136-141) presents ten characteristics that are found in
successful extensive reading programs. Dealing with the nature of extensive reading
and the conditions and methodology necessary for its success, the ten characteristics
are also offered as “Top Ten Principles for Teaching Extensive Reading”.
1. The reading material is easy.
2. A variety of materials on a wide range of topics is available.
3. Students select what they want to read.
4. Students read as much as possible.

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5. The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and
general understanding.
6. Reading is its own reward.

7. Reading speed is usually faster 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.
In the list above, the writers have addressed five important issues in extensive
reading, namely reading materials, reading amount, reading purpose, reading speed,
and the role of the reader and the language teacher. Although all the principles
regarding these issues are important and should be applied in an extensive reading
program, teachers are advised to consider situations and apply these principles
flexibly.
1.2.4 The relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension
“Vocabulary is important in reading comprehension because vocabulary knowledge
is part of background knowledge. The more words the readers know, the easier they
will understand what they read” (Chou, 2011:100). That is, the greater number of words
a reader knows, the greater the speed at which a person is able to comprehend a
particular written text, which leads to a greater sense of personal accomplishment.
This sense of accomplishment may likely motivate the person to read more, which,
in turn, causes him/her to encounter and acquire more words. Stoller and Grabe
(1993: 30) comment “…vocabulary development must be viewed as both a cause
and a consequence of reading abilities.” Kazakh and Soltani (2010: 388) argue that
it is clear that comprehension is one of the most fundamental reasons for reading,
and vocabulary, in turn, plays a significant part in comprehension. Vocabulary
clearly makes a critical contribution to understanding what has been read.
The particular relationship between vocabulary knowledge and language skills is
beyond any doubt. Especially, vocabulary has a close relationship with reading
skills which in turn have an interconnection with reading comprehension. This

11

relationship seems logical because of the fact that students get meaning from what
they read, they also need both many words in their vocabulary repertoire and ability
to use various techniques to understand the meanings of new words when they
encounter them. It is the case that most of the weak students who do not have
enough vocabulary or effective word-meaning strategies often struggle to achieve
comprehension in reading. Also, as they do not have sufficient word knowledge to
understand what they read, they often avoid reading. As a result, the students who
do not read much do not have the opportunity to see and learn many new words in
various contexts, but the students who read more can become better readers and
gain more words. Their reading comprehension skills, in consequences, are
gradually improved.
In conclusion, the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension is integrated. Reading improves vocabulary knowledge and
vocabulary knowledge supports reading development. In other words, “vocabulary
knowledge is normally major vehicle for successful reading” (Coady and Huckin,
1997, as cited in Kazakh and Soltani (2010: 388).
1.3. Reading materials
Reading materials that can be used in an extensive reading program can be divided
into two groups: authentic and simplified.
1.3.1. Authentic materials
Authentic texts have been defined as “…real-life texts, not written for pedagogic
purposes, they are therefore written for native speakers and contain “real” language.
They are materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purpose in the
language community.” (Peacock, 1997, cited in Berardo, 2006: 61).

Nuttall

(1996:172) remarks “authentic texts can be motivating because they are proof that
the language is used for real-life purposes by real people.”
Most educators seem to mean that by “authentic” anything written for an first

language audience. These materials are used in language teaching “because they are

12


considered interesting, engaging, culturally enlightening, relevant, motivating, and
the best preparation for reading authentic texts” (Day & Barmford, 1998: 54).
According to Berardo (2006: 60), one of the main reasons for using authentic
materials in the classroom is once outside the “safe”, controlled language learning
environment; the learner will not encounter artificial language. Another advantage
of using authentic materials is that they allow students to meet language as it is used
in real life. Moreover, the sources of authentic materials that can be used in the
classroom are infinite; the most common are newspapers, magazines, TV programs,
movies, songs and literature.
On the other hand, authentic materials are usually thought to be discouraging and
difficult to read for language learners and thus such materials are considered not
useful rather than useful for those learners. Williams (1984:25) notes the
disadvantages of using authentic texts such as lack of adequate copying facilities
and its being very difficult for lower levels. Sharing this idea (Richard 2000, as
cited in Berardo, 2006: 65) points out that difficult language, unneeded vocabulary
items and complex language structures that authentic materials often contain cause a
burden for the teacher in lower-level classes.
From the above views, it is clear that authentic texts are interesting but these
materials are so challenging for low level learners. For the learners simple language
is most of the times preferable. Therefore it is necessary to be clear about what is
meant by simplified texts. Simplified materials will be discussed in the next part.
1.3.2. Simplified materials
Hill and Thomas (1988: 44 -54) point out simplified materials are texts written
originally for second language learners. Here the texts are written in a simple way in
terms of vocabulary and structure according to students‟ linguistic levels, these

simplified materials are controlled for vocabulary difficulty, grammatical structure,
sentence length and complexity, and information density. They also emphasize that
“the vocabulary must be ninety percent within learners‟ understanding, the syntax
and sentence structure must be familiar, the information must not be too dense, and

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the meaning must be made explicit, especially at the lower levels”. The assumption
is that such materials will allow low- level learners to read easily without struggling
to get the general meaning of what they read. Nation and Ming-tzu (1999: 356)
argue that without simplified materials low proficiency-level learners would not be
able to experience reading in a second language at a level of comfort and fluency
approaching first language reading.
According to Day (2005: 10 -21) simplified and authentic materials are good
materials for teaching beginning and intermediate students how to read in a foreign
language. In addition, simplified materials are short, and the beginning levels have
illustrations as an aid in comprehension. The strength of simplified materials for
beginners is that the font size is generally a bit larger than normal, which helps
comprehension.
However, simplified reading materials have also been criticized by some educators
in relation to extensive reading. As Nuttall (1996: 178) writes, "However good a
simplification is something is always lost; this is why some teachers refuse to use
simplified versions". Sharing this idea, Nation and Ming-tzu (1999: 356) explain
there are some writers who see no place for simplified reading materials of the kind
that is founded in graded readers. They consider that the simplification results in
distorted language that is not suitable for learners.
From the above views, it is clear that simplified and authentic materials have a
significant role in the development of reading skill of language learners when they
are used at suitable levels and for suitable purposes. Using authentic texts with

beginning students can impede foreign language reading development because of
their linguistic difficulty and complexity but using these materials allows students to
meet language as it is used in real life. Whereas, the simplified materials are made
easy in order to improve learners reading fluency and confidence. Considering the
general reasons for using literature in language teaching to become better readers,
language acquisition and success, it is recommended to use both types of materials
in language teaching. (Nuttall, 1996, as cited in Benettayeb, 2010: 27).

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1.4. Graded readers
1.4.1. What are graded readers?
Graded readers are short books of fiction and non-fiction which are graded
structurally and lexically (Bamford 1984:218), that is, they are controlled in terms
of vocabulary and grammar and are grouped for particular age groups from primary
(age 8) to adult (over 16).
According to Richards and Schmidt (2002: 230), graded readers are “a text written
for children learning their mother tongue, or for second or foreign language
learners, in which the language content is based on a language grading scheme. A
graded reader may use a restricted vocabulary or a set of grammatical structures”.
Hedge (1985: 2) emphasizes that the language of a graded readers is controlled with
an increasing range of vocabulary. She follows this with the notion that graded
readers will be very useful if the teacher is able to exploit them completely
to develop language learning both in and out of the classroom as it meets the
learner's need.
Graded readers are divided into different levels of difficulty, graded by a number of
word families; a word family consists of a headword, grammatical structure and
syntax. The level for adult learners usually covers a range beginning at around 200500 headwords and goes up to 2,000- 3,000 headwords (Nation and Ming-tzu, 1999:
358). Notice that Level 1 assumes knowledge of 530 words. Level 2 introduces

another 341 words making a total Level 2 vocabulary of 871.
Table 1.1: Number of word families at each graded reader level
Level
1
2
3
4
5
6

Word families introduced at each
level
530
341
320
296
459
464

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Cumulative total of word families at
each level
530
871
1191
1487
1946
2410

To many language teachers and learners, graded readers are an attractive option for
several reasons. Graded readers not only offer controlled, systematic, and
comprehensive development of vocabulary and grammar but they also cater for the
different interests and levels. However, there exist some objections to graded
readers as well. As Nation (2005:17) noted, some teachers and researchers see
graded readers as “being unauthentic, watered-down versions of richer original
texts” and “vocabulary simplification is also seen to result in more complicated
grammar.” These concerns over graded readers should also be considered when
choice of the use of graded readers is made.
1.5. Reading amount
The amount of reading is one of the most critical factors in extensive reading, as
extensive reading is based on the theory of comprehensible input proposed by
Krashen (1985:12) who stressed that large amounts of language input within a
learners‟ comprehension ability are required if that learner is to make progress in a
new language. Despite the importance of the reading amount, researchers and
teachers have not reached an agreement in how much reading is enough. Nation and
Wang (as cited in Nation, 2005: 16-17) reached six conclusions regarding
vocabulary development with graded Readers.
1. Learners should read at least one graded reader every week, no matter what
level they are reading at.
2. Learners should read five books at a level before moving to books at the next
level.
3. Learners should read more books at the later levels than the earlier.
4. Learners should read at least 15-20 readers in a year.
5. Learners may need to directly study the new vocabulary at the earlier levels or
at least make use of a dictionary when starting to read books at a particular
level.

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