Integrating Extensive Reading and Reading Circles in ESL.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

Abstract

Reading is one of the most important academic skills that enables students to learn new information, and find about different perspectives and interpretations. Fluency in reading is crucial to the students’ academic performance in their content subjects, as they need to read the lengthy prose in text books related to their majors. Students’ inability to read may often lead to their failure in their academic areas. Moreover, ESL learners need to be able to communicate with others through an authentic atmosphere that motivates them to use the language freely with no constraints. Extensive reading (ER) and reading circles (RC) are closely connected. While the former can be defined as reading great amounts of information on a wide range of topics for pleasure and general understanding (Day and Bamford 2002), the latter is to have the same readers sit in groups (circles) to discuss, analyse and answer questions related to the material that was read. This article proposes setting up a reading program that integrates extensive reading (ER) with reading circles (RC) to improve second language fluency.

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