| Abstract: | This study explored the effect of extensive reading on vocabulary learning in an American Literature class to see what vocabulary learning strategies were implemented by learners, what factors motivated students to read extensively, and what obstacles they encountered.
The research method used was a combination of a questionnaire survey, classroom observation, and in-depth interviews. Subjects participating in this study were recruited from one senior class in the Foreign Languages and Literature Department of one university in central Taiwan. There are 56 participants in the present study: 14 males and 42 females. The researcher first analyzes the differences in the questionnaire responses, then those in the vocabulary size test, both before and after the research, the recordings of the classes, and the interview data. The major findings of the study are summarized as follows:
1. Low achievers tended to use vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) more often than high achievers did.
2. High and low achievers both favored such strategies as “verbal or written repetition,” “representing sounds in memory,” “using bilingual or monolingual dictionaries,” “using English-language media, ” “guessing from textual context,” and “studying the spelling of a word” in vocabulary learning.
3. The strategy “skipping or passing new words” was negatively and significantly correlated with their achievement of the course.
4. There was an important, strong, and positive relationship between the achievement score of the course and students’ vocabulary size.
5. The participants in the study showed significantly higher frequency use of such strategies as “grouping words together to study them,” “elaborating the words meaning,” “using new words in sentences,” “analyzing parts of speech,” “using L1 cognate,” and “writing a learning diary.”
6. The most frequently mentioned difficulty while reading English materials was vocabulary. Grammar barrier occupied the second place.
7. Most subjects in the current study believe that extensive reading can improve their vocabulary size. The findings of this study have the following pedagogical implications for EFL teachers in Taiwan: (a) English teachers should introduce more and overall VLS to students; (b) English teachers should pay more attentions to the students’ reading difficulties and help them to solve the difficulties; (c) English teachers should provide more strategies suitable for different reading materials, and teach the students the ways of using learning strategies to trigger their learning. |
