Extensive Reading: Why Aren't We All Doing It?

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511667190.041

Chapter 28 - Extensive Reading: Why Aren't We All Doing It?

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2010

Willy A. Renandya and

George M. Jacobs

Edited by

Jack C. Richards and

Willy A. Renandya

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Jack C. Richards: Affiliation:
Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Language Centre (RELC), Singapore
Willy A. Renandya: Affiliation:
Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Language Centre (RELC), Singapore

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Applied linguists have in recent years begun to move away from a preoccupation with the best methods of language teaching to a view that seeks to better understand the nature of language learning and teaching. Rather than introducing new methods of teaching, they are now more concerned with describing language pedagogy that is based on a principled understanding of second language learning. Brown (Chapter 1 of this volume) and Kumaravadivelu (1994), for example, have proposed a set of teaching/learning principles to which any good language pedagogy should conform. Examples of these principles include providing a rich linguistic environment, respecting and capitalizing on learners' contribution to the learning process, and emphasizing fluency over, but not at the expense of, accuracy (see Richards, Chapter 14 of this volume).

Extensive reading (ER), with its emphasis on encouraging learners to read self-selected, large amounts of meaningful language, fits well with current principles for good second and foreign language pedagogy (Grabe, Chapter 26 of this volume; Day & Bamford, 1998). In this paper, we briefly describe what ER is, how it is different from intensive reading, what its learning benefits can be for students, and what theories underpin ER. The paper also discusses some of the reasons why many teachers are still not implementing ER.

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Type: Chapter
Information: Methodology in Language Teaching
An Anthology of Current Practice
, pp. 295 - 302

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667190.041 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2002

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References

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