The impact of extensive reading (ER) program on the writing skill, Vocabulary acquisition, and motivation : An experimental research.

النوع : Mémoire

This study attempted to explore the effect of implementing extensive reading (ER) as a complementary program in EFL classes—particularly grade seven—on learners’ writing abilities and writing quality. It also examined ER influence on vocabulary knowledge and size, as well as on the learners’ motivation and attitudes toward reading and writing in the foreign language. This experimental study was conducted in a private school in Beirut (Students’ Paradise) on two groups of seven graders—62 students of mixed language abilities—during the academic year 2013-2014. The first group was the experimental group (N= 32) that had received the treatment or the extensive reading program, while the second group was the control group (N= 30) that was taught traditionally. The students in the experimental group read extensively in English for pleasure for a whole semester in addition to their regular L2 classes that were usually addressing all the language skills. To answer the research questions, this study employed a mixed design that included both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data from the results of pre- and post-tests, questionnaires and interviews were analyzed to come out with evidence on the benefits of applying ER program. The results of the pre-tests showed that the two groups were homogeneous with no differences between their scores. However, the findings from the post-treatment test scores and student’s survey questionnaire revealed significant differences and positive effects of ER on the learners’ literacy development in general, and on their writing quality, vocabulary acquisition, and motivation to read and write in the target language. There was significance and a strong correlation between the independent variable (ER) and the improvement and gains in the subjects’ writing quality on the levels of language use and vocabulary knowledge, as well as positive gains in motivation toward reading and writing in the target language. Therefore, the results give useful pedagogical implications for EFL classrooms and indicate that the interrelationship between reading and writing should be enhanced and that ER illustrates the most important manifestation of this relationship. Teachers, students, and curriculum designers might benefit from the findings and the recommendations of this study by integrating ER into the EFL syllabus to benefit from its positive effects on various linguistic, cognitive, and affective levels.