the importance of learning English

1.Extensivereadingcanprovide“comprehensibleinput”.Krashen(1982)arguesthatoneofthekeyelementsinlanguagelearningis“comprehensibleinput”,amongwhichhelistsextensivereading.Hearguesthatextensivereadingwillleadtolanguageacquisition,providedthatthetextsincludeadequateexposuretothelanguage,interestingmaterial,andarelaxedlearningenvironment.Krashenandothersemphasizethatthequalityofthelanguagetowhichthelearnersareexposedisveryimportantiftheyaretolearnfromtheinput.Elley(1991)notestheexistenceof“anexposuregap”betweenL1learnersandL2learners,andreportsonanumberofrelevantstudies,showingthatchildrenbetween6and12yearsofageprovidedwithextensivereadingmaterialsshowedrapidgrowthinlanguagedevelopmentcomparedwithothergroups.2Extensivereadingcanenhancelearners’generallanguagecompetence.Thereismuchevidencetosupportthisview.Forexample,thebookfloodprojectinFijirevealedsignificantimprovementsinwordrecognitionandreadingcomprehensionafterthefirstyear;aftertwoyears,widergainswererecordedinbothoralskillsandwriting.(ElleyandManghubai1983).ThestudiescitedbyElley(op.cit)indicated“aspreadofeffectfromreadingcompetencetootherlanguageskillswriting,speaking,andcontroloversyntax.”SimilarpointsaremadebyGrabe(1991)andParan(1996).MostrelevantinChinaperhapsisthestudybyTsang(1996)insecondaryschoolsinHongKong.3Extensivereadingcanenhancestudents’generalknowledge.Whiledevelopingthewidely-usedseriesJuniorandSeniorEnglishforChina,LiuDaoyireportedthattimeandagain,oneofthekeymotivatingfactorsinEnglishclassroomswasthedesiretoincreasethestudents’knowledgeoftheworld,(LiuDaoyi,personalcommunication).Thesameappliestonon-EnglishmajorsinCollege,whohavecomparativelylittleintrinsicinterestinlearningEnglish.OneofthemostpopularelementsinActiveEnglish,theseriesthisauthorwasinvolvedin,wasthe“Enrichmentreading”component.Studentsreportedthattheylikedthetextsprovidedbecausetheywereinteresting,authentic,and“enableustolearnabouttheworld.”(GuYueguo,personalcommunication.)4ExtensivereadingmotivateslearnerstoreadMotivationscancomefrommanysources:thedesireforgeneralknowledgeisonefthem,buttheintrinsicinterestofthetextsisanother.StudentsinChinagreatlyvalueauthenticity,soifthetextiswrittenbyanativespeakeringoodcontemporaryEnglish,thatinitselfcanbeabigdraw.Theissueofmotivationhasalargeliteraturewhichcannotbeexploredfullyatthistime.Bell’saccountofworkinYemen(Bell1998)providessomegoodevidenceofhowwell-chosenbookscanmotivatereaders,thoughthestudentsthemselveswereinanolderage-group(17–42)..MorerelevantisaverygoodSouthEastAsiancasestudyreportedinBellandCampbell(1996,1997).5ExtensivereadingconsolidatesandincreasesknowledgeofvocabularyAstudybyNagyandHerman(1987)claimsthatchildrenbetweengrades3and12intheUnitedStateslearnupto3000wordsayear.Clearly,thesewordsaresimply,notformallytaughtinclass:theyarelearntbyacquisition,largelyifnotexclusivelythroughreading.ItspossiblethatthetimewespendteachingnewvocabularyinChinamaybetosomeextentbetterspentbysimplyaskingourstudentstoread!Itisalsothecasethatextensivereadingcanconsolidatevocabularyandlanguageformsalreadytreatedintheclassroom.Inthepast,theemphasishastraditionallybeenplacedongradedreaders,whichhaveacontrolledgrammaticalandlexicalload,andthesecertainlyhavetheadvantageofprovidingregularrepetitionandreinforcementoflanguageforms.(WodinskyandNation1988).However,thedevelopmentofthe“realbooks”movement,particularlyintheUK,hasledinrecentyearstoanincreasedemphasison“real”bookswritteninauthenticEnglish,ratherthanthepre-digested,controlledreadingdietofferedbytraditionalgradedreadingschemes.Othershaveattemptedtoarriveatacompromise–realbookswritteninauthenticEnglishroughlytunedtothelikelylanguagelevelofthereaders.Grading,ifitoccurs,isasmuchfocusedoninterestlevelsandrelevancetothestudents,ratherthanlanguageforms.ThischaracterizestheapproachusedbythelatestseriespublishedbythePeople’sEducationPressandHongKongCommercialPress.(PEPUPYEseries2002).AnaddedimpetustothisapproachisprovidedbytheincreasingvariationsineducationalpolicyacrossChina,bothwithinandbeyondprovincesandautonomousregions,aslocalcurriculuminitiativesmakeitincreasinglydifficulttoadjustlanguagelevelstotargetedsegmentsofthestudentpopulation.6ExtensivereadingcanleadtoimprovementsinwritingKrashen(1984)reviewsanumberofstudiesinanL1learningenvironmenttosupportthisview,butmorerelevantinChinaarestudiesofL2learners.RobbandSusser(1989)foundthatextensivereadingseemstoledtoanimprovementinJapanesehighschoollearnerswritingskills,andHafizandTudor(1989)reachedsimilarconclusionsinstudiescarriedoutintheUKandPakistan.7ExtensivereadingcandevelopautonomouslearningTheclassroomfocusesinevitablyonshortertexts,andextensivereadingprovideslearnerswiththeopportunityofreadinglongertexts,onmorevariedsubjects,ontheirown,andintheirownway.Thisisaveryimportantaspectofextensivereading:studentsdoneedtobeliberatedfromdependenceontheteacher,andreadinggivesthemtheopportunitytodoso.ManyofourstudentsgoonfromSeniorMiddleSchooltoformaloninformallearningsituations,wheretheymayhavetostudyextensivelyontheirown.Extensivereadingcangivethemtheconfiden