REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction
Reading is one of the basic skills in language learning and teaching. Chastain (1988) stated that second and foreign language students need to read large quantities of authentic materials in order to be able to read for communication. Reading is a crucially important language skill. Its importance is much more felt in today’s life than in any time in human history. Thanks to the great improvements in technology, we are being exposed to a vast body of knowledge via internet and in order to understand this knowledge and get advantage of that students need to be proficient readers (Browning, 2003). One of the demanding areas of research in TEFL is on the mismatch that sometimes exists between classroom contexts and the authentic ones related to the natural situations outside the language classroom (Brown, 2000). Clearly, instruction plays an important role in the learner's success; however, the classroom content needs to be the representation of the real content out of the class to which the students will frequently be exposed to in their real life encounters. Reading comprehension is a complicated process of comprehending a piece of text and then constructing its meaning. To read fluently and with comprehension, students must successfully combine a number of reading sub-skills, pre-requisites for successful reading. In addition to the concept of print, alphabetic awareness, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, syntactic awareness and semantic knowledge they need to understand how texts in English are organized according to their purpose, that is, discourse awareness. Decoding English does not automatically bring comprehension, and the point of reading is to understand what is read. For such a purpose, students need good general language comprehension, with adequate semantic, syntactic and discourse knowledge to draw upon to enable reading with meaning. When discussing “the text” and the semiotic dimensions of the text-work, there seem to be some salient factors which affect reading broadly, such as: real teaching context, the readers' schemata or background knowledge, their level of language proficiency and also the students’ cultural beliefs about reading.
In the last decade, a vast body of research has been focused on the importance of knowing and applying reading strategies by the second language learners. They have been of interest for their importance in reading classes where the language learners tend to manage their interaction with the written text and try to comprehend that written discourse as much as possible. In order to have accuracy and fluency, second language learners need to work at perfecting both their bottom- up and top-down skills that are strategies to help readers not only recognize but also interpret the written text. To read efficiently, there should be constant interaction between the top-down and bottom-up processes. Such a reading is accurate and fluent reading. Fluent reading involves first decoding the information and then relating it to the prior knowledge for better comprehension. Grabe (1988) believes that in interactive models of reading all the four skills at all levels are at work. They interact and are available to the reader in the process of reading and comprehending the text. In such a model, a good reader is the one who is able both to decode and interpret the text. As the reader develops his reading skill, the decoding skills become more automatic but they are still important in the interpretation of the text (Eskey, 1988). According to Rumelhart(1977) and Stanovich(1980), not only what is on the written text is important but also what the reader adds to the text by using the top-down and bottom-up processes to manage reading the text. Carrell(1988) states that emphasizing either of the two processes at the cost of ignoring the other one will lead the second language learners to reading difficulties. Many pedagogy experts accept and popularize the important role of the background knowledge and pre-reading activities to activate it, (Aebersold& Field, 1997). However, some researchers have a different point of view. Many research studies have been done on the important role of vocabulary knowledge and reading strategies in reading to define these strategies (Urquhart & Weir, 1998). It is necessary to mention that there has been lack of agreement among methodologists over a clear classification of reading strategies. Also important to mention that the findings of many experimental research studies show a positive relationship between reading comprehension and the application of reading strategies in reading classes. In this relation we need to highlight the research on the utilization of reading strategies in reading classes that proved to have significant positive impact on the students’ reading comprehension (Grover, Kullberg &Strawser, 1999). Considering the vast body of research in second language reading, we can realize the significance of the reading skills in academic reading contexts (Grabe, 1991). Also, it has always been stressed in many research studies that the ability to read and interpret reading texts is a major academic skill that ESL/EFL university students need to acquire (Levine, Ferenz&Reves, 2000). As mentioned before, recognizing the written words in a text as an efficient, quick, and automatic lower-level reading process is a basic requirement for successful reading comprehension although it does not seem to be the only foundation of such a reading. Some researchers claim that a number of higher-order comprehension skills like inference-making, predicting and monitoring the ongoing reading comprehension activity, along with the reader’s background knowledge greatly influence the whole process of reading comprehension performance (Carrell & Eisterhold, 1988; Anderson & Pearson, 1984). Willingham (2006) states that when reader connects the new information with what he already knows, the learning occurs. Developing reading comprehension skills, that is, ability to understand the written text takes time and requires patience and practice as stated in Reading Rockets (2009).
2.2 Benefits of Extensive Reading
1. Mental Stimulation
Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, since keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power.
Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation.
2. Stress Reduction
No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will distract you and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.
3. Knowledge
Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.
Additionally, here’s a bit of food for thought: should you ever find yourself in dire circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.
4. Vocabulary Expansion
This goes with the above topic: The more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary. Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem. It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.
Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.
5. Memory Improvement
When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvellous things and can remember these things with relative ease.
Amazingly enough, every new memory you create forges new synapses (brain pathways)[3] and strengthens existing ones, which assists in short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods.[4] How cool is that?
6. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills
Have you ever read an amazing mystery novel, and solved the mystery yourself before finishing the book? If so, you were able to put critical and analytical thinking to work by taking note of all the details provided and sorting them out to determine “whodunnit”.
That same ability to analyze details also comes in handy when it comes to critiquing the plot; determining whether it was a well-written piece, if the characters were properly developed, if the storyline ran smoothly, etc.
Should you ever have an opportunity to discuss the book with others, you’ll be able to state your opinions clearly, as you’ve taken the time to really consider all the aspects involved.
7. Improved Focus and Concentration
In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a million different directions at once as we multi-task through every day. In a single 5-minute span, the average person will divide their time between working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people (via gchat, skype, etc.), keeping an eye on twitter, monitoring their smartphone, and interacting with co-workers. This type of ADD-like behaviour causes stress levels to rise, and lowers our productivity.
When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing. Try reading for 15-20 minutes before work (i.e. on your morning commute, if you take public transit), and you’ll be surprised at how much more focused you are once you get to the office.
8. Better Writing Skills
This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary:
Exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work.
In the same way that musicians influence one another and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.
9. Tranquility
In addition to the relaxation that accompanies reading a good book, it’s possible that the subject you read about can bring about immense inner peace and tranquility. Reading spiritual texts can lower blood pressure and bring about an immense sense of calm, while reading self-help books has been shown to help people suffering from certain mood disorders and mild mental illnesses.
10. Free Entertainment
Though many of us like to buy books so we can annotate them and dog-ear pages for future reference, they can be quite pricey. For low-budget entertainment, you can visit your local library and bask in the glory of the countless tomes available there for free. Libraries have books on every subject imaginable, and since they rotate their stock and constantly get new books, you’ll never run out of reading materials. If you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have a local library, or if you’re mobility-impaired and can’t get to one easily, most libraries have their books available in PDF or ePub format so you can read them on your e-reader, iPad, or your computer screen.
There are also many sources online where you can download free e-books, so go hunting for something new to read! There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination.
Step away from your computer for a little while, crack open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.
2.3 The Concept of Reading and Reading Skills
Reading is the term used to refer to a deliberate looking at, and understanding written language (Willians in Kalindi, 2005). Reading is the process shaped partly by the text, partly by the reader’s background and partly by the situation the reader occurs in (Hunt, 2004). On the other hand, reading skills are the cognitive process that a reader uses in making sense of a text (Beatrice, 2008). Reading skills is therefore concerned with all the processes involved in an attempt to ease reading as well as comprehend the content. A large portion of write up could be understood within the shortest possible time, if appropriate reading skills were employed (Allan & Edward, 1980). Royal, (2015) holds that reading skills may include letter and sight word recognition, knowing letter sounds, and combinations of letter sounds, as well as what happens when all those sounds blend together.
2.4 Rationale for Teaching Reading Skills
The National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLR), (2004) outlines some goals of teaching reading skills, thus:
They develop students' awareness of the reading process and reading strategies by asking students to think and talk about how they read in their native language.
They allow students to practice the full repertoire of reading strategies by using authentic reading tasks. They encourage students to read to learn (and have an authentic purpose for reading) by giving students some choice of reading material.
When working with reading tasks in class, they show students the strategies that will work best for the reading purpose and the type of text. They explain how and why students should use the strategies.
They have students practice reading strategies in class and ask them to practice outside of class in their reading assignments. They encourage students to be conscious of what they're doing while they complete reading assignments.
They encourage students to evaluate their comprehension and self-report their use of strategies. They build comprehension checks into in-class and out-of-class reading assignments, and periodically review how and when to use particular strategies.
They encourage the development of reading skills and the use of reading strategies by using the target language to convey instructions and course-related information in written form: office hours, homework assignments, test content.
They do not assume that students will transfer strategy use from one task to another. They explicitly mention how a particular strategy can be used in a different type of reading task or with another skill (NCLR, 2004). Types of Reading Skills Categorizations of reading skills depends on factors considered in the context of reading. However, there are different ways of categorizing reading skills (Maija, 2012). Nonetheless, several scholars and writers have given different categories of reading skills (see, Carl, 1976; Allan & Edward, 1980; Beatrice, 2008; Maija, 2012; Marcia, 2013; John, 2013; Army & Terry, 2016).
2.5 Types of reading skills
Skimming: This is sometimes refers to as gist reading. It is the process of reading quickly by skipping some portions of the write-up, thus concentrating only on main points.
Scanning: This is getting one’s eyes quickly scuttling across sentences or paragraphs looking for a piece a pieces or of information.
Intensive Reading: Reading here is done with the intention of mastering and retention of information for a long period. Knowledge resulted from this type of reading persists in one’s long-term memory.
Extensive Reading: This is mostly reading for pleasure (Carl, 2012). It is reading of high amount of interested materials, usually out of class (Allan & Edward, 1980; Long and Richard, 1987; Karl, 2012). Stages in Reading Development Kemba, (2005) outlines the stages of reading development as follows: i) The pre-reading stage ii) Beginning reading stage iii) Developing reading fluency stage iv) Increasing reading ability and developing of reading interest of students v) Enhancing and refining reading skills (Kemba, 2005). Challenges Faced by Teachers in Teaching Reading Skills in Secondary Schools In virtually every class, there could be a learner with learning difficulty. Sometimes, teachers even come across students who (the students) believed they cannot read. Moreover, teachers have been working under difficult circumstances, as too many students in a class and poor students’ attendance among others, are issues in Nigerian secondary schools since time immemorial. Furthermore, the shortage of teaching and learning materials is a challenge to teaching reading skills in secondary schools. (Kalindi, 2005; Linda, 2013). Categorically therefore, the challenges faced by teachers teaching reading skills in Nigerian secondary schools include the following: i) Poor background and preliminary knowledge in English language studies, thus pre-primary and primary orientation on English language, ii) Lack of motivation among students in the study of English language in general and specifically reading skills, iii) Over populated classes, iv) Poor student’s attendance and skipping lectures, v) Lack of adult readers as model, vi) Poor libraries, vii) Shortage of teaching and learning materials and Inadequate/absence of language laboratories among others (Oyetunde, 1986; Unoh, 1986; Kemba, 2005; Folaranmi, 2007; Adeniji & Omale, 2010; Masello, 2014). However, it is to be noted that students are also, to great extent, responsible for the continual difficulties in reading. Although the question of whether today’s students are reading seems to depend on whom you ask, Vicki & Dana, (2012) quoted Gioia that: i. Reading is declining as an activity among teenagers. ii. College attendance no longer guarantees active reading habits. iii. Even when reading does occur, it competes with other media American families are spending less money on books than at almost any other time during the past two decades. v. Among high school seniors, the average reading proficiency score has declined for virtually all levels of reading. vi. Reading proficiency rates are stagnant or declining among all adults (Giogia in Vicki & Dana, 2012: xi).
2.6 Causes of Reading Difficulties
Reading failure is mostly caused by failure to acquire phonological awareness and skills in alphabetic coding (Mando, 2008). There have been debates on either reading difficulties are products of neurological or environmental factors (Maruyama, 2007). Maruyama (2007) considers three factors justifying causes of reading difficulties to be neurological. They are: (i) Disorientation and disorganization in recognition of visual patterns due to brain damage, (ii) Hereditary relationship of reading ability and (iii) Interrelationship between visual, auditory, temporal and kinesthetic disorientation and disorganization.
However, Ojanen (2007) believes reading difficulty can be a product of inadequate teaching (Linda, 2013). The home environment also plays a vital role on students reading ability (Paananen in Linda, 2013). It is also observed that however, girls are better than boys when it comes to reading (UNESCO in Linda, 2013). There is some evidence that one of the stumbling blocks to reading progress is the irregularity of the sound/symbol relationships of the English language.
For instance, the long vowel sound /i:/ might be represented with /ee/ and/or /ey/ among others, as in peel /fi:l/ and key /ki:/ (Moyle & Donald, 1974). Taxonomy of Reading Difficulties During reading, students encounter difficulty in different stages. Adeniji & Omale (2010) said that Lawal did diagnostic testing of reading achievement of selected secondary schools in Samaru, Zaria in the year 1982. He described the students’ reading problems as: omission, substitution, reversal, mispronunciation, sight, vocabulary, not up to grade level, nervousness, slow reading, and lack of comprehension. I) Failure to understand words: This is where a student finds it difficult to know the meaning of a certain word or words in a piece of writing. Thereof, the entire write-up may appear meaningless to such a student. Ii) Failure to understand sentence: Here, is the situation in which a student fails to comprehend an important sentence or sentences in a piece of writing. Hence, the entire meaning of the write-up would appear contradictory to such a student. Iii) Failure to understand how sentences relate to one another: If a student does not identify with the coherence among sentences, the piece of writing as a whole would be of no meaning to him. Iv) Failure to understand how the whole text fits together: There are instances where a student might be free from all the above stages of reading difficulties, yet finds it difficult to comprehend the write-up as a whole. However, Harrison (1998) affirms that, proficient reader must to possess:
Automatic, rapid letter recognition ,
Automatic, rapid word recognition,
The ability to use context as an aid to comprehension and;
The ability to use context when necessary as a conscious aid to word recognition.
2.7 Remediation of Reading Difficulties
It is advisable to know the causes of learning difficulties so as to decide best how to intervene (Mando, 2008). It is important to put necessary measures in place as soon as parents or teachers notice child with reading difficulty. Many scholars are of the view that, the school, the students, the teachers and the parents must all put in efforts in order to improve the reading skills of the students (Bond & Tinker 1973; Oyerokun, 1993; Chihemen, 2007). One method of tackling such problems might be using Professor Heikki’s computer based learning game called ‘Ekapeli’ (Kachanga in Linda, 2013). Revisiting the Five Basic Premises of Teaching Reading Vicki, & Dana, (2012) Discuss the brain-based research with regard to the five premises that cognitive science previously identified as basic to teaching content-area reading skills. Thus, according to them, they still hold true and valid. They are: i. Constructing the Meaning of a Text: A reader actively constructs meaning of a text by making seemingly logical and deliberate connections between an existing knowledge and new information about a topic (Vacca & Vacca, 1993; Duke & Pearson, 2002). ii. The Role of Prior Knowledge in Learning: The most important variable in learning with texts is a reader’s prior knowledge. By activating prior knowledge and generating the learner’s interest, a teacher creates a context for students to approach reading with purpose and anticipation (Vacca & Vacca, 1993, 2005; Vicki, U. & Dana, F. 2012). iii. The Reader’s Comprehension is Dependent on Metacognition: Metacognition is the ability to think about and control the thinking process before, during, and after reading. Students who have learned metacognitive skills can plan and monitor their comprehension, adapting and modifying their reading accordingly (Vicki, U. & Dana, F. 2012). iv. Reading and Writing are Integrally Related: Many researchers have agreed that reading and writing are naturally connected, even thoug there have been a debate on the specific connections among them. However, each involves generating ideas, logically organizing them, revisiting them several times until they make sense, and then revising or rethinking them as needed (Laflamme, 1997; Vicki, U. & Dana, F. 2012). v. Learning Increases with the Collaboration of Students: This is however, they believe that students learn by interacting with others in the classroom, by generating and asking questions, and by discussing their ideas freely with the teacher or one another. Conversation provides an opportunity for the speaker to deepen his or her understanding of an idea or topic (Vicki, U. & Dana, F. 2012).
2.8 Approach to Teaching and Reading Skills
a. Focus on one skill at a time.
b. Explain the purpose of working on the skill, and convince the students of its importance in reading effectively. Work on and example of using the skill with the whole class. Explain your thinking aloud as you do the exercise.
c. Assign students to work in pairs on an exercise where they practice using the same skill. Require them to explain their thinking to each other as they work.
d. Discuss students’ answers with the whole class. Ask them to explain how they got their answers. Encourage polite disagreement and require explanations of any differences in their answers.
e. In the same class, and in the next few classes, assign individuals to work on more exercises that focus on the same skill with increasing complexity.
f. Ask students individually to complete the exercise using the skill to check their own ability and confidence in using it.
g. In future lesson, lead the students to apply the skill as well as previously mastered skills, to variety of texts (Beatrice, 2008). However, Block & Parris, (2008), according to Vicki, U. & Dana, F. (2012), maintains that, the following is a list of nine strategies that have been helpful in teaching reading skills: i. Predict by examining the features, or reader aids, present throughout the text, ii. Monitor through the use of meta-comprehension, iii. Question when meaning is unclear, iv. Construct images and mental pictures while reading, v. Use look-backs, rereads, and fix-it strategies, vi. Infer quickly, connecting ideas to known information and previous experiences, vii. Find main ideas, summarize, and draw conclusions, viii. Evaluate by noting aspects of story grammar and structure and ix. Synthesize all noticeable aspects of a text, from reader aids to conclusions (Block & Parris, 2008; Vicky, 2012).
2.9 Theoretical framework
The theoretical framework used for the present research study is based on Krashen‟s (1989) theory of vocabulary acquisition. Krashen (1989) reported that for one to master a language, a large vocabulary is needed and that can be acquired incidentally or directly. Krashen (1989) propounded three most popular hypotheses in vocabulary acquisition. The first one is the “input hypothesis” which means acquiring a language unconsciously by receiving comprehensible input through reading, secondly the “skill building hypothesis” meaning learning a language consciously through practicing drills and exercises to learn a language and the third one the “output hypothesis.” That suggests learning a language by producing it and getting the feedback. According to the input hypothesis, competence in vocabulary and spelling is acquired by comprehension input in form of reading which is relevant to the present study. Ellis (1995) defends the hypothesis by saying that with more and more of such input, the learner repeatedly exposed to words, expressions and structures of the language. He also shows that with each exposure, the learner adds to his or her mental mapping of these features of how they are used in the target language. Krashen‟s (1989) theory of vocabulary acquisition through reading is beneficial since readers could encounter many words and learn their subtle or complex meanings in contexts which cannot be adequately represented by synonym or similar definitions from a dictionary. This serves as a foundation for the present study since the intention of the study is to find out whether students could develop vocabulary through extensive reading and to quantify the amount of vocabulary developed through this kind of reading.