what research says about the "power of reading"

Morcenet 4th National Morcenet 4th National Conference, Jan. 16Conference, Jan. 16

What Research Says about the “Power of Reading”

MoRCE-Net Fourth National Conference,MoRCE-Net Fourth National Conference,Marrakech, January 25-27, 2016.Marrakech, January 25-27, 2016.

Abdellatif Zoubair.Abdellatif Zoubair.Email: Email: [email protected]

Web: Web: www.zoubaireltcommunity.ac.mawww.zoubaireltcommunity.wix.com/eduresources

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http://www.zoubaireltcommunity.ac.ma/

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OutlineOutlineI. What readingII. TerminologyIII. Features of successful reading programsIV. Research findings on: a. Impact of reading on language performance b. Impact of reading on personal development c. Online readingV. Implications for ELT?VI. Bibliography


To reflect on (1)To reflect on (1)

““In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.”twenty years.”

— — Jacques Barzun Jacques Barzun (1907-2012)(1907-2012)


I. What reading?I. What reading?1. 1. “Reading in which learners read large quantities of material that is within their linguistic competence” (Grabe and Stoller, 2002)

2. "Extensive reading means reading in quantity and in order to gain a general understanding of what is read. It is intended to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structure, and to encourage a liking for reading." (Richards, 2010)


II. TerminologyII. Terminology

1. Free reading2. Reading for pleasure3. FVR / FEVER: Free Voluntary Reading4. RFF: Reading for fun 5. SSR: Sustained Silent Reading

6. USR: Uninterrupted Silent Reading7. USSR Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading8. DEAR Drop Everything And Read9. POWER Positive Outcomes While Enjoying Reading. . .



III. Characteristics of successful extensive reading programs:

1. Aim: Pleasure2. Follow –up: Little or none3. Speed: Fast 4. Amount: Large


5. Frequency: Often6. Focus Content7. Selection: Free8. Competence: Within9. Teacher’s role: Model . . .


IV. Research findings on:a. Impact of reading on language

performance:1. “Those who have more access to books read better.” (McQuillan, 2010)

2. “Those who read more spell better.” (Polak and Krashen 1988) 3. “Those who read more have more grammatical competence.” (Gribbons 1996)


4. “Those who read more have better vocabularies.” (Cho, Park and Krashen 2008)

5. “Those who read more write better.” (S. Lee

2004) 6. “Those who read more do better on the

TOEFL.” (Mason 2006)


b. Impact of reading on personal development:

7. “FVR improves learners’ attitude towards reading.” (W. Marson 1997)

8. “Those who read more know more about science and social studies.” (Stanovich and Cunnigham 1997)

9. “Those who read more have more cultural literacy.” (West, Stanovich and Mitchellb1993)

10. “Those who read more have more ‘practical knowledge’.” (Stanovich and Cunnigham 1993)

11. “Reading for pleasure is four times more important for children’s cognitive development than their parents’ level of education.” (A. Sullivan and M. Brown 2013) 12. “Teachers note fewer discipline problems when SSR is done.” (Takase 2004)Morcenet 4th National Morcenet 4th National Conference, Jan. 16Conference, Jan. 16


13. “More reading takes place when the teachers reads while students are reading.” (Wheldall and Entwhistle 1998)

14. “People with more print exposure (mainly pleasure reading) have thicker cortices within the left hemisphere reading network” (J. G. Goldman F. R Manis 2012)

15. “Older people who continue to read show less memory loss and suffer effects of dementia.” Galluccia et al. 2009)


c. Online reading?

16. “In schools money invested in books is better spent in terms of achievement than money invested in technology.” (Hurd, Dixon and Olkham 2005)

17. “Free voluntary web surfing promises to be of great help for second language acquirers.” (Krashen 2011)

18. “Children reading interesting stories of their choice from the Internet gained significantly more in English than their comparisons did.” (Cho and Kim 2004)

19. “Internet use resulted in more improved reading as reflected by grades and standardized tests.” (Jackson et al. 2006)


V. Implications for ELT practitioners?

Where do we go from here?



To reflect on (2)To reflect on (2) ' ... when second language acquirers read for pleasure ' ... when second language acquirers read for pleasure

they can continue to improve in their second they can continue to improve in their second language without classes, without teachers, without language without classes, without teachers, without study, and even without people to converse with ... ' study, and even without people to converse with ... '

Stephen Krashen, Stephen Krashen, The Power of Reading, (2nd ed. 2004 p. 147)The Power of Reading, (2nd ed. 2004 p. 147)


VI. Bib/Webliography:

Davis, C. (1995). Extensive reading: an expensive extravagance? ELT Journal, 49, 329-336.

Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Goldman, J.G., & Manis, F.R. (2012). Relationships among cortical thickness, reading skill, and print exposure in adults. Scientific Studies of Reading. University of Southern Claifornia


Grabe, W. (2002). Reading in a second language. In R.B. Kaplan (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of applied linguistics (pp. 49-59). New York: Oxford University Press.

Hill, D. R. (1997c). Setting up an extensive reading programme: Practical tips. The Language Teacher, 21(5), 17-20.

Krashen, S. (2011) . Free Voluntary Reading. Libraries Unlimited.

Krashen, S. (2004) . The power of reading: Insights into Research. 2nd ed. London: Heinmann.

Renandya, W. A. (2007). The power of extensive reading. RELC Journal, 38, 133-149.

Richards, Jack C. & Scmidt, R. 2010. Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Longman.



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what research says about the "power of reading"

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