A Preliminary Analysis of Text Coverage and Extensive Reading of Chinese ESL Learners-- Range Analysis of The Little Prince and Pride and Prejudice

Abstract

One of the common problems for L2 learners in ESL reading is that the text is either too difficult to understand or too simple to challenge, particularly the extracurricular reading material. The Little Prince and Pride and Prejudice are typically listed in the key reading materials for L2 learners. Contrary to the popularity, a large number of L2 learners find it is hard to complete due to the low text coverage with existing vocabulary. The corpus has become an important language research tool to store language materials according to the specific goals and the way through certain technical means. This paper is going to explore the text coverage of The Little Prince and Pride and Prejudice by range analysis, and comparing with English Curriculum Standards to figure out suitable reading targets of these two materials.