Abstract
<p>This paper reports a case study exploring the feasibility of using children’s literature for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) reading development. In the test-oriented educational environment, Taiwanese students tend to perceive reading as a task to pass tests. This study attempts to propose another path to facilitate the reading development, especially for those who are less proficient in English. Focusing on one university EFL learner with low English proficiency, the report provides in-depth description of her reading obstacles and progress while engaging in reading English children’s literature. Findings of the reading sessions showed that the learner (1) improved the oral reading fluency, (2) acquired better awareness of pronunciation rules, and (3) developed better reading comprehension. The result of this case study suggests a supplementary path for the EFL reading development of similar learners: free voluntary reading of children’s literature complemented with proper scaffolding and corresponding instruction tailored to individual learner’s needs.</p>
Highlights
The importance of reading in EFL learning cannot be overemphasized
Despite the recurring difficulties with homonyms, idioms, more complex grammar, cross-cultural background knowledge, and inference skills, Sally’s progress of the 6 one-on-one read-aloud sessions showed (1) improved oral reading fluency, (2) gradually developed conscious awareness of the pronunciation errors and increased self-correction rates of oral miscues, and (3) progressively better competence to apply the reading comprehension techniques taught by the instructor
As the EFL learners’ responses from previous studies (Ho, 2000; Lee, 2015), Sally indicated that the out-of-class reading of children’s literature provides authentic reading materials that she could read with more pleasure and confidence
Summary
As Arden-Close (1999) pointed out, many Taiwanese university students associate English reading solely with gaining vocabulary and learning important grammar patterns to pass exams. Such perception could be attributed to the exam-oriented English classes in their high school years. Students are trained to memorize long and difficult vocabulary and to skim the reading text in order to answer the test items. Once they get into college, this test-driven attitude toward reading is reinforced
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