DOCSLIB.ORG

What Can Readers Read After Graded Readers?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
What Can Readers Read After Graded Readers? CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa Reading in a Foreign Language April 2016, Volume 28, No. 1 ISSN 1539-0578 pp. 63–78 What can readers read after graded readers? Jeff McQuillan Center for Educational Development United States Abstract Nation (2014) concluded that most of the vocabulary one needs to read challenging texts in English can be acquired incidentally through voluminous reading. This study examines possible texts that second language (L2) readers can use to move from controlled- vocabulary materials such as graded readers, which go up through approximately the 4,000-word-family level, to more challenging texts such as newspapers, classic novels, and academic texts, at the 9,000-word-family level. An analysis of a set of popular fiction series books found that such books can provide a sufficient amount of input, with 98% vocabulary coverage, so as to serve as one possible “bridge” to more challenging texts. Keywords: extensive reading, graded readers, vocabulary acquisition, text coverage, comprehensible input Studies in both first and second language acquisition have shown that new vocabulary can be acquired incidentally through the reception of comprehensible input via reading (Krashen, 2004a). While the importance of reading in vocabulary acquisition is generally acknowledged among second language (L2) researchers, there has been disagreement as to whether the vocabulary one can acquire solely through reading can “take you all the way,” to a point where you acquire a sufficient number of words to understand more challenging texts, including classic novels, newspapers, and academic writing. Cobb (2007, 2008) held that reading alone cannot provide enough input to allow L2 readers to acquire enough words to handle challenging texts within a reasonable amount of time. McQuillan and Krashen (2008), however, argued that L2 acquirers can indeed get enough input to acquire most of the vocabulary they need through voluminous, self-selected reading, such as that provided by extensive reading programs (Day & Bamford, 1998; Mason, 2013). Acquiring Sufficient Vocabulary to Read Challenging Texts Nation (2014) attempted to settle this debate through a corpus analysis. His approach to the question was based upon three assumptions: (a) In order to have “adequate comprehension” of text, one needs to know at least 98% of the http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl McQuillan: What Can Readers Read after Graded Readers? 64 words in that text (Hu & Nation, 2000; Schmitt, Jiang, & Grabe, 2011); (b) To achieve this 98% vocabulary coverage for challenging texts, one must know the 9,000 most frequently occurring word families in English (Nation, 2006); and (c) To have a reasonable chance of acquiring an unknown word family, one must encounter it at least 12 times in text. The logic Nation presents here is straightforward: If we know how many words one must read to encounter the first 9,000 word families at least 12 times, we can provide estimates of the amount of text and time L2 readers need to acquire a sufficient vocabulary to handle challenging texts. Are Nation’s assumptions reasonable? Several researchers (Hu & Nation, 2000; Laufer & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, 2010; Schmitt et al., 2011) have argued that “adequate comprehension” of text requires somewhere between 95% and 98% vocabulary coverage. While vocabulary knowledge is not the sole factor in determining reading comprehension, it has clearly been shown to be an important one in both the first language (L1) and L2 research (Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Hu & Nation, 2000). Laufer and Ravenhorst-Kalovski (2010), for example, found that vocabulary knowledge accounted for 64% of the variance in reading comprehension scores. The exact percentage of words a reader needs to know to understand a text depends on how “adequate” comprehension is defined. Laufer and Ravenhorst-Kalovski suggest that 95% is the “minimum” coverage needed, with 98% (or more) being “optimum.” In choosing the higher figure of 98%, Nation attempted to provide a conservative estimate of the percentage of words a reader needs to understand text independently.1 The other key assumption made by Nation – that 12 exposures to an unknown word are sufficient to acquire the word – is based on previous studies that produced differing estimates both above and below that figure (e.g., Brown, Waring, & Donkaewbua, 2008; Pellicer-Sanchez & Schmitt, 2010; Waring & Takaki, 2003). These analyses attempted to determine the number of exposures to a word needed to, in Nation’s words, “develop something approaching rich knowledge” of a word (p. 2). In Pellicer-Sanchez and Schmitt (2010), for example, unknown words that occurred at least 10 times in the text were acquired 80% of the time, as measured by a meaning recognition test (Table 1, p. 41). In Waring and Takaki (2003), at least 15 repetitions were required for a similar level of success (72%). Based on these and other similar studies, Nation’s use of 12 occurrences as a threshold for acquisition appears to be an attempt to find a middle ground between competing estimates. Nation and other researchers acknowledge that acquisition of vocabulary depends on more than just the number of exposures to the acquired word, and any estimate depends on one’s criteria for determining the “depth” of knowledge as well as its breadth (Wesche & Paribakht, 1996). Nation (2014) analyzed a corpus comprised of 25 novels taken from Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org). He also provided estimates of how long it would take a reader to read that amount of text, assuming a reading speed of 150 words per minute. Table 1 shows Nation’s results for the number of words that one would need to read in order to Reading in a Foreign Language 28(1) McQuillan: What Can Readers Read after Graded Readers? 65 encounter a word family at least 12 times in his chosen corpus of novels, and a calculation of the time required to read them. Estimates are broken down by 1,000-word-family groups, from the 2nd to the 9th 1,000-word-family levels. Table 1. Amount of input and time needed to acquire the 2nd through the 9th most frequently occurring 1,000-word families in English Hours Needed 1,000- Word- Amount to Cumulative Per Level Level List Read Hours (@150 wpm) 2,000 200,000 22 22 3,000 300,000 33 55 4,000 500,000 56 111 5,000 1,000,000 112 223 6,000 1,500,000 167 390 7,000 2,000,000 222 612 8,000 2,500,000 278 890 9,000 3,000,000 333 1,223 Total 11,000,000 1,223 Note. Data from Nation (2014), Table 4 Assuming you know the 1,000 most frequently occurring words in English already, Nation estimated that you would need to read approximately 200,000 words in order to have a reasonable chance of acquiring most of the words in the 2,000-word-family level. After acquiring most of the words in the 2,000-word-family level, you would then need to read another 300,000 words in order to encounter most of the words in the 3,000-word-family level at least 12 times, and so on. As shown in Table 1, one would need to read approximately 11,000,000 words to reach the 9,000-word-family level, and that this feat would take about 1,200 hours to complete. At one hour per day, this represents a little over three years of reading, very doable for a motivated adult or adolescent acquirer. One hour per day of reading is in line with what is expected of university students in the United States for out-of-class assignments. Nearly half of all American professors expect their students to do at least six hours of homework outside of school per week, or nearly an hour per day (Sanoff, 2006). If Nation’s analysis and the assumptions behind that analysis are correct, it appears that free reading can indeed provide L2 readers with the opportunity to acquire the necessary vocabulary to handle challenging texts. Between Graded Readers and Challenging Text If free reading is sufficient, the next step is to determine what sort of texts L2 acquirers should read. Nation (2014, p. 11) noted that controlled-vocabulary materials such as graded reader series can provide students with enough input to reach approximately the 4,000-word-family level. But what should readers read after graded readers? How is this “gap” between the 4,000- and 9,000- word-family levels to be filled? The problem can be summarized this way: Reading in a Foreign Language 28(1) McQuillan: What Can Readers Read after Graded Readers? 66 Graded Readers > ?? > Challenging Texts Mid-Frequency Readers Nation (2014) proposed that the gap can be made up in part by the use of “mid-frequency readers.” Mid-frequency readers are adaptations of texts that meet the 98% vocabulary coverage criterion at lower vocabulary levels than the texts were originally written. The texts are created by substituting the less frequently occurring words in the stories and novels with more frequently occurring synonyms, as well as by controlling the number of new word families the reader will encounter in the text (Nation & Anthony, 2013; Schmitt & Schmitt, 2014). Texts have been developed by Nation and others at the 4,000-, 6,000-, and 8,000-word-family levels. Nation’s proposal to fill the gap is thus: Graded Readers > 4K Readers > 6K Readers > 8K Readers > Challenging Texts Mid-frequency readers can be an important source of input for English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) acquirers. However, the number of such readers is still small, and for copyright reasons, the mid-frequency readers have thus far been limited to adaptation of works that are in the public domain.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Linguistic Perspective on the Acquisition of German As an L2
    i A Linguistic Perspective on the Acquisition of German as an L2 A thesis submitted to the Miami University Honors Program in partial fulfillment of the requirements for University Honors with Distinction by Nicholas D. Stoller (December 2006) Oxford, Ohio ii ABSTRACT A LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE ACQUISITION OF GERMAN AS AN L2 by Nicholas D. Stoller It is obvious that the setting of acquisition, the amount and type of input, and the motivation of learners play a large role in adult second language (L2) acquisition. Many of the theories of L2 acquisition unfortunately fail to adequately take these variables into account. This thesis gives an overview of the current and past theories, including evidence for and against each theory. This is supplemented by an error analysis of second year Miami University students to see if this can give support to any of the current theories. Once that is completed, I examine the relation between input and the possibility of a language learning device such as UG and then move on to pedagogical application of my findings. iii Contents Chapter Page 1 Introduction 1 2 2 The Basis of the Study of L2 Acquisition 2 3 Linguistic Theories of L2 Acquisition 7 3.1 Theories without UG 7 3.1.1 Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis 7 3.1.2 Markedness Difference Hypothesis 8 3.1.3 Fundamental Difference Hypothesis 9 3.1.4 Information Processing Approach 10 3.2 Theories with Partial UG 13 3.2.1 Transfer Hypothesis 13 3.2.2 Krashen’s Comprehension Hypothesis 14 3.3 Theories with Full UG use 19 3.3.1 Identity Hypothesis 19 3.3.2 Full Transfer/Full Access Hypothesis 20 3.4 Overview of the Theories 21 4 Error Analysis and Miami University 2nd 22 Year Students 4.1 Errors of Cases Following Verbs 23 4.2 Errors of Gender of Nouns 25 4.3 Errors of Verb Form 26 4.4 Errors of Umlaut Usage 29 5 Relation of UG and Input 30 6.1 Problems with Input in Classroom Instruction 33 6.2 Pedagogy and L2 Acquisition 35 7 Conclusion 40 Bibliography 42 iv 1 A Linguistic Perspective on the Acquisition of German as an L2 1.
    [Show full text]
  • TEACHER to TEACHER
    Volume 4, Number 2 Fall 2008 IN THIS ISSUE CURRENT RESEARCH TEACHER To TEACHER The Expanded Output Hypothesis Improving Language Acquisition by ......2 R. Joseph Ponniah & Stephen Krashen as an Adult. An informal list of brainstorms by Jason Fritze, Stephen Krashen and Karen Rowan Bridging the Cultural Divide: ....................................................................... 35 Korean Americans Visit Their Heritage Homeland What are you reading right now? ................................................4 by Grace Cho by Linda Li and Kirstin Plante.....................38 Personal theories of language acquisition Access to Books and a Quiet Comfortable among heritage language speakers Place to Read: A Practical Guide to Establishing by Grace Cho & Stephen Krashen ...............12 a Free Voluntary Reading Program by Jason Fritze and Karen Rowan ................39 Heritage Language Development: Exhortation Links and Resources ....................................41 or Good Stories? by Christy Lao & Stephen Krashen .............. 17 Do Students Like What is Good for Them? An Investigation of the Pleasure Hypothesis with IJFLT: A free on-line, peer-reviewed Middle School Students of Mandarin quarterly journal dedicated to by Christy Lao & Stephen Krashen .............. 19 communicating research, articles and helpful information regarding language VOA Special English – A Neglected acquisition to support teachers as they Multimodal Resource endeavor to create fluent, multilingual by Bill Templer .............................................. 21 students. Research Index • Teacher-to-Teacher Index • Submission Info • Contact Us • Subscription Info Page 1 The International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching © Fall 2008 Swain makes it clear that this function includes er- The Expanded Output Hypothesis ror correction, a process that encourages learners to modify their consciously learned rules. It also includes the function of output originally described in Swain (1985): modifying one’s output when the listener does Authors: R.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Internal Mechanisms of L2 Acquisition: Linguistic and Cognitive Accounts
    Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies (ISSN: 2321 – 2799) Volume 06 – Issue 01, February 2018 On the Internal Mechanisms of L2 Acquisition: Linguistic and Cognitive Accounts Hosni Mostafa Abdrabo El-dali Associate Professor of Linguistics College of Humanities and Social Sciences United Arab Emirates University Email: hasan.mostafa [AT] uaeu.ac.ae ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT---- The purpose of the present study is twofold. In its theoretical part, it focuses on accounts of L2 acquisition that are cognitive in nature and those that are linguistic in orientation. My discussion of these two accounts is based on the premise that it is perfectly proper for Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research to postulate theories of its own to explain its own area. It is, also, appropriate for SLA research to take insights and methods from other disciplines when they are useful to it. In its empirical part, the present study reports on the outcomes of two experiments carried out by the author on some second language learners. The first experiment was designed to examine the written output of foreign students enrolled in the English Language Institute at the University of Pittsburg, USA (Beginners). It attempts to find answers for the following questions: (1) are students’ errors in grammatical structures, as they will appear in their written output, due to deficiency in their conscious grammar rules, or to deficiency in their abilities to transfer this knowledge (if it exists) to other language tasks such as writing compositions in English?, and (2) can conscious rules of grammar guide students’ performance in monitoring (self-correcting) their written output once their attention is drawn to an error? The second experiment was designed to investigate ‘advanced’ students’ multilinguistic ability in solving multi-dimensional grammatical problems.
    [Show full text]
  • Fundamentals of Language Education
    FUNDAMENTALS OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION STEPHEN KRASHEN INTRODUCTION This paper is a brief description of research and theory that underlie some current approaches to language teaching. The hypotheses presented here are research-based, but I do not present full details of the research here. Rather, I limit the research evidence to occasional representative examples and citations, indicating where more detail can be found. CHAPTER ONE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION The following hypotheses summarize current theory on language acquisition (for additional details, see Krashen, 1981, 1982, 2003). The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis claims that we have two independent ways of developing language ability: 1. Language acquisition is a subconscious process; while it is happening, we are not aware that it is happening. In addition, once we have acquired something, we are not usually aware we possess any new knowledge; the knowledge is subconsciously stored in our brains. The research strongly supports the view that both children and adults can subconsciously acquire languages. 2. Language learning is what we did in school. It is a conscious process; when we are learning, we know we are learning. Also, learned knowledge is represented consciously in the brain. In non-technical language, we when talk about “rules” and “grammar,” we are usually talking about learning. Error correction helps learning, not acquisition; when we make a mistake and someone corrects us, we are supposed to change our conscious version of the rule. If a learner says, “I comes to school every day,” and the teacher says, “No, it’s ‘I come to school’,” the learner is supposed to realize (or be reminded) that the –s doesn’t go on the first-person singular but on the third-person singular.
    [Show full text]
  • The Application of Second Language Acquisition Theory to New Testament Greek Pedagogy
    Running head: 2LA & NT GREEK 1 The Application of Second Language Acquisition Theory to New Testament Greek Pedagogy Josiah Wegner A Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University Spring 2013 2LA & NT GREEK Wegner 2 Acceptance of Senior Honors Thesis This Senior Honors Thesis is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the Honors Program of Liberty University. ______________________________ Paul Müller, Ph.D. Thesis Chair ______________________________ Sharon B. Hähnlen, Ed.D. Committee Member ______________________________ Michael A. Babcock, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________ Marilyn Gadomski, Ph.D. Assistant Honors Director ______________________________ Date 2LA & NT GREEK Wegner 3 Abstract The effect of outdated NT Greek pedagogy has left many seminary students ill- equipped to properly exegete using the NT Greek language. Many seminary students graduate with a firm knowledge of syntactic rules, but they are still unable to read the NT text without having to constantly consult a Greek grammar and dictionary. Even though the current style of teaching has been used for many years, research in second language acquisition has exposed that the traditional translation method has many flaws. One of these researchers, Stephen Krashen, has identified that the key to language competence is not learning vocabulary and grammar rules, but rather acquiring language through comprehensible input. For some reason, NT Greek is still based on the outdated traditional translation method Krashen’s research has shown to be ineffective. Vast improvements can be made by applying Krashen’s theories to NT Greek pedagogy. Although these methods boldly defy tradition, they not only result in knowledge about NT Greek, but actual comprehension of NT Greek.
    [Show full text]
  • An Interview with Professor Stephen Krashen Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research
    Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research 7(2), (July, 2019) 147-152 147 Content list available at http://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research Urmia University An Interview with Professor Stephen Krashen Interview by: Karim Sadeghi Stephen Krashen (born 1941) is professor emeritus at the University of Southern California. Stephen Krashen received a PhD in Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1972. Krashen’s numerous papers and books have greatly contributed to the fields of second- language acquisition, bilingual education, and reading. He is known for introducing various hypotheses related to second-language acquisition, including the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the input hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the affective filter, and the natural order hypothesis. Most recently, Krashen promotes the use of free voluntary reading during second- language acquisition, which he says, "is the most powerful tool we have in language education”. What comes below is an interview with him by the editor of IJLTR. KS stands for Karim Sadeghi and SK for Stephen Krashen. © Urmia University Press 10.30466/ijltr.2019.120704 148 Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research 7(2), (July, 2019) 147-152 KS: You started your first teaching career some 55 years ago as a Peace Corps teacher in Ethiopia, then as an ESL instructor and a teaching assistant at the Linguistics Department of UCLA. You then completed your PhD in 1972 (the year I was born) and joined UCLA and then worked at Queens College before earning tenure at USC (University of Southern California) where you retired at 2003. You became a Professor of Linguistics in 1994 and then a Professor of Education in 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • Print ED356672.TIF
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 356 672 FL 021 198 AUTHOR Muller, Kurt E., Ed. TITLE Languages in Elementary Schools. International Education Series. INSTITUTION American Forum, New York, NY. SPONS AGENCY Department of Education, Washington, DC. REPORT NO ISBN-0-944675-41-7 PUB DATE 89 NOTE 249p. AVAILABLE FROMAmerican Forum, 45 John Street, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10038. PUB TYPE Collected Works General (020) Books (010) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Age Differences; Classroom Environment; Curriculum Design; Disabilities; Educational Policy; Educational Strategies; Elementary Education; *FLES; *Language Tests; *Learning Processes; Low Achievement; Policy Formation; *Program Administration; Program Design; School Districts; *Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Teaching Methods; Testing IDENTIFIERS *Content Area Teaching ABSTRACT Ten essays address aspects of second language instruction at the elementary school level: "Elementary School Foreign Languages: Perspectives, Practices, and Promises" (Carol Ann Pesola, Helena Anderson Curtain); "The Integrated Curriculum: Rethinking the Elementary School Foreign Language Program for the '90s" (Virginia Garibaldi Allen); "The Ages and Learning Stages of Children and Their Implications for Foreign Language Learning" (Myriam Chapman, Elizabeth Grob, Mari Haas); "Learning Language through Content: Learning Content through Language" (Myriam Met); "Creating Effective Foreign Language Learning Environments in Elementary Classrooms" (Eileen B. Lorenz, Sarah Rice); "School-District Perspectives on Elementary-School Language Programs" (R. Stephen Tegarden, Christine L. Brown); "Testing and Elementary School Foreign Language Programs" (John W. 011er, Jr.); "Mother Tongue and Father Grammar, or, Why Should Children Learn a Second Language?" (Donald G. Marshall); "Two Languages for All Children: Expanding to Low Achievers and the Handicapped" (Carolyn Andrade, Richard R. Kretschmer, Jr., Laura W.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Applied Linguistics – LANE 423 Chapter 3: Age and Acquisition Lecturer: Haifa Alroqi Introduction Today the applications of research findings in first language acquisition are widespread. In language arts education, for example, it is not uncommon to find teacher trainees studying first language acquisition, particularly acquisition after age 5, in order to improve their understanding of the task of teaching language skills to native speakers. In foreign language education, most standard text and curricula now include some introductory material on first language acquisition. The reasons for this are clear: We have all observed children acquiring their first language easily and well, yet the individuals learning a second language, particularly in an educational setting, can meet with great difficulty and sometimes failure. 1 Introduction cont. This chapter addresses some of the following questions: How should second language teachers interpret the many and sometimes conflicting findings of first language (L1) research? Do childhood and adulthood, and differences between them, hold some keys to SLA theories? L1acquisition ---------- childhood SLA ---------- childhood/ adulthood Dispelling Myths The first step in investigating age and acquisition might be to dispel some myths about the relationship between first and second language acquisition. 2 Dispelling Myths cont. H. H. Stern (1970) summarized some common arguments that have been raised from time to time to recommend a second language teaching method on the basis of L1 acquisition: 1. In language teaching, we must practice and practice, again and again. Just watch a small child learning his mother tongue. He repeats things over and over again. During the language learning stage he practices all the time.
    [Show full text]
  • Pleasure Reading Stephen Krashen, Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California
    Bring Me a Book® RESEARCH ROUNDUP Pleasure Reading Stephen Krashen, Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California Stephen Krashen received a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1972. Krashen has published more than 550 articles and books, contributing to the fields ofsecond-language acquisition, bilingual education, and reading. He is renowned for introducing various hypotheses related to second-language acquisition, including the acquistion-learning hypothesis, the input hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the affective filter, and the natural order hypothesis. Krashen also promotes free voluntary reading, which he says “is the most powerful tool we have in language education, first and second. I am convinced that the most powerful tool we have in Language Education is self-selected reading for pleasure, which means—for most people—a large amount of fiction. (Eighteen of the 20 “best-sellers of all time” are fiction.) Self-selected pleasure reading helps NEARLY EVERYTHING we are concerned with in education, and has the following advantages. • It is inexpensive and often even totally free of charge. • It is easy to do, and can be done alone, without supervision, • The devices used for self-selected reading for pleasure are portable (the book) and some devices require only the simplest technology (the book). • And doing it gives amazing results. Self-selected pleasure reading works because it is based on solid theory, the idea we acquire language when we understand it, NOT when we study grammar or memorize vocabulary. It’s just the opposite: grammar and vocabulary are the result of getting input, not the cause.
    [Show full text]
  • Authentic Input in Early Second Language Learning Bridget C
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 2008 Authentic Input in Early Second Language Learning Bridget C. Pinsonneault University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Part of the Latin American Languages and Societies Commons Pinsonneault, Bridget C., "Authentic Input in Early Second Language Learning" (2008). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 150. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/150 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AUTHENTIC INPUT IN EARLY SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING A Thesis Presented by BRIDGET CONNORS PINSONNEAULT Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2008 Hispanic Linguistics and Literatures AUTHENTIC INPUT IN EARLY SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING A Thesis by BRIDGET CONNORS PINSONNEAULT Approved as to style and content by: _________________________________________ Rosemary Weston-Gil, Chair _________________________________________ Francesco D’Introno, Member _________________________________________ Patricia Gubitosi, Member __________________________________________ Francesco D’Introno, Director Hispanic Literatures and Linguistics Program Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures __________________________________________ Julie Candler Hayes, Chair Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work is dedicated to those people in my life who have instilled in me the confidence and strength necessary to persevere. I would like to thank my advisor and mentor Rosemary Weston Gil. Without her mentorship, dedication, insight, and encouragement, this work would not be as rich and complete as it is today.
    [Show full text]
  • Bilingual Education: a Focu
    BILINGUAL EDUCATION: A FOCUS ON CURRENT RESEARCH 1 NCBE FOCUS: Occasional Papers in Bilingual Education, Number 3, Spring 1991 Stephen D. Krashen THE RESEARCH SUPPORTING BILINGUAL EDUCATION The core of the case for bilingual education is that the principles underlying successful bilingual education are the same principles that underlie successful language acquisition in general. These principles are: (1) We acquire a second language by understanding messages, by obtaining comprehensible input. (2) Background knowledge can help make second language input more comprehensible, and can thus assist in the acquisition of the second language. (3) The development of literacy occurs in the same way as second language acquisition does. As Goodman (1982) and Smith (1982) have put it, "we learn to read by reading," by making sense of what is on the page. In turn, reading is the major source of our competence in vocabulary, spelling, writing style, and grammar. (For research evidence supporting these principles, see Goodman, 1982; Smith, 1982; Krashen, 1985a, 1985b, in press.) THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE One of the most salient features of a bilingual education program is the use of the first language as the medium of instruction. The first language can help in the following ways: (1) It supplies background knowledge, which can make English input more comprehensible. (2) It enhances the development of basic literacy. This is a two-step argument: a. If we, in fact, learn to read by reading, it will be much easier to learn to read in a language one already knows, since written material in that language will be more comprehensible.
    [Show full text]
  • Remarks on Language Acquisition and Literacy
    Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching Volume 10/Number 1 May 2015 REMARKS ON LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LITERACY: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND TEACHING, FREE READING, "TEST-PREP" AND ITS CONSEQUENCES, THE USE OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE, WRITING, AND THE GREAT NATIVE SPEAKER TEACHER DEBATE Stephen D. Krashen University of Southern California Abstract This paper reviews the arguments for comprehensible input (the "comprehension hypothesis" and discusses some of its applications to beginning and intermediate language teaching, including free voluntary reading as a bridge from conversational to academic language. The comprehension hypothesis provides some guidance on the proper use of the first language in second language teaching and helps explain what writing can and cannot do. Finally, the comprehension hypothesis contributes to the Great Native Speaker Teacher debate: We want teachers (1) to understand language acquisition, (2) to understand language pedagogy, and (3) to speak the language well. My point is that number (3) alone is not enough, even if the teacher is a native speaker. Keywords: comprehensible input, language acquisition, TPR, Natural Approach, TPRS, sheltered subject matter teaching, free voluntary reading, writing INTRODUCTION: SOME FUNDAMENTALS I present first what I consider to be the fundamentals of both language acquisition and literacy development. (What follows in this section is presented in more detail in a number of publications, e.g. Krashen, 1982, 1985, 2003). Language and literacy can be "acquired" or "learned." "Acquisition" occurs subconsciously: While it is happening, you are not aware it is happening, and after it has happened, the knowledge is represented subconsciously in your brain. In contrast, "learning" is conscious; it is "knowing about" the language.
    [Show full text]