SCHOOL CENTERED TEACHING METHOD IN TOPIC EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAM, FORM 4, SEKOLAH MENENGAH KPG. PASIR PUTEH, IPOH

KALYANI VAITHINATHAN

DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION (TESL)

(MASTER BY MIX MODE)

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND COMMUNICATION

SULTAN IDRIS EDUCATION UNIVERSITY

2018

ABSTRAK

Matlamat utama kajian ini dijalankan adalah untuk mengkaji cara-cara meningkatkan tahap dan motivasi pelajar yang lemah dalam membaca buku Bahasa Inggeris. Masalah yang dapat dilihat dengan nyata ialah pelajar tidak bermotivasi untuk membaca buku dalam Bahasa Inggeris kerana kekurangan minat dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Satu Program Ekstensif Membaca bergabung dengan motivasi telah diperkenalkan dari sudut bacaan untuk menarik minat pelajar lemah membaca buku dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Kajian ini telah dijalankan pada bulan Februari 2016 selama 12 minggu. ‘Extensif Reading Program’ digabungkan dengan motivasi telah diperkenalkan untuk meningkatkan tahap kemahiran membaca dan segala episod membaca dengan illustrasi yang menarik untuk menarik minat pelajar-pelajar dan peserta telah diberi kebebasan membaca secara sukarela. Kajian ini dijalankan dengan 40 pelajar. 20 pelajar dalam kumpulan terkawal dan 20 lagi dalam kumpulan rawatan. Kumpulan rawatan telah dikaitkan dengan Program Ekstensif Membaca yang digabungkan dengan motivasi manakala kumpulan terkawal pula dikaitkan dengan pembelajaran tradisional. Dapatan kajian menujukkan bahawa Program Ekstensif bergabung dengan motivasi telah mewujudkan satu persekitaran yang sesuai dan bebas tanpa tekanan untuk pelajar dan data yang dikumpulkan dari kajian menunjukan peningkatan dalam pembacaan mereka.

MOTIVATING LEARNERS OF LOW PROFICIENCY IN READING THROUGH AN EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAM

ABSTRACT

The primary aim of this study was to examine ways to improve students with low proficiency to be motivated to read English books. The problem that arose, was the students were not motivated to read books in English due to lack of interest in the language. An extensive reading program blended in with motivation was introduced in the reading corner to cultivate the reading habit among low achievers. The research was carried out for a duration of twelve weeks. Extensive reading program merged with motivation was introduced to enhance the capability of reading among learners, episodes in the reading was made interesting, with the freedom of picking a book of the learner’s choice in the reading corners. This study was conducted with forty students, twenty controlled group and twenty of them, experimental group. The experimental group was introduced to the extensive reading program incorporated with motivation and the controlled group was introduced to traditional method. The findings have shown that the extensive reading program with motivation created a better environment without pressure or force for the learners and the data showed the Extensive Reading Program motivated the learner to read more.

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CONTENTS

PAGE

DECLARATION OF ORIGINAL WORK ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT iii

ABSTRAK iv

ABSTRACT v

CONTENT vi

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xii

LIST OF APPENDICES xiii

CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of Study 1

1.1.1 Role of Reading English in our Education System 3 1.1.2 Factors Influencing Reading Process 6

1.2 Statement of Problem 10 1.3 Research Objectives 12

1.4 Significance of Study 13

1.5 Research Question 15

1.6 Hypothesis 15

1.7 Definition of Terms 16

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1.7.1 Extensive Reading 16

1.7.2 Nilam 17

1.7.3 Pre-Test/Post-Test 18

1.7.4 Aspect in Motivation 19

1.7.5 Self-Access Language Learning Method 19

1.7.6 Reading Corner 20

1.8 Limitation of Study 20

1.9 Conclusion 21

CHAPTER TWO-LITERATURE REVIEW 23

2.0 Introduction 23

2.1 History of Reading 27

2.2 Factors Affecting Reading 33 2.2.1 Primary School Curriculum 34

2.2.2 Cultivating Reading Habit 36

2.2.3 Home Environmental Factor 38

2.2.4 School Environmental factor 41

2.2.5 Social and Environmental Factor 42

2.2.6 Cultural Environmental Factor 43

2.2.7 Emotional Factor 44

2.2.8 Learned Helpless Factor 47

2.2.9 Lack of Interest 48

2.3 Model of Reading 54

2.3.1 Bottom-Up Model 56

2.3.2 Interactive Model 61

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2.4 Theoretical Framework 62 2.4.1 Schema Theory 63

2.5 The Differences between reading skills and reading strategy 70

2.5.1 Background Knowledge 75

2.5.2 Predicting 76

2.5.3 Identifying Main Ideas 76

2.6 Critical Reading Strategy 78

2.6.1 Definition of Vocabulary 81

2.7 Extensive Reading Program 82

2.8 Motivational Factor 88

2.8.1 Providing right text 91

2.8.2 Variety of text 91

2.8.3 Empowered 92

2.8.4 Letting students to know what to expect 92

2.8.5 Encourage to monitor progress 92

2.8.6 Talk or discussion on books read 93

2.8.7 Encourage students to write feedback 93

2.8.8 Success expectation 94

2.8.9 Reading Aloud and Collaboration 94

2.9 The Study 98

2.9.1 Before Reading 99

2.9.2 During Reading 100

2.9.3 After Reading 101

2.10 Conclusion 101

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CHAPTER THREE- METHODOLOGY 104

3.0 Introduction 104

3.1 Five Elements of Extensive Reading Program 113 3.1.1 Maximising Learners Involvement(Independent Reading) 113 3.1.2 The Impromptu Conversation 113 3.1.3 Read Aloud In Class 114 3.1.4 Learners Presentation 115 3.1.5 Written work based on the reading 115 3.1.6 The Progress Chart 116

3.2 Progressive Research 118 3.2.1 First week of the twelfth week 118 3.2.2 Second week of the twelfth week 118 3.2.3 Final Week 119 3.2.4 The flow of procedures carried out during the twelve weeks 120

3.3 Research Design 122

3.4 Sampling Procedure 123

3.5 Instrumentation 130 3.5.1 The pre-test and post-test 130 3.5.2 Questionnaire 131 3.5.3 Analysis of Questionnaire 133

3.6 Data Collection 134

3.7 Chronology of Study 135 3.7.1 The Study Process 137 3.7.1.1 First week of the eleventh week 137 3.7.1.2 Second week to the eleventh week 138 3.7.1.3 Twelfth week 138 3.7.2 Data Collecting Procedure 138

3.8 Data Analysis 139 3.8.1 Data Analysis of the pre-test and post test 139 3.8.2 Questionnaire 140

3.9 Conclusion 141

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CHAPTER FOUR- DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE 142

4.0 Introduction 142

4.1 Research (Question 1) 144 4.1.1 Section 1 144 4.1.2 Section 2 148 4.1.3 Section 3 158 4.1.4 Section 4 165 4.1.5 Section 5 169

4.2 Research Question Two and Three 175 4.2.1 Section 1 176

4.3 Conclusion 185

CHAPTER FIVE- IMPLICATION, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION 188

5.0 Introduction 188

5.1 Discussion 191 5.1.1 The Form 4 Science students view towards reading on English 192 5.1.2 The Expectation in learners’ performance using extensive reading 192 5.1.3 ERP motivated learners to indulge in more reading 193

5.2 Implication 196 5.2.1 HOME 196 5.2.2 School 198 5.2.3 Education 202

5.3 Recommendations 5.3.1 Suggestions for difficulties in reading 204

5.4 Conclusion 205

REFERENCES 209

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LIST OF TABLES

Table No Page

2.1 Cognitive Theory 68

2.2 Stages Of Cognitive Model

69

2.3 Intrinsic Motivation Model

96

3.1 Progress Chart 117

3.2 Categories Of Performances

122

3.3 Model Of Word Recognition

123

3.4 Model Of Segments of Comprehension Stages

124

3.5 Participants In Research 130

4.1 Analysis According To Race

145

4.2 Penilaian Menengah Rendah Results

146

4.3 Language Often Used At Time

147

4.4 Speaking English Among The Peers

148

4.5 Parent’s Skilled Level 148

4.6 Parent’s Academic Qualifications

149

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4.7 Reading Newspaper 152

4.8 Reason’s For “No” To Read Newspaper

152

4.9 Reading English Storybook

153

4.10 Types of English Book Liked By Students

154

4.11 Time Spent At Home 155

4.12 Spend Less Time At Home

156

4.13 An Activity Liked Most 157

4.14 A Disliked Activity 158

4.15 Views on English Language

160

4.16 Desire To Be Fluent In English

166

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No Page

4.1 Multiple Choice Questions

170

4.2 Meaning Of Words 171

4.3 Locating Main Ideas 172

4.4 Writing A Summary 174

4.5 Answering Comprehension

Questions

175

4.6 Multiple Choice Question

178

4.7 Meaning Of Words 180

4.8 Locating Main Ideas 181

4.9 Writing A Summary 182

4.10 Answering Comprehension

Questions

183

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Page

A Pre Test 224

B Instrument To Investigate Influence Of

L1 Reading

232

C Post Test 246

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

English Language is being taught as a second language in all primary

and secondary schools in Malaysia. There was a change in the

Education System where Mathematics and Science subjects were also

taught in English from the year 2002 until the year 2012 and it was

abolished because the government was convinced the system was not

materializing well. Supporters and critics are still voicing out their

opinions with a hope that it would be continued again. This has also

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dampened the learners’ exposure to English in different subjects that

could have been a drive to further embrace the English Language.

Looking back at history, the approach towards the

English Language syllabus has gone through many fundamental

changes. In the year 1979, Reader Program was introduced to

cultivate reading habit among learners. In 1983, more focus was

given on the immediate need for communication in the English

Language at the work force. In 1990, Self-Access Learning was

implemented and it was more students oriented.

In this research, learners were from a rural background.

Most of the learners were from the same environment and they were

more comfortable communicating in their first language, in Malay

Dialect. This gave them the satisfaction that the message conveyed

reached the other party clearly and it would not lead to

miscommunication. Some learners were interested in being different

from others and they did make an attempt to communicate in English.

But, when an error occurred in the process of communicating, the

learners felt intimidated with their own classmates.

In my observation, teachers on the other hand, tend to

spoon feed the learners which dampened their spirit of trying harder.

Students also tend to know that the safest technique would be to take

notes, memorize the materials and would hope to pass the exam with

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a fair results. So, in Malaysia we faced a number of challenges when

teaching English is concerned. The first factor to ponder, were we

producing enough competent teachers to teach English? Next, what

could be an appropriate method or style to teach English to

multilingual learners? For instance, in teaching English to a group of

Chinese from vernacular school in Malaysia, teachers need to

highlight how certain concepts are handled in English, Malay and

Chinese. (Darus and Ching 2009).

Next, making English a compulsory subject to pass in the

near future, would have an impact on the attitude of learners and

parents towards a positive side. In the Urban area, learners spoke

English more like their first language where else in the rural area to

locate one learner with that kind of background would be a rare

occasion.

1.1.1 Role of Reading in English in our Education System

In our Malaysian Education System, it is more examination oriented. So,

teachers conduct classroom teaching based on examination – oriented

lessons. This was done due to the pressure given by the authorities,

parents and learners to obtain excellent results to move further to good

schools or colleges. Schools tend to compete for better results every year

to have recognition or to maintain high prestige with the education

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department. Teachers are not allowed to have a mind of their own and

focus on the learners’ competence. Syllabuses are given to teachers and

are instructed to complete teaching the syllabus within the time frame.

Zulhilmi; (2005), in an article in The Straits Times stated, ‘Reading in

Malaysia restricted to classroom and for education pursuits’.

Most of the time, learners are taught to read for literacy

learning and it is not an adequate goal. Learners should be motivated

to read to locate information and also for pleasure. If the learners read

only for the literacy purpose, then outside the school environment

they would not be motivated to read on their own. Any kind of action

done with a force does not provide a positive outcome. Most students

that pursue their studies to universities do not have the confidence in

themselves and they endure a difficult situation because most of the

references books are in English. Most of these learners are lacking in

critical and creative thinking skills because in school limited

exposure and most of the time, they are forced to read. Learners

should be encouraged to think because it includes intellectual skills

such as memorizing reading facts, information, analyzing, generating

ideas, making decision, problem solving and planning.

Reading is closely related to writing competence. A

learner who is not fond of reading usually does not have enough facts

to generate in the writing skills. According to Spangler (2000), for

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learners to become matured and effective readers, they must have the

skill and will to read. Without motivation, children most likely will

not be using Meta cognitive strategies such as prior knowledge,

locating information, self-monitoring, and lacking in the process of

reading. In reading, learners tend to use the process of bottom up

strategies, understanding at sentence level, which would eventually

lead to top – down strategies to focus on the gist of the text. According

to Baker (2000), cognitive skills are foundational to create an

engaged reader because low \language proficiency is a hindrance for

one to be motivated to read.

In the Malaysian Curriculum (2001) KBSK, importance

is given to reading, writing and calculations. It is stressed that every

child in the primary school should be able to read, write and count

before stepping foot into the secondary school. This method was

implemented with the hope learners would be actively engaged in

reading, regardless of the environment, school or home.

According to Noorliza (2006), her research was conducted in a

rural area also stated that students who have the ability to read also

do not read during their free time due to lack of motivation and this

problem does not stop here. According to Abdul Khadir (2005),

conducted a study on UTM students, discovered that inability to

timely complete their studies is due to lack of interest in reading. The

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problem arises because they are not able to comprehend what they

have read and eventually give up due to frustration. They read too

little for the sake of reading and no understanding of the text is

achieved (Guthrie, Schafer and Huang 2001). Thus, motivation to

read should be instilled from the root. Learners tend to discover that

reading is part and parcel of tertiary level but are not prepared to face

the challenges which are a new experience to them. So, reading

failure could lead to poor academic performances. Not many learners

at school level read newspaper, magazines and most of the time

reading was done under force for academic purposes. But, the

scenario changes in the higher level whereby one has to read a lot of

references books , academic textbooks and surf the internet for

information to complete certain assignments or projects. So,

insecurity kicks in which leads to poor completion of work that

directly leads to poor grades. Reading might not be a difficult task but

understanding the gist of the text would be a major task.

Comprehending a text is a skill that cannot be acquired overnight but

gradually being motivated in reading and using the correct reading

methods could make one a good reader. Learners need to be

motivated and self – interest should be cultivated.

1.1.2 Factors Influencing Reading Process

Background knowledge plays a vital role in enabling one to be a

good reader, an essential element of acquiring new knowledge. It is a

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part that dominates the behavior of a learner in being able to

understand and comprehend the text amicably.In a study done,based

on learners’ reading comprehension, discovered that background

knowledge and the level of acquired vast vocabulary were the

prophesy of success as it influenced the learners competence in

understanding the text. Background knowledge of a learner would

accelerate as the learner goes up the ladder to different grade levels.

At times, background knowledge from other subjects does provide a

basement for better understanding of a text. Background knowledge

has the ability to directly influence the comprehending of what is read

(Stahl, Sinatra, and Gregory 1991). Being fluent in reading

comprehension also is influenced by the fact that one has sufficient

background knowledge on that particular topic or task. (Klauda and

Guthrie; 2008).

There are many methods to enhance the reading ability to

make the process more comprehensible. Firstly, the reading text must

have certain words and grammatical structures that are familiar to the

learner. Next, topic should be appropriate with the learners’ age,

interest, sex and cultural background to motivate the learner in

general.

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Introduction

In this Chapter the researcher stated about the factors involved in reading

and the factors that could enhance and motivate the reading program.

Reading has persistently been a component that is included in language

teaching and learning. So, it is the central to the second language

acquisition in learning institutions. Comprehending a text read is an

internal cognitive process experienced by a reader, so to do a study on

the factors that affect a reader’s comprehension, is not an easy task. One

has to study the factors that lead to L2 reading in the context of ESP

(English Specific Purposes).

Currently there is a lot of research growth in Malaysia. So, the

researcher conducted the research on motivating reading habits among

low proficiency learners through an extensive reading program. The

researcher believes certain appropriate methods should enhance the

reading ability among the weak learners. The researches done in

Malaysia showed that learners who are guided and monitored read better

than learners who are unmonitored. The research done indicated that

proper management of extensive reading which is part of our curriculum

system under ‘Nilam’ should be looked as a crucial role played by

teachers as a guide and learners to improve learners’ language

proficiency. The government of Malaysia has given the importance to

both language under the Tenth Malaysia Plan 2011 to 2015,”Upholding

Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening English to make it possible as

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Universal use of English for employment locally and in particular, for

Malaysians to remain globally competitive. The policy could lead to a

change in the future since Malaysia is in need of English proficient

population and to permit the English Language to play a more dominant

role. (Awang Haji Salleh ,1994)

The English Language is honored as the second language

in Malaysia (Gill 2002) and in line with the education policy, taught

as a second language. A handful of studies have indicated that

Malaysian learners do realize the role English Language would play

in their future endeavors (Ainol Madziah and Isarji 2009) and learners

are pressured to get good results which would open their path to more

career choices.

There are a few possibilities that could encourage

learners to be motivated. One of the possibilities is not to teach

English in isolation and to integrate language and context. Learner’s

interest could be motivated when we provide opportunities for them

to communicate in topics relevant and that interest them, maybe a

topic related to their environment. According to their level of

proficiency, books to read should be provided so that it does not look

like a task to be accomplished but an entertainment or past time.

Learners are bound to have the thirst to learn more due to their young

age curiosity and this attitude can be used to expose them to reading

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materials of their choice. According to Protocio (2012), teacher

should help to create, self-efficiency beliefs about reading, access to

interesting texts, social interactions, around books and self-selection

of books. There is an irrefutable fact that language learners tend to be

lack in confidence and are in great need of confidence – boosting

activities. Teachers as a facilitator do play a vital role in building the

confidence slowly but surely. According to Nguyen and Ho (2012),

teachers should use language learning strategies that were effective

and also know which is ineffective in their classroom to make them

proficient in the English Language.

1.2 Statement of a Problem

In today’s fast moving world, one would be left behind if one cannot

communicate or read well in the English language. Most teenagers

are left without jobs because of being unable to communicate in a

foreign language, English what more the process of reading!

The researcher embarked on this research to find out the

lack of motivation to read English texts. The learners were only

interested in reading materials that are related to their examination.

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The research was carried out on Form 4 students in a rural school in

Ipoh, Perak. The learners were not exposed to materials pertaining to

English unless they were in school. The lack of motivation could be

due to the influence of first language and the environment which is

only filled with one race that are fluent in the Malay language. They

were from a Malay kampung nearby. Most of their parents were not

highly educated and there was a possibility, they could not motivate

their children or teach them English. It is stated that parents reading

to their children does influence the child’s competence compared to

other involvement and educational aspects (Vera, et. al., 2012). They

were the low middle class people. The learners were in a Form 4

science class (3rd class) and they were low proficiency learners and

they were not motivated to read English texts. They only read in

English when they were instructed in class or for their examination.

The record of their visits to the library was regular every

week because of the Nilam Program (Nadi Ilmu Amalan Membaca)

in school but they tend to borrow Malay storybooks only.

Furthermore, the teachers also did not have the time to take them to

the library more often due to the fact that the syllabus for the year was

compulsory to be completed.

There were also some other problems that intervene with

the environment. Learners were unable to comprehend what was read

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although there was not much emphasize on the pronunciation. They

did not understand the literal meaning of a sentence or text which

could be due to lack of background knowledge on the text, no

schemata involved. The learners were not exposed to proper methods

or programs in reading. A proper reading program was implemented

to motivate and build the interest to read.

So, a study was carried out in the Form 4 science class to

motivate learners to read using extensive reading programs,

1.3 Research Objectives

The purpose of this study was to find out the reasons for lack of

motivation towards reading in English, the expectation and the vast

development after an extensive reading program merged with motivation

which encouraged the learners to read more books and to read better. A

test score of pre- test, post-test, a set of questionnaire and some basic

interview questions were conducted before and after the extensive

reading program to determine the effect of ERP after the motivation was

given to read the English texts. The questionnaire was given to study the

lack of motivation towards reading in English. The pre-test was given to

evaluate the student’s level of motivation in reading English texts. After

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using the ERP with the motivational method, the posttest and a short

interview was done to study the learners’ development and motivation

to read more books in English.

The study was embarked to motivate the learners to read

English texts. It was carried out to find ways that were appropriate to

motivate reading habits among the Malay students in and out of school

environment. The study was also executed to convey a message to the

learners that reading a text in English could be very interesting and it

was an easy task.

1.4 Significance of the study

The use of proper reading programs were often limited. Furthermore, all

the strategies listed could be used for all level of competence in learners.

So, more research has to be done for teachers and learners to benefit

more in the future.

The study was conducted to motivate and develop the

reading ability among learners of L2. There was overwhelming

evidence that learners who were given a choice to read without being

stressed or pressured will progress in language and literacy

development. There were studies that have shown having free

reading periods in class whereby learners were allowed to pick and

read a book of interest to them , do well on tests of reading

comprehension , for first language acquisition and foreign language

14

development (Krashen , 2004 ) . The fact stated that an extensive

reading program must be conducted as student – centered activity.

Learners must enjoy what they are reading so that they read more

books and become better at it. “Reading .... Must be developed, and

can only be developed, by means of extensive and continual practice.

People learn to read, and to read better, by reading (Eskey, 2002).

The study was embarked with the vision to motivate the

experimental group learners to read books of their choice without a

force. Some of the known problems were no time, reading was

boring, preferred to play internet games books did not motivate the

learners to read, environment did not permit, interest was never

cultivated since young. But motivated learners showed a positive

attitude towards reading in English. A positive attitude, higher

instrumental and of course travel orientations could be also a good

reason for students competence in English. (Liu, 2007). Some of the

common instrumental orientations were setting promotions, a good

job and using internet to gather information to be more

knowledgeable.

The learners’ cultural background did not really seem to

emphasize on the importance and meaningfulness of learning the

language. For instance, if in the learners’ cultural belief, it was a

difficult task to acquire the language then the basic level of

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achievement would be low. Furthermore, the individual differences

in competence, motivation and anxiety showed the level of

achievement. On the other hand, if the learner had a built in interest

to acquire the task, then all the others aspects would only play a small

role and the level of achievement would be unarguable. Thus, can be

concluded that one’s cultural beliefs would affect the level of being

proficient and the individual achievement in the second language.

1.5 Research Questions 1. Why were the Form 4S3 students’ lack of motivation towards

reading in English?

2. What was expected in learner’s development after being motivated

to read using extensive reading program?

3. How did extensive reading program strategies motivate learners to

indulge in more reading?

1.6 Hypothesis

Students who could be motivated to read through extensive reading

program would be motivated to read more than learners who are not

encouraged.

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Students who were motivated to read based on their interest,

background knowledge and environment should be able to cultivate

the interest to read gradually

Students who were guided through a proper method to read

from young should be able to start the habit of reading from a certain

age without being pressured or forced to read.

1.7 Definition of terms

1.7.1 Extensive Reading.

It is a way of learning a language through wide reading. It also

motivates learners through a positive way and also increases the level

of vocabulary acquisition. According to Krashen (1989), reading

makes readers discover unknown words and learning opportunities

by inference. Learners will tend to learn the unknown words by

referring to the context .Extensive reading is focused more to the text

compared to intensive reading that is focused more on the language.

Extensive reading is to read as much as a learner’s can base

on being motivated so that it is pleasurable to read. It starts with text

of simpler level based on the learner’s competence level in reading.

So, there would be reinforces of the words you already know and also

learning unfamiliar words from context.

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Certain known principles in extensive reading is don`t look up

the dictionary, skip over the parts that the learner doesn`t understand

and of course do not continue reading a book that learner does not

enjoy.

Extensive reading is by reading a large quantity of text, where

reading confidence and reading fluently is given priority. It is more

to gaining general understanding of a text read. It eventually develops

good reading habits, builds up knowledge of vocabulary and structure

and the positive of it is to encourage a liking for reading. The purpose

is for pleasure, locating information and general understanding.

Typically extensive reading indulges learners in reading a lot of

materials that can be read smoothly, confidently and pleasurably.

Reading novels, magazines and newspaper is considered as

extensive reading where else reading a text book is intensive reading.

1.7.2 Nilam

This is a program started in Malaysian schools in 1999 to encourage

students to read extensively. The reading strategies are formulated to

encourage students to read throughout the year and points are

allocated based on their involvement in the reading program.

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This program was implemented under the Education

Department in Malaysia with the policy of developing the habit of

reading among learners. The learners are supposed to read

extensively and record the books they have read. The teachers task

are to confirm and sign the recorded books and at the end of the year

learner with the most book read will be given a reward to encourage

the learner and others in the surrounding to read more.

1.7.3 Pre Test / Post Test

A pre-test is a preliminary test done to access a learner’s competences or

baseline knowledge or the level of being prepared for an educational

experience or course of study.

A post-test is a test given to learners to measure the level of

effectiveness or achievement of a problem after completing the program

or research at a certain time period indicated.

In many experimental designs, pretest and post-test are the

type of methods used to compare or measure a degree of change

occurring after a certain research or interventions.

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1.7.4 Aspects in Motivational

Motivational aspects are related to psychological feature that arouses an

individual to move or be enhanced to achieve a goal. It is like a driving

force to achieve what one desires.

The instinct theory of motivation is like an inborn pattern of

behavior. One is motivated to behave in such manner because it is the

instinct to do so. Instinct theory was pushed aside when motivational

theory was infamous. Many segments in motivational theory such as

drive theory, incentive theory,

Motivation is defined as an internal drive that activates

behavior and gives it direction. The term Motivational Theory is

concerned with the processes that describe why and how human

behavior is activated and directed. In Motivational Theory objectives

are set to help learners learn and recall information.

1.7.5 Self-Access Language Learning Method

It is a method that is actually liked by learners because they are allowed

to study independently and choosing their materials based on their

interest among different resources that are in the environment. Learners

tend to learn better when they have a say in how they learn. It is about a

learner being responsible and actively participating on his /her own

learning.

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Learners will be able to learn based on their own time allocated.

Learners can be focused and disciplined on their level of

achievements and without stress to complete the task but supervision

from the teacher is necessary from time to time.

There are many types of methods such as semi guided learning,

online self-access learning and so on.

1.7.6 Reading Corner

A reading corner is a corner set in a large room or classroom with a

variety of reading materials such as storybooks, magazines and

newspapers. Materials to build or motivate the students to read during

the English lessons or during their free time.

The books displayed at the reading corner will be based on the

learner’s interest, competence level and of course cultural

background too. The reading corner must be convenient to the

learners and create a good and soothing atmosphere for reading.

1.8 Limitation of Study

This study did not represent the whole population of students in the

school. It was limited to one particular group of learners only from a

rural Malay school.

21

This study was only related to one program, extensive

reading program merged with motivation in ESL context. The

program could not be done for a very long period of time due to time

constrain. Furthermore, absentee problem whereby learners do not

turn up regularly to school.

1.9 Conclusion

This study was carried out to find ways to overcome the lack of

motivation faced by low proficiency learners. An ERP was used to find

a solution to encourage learners to read more. Learners needed to be

motivated by using a few motivational strategies to cultivate the interest

in reading with or without supervision. It was not an easy task to build

in the interest among teenagers compared to smaller children. It was

because from young age teenagers tend to build a wall around them and

indulge in the thought that they were not good in English because it was

always a difficult subject and they would never be able to acquire the

skills. Reading habits should be cultivated at a young impressionable age

in school, but once formed it can last one life time (Green, B 2001).

An extensive reading program merged with motivation

skills were implemented to enhance the learners to be motivated to

read in English. This program had been proven to be successful but

learner’s cultural background, competence in the language and most

22

of all motivated to explore played a vital part in this research. In the

next chapter, a literature review was done on previous researches on

the topic.

23

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

In chapter two, the researcher stated most of the researches done by

scholars towards learners to motivate them to read better and create an

interest in reading. It was an alarming wakeup call among educators and

parents with children who totally could not read or an average level of

reading but more seriously about students who could read but lack of

motivation to read. Reading is also closely related to writing skill and

students who were not motivated to read tend to perform poorly in

writing activity too. In the last decade, there was a development in

agreement on skills that blend in as the foundation for reading and

writing task (Dickinson & Newman 2006). A student needed to be rich

in vocabulary, analyzing the gist of content through reading and prior

24

knowledge to understand text that was conveyed through print. In

accordance to attain this level of achievement, students needed to

develop gradually these strands and should be given opportunities to

develop the skills, not in isolation but interactively. Knowing a meaning

of word, and not the intonation of words, could motivate students’

earliest experiences with print (Neumann, Copple & Bredekamp, 2000).

According to Scarborough (2001), students with high level of

verbal abilities tend to be able to read well. It is a known fact that

skilled readers typically acquire multiple levels. (Dickson Mc Cabe,

Anastasopoulos, Peisner -Feinbeng & Poe 2003) such as including

vocabulary, syntax and discourse. A recent study carried out by

Dickson et.al. (2003), stated that an oral language skill, especially

vocabulary development does not only show importance in

phonological awareness but also critical skills for the development of

reading comprehension. So, in summary it would be very essential to

start in early childhood program to input oral language and

vocabulary development which would be the foundation for all other

skills to blend in for a successful reading activity.

Comprehension is a skill that requires one to understand

the input, Oxford English Dictionary (2010) defines comprehension

as the action on the fact of comprehending with the mind,

understanding grasping with the mind, power of receiving and

25

containing ideas. “According to Brown (2007), the definition of

comprehension is ‘the process of receiving language, listening on

reading input “. To be able to comprehend is the ability to locate and

analyze information according to respective segments and sum up

with getting the gist of the text or main ideas in a cohesive manner.

According to Lin (2010), a good comprehending ability is being able

to interactive strategies found and summarizing the facts with a

meaningful understanding. But, comprehending would not be limited

to input alone, also the output based on learner’s fluency in the

language. Being fluent meant the underlying knowledge of

competence and performance on behavior which was the way one

comprehends a text and the acquired information could be transferred

or used in other aspects of proficiency, such as writing and speaking

with little seeking attention effort (Brown 2007, Grabe 2010).

Comprehension would be an interactive process, when developed

fully led to fluency in reading.

There were many views in defining reading comprehension and a

few researches have claimed there were a variety types of

comprehension especially, involving reading. When it came to

gathering data, information, seeking main ideas, keeping abreast of

development or understanding by content then there was no substitute

for reading. Without reading a required text, one would not be able to

26

conclude the required information. However, information that would

be released in different genre, one has to read to gather. There could

be no short cut and no conclusion could be drawn just with the title.

The title also has to be read to assume the pages of content.

It is always an advantage when we could read. Most

materials throughout the world were in written form and some of it

had been kept for decades for further researches. Reading played a

vital role in an individual’s development of knowledge, progress in

life and competence in the particular language and could make the

individual an asset to the nation. According to Gorden (1976), ‘the

thirst for reading and a wider dissemination of books is a sign of

progress in the world’. Reading would not only convey the author’s

meaning of the text but also the meaning through the context based

on the reader’s relevant experiences which was a more demanding

process. A reader has to get indulged in the text and be critical and

creative enough to be able to relate the content of the text to his

background knowledge. Reading is not done with the thought of

picking information in a word by word manner (Grabe 1991) but on

active process of comprehending. To be able to comprehend a text to

the best of one’s ability, he/she has to have an interest in the passage

read, background knowledge would ease the process, inference &

predicting utmost necessary process and linguistic ability.

27

Reading played one of the crucial role in academic literacy and

being unable to read well, eventually could lead to poor academic

achievement. So, to excel in academic, student has to acquire the

ability to read well followed by effective reading program.

2.1 History of Reading

Being able to read would be an important issue for any society. We are

in the era of developing technology day by day with new progress and

development in IT world. So, one has to be able to keep abreast with the

development to be able to progress in all areas. Without being able to

read well, one could not cope with the development, therefore reading

would be the tool for ensuring a lifelong education. One who has a good

reading habit could use it as a strong weapon to excel in life (Bashmir

and Mattco, 2012).

There were different ways to describe or accurately state

the meaning of reading comprehension and it was clearly stated that

there was no one kind or type of description when it comes to reading.

According to Brantmeier (2003), “is not one true comprehension; but

a range of comprehension”. On the other hand, Day and Park (2005)

claimed that reading comprehension exist in different types.

28

According to Day & Park (2005), literal comprehension

understood the straight forward meaning of the text. The answers for

questions in a text would be straightforward from the text and would

not require critical thinking. At times, certain words in the questions

would be related directly to the answer in the text. Then,

reorganization would take place, where learners have to pick and

choose pieces from the text to combine and form an answer for the

specific question.

Next, reorganization would occur during the process of

combining information from a various reading for an additional

understanding to answer more specific questions pertaining to the text

(Day & Park 2005). Then, inference would go beyond literal

understanding whereby readers have to also depend on their previous

knowledge related to the text to be able to come up with answers.

(Day&Park 2005). It would be followed by prediction, prior

knowledge and understanding of the text that played an important role

to enable a reader to guess or predict what had happened next or

conclusion and the answer must have evidence from that particular

text to show validity. Next, evaluation was the part the reader has to

have general knowledge and understanding on that particular topic to

be able to give an opinion or judgment based on the text. Lastly,

personal response for open-ended text, reader would get engaged with

29

the text by stating their emotions or feeling about the text and the

answer has to be in relation to the text. (Day & Park 2005).

The above types of text can provide variety aspects of

reading and could motivate learners to do critical thinking and

enhance their ability in reading by being able to comprehend well.

But, all these classifications have their weaknesses too. Literal

comprehension, we could not depend to get abstract information, tone

and irony whereas the rest of it needed the reader to have a good

knowledge on the subject matter. It also did not relate to various

cultures across region, for one could not read the same text but

coming from different cultural background and it was impossible to

give the same prediction inferences on personal responses. Their

background knowledge from different ethnic group would affect the

answers in a positive or negative manner.

“Reading is a thinking process, is part of everything that

happens to you as a person and comprehending a text is intimately

related to your life” (Fountas & Pinnell, 2006). This definition

supported the theory by Rosenblatt, in a reading comprehension, the

reader needed to interact with the text. The ability of being able to

read would be an important part in literate society (Burns, Roe &

Smith, 2002). Being able to read would be interrelated with good

reading habits. According to Asraf and Ahmad (2003), motivating on

30

cultivating the habit to read extensively would be one way to improve

the learner’s competence in the language. Nilam Program (Nadi Ilmu

Amalan Membaca), introduced in 1998 by Ministry of Education

with a motion to cultivate the reading habits among students was seen

unsuccessful as students could not be motivated without force (Kaun

& Thiagarajan 2000) .

Now, electronic reading has emerged in as a medium for

reading materials for the past few years and definitely would be

challenging the traditional reading methods, books, newspaper and so

on. The advantages of e-reading has influenced many regardless of

the older or younger generation. It would definitely be an advantage

to read through e-reading because could locate a large number of

materials at any time, access to thousands of books, articles by just a

click of few buttons or even the thought of reading later by storing

the materials into a minimal size storage space. It has provided the

possibility of getting information on current and previous issues in a

nick of time.

According to Kang, Wang and Lin (2009), studies have shown

evidence that those who did e-reading were equally good in

comprehending abilities as those who used the traditional reading

methods. According to Kang et. al.,(2009) stated that learners using

e-reading required more time compared to traditional learners, just

31

could open the book and could start reading but e-readers have to

break down and analyze digital text but locating specific information

e-readers were more superior compared to traditional learners. Next,

e-readers have physical disadvantage, increased susceptibility to eye

fatigue (Kang. et al. 2009) which could lead to lack of accuracy in

word recognition and comprehending the text. E-reading also needed

power source to function compared to traditional reading.

Hung, Chern and Lin (2009) have stated that L2 learners

needed to have a totally new set of reading strategies to enable them

to cope with the latest gadgets. According to them, the learners

needed special skills to read a text online as internet has new

processing features that could not be found in normal traditional

reading method. Next, Chun’s Study (2001), found that being able to

locate the meaning of a familiar word in the text from internal glosses

was an added advantage for e-reading learners. She stated that being

able to access the meaning of new vocabulary immediately would

lead to better understanding and fluency of the text. However, there

was no evidence to support whether this method was appropriate for

good and weak learners, so the validity of this study was

questionable. E-reading would still be in its infancy, so extensive

research could not be done to compare and contrast with the

traditional reading methods that have been around for ages.

32

In the current research of L2 reading, still certain factors

needed to be done a research. Firstly, how did a reader that was

enabled to comprehend could affect the fluency in the language.

According to Nassaji (2003), linguistic deficiency constrains the

reading comprehension processed and limited language proficiency

led to inefficient processing of text. This meant a learner would be

unable to comprehend the understanding of a text without a good

level of proficiency in the language. So, to guide a lower-level reader

more time was needed to be allocated for word recognition that would

eventually lead to comprehending.

Secondly, learners who would be proficient orally in the

language were expected to be able to read well (Guo & Roehrig

2011). In contrast, reading instructors have seen learners with the

same ability in the proficiency level did not show the same level of

fluency in reading a text, they would vary from the expected level.

(Fecteau 1999). So, the gap in the reading ability has to be addressed

but where would the instructors start since the oral and reading skills

differ. (Yang. S, 2010) .Next, most research was done based on L1

reading and cannot be used as evidence for L2 learners. So, certain

reading strategies were irrelevant for L2 if the studies were done

based on L1. A lot of research has to be done based on current reading

program for L2 learners to get a more accurate findings.

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2.2 Factors Affecting Reading

According to Mokatsi (2005), one of the basic tools to the word

education would be reading. Krashen (1993) cited reading was an

important part of any language acquisition. Ogeyik & Akyay (2009)

stated that to be able to acquire critical thinking and creativity, one

should cultivate reading on a long term habit. This habit also

gradually would develop mega cognitive and personality of an

individual and playing a role in cultivating the interest in reading

would be important for individual improvement (Ogeyik & Akyay

2009). Learners with a high level of reading habits should be able to

show good academic performances (Dent, 2005). In contrast (Agee,

2005), believed that the society we lived in today did not emphasize

much on reading as in the past and the issue has to be looked into

before it became an unsolved issue. Tella (2007), stated that learners

who read for pleasure and enjoyment tend to cultivate the habit for

reading as a lifelong process. Krashen (2004), supported the fact by

Tella, stating second language learners should also be encouraged to

read for pleasure and indirectly the knowledge could be used for

demanding purposes.

According to Harvey, S & Goodvis (2007), a reader would be able to

comprehend better when the reader has a general understanding of

different genres. Harvey (2007) also stated that the schools focused

many years on the answers to questions than prompting learner to

34

come up with their own questions after reading. Questions were the

main factor in teaching and to how human beings made sense of their

work. It would be important to teach students to generate questions

before, during and after reading in order to be able to get the gist of

understanding what was read (Harvey, S & Goodvis, A, 2007) .

Student should also be able to make inferences during and after

reading, to be able to draw a conclusion which might not be stated in

the text (Harvey, S & Goodvis, A, 2007).

2.2.1 Primary School Curriculum

In the primary school curriculum, KBSR one of the objective stated was

learners should be able to read when they complete Year 6 but it was not

hundred percent achieved because we still have many learners who have

reached to the secondary level without being able to read or speak a

sentence grammatically correct. So, being unable to read was not a new

issue. This problem existed even 20 to 30 years ago when the researcher

was in school. Many learners had to stop schooling after Sijil Rendah

Pelajaran (SRP) (known as Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) now)

because they could not get through SRP due to being unable to read in

English or Malay. At that time, if you failed SRP, you were not allowed

in Form 4. Now, learners could proceed until Form 5 even though they

could not read in both the languages, Malay and English.

35

Reading comprised of complex skills, which a learner

has to master especially the sub skills in order to have competence in

reading. Learners tend to master basic sub-skills in the primary level

but tend to slowly withdraw from initiating it to the higher level for a

variety of reasons such as boring text, difficult text and not enough

time. Referring to the dictionary for unfamiliar words was a rare

attempt.

Children stepped their feet into Standard One without a

sense of possibility to face failure but it would be an undeniable fact

that a large number of them were drowned with a sense of failure in

the later part. According to Helm (2007), learners with difficulty in

learning or problems with behavior tend to also struggle socially,

followed by low self-esteem, which could lead to hampering them

from learning further. It would not be an easy measure to build back

the strength and motivate learners especially when they were already

in higher form. Not easy to break the four pillars around the learners

who have started to believe they could not do it. According to Ediger

(2002), in a classroom teaching, fast, average and slow readers would

be presented with the same materials to read. Teachers have said that

the result could be overwhelming even though the differences in

learners’ level of competence vary (Friend, et al.2005). These

learners have experienced a variety level of failure in school, at times

36

being isolated by teachers and friends due to their incompetence in

the language. These learners were never encouraged or motivated to

participate in challenging tasks like public speaking or choral

speaking which would go through a lot of drilling and training. So,

eventually they were left behind by ambitious teachers who believed

only good learners could bring back trophies and honor to the school

from all these extra language activities. Teachers have to change their

attitudes and believe in their weak learners and the key factor would

be changing their thoughts to form a positive attitude towards the

weak learners to motivate them to master the reading skills which was

necessary for academic success. The road to development of literacy

success could be filled with rough path but the responsibilities lied on

the education system which relied hundred percent on teachers. The

printed materials must create enjoyment and satisfaction. Anything

that indulged to boredom was usually avoided or ignored at all age

levels. As a result, teachers would go through a struggle in solitude

to reach a classroom of students (Manzo 2007).

2.2.2 Cultivating reading habit

To start or motivate students to have the habit to read, would be exciting

and crucial time for students. Most teachers have the tendency to forget

acquired reading skills, required skilled instructions and this fact was

supported by Buckmaster( 2006) who observed the teaching of reading

in the classroom and found out that teachers tend to ‘spoon-feed’

37

learners by helping them instead of just coaching them in handling a text

in the classroom and attention was focused merely on the text compared

to vocabulary and textual understanding so that students would be able

to cope when it came to one real world text. So, teachers have to play a

better role of using variety approaches in teaching reading in classroom

to enhance reading skills.

Students have to develop their reading skills because

educational researchers have discovered that there was a strong

correlation between reading and academic success. Pretorious E

(2004) stated a learner who was a good reader would also be good in

academic compared to weaker learners. Good learners would be able

to get the gist of the text which would lead to being able to

comprehend ideas, follow arguments and also detect implications.

Good learners, would tend to know most of the words in the text

which would be an advantage and also tend to be able to determine

the meaning of unfamiliar words from context clues. This would give

them the ability to be able to do the task given correctly and quickly.

Education researchers were able to detect the connection between

reading and vocabulary knowledge. Malek & Zangani (2007) were

able to compare learners who were proficient and less proficient. The

outcome showed that those students who have acquired a large

vocabulary along the way were good readers. This was not an

38

unknown fact because one way to acquired large vocabulary was by

reading.

There were many factors that affected the reading process

under environmental factors such as home environment, school

environmental, social environment, culture environment, emotional

factor and physical factor.

2.2.3 Home Environmental Factor

The environment factor would be related to every individual place of

living and growing up. According to Noble (2006), a learner’s progress

, achievement , positive contribution and background characteristics that

would be related to family income, a support from parents, their income

and at times negative circumstances in the home environment directly

played a role in their academic achievements. The place one lived and

grew would create a great impact on the ability to learn, especially a

second language. The environment at home, in school, social and

cultural differs and effects the learners’ actions and behavior. There

would be two types of major setting in a learner’s life in the beginning,

natural setting and formal setting. The child would be more comfortable

in the natural setting home, own ethnic group and the cultural

background that he/she belongs to from birth. In formal setting, the child

39

would start with a fear of adapting different people, different set of rules

and regulations and different expectations.

In the home environment which would be the first

environment a child would see and familiarizes with, in the early

formative years, learners would cope with life in the positive way and

tend to ignore for the negative factors. During the age of five to six

years, a lot of experiences gathered and cognitive growth

development which would be the crucial part of a child. The language

acquisition of a child would start at home with family and siblings

and this language would influence the rest of other languages

especially second language acquisition, first language would

influence. The emotional stability and bonding in the family would

be important for intellectual growth. . Furthermore research has

shown judgments were made by teachers in a few weeks or one or

two months observation, the validity was still questionable. But,

teachers were also challenged with an increase on low proficiency

learners and behaviors in schools (Sloat, et al.2007) When a reading

lesson would be conducted, a teacher has to understand the level of

competence and motivational level of the learner before testing with

a reading text, to supply a suitable text in accordance to the

competence .

40

Parents could be role model for children to create an attachment

and support, eventually build confidence and boldness. Parents

should show their involvement in their children’s academic by having

communication about education with them (Robinson and Harris,

2014). Parents have to nurture the need to read from young, by taking

the children to library regularly, having bedtime stories, giving gifts

as rewards for reading achievement and to stimulate interest. Parents

should never give any negative remarks on the child’s performance

whether good or bad. Parents should play a major role to monitor the

child’s activities and spend more time when the child steps foot into

the school environment, a formal setting. Parent being able to co-

operate with teacher’s remarks and opinion on their child in a positive

manner would be a valuable asset fort the child. Parents’ guidance

and a healthy home environment could change an average or low

level of performance in a child to a higher level gradually. But, a

parent’s relationship could effect a child dramatically, divorce,

separation and death. Teachers should always look into the

background or environment of the child’s home before branding the

child as a low achiever. If a teacher could support and show some

interest and motivation towards the child, there could be a huge

tendency for the child to develop.

41

2.2.4 School Environmental Factor

Next school environment, every learner would spend a substantial

portion of time in school. So, the experiences with teachers behavior

towards them and peers would affect their lives profoundly. According

to Blum (2005), learners could feel threatened to go to school due to lack

of safety in the school environment, isolated by friends and poor

classroom management. Most of the time, poor achievers went through

abominable situation daily in school, due to teachers’ negative

perception and other higher achievers intolerable attitude. Teachers were

likely to judge the ability of a child in a short duration of time. In a year,

a teacher would see a learner for 189 to 190 days only, so there would

be unfairness in the perception which could lead to failure and negative

attitude from the learner. Teachers would need to be provided with skill-

specific instruction to be proficient teacher. (Gertsen, Baker, Haager,

Graves, 2005). Teachers should also improve their level of being

profession by seeking professional development chances and always

seek feedback from peers and authorities

(Friend&Pope,2005).Following the syllabus would be a task given but

not being able to accommodate to learners competence would also lead

to unavoidable failure in the end. It was shown in widespread research

that internal motivation, has shown positive reading achievements

compared to external motivation which would be requirements rules and

has shown no correlation with reading achievement (Guthrie &

42

Coddington, 2009).Teachers on their part, have to deal with forty to fifty

learners and to provide a text based on the level of all learners would be

impossible.

2.2.5 Social Environmental Factor

Then, the social environment that would influence a child the day he/she

steps into schooling life and at times until further higher studies. The

choice of friends would influence the child’s social habits, emotions and

also the cognitive level. The lower level of achievement students usually

would be surrounded by the same level of students and vice versa. It

could be due to feeling a sense of belonging. They would have

confidence and feel protected when surrounded by the same level of

students and it would not be challenging or a treat for them. They would

read for the purpose of evading trouble, feeling embarrassed if they were

to fail or to avoid low achievement only (Otis, Frederick &Pelletier,

2005). The disabled readers usually blended in well with students who

were proficient in their first language only. There were studies linked to

facts that social unpopularity tag always accompanied the school failures

and low achievers. They were usually not recognized or entertained by

teachers and high achievers. The lower level achievers felt confident and

able to communicate well with their peer group. They usually do not feel

threatened or left out and their level of competence would not differ

43

much. Social environment of a child would influence to the extent that

even parents would not be able to reprimand the child or make the child

to withdraw from the group. The bonding would become greater if the

child could not get enough attention at home. At times, the child would

follow the negative path, just to be recognized and accepted in a certain

gang. Parents would need to play a more prominent role compared to

the teachers.

2.2.6 Cultural Environmental Factor

Then, the cultural environment, learners would have come from

different ethnic groups and cultural traditional. Majority of the

‘kampong’ students only met the different ethnic group and culture in

school for the first time. This culture environment would show a

different set of students with different competence, socio economic

background, way of life and acceptance. The greatest challenge in

school would be mingling with learners from all culture, geographical

origin and of course language acquisition. At times, certain culture

background would be used to speaking in second language at home and

this would be an added advantage for reading. Teachers have to also

consider socio economic status, poverty could lead to lack of exposure

to reading materials.

44

2.2.7 Emotional Factor

Next, emotional factor which would lead to learning blocks, hostility

which would lead to aggressiveness behaviors, learned helplessness, low

self-esteem, depression and anxiety. Emotion factor would be one of the

main criteria that have to be analyzed. The emotional thoughts and

feeling could not be seen obviously. Students, able to understand their

emotions were linked to a better self confidence that led to a better

control over inner life (Goleman, 2001). The particular teacher has to

discover it gradually by noticing the learner isolating, not participating

actively and always in a daze. Most of the time, the particular learner has

a few painful experiences whereby teacher could have given negative

comments, other students could have belittled him/her, ignorance of

parents and so on. At certain occasions, learners who were good also are

seen as nerds or dorks by their peers. (Blum, 2005). So, these students

would develop a block, like a wall around them with the hope nobody

noticed them or their weakness and would make that their comfort zone.

According to Ediger (2002), there was a possibility that weak readers

were ignored by other students. As a teacher or parent, these kinds of

learners should be handled very tactfully, teach them in a non-

threatening way. The teaching should accommodate an informal

learning environment suitable for the learner, in the library or under a

tree. The learner would need the space to breathe and should feel

welcomed. On the other hand, parents should always take these learners

45

to the library, bookshops and shower them with gifts and compliments,

especially when they produced results, reading out of the norm.

Then, the hostility which led to aggressiveness

behavior. According to Choy and Troudi (2006), inner feelings and

emotions would influence their view and their approach towards the

intended language. There were about five types of classic emotions

drawn by most psychologists’ happiness, fear, disgust, anger and

sadness. Happiness led to pleasure or being satisfied and vice versa

created discomfort. Fear played the role when the students felt

threatened and low self-esteem. It would be human nature to avoid

whatever that gave pain, so children who had to go through a struggle

to read usually shun it (Powell- Brown,2006) Disgusted and anger

occurred when something we loved and we felt right but it was

violated and not accepted without reasoning. Anger could be released

out with an outburst or withdraw silently with the hope nobody

noticed. So, all these forces with positive powers combined with

negative forces which were injustice would only bring a negative

outcome. So, as a teacher one has to build all the positive emotions

that could produce positive results. Furthermore, negative emotions

stayed longer than positive emotions an indispensable issue that

influenced language performances (Visser, 2008). When students

could not read from primary level, we could conclude that they would

46

never be able to read well (Sloat, et al. (2007). If a teacher has the

ability to teach and motivate, learners were likely to realize their full

potentials. A teacher has to have a desire in her and positive attitude

to be able to produce students with the same attitude. Students should

be taught the art of managing, regulating and controlling emotions to

a certain level.

According to (Goleman, 2001), a person should be

taught to be aware and handle emotions by considering other person’s

feeling and should be skillful in handling relationship which would

be the basic norm for living and it should be taught in schools.

Learners were likely to withdraw from classroom activities if they

could not master their emotions that influence their competence

beliefs to avoid showing their incompetence in class. As a teacher,

with years of experiences, he/she would be able to predict through

observance when a student is internalized with emotions. Teachers

should focus on reducing the negative aura and show a lot of positive

approach by giving good remarks, encouraging words and letting

them know mistakes made were as part and parcel of life. Emotions

have to be perceived and understood and also to know the depth of

role played by emotions to influence the thought. (Mayer & Cobb

2000).

47

Failure in reading has frequently fallen back on emotional

problems. Some of the reading disability were problems interact with

serious emotional constrain that would lead to instability and socially

deprived. Emotional security, feeling worth the life, confidence and

stability need to be rooted into the learner to lead a normal and

fulfilling life.

2.2.8 Learned Helpless Factor

Another factor that affects the reading process would be learned

helplessness. It could be due to excessive control which included too

many instructions from the teacher concern, and restraining from critical

thinking and feeling choked with the interference (Assor, Kaplan, and

Roth, 2005). The learners were likely to avoid failure through

withdrawal method, refusal to try and read. The reading activity would

be avoided by choosing not to complete the task or work and not

participating in group work. It could lead to the opinion of reading

activity would be insignificant (Reynolds & Symons, 2001). So, to

encourage these learners to handle risk, should be given a reading task

below their level of competence to build the self-esteem. A continuous

failure in the reading task would build negative self-image, poor ego

development and overall depression. This would form a thought that

nobody cared about them and could lead to drop out of school. Anxiety

48

would be another reaction for stress and failure. The learners would not

be sure of their abilities and fear of making errors, being corrected and

reprimanded. The learners would feel they don’t belong there as some

other learners would be experiencing praises continuously (Helm, 2007).

2.2.9 Lack of Interest

Lack of interest in reading would be also a major setback. Learners who

did not have natural interest in reading could create artificial interest.

Furthermore, artificial interest would work as well as natural interest.

This interest would be cultivated when the learner realized the

responsibility for learning rests with the learner to find a positive reason

to read such as for assignments, for future projects or to score in the exam

and set a goal for higher score and that would give the learner all the

reason to read. It would be done for the purpose of task completion

rather than on a focus on self-efficacy to read (Schunk, 2003). It also

most often led to reading a text that would be difficult to comprehend

with unfamiliar vocabulary, relatively incoherent and disconnected to

learners’ background knowledge and this fear would discourage them to

believe school is worthwhile (Otis et.ai, 2005). A learner has to be also

careful with what he/she ate to increase the ability to concentrate and eat.

Too much of sugar would decrease the ability to concentrate and read.

Lack of vocabulary would be a cause for slow reading also. Learning

49

new terminology, would add to enable to clench on new ideas and

concepts. The art of being able to do a lexical process would guide the

understanding of the meanings of word –forms in a text. (Tily,

Fedorenko, & Gibson, 2010) A learner should be willing to do all the

necessary strategies to expand the knowledge in vocabulary. If a learner

faced the difficulty to learn a new vocabulary, the note card technique

would come in hand. A learner would bound to come across an

unfamiliar word while reading a text. The learner should use a note card

to write down unfamiliar words and locate the meaning from dictionary,

write on the other side of the card and write out a sentence pertaining to

the meaning of the word in context. Every day for five minutes, should

go through these words and try to memorize the meanings without

looking at the card. After several attempt, one would be able to

remember the meaning and always would be able to find the opportunity

to use it in essays and eventually reading speed would improve.

Then, locating the meaning of unfamiliar words would be

through dictionaries and thesaurus which would be called the

reference book technique. Use the thesaurus to locate valuable

synonyms, antonyms and related words. By using a thesaurus a

learner could ‘spruce-up’ writing essays which could lead to

recognition while reading with speed. According to Chun (2001), low

proficiency learners depended more on the vocabulary knowledge

50

compared to high proficiency learners. Customized vocabulary

techniques were words or vocabularies that were unique to each

discipline that were learnt, for example in biology, history and so on.

So, the faster he/she understood the specific word, reading speed

would improve and this fact was important to enable someone to

understand all the terms in a particular subject without acquiring new

vocabulary, grasping new ideas and concepts would be like running

in a marathon and eventually would lead to reading difficulty.

Capturing the precise term was important based on the subject

because each term could have a variety of meaning.

Practice makes perfect was applied for reading skills without

exception. A learner has to vary reading speed and understanding the

content would depend on type of reading material and the gear used

in the reading to create speed .For reading textbooks, a learner could

reduce speed to gather facts or create short notes for further

references but newspapers and novels could have a better speed

because recalling the facts would not be a compulsory matter. The

Phrase Technique would increase speed in reading because the

meaning of content would be through sentence level and not word

level.

Next, to find main points and important details would be

by recognizing special words or techniques that would reveal the gist

51

or main ideas in the text. There would be cue words, phrases and

locations to attract attention. Neon Arrow Techniques would be

another way to spot main ideas which would improve reading speed

and comprehension also. These words were usually titles, sub-

heading, and summaries and so on. The speed of reading a content

also depended on materials, for example, dictionary scanning,

newspapers skimming and so on.

A plan would be the technique to enhance reading. So, reading

textbooks would be needed and a learner should realize it and those

who set a plan to read textbooks would get indulged in it to read faster

and with high understanding. A lot of ‘shot cuts’ have been

introduced by researchers such as surveying or previewing a text

before reading it seriously for clues and it only would take a few

minutes. In a survey, learners could locate main topics, understanding

and reading speed. Questions could be created to indicate or locate

main ideas also. Making questions out of main points would reveal

that the learner was reading for a purpose and not just to get the job

or assignment done.

Lastly, the blank mind syndrome which would really test the

learners’ competence in reading. It would create like a mental block

where rereading a several time but a blank mind on the content. This

would be a normal act and to overcome prepare the note cards with

52

questions and answers to read aloud, check for accuracy and praise

oneself when you know the facts, ‘ I know it ‘ and do drilling many

times if you could not remember the answer.

According to Weave on Gray (2003), they have set a

program to enhance the reading ability in learner. Firstly, teaching

skills with knowledge and attitudes. Developing reading skills and

social skills across the curriculum and the skills would be related to

the learner’s real life experiences. Secondly, would be using a step by

step approach in stages such as problems solving, assessing pros and

cons, reflecting on outcome and so on. It would make the task look

simpler and learners could participate actively. Then, would be

helping learner to generalize to real life which meant being able to

teach generic, basic, and foundation competencies. A positive

technique would create a warm environment for the learners. Later,

use active methods by putting the learners in groups to do group

work, role play, and class discussion and so on. Then, use peer

education which would create a big deal of affection that would lead

to learning, social relationship and classroom behavior.

There were methods to overcome the environmental

issues. One of the factor would be self-awareness and self-knowledge

which were components of emotional intelligence. Self-awareness

would be having the ability to recognize one’s own feelings. Learners

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would not always know how they felt, what they felt, and also what

to do about their feeling. When, the learner has self-confidence, they

were likely to be able to control their inner life. (Goldman, 1995,

Hamacheck 2000). Teachers could play a role in building the

learners’ self-confidence by teaching them to understand their feeling

and how to make decisions. Having discussion on positive and

negative feelings would be one way to help learners to get in touch

with emotional state of their mind. Teachers should be aware that

different display of emotions from every individual or learner due to

different cultural background, the family and circumstances. Learners

should be taught to be more patient with themselves and people

around them, to develop perseverance and skills to handle well in a

situation of conflict and frustration. Ways to manage emotions would

be by being taught about anger management, conflict resolution,

working together in harmony and always with positive thought.

Next, self-motivation, an ability to express feeling of

enthusiasm, zeal, confidence and determined especially when there

was a setback. Learners who were optimistic or with positive

thoughts always motivated themselves to expect only success.

Motivation would be the key to strong internal drive to pursue and

achieve the goal. Then, the part of empathy, always should be aware

of other’s feelings. Learners who were good listeners, sensitive to

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other’s need and emotional thoughts usually displayed skills in

empathy. As a teacher, should help the learners to develop empathy

by teaching them to see themselves in the other person’s shoes and

be responsible for every action that they do. Positive social

relationship would create a bond among learners. Having self-

confidence, self-motivation, and empathy towards others would

create closeness among learners. Social skills should be developed to

encourage team work and effective group interactions.

A gradually transfer process would take place only after the

teacher has played a role of giving support on guidance and giving

independent activities to boost the confidence. Bukowiecki (2007)

stated “Teaching children how to read requires a balance of

pedagogy, theory and practical classroom experience.

2.3 Models of Reading

The models would play a vital role in a research, it evaluated the

assumptions and beliefs in a research. Every model when applied in

the classroom work, brought out the teacher’s capability and also

episodes in the reading made interesting with engaged vignettes.

According to Palani (2012), effective reading plays a

crucial part in effective learning and reading is interrelated with the

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full educational process and success that requires good reading

habits. At times, though educators have shown a fundamental concern

on reading, many learners still struggled from early ages until

adolescents to read. Teachers usually used all the materials and

strategies that were purchased by school authorities, their personal

collection from workshops, projects downloaded from internet, other

teachers’ ideas or suggestions at their disposal to help the learners to

achieve. Many teachers used all types of models to teach without even

knowing the name of the models and they don’t even know it was a

model, to them it was just a method of teaching and improvement

could be seen in the learner.

Reading models were used to study the cognitive

processes that took place in a reader’s mind but much was unknown

because reading was a silent and internal process. According to Robb

(2007), Tomlinson ( 1999, 2002), there should always be an ongoing

professional study on using multiple text and a variety of reading

strategies for teachers to enable to capture the reading levels of mixed

ability.

Prior to a learner opening the text to read, reading would

start when the teacher concern has immersed into learners

background knowledge and vocabulary related to the text. At this

point, learner’s response would reveal whether it would be a sweep

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through text for them or vice versa. In this situation, the teacher

should build learners knowledge by using picture cards, video clips

and maybe call a learner who has some knowledge on the text to talk

about it because a better understanding of the text would enable

learners to analyze information and build new understanding. During

the process of reading, learners should be encouraged to pause and

think about using their senses to visualize and comprehend the text.

At the end of the reading, it would be time for reflection by recalling

and making connecting, locating main ideas and getting the gist of

the text.

2.3.1 Bottom-up Model

A bottom-up reading model emphasized on a single direction, from

small unit to a longer unit, which meant from part to whole processing

of text. Single units or pieces of language that played a part in

providing overall meaning or version of the text (Celce-Murcia,

2001). It happened from sounds, to whole words, sentences,

paragraph and comprehending of a text which would occur when a

learner could ‘crack the code’ only. Next, the top-down reading

models stated that the processing of a text would begin with the role

played by prior knowledge into prediction or assumption on ideas

related to the text. It would be related to graph phonic, semantic,

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syntactic and pragmatic. Then, the interactive model would combine

both the models of bottom-up and top-down to enable a reader to

comprehend a text. Lastly, the transactional model would

comprehend the text which was influenced by background

knowledge, the text itself, the reader and the author.

Models were useful in a reading process but they have

their limitations also. So, the major implication of the reading process

would be to motivate the learners, to read in quantity and always

create the interest by giving them the text that would enhance their

reading habit and not bore them. A classroom is a mini-literacy club,

learners would learn to read better and also get engaged in a good

deal of reading

Bottom-up reading model emphasized on the written or

printed text. It would be more into the ability to decode or put into

sound what was seen in the text. Readers derived meaning in a linear

or continuous manner. This approach to reading was influenced by

behaviorist psychology at the 1950s, whereby learning was based

upon “ habit formation, brought about by the repeated association of

a stimulus with a response system that humans acquired through

automatic conditioning process,” where “some patterns of language

were rewarded and others were not” and “ only those patterns

reinforced by the community of language users would persist” (

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Omaggio 1993, 45-46) Behaviorism was habits through drilling,

repetition and error correction.

Today, with the bottom-up approach to reading, the main

method associated with it was known as phonics, meant the learner

has to match letters with sound in a sequence. In this view, reading

was a linear process and readers have to decode a text word by word

and eventually link it into phrases and then sentences. It would be a

development of automatic identification skills, in a written form text,

a rapid recognition of exercises which required learners to identify

quickly and accurately the linguistic forms at various levels.

Exercises would be given on word recognition such as match forms

with forms, meanings with meanings, synonyms or antonyms, and

identifying phrases or meaning of words in groups. These exercises

would make the learners to be aware of processing English in

meaningful phrase. The effective way of using bottom-up processing

mode would be decoding skills in grammatical skills and vocabulary

development. Grammatical skills should be taught in language

spoken in the classroom and correct form used is sentences and

paragraphs to familiarize students with grammatically correct

sentences. Next, vocabulary development in the relationship between

schemata and context, could be seen when the teacher taught

vocabulary related to the topic which meant teaching new concepts

59

and new knowledge that the learners did not have in their background

knowledge.

Two bottom-up theories of reading process that remains

popular even today were, One Second of Reading by Gough (1972)

and A Theory of Automatic Information Processing by LaBerge and

Samuels (1974). Gough (1972) One second of Reading Model

described that reading was a mental process which was also supported

by Reutzel & Cooter (2005). According to Gough, a reader would

first translate the written words into sounds, next the sounds were put

together to create the words. Lastly, the words were put together to

arrive at the message or information conveyed in the sentence

structure or text.

According to LaBerge and Samuel (1974), stated that

the process of reading was a concept called automatic information

processing. The process that took place during reading in a human

mind would be like a computer and all the letters and words would

be registered sequentially in the mind because human have the ability

to do multitasking at a time. Reader was believed to have the ability

to shift attention but limited only. For example, if the readers were

asked to stress on decoding the text, they would not be able to do a

good job in comprehending the text. In summary, La Berge and

Samuels (1974) predicted that when a fluency in reading occurred

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without more focus on decoding process, then comprehending a text

would take place without any hassle. Teachers who used bottom up

skills to readers usually started with sub skills, by introducing letter

sound, gradually to pronouncing the whole word, lastly connecting

the words to produce meaning that led to comprehend of text. Bottom

up theorists asserted that a direct relationship was established

between decoding and comprehending a text in which a reader who

could decode or sound the words correctly, comprehending the text

would happen automatically. So, every time a word was pronounced

it has to be correct or corrected if a mistakes occurred because the

goal of bottom up theories was to enable a reader to comprehend a

text effectively after a series of steps, one book for the entire class.

Lastly, ‘encourage perseverance’ teacher could make another extra

step of developing speaking and listening skills by allowing reading

aloud and do not stop readers when an error occurred in the

pronouncing to encourage reading aloud. Teachers should encourage

readers to move forward to pronounce new and difficult vocabulary

because repetition would help students to understand better. Bai

(2007) stated top-down approach was the best way to teach literacy

to L2 learners.

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2.3.2 Interactive Model

Lastly, the Interactive Reading Model which was developed by

David E. Rumelhart in 1997. It described the reading process model

and how linguistic elements were processed and interpreted by the

brains. This models combined the models of bottom-up and top-

down. Readers have to use both the knowledge of word structure and

background knowledge to understand a text. For example every

reader has a different method of interpreting a text, using a method

that was easy for them to accomplish the task. One reader might use

the letter sound to decode a word and another reader might use the

background knowledge to guess the meaning of the word from

context. This process would validate and encourage the two methods

depending on a learner’s competence in the language and this

technique benefited readers. Readers do not have to depend on one

set model to interpret or understand a text.

Comprehending of a text relied on the reader’s beliefs,

understanding problem-solving strategies and motivation. (Dorn’s &

Soffos, 2005). It incorporated the best of bottom-up and top-down

models and minimized the weakness in these models. Interactive

model allowed learners to use context clues, reading sentences and

sounding out unknown words to comprehend a text. A reading skill

that used interactive model would use a skills- based instructional

approach which incorporated three components such as

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comprehension, vocabulary and decoding (Reutzel & Cooter, 2005)

and each played an important role in reading process. The teacher

should provide text that suited the student’s skill level and

background knowledge. The unfamiliar words and concept, were

revised before the reading of the text and emphasize was given to

prior knowledge too. According to Pressley (2006), teachers who

were guided by interactive model in the reading strategies found it

highly effective.

There was a major weaknesses of bottom up and top

down models and that was excluding phonics instruction which was

an important branch of reading acquisition. There have been debates

on both models and looking at it together under one umbrella as

interactive theories brought best reading instructions. Both the

models played an important role in reading but the whole purpose of

reading was comprehension.

2.4 Theoretical Framework

2.4.1 Schema Theory

Schema Theory was about knowledge one has and how the

knowledge was presented and the use of the knowledge in various

ways. It was closely related to top-down model. It described in details

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the role played by background knowledge of the learner in interacting

with the reading task and also illustrated on how the previous

experiences and knowledge gained with the world played a

fundamental role in analyzing a text.

Schema Theory based on the fact that past experiences

created a mental framework in the mind that eventually arose when a

reader has to make sense of new experiences. Smith (1994) called the

schemes as “extensive representations of more general patterns or

regularities that occurred in our experiences” A reader comprehended

a newly read text by finding connections in the mental ‘home’ for

information regarding the new text or modified an existing mental

‘home’ knowledge to accommodate. Schema Theory was important

for learning or communication.

Schemata was created through experiences with human

beings, animals, objects and events that happened around us and in

the world. There were three processes that took place in order to

modify the schemata, accretion, tunings and restricting. Accretion

was when new information were remembered without altering the

exiting schema. Tunings took place when one found something new

which could not be fully accommodated under the exiting schema, so

the schema evolved to add the extra information. Reconstructing

happened when new schema has to be created since it would be a very

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new information which has no relationship with all the existing

schema.

Schema theory was divided into two formal schemata

which would be related to the knowledge about the structure of a text

and content schemata would be about the knowledge regarding the

subject matter in the text and prior knowledge the reader has of both

the schemata, which enabled to predict the meaning and events that

occurred in the text. A formal schema referred to the different types

of text such as letter, article, and speech and so on and content

schemata referred to the context or message in the text. To select a

text that would motivate a reader, teacher has to consider age, gender,

experience and culture.

The educational psychologist Richand Anderson (1977),

introduced the schema theory into the education community, stated

that whether comprehending would take place or not depended on

how accurately a learner could bring out the knowledge from

schemata. A teacher who would be teaching reading to L2 learners,

has to activate and build schema and to achieve that should select

texts relevant to the students’ needs, preferences and also related to

their culture to motivate and make it easier for the readers to

understand the text, which would also activate the existing schemata

and help to build new schemata if needed. After the initial process of

65

selecting text, there would be three stages of activities to enhance

learner’s schemata, pre-reading activities, during reading activities

and lastly post reading activities. In the pre-reading activities,

learners would be instructed to think, write and discuss all the

relevant information they knew about the text, using techniques such

as predicting, semantic mapping and regulating reading to enable the

output of relevant schema. Next, during-reading activities, the

teacher’s role would be to guide and monitor the connection between

the reader and text, note taking activity should be allowed to compile

new vocabulary, main facts, summarize facts and state opinions.

Lastly post-reading activities, to evaluate student’s ability in

interpreting the text and a variety of interpretation would be accepted

as long writer’s intentions were conveyed. (Tierney & Pearson, 1994)

So, there would be strategies to activate the prior

knowledge, class discussion, semantic mapping, requisitions, and

visual aids and advance organizers. Classroom discussions were

informal talks for a teacher to understand and know the background

knowledge or experiences her/his learners have encountered in their

lives. Semantic mapping, learners would offer their ideas on a topic

and their ideas or information would be written in sequences and

organized on the board, quality and relationship were given priority.

During post reading, readers could use the fact as a support on review

66

of information acquired. Pre-questions were questions based on the

text read, to focus their attention and create a good purpose for

reading the text. It would guide readers to a better understanding of

the text and readers also could develop their own questions for further

purpose and understanding. Visual aids to rekindle reader’s prior

knowledge faster and accurately because visual aids created an

activeness and alertness in a learner. Advance organizers were

specific meaning” It meant a way of organizing knowledge, units of

knowledge that were related to each other in one manner or other such

as objects, actions and others. .

Piaget theory was applied into teaching and learning at the

later stage only and it did influence the development of teaching. The

theory emphasized on readiness of a child to be taught a certain

information on concept. According to Piaget theory, a child should

be taught concepts based on their stage of cognitive development and

the learning process should be student centered and teacher as a

facilitator. As a facilitator, the teacher should focus on the process of

learning until the end of the product, focus on using active methods

that would lead to rediscovering on reconstructing “truths” doing

group work or individual work to enhance an active participation and

learning through peers, devising situations to present problems that

can be tackled and eventually would create equilibrium in the child.

67

Lastly, should evaluate the level of development in a child and

suitable tasks should be set.

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Table 2.1

Cognitive Theory

Equilibration

New Situation

Disequilibrium

Accommodation

Lastly, Piaget Theory did influence how people viewed the

child’s world and the methods of studying children. Piaget’s theory

also bestowed path to a huge amount of researches that increased the

understanding of cognitive development.

Assimilation

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Table 2.2

Piaget’s stages of Cognitive Development.

Sensory motor

stage

Pre-operational

Concrete

operational

Formal

Operations

Interacts with

environment by

manipulating

objects.

Preconception Intuitive

Thinking stages

dominates

development of

language occurs.

Influenced by

own perception

with

environment

Logical

reasoning

occurs based

on reality on

can be seen

Development

of logical

thinking about

potential events

or abstract

ideas

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive

Development

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2.5 The Differences between Reading Skills and Reading Strategies

It was widely known that a person read about two hundred fifty words

per minute but there were readers who could cover five hundred to six

hundred words per minute with comprehensions. A good reading method

would be a combination of reading speed and comprehension, if reading

seven hundred words per minute but could remember only 20-30% of

what was read than it would be not useful. In reading a textbook, reading

faster than 250 wpm has a high tendency of omitting important ideas and

clarifying details. Problems would arise due to fact of fluency and

practice in reading.

Fluency in reading has three elements such as accurate

reading of a text with the proper rhythm and speed (Hudson, Mercer

& Lane 2000). A fluent reader could sustain his performance

regardless of practice, not easily distracted and could read in an

effortless smooth manner. Word reading accuracy referred to the

capability of recognizing and decoding accurately. Reading rate

included fluency in identifying individual words and speed reader

movement through text. Children in the practice of learning to read

usually identified more words ‘by sight’ without saying aloud or

figuring out through contextual cues. (Ehri, 2002). Readers usually

have the ability to recognize automatically the well-practiced words

without much cognitive effort. (Kuhn & Stahl, 2000, La Berge &

Samuels, 1974). If much cognitive effort was needed in recognizing

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words alone then the main process of comprehending the text would

be distracted (Schwanenflugel, Hamilton, Kuhn, Wisenbaker &

Stahl, 2004). Prosody, a linguistic term to describe rhythm or tone

applied in reading a text. These elements were signal questions,

surprise and often hidden meanings that were not exposed in the

semantic of words. Struggling readers usually read in a monotonous

voice without any expression revealed.

Since there was a lack of consistency in the use of terms like

skill and strategy, there was a confusion among teachers and students.

The term skills and strategies would be a part of vocabulary and

frequently used by teachers in the teaching situation, but at times the

terms used inconsistently, as synonyms. Most of the time, policy

makers, curriculum developers and all in the teaching line included

the terms in discussing reading programs, tests and policies, but tend

to ignore the difference between skills and strategies. It would be

important to solve the confusion because the understanding or

definition of reading skills and reading strategies gave a wide

implication for reading practices and reading policies.

The term of reading skills has been circulating in the teaching

atmosphere for more than 50 years. In the year 1955, The Literacy

Dictionary written by Harris & Hodges defined:-

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Skill – “an acquired ability to perform well, proficiency.”

Strategy – “in education, a systematic plan,

consciously adapted and monitored to improve one’s

performance in learning.”

The above definition has stated that skill is related to a

complex act carried out well and strategy is related to a proper and

systematic plan. In an analysis, it was stated that reading strategies

were to achieve certain goals in a reader’s effort in reading such as

decoding words, understanding and constructing meanings of a text

and reading skills were automatic actions related to decoding and

speed, efficiency and fluency in reading a text without one being

aware of it. Reading strategies occurred in full awareness of the

reader but reading skills occurred automatically without reader’s

consciousness or control over the skills, it would be usually out of a

habit formation. It was also known that reading strategies like reading

skills, did not always produce positive results because the forming of

reading strategies and its function was based on the competence of

the reader in the language and reading ability. At times, a reader

would choose to read fast to compete with the peers rather than

understanding the text. So, it was likely for reading strategies not to

achieve the goal compared to reading skills which were same across

situations.

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According to Miller (2007), stated that reading, main concern

was “meaning” and for thirty years reading was based on top-down

skills. Teachers always emphasized on using background knowledge

to enhance reading comprehension. A reading skill was a tool to help

students to have practices to develop reading (Hollas, 2002).

Teachers taught many types of skills to improve the understanding of

a reading text, but many readers were unable to comprehend what has

been read while decoding. In contrast, a reading strategy was a plan

to enable readers to perform skills using a specific and focused

procedure (Hollas, 2002). Learners today were facing a lot of

difficulty, especially rural area learners to read even a short article in

English. It could be due to lack of interest and ability to focus on

written words. So, guidance and strategies were introduced to

improvise the situation. The skills needed by a strategic reader could

be broken into seven areas, predicting to state in advance before

reading based on observation or experiences, visualizing to have a

picture in the mind of scenes, events and also characters. Connecting,

could be facts or scenes to see the relationship or a bigger picture.

Questions were asked for better information. Clarification was done

to avoid confusion or misjudgment. Summarization was done to get

the main ideas or gist of the text. Evaluation was done after the text

read to draw an opinion or conclusion. To develop reading skills,

more concentration should be on the text and not on every sentence.

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A reader should start with an overall understanding and merge to

detail understanding. Teachers should always give positive remarks

on readers’ interpretation of the text and not impose him /his

interpretation on learners. There should be enough evidence provided

as a guidance for readers to get a proper and good interpretation. The

seven areas above could be linked to a variety of strategies that could

help or guide to an effective reading activity for readers. The art of

predicting, visualizing and connecting were done before reading

strategies were drawn in the activity of reading. Questioning and

clarifications would take place during reading, summarizing and

evaluating was done after the reading process. Reading strategies

were introduced to develop the reading skills in a learner. Readers

would look for cues by using the strategies in reading such as

rereading to correct the part they read wrongly or to find some

information.

The differences between a skill and a strategy were in skills,

the instructor would decide what the reader needed but in strategy

reader’s need was anticipated or assumed by the instructor. Skills

were taught in predetermined sequence frequently but in strategies it

was self-directed on the need determined by reader. Skills were often

drilled in isolation and strategies were taught in a meaningful context.

Skills were usually for practice purpose only compared to strategies

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which was student centered and teachers were only facilitators. In

skills, an automatic response was in demand compared to strategy

that focuses more on activities with purpose, interactive and

independent one. Lastly, skills could not be applied for a meaningful

context compared to strategies which paid importance to evaluation,

so continuous observation was essential or practiced.

A lot of researches have always considered reading strategy

as an important part of reading but one could not place one as more

prominent or important compared to the other strategies. It has been

put into five types of strategies, using background knowledge,

predicting, self-correcting, identifying the main ideas for

summarizing purpose and making inference and dealing with

questions.

2.5.1 Background Knowledge

Background knowledge would be the most important prerequisites

for reading a text. Cunningham and Allington (1997) argued that

background knowledge was the component or the most required

element for a reading comprehension to enable a better understanding

of a given text. A strategy on its own “making mental pictures” or

mentally imagining or connecting meaning through background

knowledge, would help or influence how well a reader could

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comprehend text. For example, giving a physics text to a primary

student who did not have any background knowledge about physics,

even though the student could recognize some of the English words

but no sense could be made from it.

2.5.2 Predicting

Next, predicting worked hand in hand with background knowledge.

A reader might not be able to predict what would be in the text

without having a background knowledge. It determined the purpose

for reading the text. Predicting created a conflict in the reader to know

whether her/his prediction was correct and it would give a sense of

achievement at the end of the reading if what predicted matched the

content of the text. Self-correcting would build readers confidence

and self-esteem. Readers would tend to realize, what was read did not

make sense and could apply a variety of strategies to solve the

problem, ‘fix-up strategies’. The reader would decide whether to

reread for better understanding, guess by context or locate the

meaning in dictionary when an unfamiliar word was seen.

2.5.3 Identifying Main Ideas

Next, identifying the main ideas and summarizing was usually done

by good readers. Skilled readers have the ability to recognize the main

points as they go on reading the text. Summarizing would blend in

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with all the other strategies and readers could build a scaffold by

using all the other strategies to have a good summarized version.

Lastly, making inference and questioning would be a tedious activity

for many readers, regardless of their competence in the reading

activity. It could be due to teachers who were found of spoon feeding

their students to accommodate an easier approach towards the activity

and easy to mark the work. If students were given opportunity to form

their own questions and answers it would lead to increased

comprehension of a text.

Learners should be alert in the classroom environment to have

a proper surrounding for learning and to be actively participating in

the class. The National Reading Panel Report (2000), has stated that

a formal instruction on strategies, led to an improvement in

understanding the text that was read. Teachers would be able to see

the improvement in a student when the student could independently

use different strategies for a variety of purpose. Readers were usually

motivated or encouraged to be skillful because with little effort , the

readers could show a high performance in using skills but in strategic

readers, they have to show a control with their ability and effort over

the reading procedure. Skills and strategies would provide a reader

with high confidence and being self-efficacy. In conclusion, to

characterize a student as a skilled reader would be to notice the

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reading process done with effortlessly but to characterize a student as

a strategic reader would be to notice the flexibility and willingness to

adapt to certain circumstances and ready to improvise or change by

selecting the appropriate strategy to overcome any temporary crucial

situation.

2.6 Critical Reading Strategies.

Comprehending of text would be the goal of any reading program.

Many types of strategies would be used based on the capacity of the

readers to be taught to fully comprehend a text. Comprehending a text

would be related to cognitive process and one specific strategy could

not be used. The condition of the classroom atmosphere would be

important and teacher has to enhance the habit of using problem-

solving strategies to enable information processed at a higher level

(Dorn & Soffas, 2005). The two basic levels of comprehension were

the surface and deep level.

Surface level comprehension would be the level of

interpretation of a text literally, recalling only factual related to the

text. It involved only short-term memory based on how recently the

text was read. This activity would not encourage readers to move to

the depth of understanding. For example, answering questions would

be based on the text read and no critical thinking required. So, without

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questions related to critical thinking which means looking for

answers out of text, the reader’s mind will be inhibited for growth.

(Dorn & Soffas, 2005)

Deep level comprehension would require the reader to think

beyond the printed text. The reader would use his/her background

knowledge, experiences and arrive at a perception of his/her own. The

mind of the reader would be engaged in multiple cognitive processes

of analyzing and synthesizing to get to a higher or deeper level of

understanding the text. A group or pair discussion would be a good

idea for the reader to put out his thoughts orally or in written form.

Reading practices have enhanced a lot of researches and old

theories have been replaced by new theories. For an effective reading

lesson, phonemic awareness, decoding words, fluency in reading and

recognizing words, locating meanings of words, enrichment in

vocabulary, spelling and writing task would be essential but spelling,

vocabulary enrichment and writing task have not been given a good

deal of importance and researches concluded it has a negative effect

on reader’s achievement as the reading progress went on. (Foorman,

2007).

A research that was done to see the brain development (MRI),

has shown that learners who have difficulty in reading could be due

to dyslexia or differences in the neural system that effected the

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reading acquisition. (Shaywitz, 2003). When studies were done to

modify the neutral system problem, using phonics, the learners

showed improvement in their reading and there were positive changes

in neural system too, using phonics to start teaching reading has

shown a dramatic differences in all learners, regardless of disabilities.

National Reading Panel (2000) stated that to conduct an

effective reading activity there were five elements to be integrated,

phonemic, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension

strategies. When learners were taught spelling with phonics

instruction embedded, the learners showed better achievement

compared to learners only taught spelling without letter sound

relationship (phonics) (Robert & Meiring,2006). In contrast,

Chapman (2003), stated that language development played a

significant role in literacy achievement compared to phonemic

awareness and there was no single reason or cause for reading

problems.

Researchers have suggested that the knowledge of

recognizing words were the root of reading comprehension from

early stages and throughout their schooling (Juel & Deffes,2004), it

was also stated by Thordikes (1917), relationship between word

knowledge and reading comprehension, other replication studies

were by Becker (1977), Cunningham & Stanovich (1997), and

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Biemiller & Slonim (2001). According to Martin-Chang, Levy an

O’Neil (2007), “successful reading instructions entails not only

acquiring new words but also remembering them after training has

finished and accessing their word-specific representations when they

are encountered in new text” .

2.6.1 Definition of Vocabulary

According to Nash and Snowling (2006), “vocabulary would

be the knowledge of words and their meanings” (p.336). Sheehan

(2002) stated that vocabulary meant being able to comprehend and

use proper words to convey the appropriate meaning. In short,

vocabulary and comprehension were closely knitted skills, which

were individually important for reading achievement but depended

on each other for comprehending a text. Harmon (2002), noted that

many learners struggled to comprehend a text effectively due to lack

of vocabulary input and ineffective strategies. Manzo & Thomas

(2006), concluded that learning words on vocabulary could increase

the ability to learn better, so rich intake of vocabulary could give a

positive output in learning. Lubliner and Smetana, (2005), declared

children who have a vast vocabularies input, would find reading

easier and more likely to read more and eventually produced better

results in school, by asking more questions than their peers with

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limited words. Bromley (2007), commented that researchers do have

the knowledge of knowing that more input of vocabulary produced a

good output from readers.

As a learner, an individual has to use a variety of complex

reading strategic to develop into a proficient reader from early stage.

According to Farstrup (2006), a learner who could have been good in

reading during the early stages, has a tendency to struggle in the

higher level if did not acquire the comprehension skills to adapt to

more complex text format and features. So, to be competent in the

reading skills, an individual has to learn to apply a variety of reading

strategies.

2.7 Extensive Reading Program.

ERP would be a type of approach to language and has shown great

progress for foreign language learners to acquire language (Krashen,

2011).According to Jeon & Day’s (2016), a meta-analysis would be

very helpful to provide evidence on the effectiveness of ERP and

also as a guideline on the effectiveness of the reading program. It

was stated that the overall strength of ERP and its effectiveness

depended on learners’ age and periods of instruction (Nakanishi’s,

2015)

Reading large amounts of books has shown an improvement in

general reading ability, reading speed and understanding of

vocabulary and grammar exposing the learner to new vocabulary in

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context (Yamashita, 2008). ERP also improved learners’ attitude

towards the target language, built confidence to use the target

language and gradually reduced fear of reading text (Karlin &

Romanko, 2010, Yamashita , 2013).According to Bamford ‘s Day

(2004), ERP was a way to acquire a language through a great

amount of pleasure, pleasure reading, free voluntary reading and

sustained silent reading. The contribution of ERP in various aspects

of language proficiency has been confirmed by a number of

research, studies; reading comprehension (Robb & Kano, 2013).

Extensive reading program has been implemented in this research to

motivate learners to indulge in reading habits. In this program, a

variety of methods have been introduced to motivate students to read

without a force. Day and Banford (2000), have implemented a few

method to be used as a guideline under ERP. The top few principles

recommended by them were selecting easy reading materials, a

variety range of topics, learners were given freedom to pick what they

want to read and related to pleasure. The learners were motivated to

read as much as they want and teacher’s role as a facilitator only.

Self-selected reading materials and promoting to act independently

has made the reading program for L2 learners (Renandya & Jacobs,

2002). Hedge (2000), also stated that providing a variety of text could

be motivating to read.

According to Day & Banford (1998), Palmer (1921/1964),

used the term “extensive” to refer as “ abundance reading” and he

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commented that extensive reading referred to reading one after

another book in a fast manner. Day & Banford (1998), also stated that

ER method was introduce by Michael West and he called it

“supplementary reading”. He indicated that this type of reading

developed enjoyment and the acquired skill to read in foreign

language. Nuttall (2005), also stated that enjoyable and easy to read

books played a role in reading. According to Issa et.al. (2012),

reading daily cultivated reading activities for a variety of purpose

such as to relax or to gather information.She also stated that reading

intensively would encourage learners to have a speed in reading

compared to those who do not read. Aebersold & Field (1997), stated

that ER students would select the materials of their choice to read and

would seek the guidance from their teacher also.

In ER materials, the vocabulary and grammar should be to the

competence level of students, Day & Banford (2002). Hedge (2000),

claimed that every student would build their vocabulary gradually,

minimal use of dictionary and more of inference skills. Nuttall

(2005), claimed that ER materials should be interesting, short and

varied to invite learners to read more in L2.

According to Brown (2001) stated most L2 students have a

negative approach towards reading and were not willing to interact or

participate. Thus, under ER, facilitators have to be sensitive towards

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student’s reaction and change their attitude gradually. There should

be a kind of communication between the author and reader. So,

students have the freedom to choose and discover the writer’s

message on own free will (Varuna 2012). The writer also had

attempted the reader to understand L2 culture which could be a

motivating factor.

Under the ERP, students have a choice to read what they

prefer and not forced Grabe (1991). According to Robb (2001),

students under ERP acquired a better reading habit and reduced the

use of dictionary. Arnold (2007), did an experimental study by

making students read online under ERP and no printed materials. She

discovered a lot of benefits and a vast improvement in variety of

linguistic. Kreshen (2004), implemented ERP and found out that

students became avid readers although they opposed to reading

before. Ruiz & Arias (2009), carried out ER studies and stated 3 main

findings such as student’s motivation to read increased as self-

selected book were allowed. Next, reading habits changed to a

positive level due to the amount of reading they did. The students had

to also do a writing report of reading which indirectly improved

writing skills and also their vocabulary skills. Wearing (2001), has

listed a few research project using ERP and has shown a vital

improvement in all areas in language learning.

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According to Waring (2006), introducing extensive

reading, would encourage the learners to be able to read a lot of books

to their level of understanding, would improve the fluency in reading

and deepen the knowledge in a language. It was stated that attractive

readers and autonomy generated learners’ motivation to begin

reading. (Karlin & Romanko, 2007) But, there was a possibility for

initial motivation to rather fade quickly.

One of the most critical part under ERP was motivating

learners to read more books in English (Takase, 2008). According to

Yamashita (2004), the learners’ attitude could set the cause of

performance in extensive reading. The factors that could be

considered as motivating learners to read by teachers were pleasure

in reading, confidence in reading and ease in finding ‘good’ books.

The five difficulties seen under extensive reading

program by Kanda (2009), the length of the books if too long, could

dampen to read. Next, the unknown vocabulary, especially unusual

names of people or places and also lack of illustrations. Then, the lack

of interest in certain genre like biographies. Lastly, lack of

background knowledge to create link towards the text read.

According to Fang and Schleppegrell (2010), every

learner that entered the secondary level of education, they would

encounter more complex texts which required more specialized

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reading instruction. Learners should be provided with opportunity to

analyze content in discussion, oral or written which provided them

the opportunity to be familiar with the subject matter which led to

better ability to comprehend a content. Most of the time, the poor

readers were lack of motivation in reading and consistent failure in

reading led to distaste for reading (Morgan & Fuchs, 2007). Due to

lack of motivation in life, it led to situations whereby unable to

perform interviews or written tests. Therefore, motivation given in

reading for academic purpose could also determine personal success.

Melekoglu and Wilkerson (2013), argued that motivational factor has

to be linked to reading instruction because lack of motivation to read

produced poor readers.

In conclusion, to become a good reader, one must always set

a purpose for reading, preview the text, activate background

knowledge and predict the outcome before reading the text. Next,

during the process of reading, one must cross check one cue with

another to make sure correct, reread if confusion arises, predict and

confirm if prediction was accurate to self-monitor, skip an unfamiliar

word and read on because at the end of the sentence or paragraph one

could be able to predict the meaning of the word based on

understanding of what one has read. Then, it would be connected to

one’s background knowledge and would see the connection in the text

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for better understanding, think of the explicit and implicit information

which was directly stated and the hidden meaning. Do stop and

review if the text was long to get the gist of what was read already.

Lastly, after reading one must be able to retell and summarize

the fact, could use graphic organizer depending on the text to recall

fact. Then, a conclusion drawn and seen whether it tallies with one’s

prediction in the early part of the text. One could reread to get a better

picture especially if required to answer questions based on the text.

Discussing in group would be good for questioning and answering

section to defend one’s opinion and get feedback. One could write

out briefly his/her opinion, main ideas to show the level of

competence in understanding the text.

In the extensive reading program, learners would be more

motivated to read more books. Researchers confirmed that motivating

students is the main factor for successful reading.

2.8 Motivational Factors

It is a known fact that even the best books and materials in the world

could not stimulate students about willing to learn on read if they

were not motivated. Motivation to read continually surfaced as a

critical contributor to reading achievement (National Reading Panel,

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2000).Reading motivation would be the part that could affect literacy

achievement (Stutz; Schaffner & Schiefele, 2016) and it would be

crucial to design interventions and measuring the learners’ response

to those interventions. In the reading research, self-efficacy has been

shown to relate to word and non-word identification (Cartwright,

Marshall&warry, 2016) and to reading comprehension skills (Park,

2011).Self-efficacy has been included as part of reading motivation

(Malloy, Marinak, Gambrell &Mazzoni, 2013).

There are two types of motivations, extrinsic and intrinsic

motivation. Extrinsic motivation would have a positive association if

only it was, associated with intrinsic motivation. But, a large number

of studies have shown no relation at all or a negative relation between

extrinsic motivation, reading and achievement (Park 2011; Stutz et.al.

2016)

Motivation would be one important factor to boost the

success of every student’s education. Teacher could play a pivotal role

in making sure both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation took place. It

would take a lot of effort, determination and time to motivate every

students who has a different concept about learning.

According to ( Guthrie and Coddington,2009) internal

motivation such as interest would be positively correlated with

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successful reading compared to external motivation which would be

done under pressure and said by rules.

Intrinsic motivation and interest would cultivate students

reading habits to a higher level and students would tend to interact

with the text deeply accumulated higher knowledge (Sohiefele,

1999). When a students has lack of interest in reading, the

competency would be slow and the quality of a reader diminishes

(Guthrie.et.al. 2007). According to Stutz, Schaffner &Schiefele

(2016), intrinsic motivation and curiosity to know and preference for

challenge would be related to the amount of book read. Intrinsic

motivation has been seen to be able to predict the future reading

achievements (Schaffner et. al., 2016)

Reading materials that would be provided should be relevant

to students to set team engaged and to become competent readers

(Vansteenluste, Lens, and Deci, 2006).Materials should be linked to

real life experience to activate the background knowledge of students

before, during and after reading to help them realize a connection

between own lives interest and the text.

A lot of research has been done in real class atmosphere to

find a way to motivate students, (Gambrell, L.B, & Marinak, B.A.,

1997; Gutrie&Wisfield 2000;Snow,2002).With all this research there

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are a few concrete task that teachers could use to motivate the

students.

2.8.1 Providing Right Text

One of the first task, would be to match students to the just right texts,

which was meant to be done based on their level of proficiency, the

text has to be challenging but to the students ability. This method

would push the students to grow and also make sure the students

would be able to accomplish the task. (Gambrell, Palmer & Codling,

1993, Morrow, 1996).

2.8.2 Variety of Text

Providing a wide range of text that would be interesting and

appropriate for the age level and also relevant to students. Books

needed to motivate the reader to read further for the first few

paragraphs or else the students could just give up from reading

further. Generally, students never gave up reading about something

that mattered in their life. In a classroom, there would be many

students and their interest also varied, so the particular teacher has to

locate a variety of books to suit their interest and eventually it would

motivate the students to read (Gambell, 1996). Teachers should be

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able to provide the connecting piece because teachers have the

capability of knowing her students personal interest.

2.8.3 Empowered

Students need to feel that they have a kind of power over their

accomplishment. If choices were withdrawn from them it won’t

inspire them to be motivated or be positive. They would feel pushed

to do certain task and impossible to motivate a student by force.

Allowing a learner to pick a book of his/her choice would help to

increase the value of a learner’s interest which would boost

motivation. (Wigfield, 1994).

2.8.4 Letting students know what to expect

It would be important to let students know what was set for them to

have a face of control and eagerness to read.

2.8.5 Encourage to monitor progress

This task would make the students feel that they were in control of

their progress or achievement. The reading chart would help the

learners to keep track of the books read and indirectly would motivate

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them to read more when they start comparing with their peers. Seeing

their progress with their own eyes would give them a pride and joy.

2.8.6 Talk or discussion on books read.

Engaging the learners in a talk with their peer group would be one of

the most powerful tool to motivate learners. A deep and complex

understanding from the reading would grow with all the group

activities, discussions or talks. According to (Block & Pressley,

2002), stated that having a group discussion could lead to unexpected

questions that was formulated by learners on their own. This

questions would motivate students’ curiosity and propel their desire

to read more.

2.8.7 Encourage students to write feedback

As a facilitator, a lot of encouragement and feedback should be given

to the students to motivate them to read more. It would be very

important to complement students overtly to keep them going. It

would motivate the learners to read more to be able to get regular

complements. In the progress the facilitator has to also be specific by

complementing based on certain aspects such as good pronunciation

or have conquered a speed in your reading and so on.

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2.8.8 Success Expectations

Goals played an important part in motivation. Without making

students set goals, motivation won’t take place. Learners would feel

a sense of accomplishment when they have achieved a certain goal.

So, it would be important to set goals based on their level of

competence to ensure the goal would be achieved. Most of the

effective readers were not people who just read for the purpose of

reading but people who were directly or indirectly motivated to read.

2.8.9 Reading Aloud and Collaboration

Reading aloud and having a discussion with the learners would

motivate active participation and it would be an important reading

strategy and behavior. A teacher who reads aloud would encourage

the depth of understanding and interpreting of a text, active

participation by learners to comprehend the text and also would

encourage learners to start reading independently with the active use

of mental activities (McGee & Richgels, 2003). Furthermore,

learners would be committed when they were motivated to read aloud

jointly, form questions collectively and locate meanings from text

together (Chin, Anderson, &Waggoner, 2001). In addition, rewards

given to students also motivated them.

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The learners could be motivated also by supporting their need

for collaboration. In this manner, learners would be encouraged to

share ideas and develop knowledge together, a sense of belonging to

the other learners in the classroom and further expansion and

broadening of knowledge would be made possible. When learners

join in a group to participate in a reading program, the background

knowledge and skills would be shared, learning shared and eventually

would develop a shared understanding (Chinn, Anderson, &

Waggoner, 2001).

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Table 2.3

According to a scholar, Abraham Maslow, some basic human needs have

to be tackled.

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION BASIC NEEDS BY THEORIST

ABRAHAM MASLOW.

Physiological NPhysoeeds - Ensure pPhyhysical survival. - Domirant and biggest need in life.

Food

Water

Air

Shelter

Clothing

Safety Needs - Safety and security to our

lives.

Stability

Familiarity

Coutine life

Environment

Health

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Social Needs

- Love.

- Belonging needs.

Love

Effection

Belonging

Acceptance from family

Esteem needs - Self-respect - Self-esteem Desire for strength

Confidence

Pride

Independence

Freedom

Competence

Need for self-actualization - Doing what one really desires. - Rarely achieved unles in confort

zone.

Belonging

Affection

Love

Social needs - Love - Belonging Needs

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2.9 The Study

The main aim of this study was to enable learners to be able to read

fluently and comprehend the text effectively. Further studies were

done to study the level of improvement among the experimental

group learners through the use of Extensive Reading Strategies in the

reading corner for a certain period of time to enhance their reading

abilities.

In this study, the researcher did not make a general statement

but provided contextual findings which were par with the qualitative

research methodology. The researcher gathered records of the

findings by using conceptual framework for teaching reading.

In this extensive reading program, the learners’

involvement was monitored to ensure the learners would benefit from

the program. Regular conferencing or a small chat between the

teacher and the learners was an ongoing process to ensure the learners

were motivated and they stayed being motivated. Reading aloud in

the class was encouraged and learners were given appraisal based on

their performance. Furthermore, learners were asked to write down

the synopsis, their thoughts whether positive or negative about the

book. One main factor that was looked into is the over-use of

dictionary that might discourage the learners to read further and also

lead to the lack of understanding the gist of the story because more

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emphasize was given to focus on the language. Researcher motivated

the students by showing the synopsis of certain story books on video,

CD rom or audio.

The reading methods that were used in the whole process was

the extensive reading program in the reading corner with their peer

group. The ability to read was definitely an important achievement in

the literate society that we lived in today.

2.9.1 Before Reading

The learners were instructed to set a purpose for reading in the mind.

The learners had to know whether the purpose for reading the text

was to find out what happened or to locate specific information only.

Next, the learners had to do a preview of the text by looking at the

title, pictures, captions under the pictures and sub headings to guess

the gist of the story. Then, activated the background knowledge to

figure out what was known about the text and that led to being able

to predict the outcome of the story, vocabulary and the information

that could be in the related text. A learner should use the background

knowledge and perception which was related to deep level

comprehension to make an understanding of the text This method

motivated the learners to be active and alert before reading a text and

when their prediction was right, it gave them a self-satisfaction and

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indirectly cultivated the habit to read more books. According to Kaur

and Thiyagarajah (2000), learners in the university level also read

very less because less concern was shown to cultivate the reading

habit when these learners were at the school level.

2.9.2 During Reading

The learners were encouraged to reread a sentence or a paragraph if

they could not comprehend it. Next, the learners were requested to

predict the outcome of the story in their mind by using their schema

or background knowledge as they read the text. It focused on learners

making connections of what they have read with other texts and to

the universe (Miller, 2002). Comprehending was based on schemata

and eventually constructing background knowledge was the

foundation to emerge into higher level of understanding. Learners

were also told to skip the unfamiliar words and read to the end of the

sentence structure to guess the meaning of the sentence and they do

go back and try again to determine the meaning of the vocabulary

through context. To reduce some of the reading disabilities, a good

instruction from the teacher was necessary and there was a possibility

it would prevent a delay in reading from occurring (Fuchs &Fuchs,

2006). Learners had to also think about the explicit and implicit

information given in the text to have a better approach towards the

text .The learner had to process facts directly stated and indirectly

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such as emotions involved. The effortful inference process took place

to achieve coherence in understanding the text.

2.9.3 After Reading

The learners were encouraged to retell the story that they have read

with their friends in the reading corner with the plot and characterizes

involved in their group of classmates. This lifted the confidence in

the learners to perform in front of their friends or buddies. The readers

drew a conclusion of what had been read with what they have

predicted to see if it matched with the conclusion in the read text. At

the end, the learners were encouraged to write the summary of what

has been read and add on their perception on the text.

2.10 Conclusion

The literature citied in this chapter would be a tool to develop the

research and guide in the findings.

There were a variety of strategies suggested by a several of

researchers for the reading skills. Some of the strategies were

improvised by latest researches. So, the researcher has taken current

development in reading strategies to use in the research to see the

impact or development in the Form Four learners. The strategies were

easy to implement regardless of the level of competence in the

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learners. Initially learners could not participate actively but as the

ERP activated there was a tendency for the learners to get motivated

and participate actively. Learners had to build self-confidence and

believe in themselves and should not expect the teacher to respond to

the problems immediately without giving learners a chance to venture

out the possibilities to overcome their problems. As the teacher was

conducting the lesson, she/he should only suggest ways and not

answers. Teacher should accept learner’s opinion even though it

could contradict with her/his personal view or the author’s view in a

text. Learners should be allowed to explore every kind of possible

answers and accept if supported with logical evidence.

An admirable teacher should be well-versed in using an ample

various teaching strategies to see literacy development and as a model

in the class should make sure there was always an excitement in the

learning process. The teacher should not label learners as good or low

achiever, should create positive thoughts by expecting all learners to

achieve high and every individual problems should be addressed

personally in isolated situation. The lesson plan should be systematic

to be used like a guidance for better teaching. Learners should be

exposed to a variety of opportunities to encourage more learning

activities. There should be in abundance materials for learners to

reach according to their interest and competence in reading.

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Instruction should be given to groups, pair work and individual to

make sure the message in conveyed correctly to achieve the

objectives in teaching. Learners should be given sufficient time to

complete an assignment, so teacher must prepare activities to be

completed in the time allocated with proper strategies.

In conclusion, literature review has opened pathways for the

researcher to study the depth of challenges faced by researchers and

learners to become a well-equipped scholar.

The next chapter is based on the method used by the

researcher to do his research on low proficiency readers by using

extensive reading program merged with motivation in a reading

corner.

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Chapter Three

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

In this chapter, the methodology applied to do the study would be

written. The valid information was taken from conceptual

framework, research design, sampling procedures, and

instrumentation used for data collection and from data analysis. The

method was applied to locate answers for the research questions with

sufficient data. The study motivated learners to read and be able to

answer questions pertaining to the text they have read. It enhanced

the ability to understand a text and to approach questions based on

the text with confidence. According to Issa et. al., (2012), books are

considered as the most suitable medium to transmit knowledge from

generation to generation .The L2 learners were provided with more

than 70 books in the reading corner and every book was taken from

the Readers Collection. Each reader book had an interesting text to

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be read followed by a variety of comprehension questions. According

to Day and Bamford (2002), learners who have cultivated the interest

to read through interactive reading materials will be motivated to read

more. The study was done to the L2 learners to view their lack of

motivation towards reading, in the Form 4 students. The learners

might not have been able to temporarily store information in short-

term memory which could activate prior knowledge and that could

have led to lack of motivation to read. Unfortunately, when a

particular student struggled to read, he/she often avoided reading

(Cain and Oakhill, 2011).

In the research, learners were expected to develop their

reading ability in a positive manner after being motivated to read

using ERP. To improve in reading, students need to read and also

believe in themselves that they understand what has been read

(Berkeley, Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2011). Learners who struggle to

read tend to avoid reading whenever possible (Solheim 2011) but the

research was done to overcome this phenomena and motivate the

learners through ERP to read for pleasure. The learners were

motivated and guided through ERP and were not pressured to read.

They were allowed to read at their own space and also read a book of

their choice. The teacher was a guide to help the learners to pick

books that interest them and Protacio (2012), also stated that the

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teacher should guide the students whenever needed. Extensive

reading was done by placing students as the main priority and with

the improved reading skills, it enhanced the ability to read

meaningfully and strategically (Grabe & Stroller, 2001; Day &

Bamford, 2002; Grabe 2010).The learners were motivated to read

under the ERP that would be in cooperated with motivation. Learners

built in their interest gradually.

The ERP was used to motivate the learners to read more books.

A wealth of research has reported the positive influences of ERP on

the learners (Nakanishi & Ueda 2011). Most of the learners have the

opportunity to read in English and receive language input only in the

classroom and this fact was supported by Guo (2012) who stated that

L2 learners received most input in L2 classroom only. As the time

progresses, there is a big possibility, students who struggle to read

would be less motivated to read outside the classroom and Cain and

Oakhill (2011), stated that an ever-widening gap between the good

and weak readers would continue over the time

Extensive reading program was implemented to create an

atmosphere that would motivate the learners to read. Free reading

styles were introduced. Learners were allowed to read a material

based on their interest and level of competence. In the extensive

reading program, learners reading activity in the reading corner was

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monitored effectively to keep formal and informal records, by the

researcher and the learners. The record was also kept by the learners

to motivate them to have a competition like among friends.

According to Haider & Akhter (2012), through ERP learners were

likely to form a reading habit that would develop into a pastime of

their individual life. In ERP, the reading materials are selected to

cater the learners’ level of competence. According to Day & Bamford

(2009), the learners would become more positive towards reading

when the materials were selected to suit their level.

In the ERP according to Day & Bamford (2002), there are ten

principles, the reading materials should be easy and there must be a

wide variety of reading materials on a large range of topics. Learners

should be allowed to choose and read the text that they want. Learners

would be encouraged to read as much as they want. The purpose of

the reading would be related to pleasure, information and general

understanding. Reading a book would be a reward by itself. The

speed of reading becomes faster gradually. The reading should be

individual and silent. The teachers would be the facilitators who

guide their learners throughout the process of reading. The facilitator

would be considered as the role model. The main agreement in this

ERP program is, learners should be reading a lot at their own level

and with freedom of text (Stroller 2015, Yamashita 2015).

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Extensive reading program method provided comprehensible input, and

a pleasurable reading environment whereby the facilitator does not

decide a particular time for the learners to read. The learners are allowed

to read at their own leisure time. It also enhanced learner’s general

language competence in which learners tend to recognize a word that

was repeated from an earlier read text .The interest in the word or text

created the recognition. Learners were able to use certain vocabulary

learnt in other skills such as writing and speaking. This method also

rapidly increased the vocabulary input compared to teaching to acquire

vocabulary through drilling and memorizing in class. The program

motivated learners to concentrate better during English lessons because

the understanding and comprehending of English Language has

improved. It had built the confidence and drive to read and learn more.

Recycling of words or vocabulary through reading extensively benefited

the learners. Furthermore, background knowledge also provided a

platform for learners to predict the content of a text with the pre-existing

schema.

In the ERP, the reading materials should be easy for students

to understand and enjoy. There were be a wide variety of reading materials

and these materials were placed in the Reading Corner to make it easy for

students to excess. The learners were allowed to choose what they want to

read and as many books as they wanted. It could be due to the

environment, a reading corner with lots of books, not a formal setting that

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encouraged the learners to read. It is also known that the reading speed

would be usually faster than slower which could be due to the fact no

pressure and could read at their own pleasurable time. In the reading corner,

learners usually do individual and silent reading. In the process of ERP

learners should be reading a lot, at their own level with the freedom to

choose the book of their choice, Strollen (2015).

The reading corner was created for the readers to read in

comfort and for informal environment. Learners usually tend to get

attracted to new environment. A part of the ERP is to have an easily

accessible library. This can be online library, a digital library or a

library of tangible printed materials (Arnold, 2009).

There was a reading corner with variety of reading materials placed

in the classroom to create an individual or group reading session.

According to Newman (2000), 60%of the reading time is increased when

there is a library in the classroom. It was a continual practice because the

materials were always kept in the reading corner. The reading corner

was created to enable learners to sit in pairs or as a team and read. So,

a friendly environment was created to encourage learners to read. As

they read, they were allowed to discuss about the text and give

impromptu opinion or suggestion about the book. Learners were

encouraged to read if they had a free – time apart from English lessons.

This also created the degree of freedom in choosing their own reading

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materials and setting their own goals (Ro, 2013). The materials were

collected from the library and bought after the pre-test and a short

informal oral test. So, the books were placed according to their level of

understanding, competence in the language, cultural background and

interest regardless of the syllabus. The main purpose of the reading

corner was to encourage the learners to read without any pressure or

instruction from the teacher.

The reading corner was also an informal environment created

to motivate to read among learners. Most of the time, learners

followed their peer group. So, if one learner in the group had the

tendency to go to the reading corner to take a book and start reading

then there was a huge possibility that the rest of the group would

follow suit. This gradually led to the rest of the class cultivating the

habit. When most of the classmates were busy with a story book in

the hand, the rest of them also followed. So, the mini library

functioned even without the teacher being present in class.

When learners were not forced to read, the input was better.

If the teacher forced a learner to read, a book would be right in front

of the learner but whether the learner read and knowledge acquired

or not was questionable. Learners have emotions and a teacher should

tackle the learners’ needs and interest before pursing the next step. At

times, due to the fear of failure and embarrassment, learners gave up

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even before the first attempt. The teacher’s role was to motivate the

learner and build in some positive thoughts before even starting the

project.

The school is located in Ipoh, SMK Kpg. Pasir Puteh, was chosen as

the research platform. The school is placed in Band 5 .The school has

1500 students and it is located in Pasir Puteh.

The Form 4 science students lacked motivation towards reading.

In the research Question 1, the issue by using Questionnaire. The

learners were required to answer the questionnaire based on their

competence and how much they are motivated to read in English. This

questionnaire provided sufficient information for the researcher to find

out about lack of motivation and use ERP strategic to welcome the issue.

According to Yamashita (2015), there has been a vast growth of interest

in ERP among researchers and also teachers as it happens to be one

major way for learners to get massive input in language through context

compared to spoken language which would be limited.

In the research question two and three, the researcher used ERP and

merged in motivational methods to enhance the reading ability among

the learners. Learners were motivated and a major positive change was

expected after being motivated to read by using ERP. It is important that

an easily accessible library for the learners to choose their books, a

reading corner was created to motivate them more. Books were varied to

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avoid boredom and de Burgh-Hirabe & Feryok (2013) stated it is

necessary to have a variety of materials so that learners are not stuck

reading one particular genre or author. Learners were also allowed to

choose their own reading materials and setting their own goals as stated

by Ro (2013). Motivation was one of the main aspect in the research and

to sustain the motivation. The facilitator has to deal with inherently effort

activity. According to Protacio (2012) the factor that influences learners

to read is self-efficiency beliefs about reading, having the access to

interesting texts, social interactions around books, autonomy support and

of course opportunity for self-actions peer motivation also does

contribute to reading more books especially by being able to discuss or

get a feedback about books read.

The ERP strategies motivated learners to indulge in more reading

because the strategies were accommodated to the learner's need. Nothing

could be achieved through force, so, guiding these learners to books that

interest them would encourage the learners to read more books Protacio

(2012). According to Palani (2012), effective reading is one of the main

parts for effective learning and reading is interrelated with the

educational process and to be successful in education, requires

successful reading. It is also a known fact that reading habit has lost its

importance as young and old people are glued to television (Palani

2012). So by introducing ERP learners seem to be keen to read a book

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whenever the opportunity arises. The ERP strategies has made the

learners to read more because the motivation given along the ERP to

engage in reading practices voluntarily and pleasurably

3.1 Five Elements of Extensive Reading Program

In the reading process which was conducted in the Reading Corner,

extensive reading program strategies were introduced.

3.1.1 Maximizing Learners involvement (Independent Reading)

In the process, the questionnaire answers were analysed to conduct

the extensive reading program related to the reading corner. There

were about seventy books placed in the reading corner. Considerable

paper work was required to document the books read and completion

of the exercises that followed. The documentation was done by the

teacher and the individual. Learners were encouraged to play an

active role in the management and administration of the reading

program. The learners had the freedom to pick the reader book of

interest and read.

3.1.2 The Impromptu Conversation

Regular impromptu conversation took place between the facilitator

and learners to ensure learners were motivated to read more books

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from the reading corner. The facilitator had a role to guide and locate

ways to respond to learner’s needs and competence level to help the

learners recognise the prominent role in improving proficiency in the

language. There were also conversation between learners discussing

on the books they have read and exchanging their opinions regarding

the books in the reading corner. It built the learners confidence in

reading without developing any fear of making mistakes or feeling

discouraged due to not feeling satisfied by the reading outcomes (Day

&Bamford ,2002) Effective monitoring was done by selecting

learners at random and questioning them about the books they have

read. Questions were also asked pertaining to the text the learners

have read to ensure effective reading has taken place in the reading

corner. Guidance was given in the choice of titles and text to motivate

the learners to read more.

3.1.3 Read Aloud In Class

Facilitator encouraged the learners to read aloud to motivate them by

praising and gifts were given when a text was read well and at times

the facilitator also read aloud to motivate the learners to read. The

regular activity aroused confidence in the experimental group

learners to read aloud and the facilitator made it a point to use

Incentive Theory whereby a gift was given to the well-read learners.

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The learners enjoyed reading independently and to read for a purpose

was promoted beyond the classroom level.

3.1.4 Learners Presentation

Learners from the experimental group exchanged information in

pairs by retelling the gist or the synopsis of the story read. In the

process of collaborating skills, learners were given a choice to use the

common skills to be able to have an effective interaction with the

group. In the group, the learners were required to question each other

based on the story read. The activity revealed that most of the books

read from the reading corner were the choice of individual interest

because the learners were able to tell the summary of the story or text

read with full of enthusiasm and confidence and it was noticed in the

tone of speech by the facilitator. The learners showed no difficulty in

locating main ideas at the end of the activity to be written in their

book.

3.1.5 Written Work Based On the Reading

The books kept at the reading corner were all equipped with questions

at the end of the reading task which measured the understanding of

the text read by the experimental group and also motivated the

learners to read more when the level of acquiring the reading skill

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was high. The learners were motivated to answer the variety types of

questions in the readers. The writing skills were integrated in the

reading strategies to emphasize on a better understanding of the

reading skill. Facilitator checked and analysed gradual improvement

in the readers. Learners were also requested to write a summary of

two or three lines of what they have read and the summary was also

read by the facilitator to confirm the learner’s understanding.

3.1.6 The Progress Chart

This Progress Chart was designed and given to the students to enable

them to keep track of their reading. The students were required to state

the name of the book, the date read and their opinion on the book read. .

By stating their opinions, the students were indirectly able to justify their

reason or interest in picking the book. The students were also able to

compare with their peers the amount of books read and this motivated

them to read more. Students usually tend to compare and always want to

be better than the rest. According to Marzano (2007), stated that learners

who are engaged in identifying similarities and differences through

comparing tend to gain more in their achievements Students felt that they

were empowered when they were given a task to be accomplished.

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Table 3.1 The Progress Chart

A Progress chart was in the Reading Corner Based on Extensive

Reading Corner

Implementing an extensive reading program in the reading corner.

Name:

Date :

Day :

Title :

1. How is the book? Did you enjoy reading it?

2. How well do you understand the book?

A very well

B average

C very little

3. When I read this book, I...................

4. Summary of the book..........

5. In my opinion, the book..........

A Great...... I loved it

B Good....... I liked it

C OK....... I didn't mine reading it

D Boring..... I didn't like it

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3.2 Progressive Research

The study was commenced on February 2016 and was successfully

carried out for 12 weeks. The procedures conducted for the study as

below.

3.2.1 First week of the twelfth week

All the forty learners were given a pre-test. They were asked to

answer the questions based on their proficiency level in English

Language. The questions were marked based on a marking scheme.

The learners were also given Questionnaire to study the learner’s

background, family status, and their level of motivation, was sought

through questionnaire.

3.2.2 Second week to the twelfth week

The learners were divided into two groups, twenty learners in each

group. The controlled group was taught to do the reading of text and

answering questions using text book in a traditional way. The

experimental group was studied by using ERP and using motivational

factors in a Reading Corner. In the ERP, learners were motivated to

read a book of their choice and based on their competence level. A

variety of interesting texts were also provided according to their level

to motivate the learners to read more. The learners also felt

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empowered because they were allowed to pick a book of their choice

and no pressure to read. The learners were also encourage to monitor

their progress in a reading chart. Furthermore, a talk with the peer

group was encouraged to develop the liking to read and ‘show off’ to

their friends .It created a positive attitude to read more. The learners

were also given feedback by the facilitator to motivate them. The

learners also set goals to feel a sense of accomplishment. Rewards

were given to enhance the motivational skills. Reading aloud was also

conducted to motivate active participation from learners.

3.2.3 Final week

A post-test was given to the forty learners from the controlled group

and the experimental group. The post-test was given to evaluate the

progress from the experimental group and to analyse the difference

in the proficiency level of learners from the experimental group

compared to the controlled group. The post- test was marked based

on the same marking scheme used in the pre-test. The same set of

questionnaire was also given again to the experimental group to

analyse the change of interest and perception towards English

Language.

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3.2.4 The flow of procedures carried out during the twelfth weeks.

The two groups, experimental and controlled group had the same

number of learners. There were twenty learners in each group. The

experimental group of learners were exposed to the Reading Corner

but the controlled group were only exposed to comprehension in the

textbook and taught using traditional method. Both the group of

learners were given the same pre-test and post-test and performed

individually. The tasks in both the tests were comprehension

questions with numerous types of questions. The learners were

required to answer all the questions pertaining to the text given. The

time allocated was one and a half hour. Scripts were collected at the

end of the test and marked according to a marking scheme.

The marks were used to study the level of improvement in

understanding text and in answering ability and to evaluate the

competence level in English Language showed by both the groups.

Questionnaire was also distributed to the experimental group to

compare the differences in their mind set before and after being

exposed to a different reading method and a different environment

for twelve weeks. The answers from the pre-test and post-test were

analysed and compared. The questionnaire was also analysed to

create a suitable reading environment to cultivate the interest in

reading.

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Table 3.2. Different categories of performance

POOR GOOD POOR

As above, Table 3.2, ‘Different categories of performance’ most learners

would fall into one of the categories above and it is the duty of the observer

to recognise and evaluate the differences in ability of acquiring reading

skills. It is the main task of a teacher to recognise the learners need and use

this analysis to further guide the learner.

Language

comprehension

process

Word recognition

processes

Word recognition

processes

Good Work recognition,

good comprehension

Poor word recognition

, poor comprehension Good word recognition

, poor comprehension

Language

Comprehension

Poor word recognition,

Poor comprehension

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Table 3.3. A diagram on word recognition

See Word Hear Word Identify Letters

Here in Table 3.3, ‘A diagram on word recognition’ guides learners through

the words they hear and see. Learners tend to have words that are familiar

which they have seen or heard before and it would motivate the learners to

read further as they generally would already know the meaning through

context from previous knowledge

Language Processes

Language

Processes

Understand

word

meanings

Store of word

meanings

Store of

familiar words

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Table 3.4. The segments of the comprehension stages.

Visual input

• Being able to recognise word is vital for reading comprehension, which

means lacking in recognizing a word would obviously lead to being

unable to deprive the meaning of the particular word. Every learner vary

in the ability to read, understanding meaning and getting the gist of a

text. So, an oral language skill has to be developed to gradually enhance

reading performances. In accordance, specific reading strategies have to

Comprehension

processes

Language system

Vocabulary

General knowledge

Written word

identification

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be introduced to encourage children to practice their development in

reading skills.

3.3 Research Design

A quasi - experimental design was used in the study. Quasi –

experimental design for research in teaching is prominent in the terms

of reliability and validity. The aim of using it was to collect data on

outcomes of the intervention, knowing the differences of outcome

with and without it. A study was done with a group of Form 4

students, they do not really show an interest in reading.

A quasi – experimental design research was used in this study

because it was suitable for the requirements in the research. The

participants were chosen based on convenient. According to Mertens

(1998), stated that quasi experimental designs are more like real

experimental designs except the samples are not picked randomly. In

the first method part, the relationship between an independent and

dependent variable was studied in detail and the findings of the

research was more objective and data was collected in the form of

numbers and statics. Questionnaires were given to collect numerical

information and statistical models were constructed with the idea of

explaining what was observed. It was more efficient because a

hypothesis was tested as the ability to measure data using statistics.

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It was based more on opinions and observation statistically. A large

number of samples were analyzed and the result was real and

unbiased. This research used standard procedures which could be

utilized or compared with other studies in similar nature.

The natural habits, cultural background and interest were

observed. This study provided a deeper and more complex

understanding in research. In the context of study, the emotions,

attitudes and behavior were studied. It also encouraged samples to

reveal their thoughts and feelings. By using a quasi – experimental

research, a particular respond could be explained. Feelings cannot be

revealed in statistical analysis. Interaction between researcher and

learners took place and provided a good platform for the research.

Different types of questions were given in the pre-test and

post-test to test the fluency in reading and the proficiency in English

Language but same structure. The questions were done based on

learners’ development and level of ability in understanding a text.

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Research Design

20 learners in Experimental Group & 20 learners in Control Group

Experimental Group Control Group

Pre-test individually Pre-test individually

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

First comprehension Discussion maximum, Involvement of learner Making connection, written work, guided by facilitator

First comprehension Text explained, main facts given by teacher Maximum guidance, written work

Second Comprehension Reading aloud, locating facts, pronunciation taught and written work (guided by facilitator)

Second Comprehension Same traditional method as “First Comprehension” above

Third Comprehension Predicting, working in pairs, exchanging information and written work

Third Comprehension Same traditional method as “First Comprehension” above

Post Test individually Post Test individually

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3.4 Sampling procedures

The learners were from a convenient sampling group. The learners

were from a Form 4 level. . The school is situated in a rural area. The

learners were only well versed in their first language. The school is

a C grade level school with band 5. The learners were female and

male. There were about 20 female learners and 20 male learners.

The learners were only exposed to English in the classroom.

At the school corridor also they only spoke in Malay. During English

lesson, they conversed in Malay with their peer group. The learners

spoke fluently in Malay from the day they uttered the first word. But,

the learners did have a problem writing Malay essays because they

were found of using the dialects words compared to standard Malay.

The learners studied English with a purpose because it was an

important part of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia paper. The learners hardly

had an interest in the English Language due to the thought it was

difficult and could not be acquired. Furthermore, the English paper

had not been made as a compulsory pass paper in Sijil Pelajaran

Malaysia until now.

The learners were divided into two groups. Twenty learners

were in the experimental group and twenty learners were in the

controlled group. The experimental group was exposed to Extensive

Reading strategies in the reading corner to gradually motivate

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learners to read and to bring out the learners from the traditional exam

oriented school life. The experimental group activities were analyzed

for the research. This was done to see the differences in performances

between experimental group and controlled group. The controlled

group was only expressed to the strategies and they read by reading

only if there was a purpose, traditional reading method using

textbook.

The ERP was introduced for twelve weeks. During the time,

the experimental group was given the freedom to pick books that they

like from the reading corner and read without any pressure. The ERP

introduced independent learning and teacher was only a facilitator.

Next the impromptu conversation took place between the facilitator

and learners to motivate the learners to read more books.

Conversation between learners were also encouraged to motivate the

learners to read more books.

Learners were also encouraged to read aloud in the class

to motivate them by praising and gifts were given when a certain text

was well read .Learners were also motivated to actively ask questions

to each other based on the text read to cultivate the interest to read

more especially when they were able to answer more questions

correctly. The learners were also requested to write a short summary

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of two or three lines of the books read to show their understanding of

the readers.

Lastly, the progress chart was given to learners to keep

record of their reading .This progress chart motivated learners to read

more to be able to defeat their friends. There was a healthy

competition.

Table 3.5

Number of learners involved in the study and completed pre-test,

post-test and questionnaire.

Groups Participant Gender

Extensive Reading

Method

20 Girls-10

Boys-10

Traditional Reading

Method

20 Girls-10

Boys-10

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3.5 Instrumentation

There were questionnaire prepared to study learner's background.

The background questionnaire guided the researcher to identify the

students’ environment and proficiency level.

There were comprehension text prepared for the pre-test and

post-test in English. The pre-test was done to acknowledge the

students level of competence in reading before treatment. The post

test was done after extensive reading program in the reading corner

was applied and learners were under the program for twelve weeks.

The study was carried out using two sets of pre-test, post-test and

questionnaires.

3.5.1 The pre-test and the post test

The learners were given a pre-test to determine the learner’s baseline

knowledge. Each participant had to do a Comprehension Test

individually based on the title ‘Sleep’ and the topic of the text gave

the gist of the facts and was an easy attempt. The pre-test was done

twelve weeks before the post test. After the completion of pre- test,

the Extensive Reading Program with the reading corner was

introduced to the experimental group as a treatment procedure.

Both the tests were carried out in an examination environment and

the participants were given only one and a half hour to complete the

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task given individually. The learners were low proficiency readers

and the test was chosen based on the learner’s competence level. The

vocabulary in the text was related to Form Four syllabus.

3.5.2 Questionnaire

Questionnaires were distributed to the learners to understand the lack

of motivation to read English books. It was an instrument utilized to

study the learners’ background and main importance to analyze

interest in the English Language which would play a role in

purchasing or borrowing books in the reading corner to motivate their

interest to read independently. The participants filled in the

particulars based on their understanding and interest and it was

attempted in an isolated manner. There was no discussion allowed

among the participants. Most of the questions were based on the

researches own teaching experiences and discussions with

colleagues. The questionnaires had four sections. The section one,

was based on the learners’ background and had ten questions. In the

section two, questions were focused on learner’s parents and the role

played by teachers in cultivating the reading habit among learners.

The section three to five, it was on the individual interest in reading

materials in English. The questions were done with the intention to

identify the learners’ interest and methods to be used to motivate the

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learners to perceive reading in English as a pleasurable activity and

not a difficult task. The learners were to answer questions on,’ yes

and no’ or; like or dislike’. Researcher also used ‘agree’, ‘strongly

agree’, ’disagree’ and ‘strongly disagree’. According to (Dornyei,

2007), this is a method for the learners to state their degree of

agreeing and not agreeing. Most of the questions were closely related

to the observation done by the researcher during her teaching life in

the rural environment for more than ten years. The questions were

thoroughly checked to ensure there was validity and the questions

were direct, simple and easily understood. According to Wallace

(1998), questionnaires should not arise any confusion in answering,

is average length and should be written in the first language of the

respondent to ensure the validity of the data. In this research, the

questions were designed in L2 language because the study was done

on English Language. The researcher explained each question to the

respondents to make sure the required understanding of the questions

was sent across to avoid invalidity in the answers.

The two major instruments for this research were the tests and

questionnaires. These instruments provided the needed data to

determine the level of use of the extensive reading program in the

reading corner.

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3.5.3 Analysis of Questionnaire

In the section one, questions were asked based on individual

background to determine the gender, race, Penilaian Menengah

Rendah (PMR) results, language spoken in the environment and

parents’ occupation. Gender and race qualified for the study which

was related to the rural Malay learners. PMR results revealed the

competence of the learners in English Language. The language used

in the environment revealed the competence in a language. Parents’

occupation showed the degree of involvement or the role played by

parents in the learner’s education, as a mentor or guide in their

studies.

In section two, more questions were asked to study parents’

involvement in motivating or guiding the child to speak and write in

English. The teacher’s role as a facilitator and motivator was also

studied to figure the level of involvement in the teaching of English.

In section three to five, more questions were designed to

evaluate the learner’s involvement or interest in acquiring English

Language. The questions revealed the learners difficulty and lack of

interest in the English Language since they were young.

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3.6 Data Collection Procedures

A set of pre-test and post test questions were distributed to the

learners to know their level of understanding and competence before

and after the research done on the reading activities. The study was

also measured with a set of questionnaire containing about 30

questions and was divided into five short sections. The questions

were such as yes –no category, open-ended and multiple type. The

three types of sections were demographic facts, current learners’

skills in L2 reading and learners motivation for reading

comprehension text. The questionnaire was distributed to 4S3 in

SMK Kpg Pasir Puteh, Ipoh learners.

Next, the data for the research came from worksheets, learner’s

reflection and observation. These parts were done to confirm the

findings from the questionnaire and to make sure there was validity

in the findings. Learners’ worksheets were one of the sources to

collect data on the improvement in the level of proficiency.

Researcher’s observation was carried out more often on the learners

to gather data on learners’ active participation and involvement in the

reading activities that were conducted regularly.

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3.7 Chronology of the Study

The researcher participated in the study as a facilitator and data

was collected and analyzed. The extensive reading strategies were

introduced to learners to cultivate their interest in reading. A reading

corner was set with a variety of books based on the learner’s

competence and interest in the English language. A different

environment, reading corner compared to the traditional method of

teaching created more active learners and no more the passive

listeners. The lesson for the controlled group was also carried out in

the traditional learning. So, the difference in performance between

the experimental group and controlled group was seen. The

experimental group was more active and vocal compared to the

controlled group were passive and did not show much interest in the

lessons conducted. During the sessions with the experimental group,

the researcher played the role of a facilitator but was an observer for

both the groups.

Both the groups had two and a half hour of English lessons with

the researcher for the study purpose. During the first eleven weeks,

both the groups were taught comprehension texts with a lot of

practices. The controlled group was taught with the text in the

textbook and followed the skills in the scheme of work, according to

syllabus. The experimental group was encouraged to select their own

136

text based on their interest and background knowledge on the topic.

The learners were motivated to read books in English through ERP.

In the earlier stages, the experimental group had difficulty in adapting

to the new method as most of them were only taught using traditional

method since they stepped their foot into school. Gradually the

experimental group blended in well with the new approach and found

it very challenging. The lesson plan was the same for both the groups.

The method of approaching and attempting the comprehension

questions were different.

The treatments were administered to the experimental group.

Twelve weeks of two double periods and every period the treatment

was implemented. The actionable treatment was extensive reading

strategies in accordance with the reading corner. The learners were

given freedom to choose the suitable books to read to avoid the

teacher from helping instead of just coaching. (Buckmaster, 2006).

The learners were also required to state how many books they have

read to encourage them to compete with their peer group and

eventually lead to more books being read. According to (Dent, 2005),

learners with a good reading habit should be able to show good

academic performances. Learners were also frequently engaged in

conversation about books read and questions based on the books were

asked by the researcher to study the level of improvement. According

137

to (Krashen, 2004), second language learners should be motivated to

read for pleasure and the knowledge gained can be used for

demanding purposes. The learners were also encouraged to read

aloud in class and the facilitator also read to the learners to give them

the confident that the task was easy to be accomplished. There was

also pair work introduced. The learners sat in the reading corner with

their pairs and exchanged the main ideas from the books they have

read with full of excitement and was observed by the researcher. The

learners were required to do written work on the text they have read

to observe the level of understanding of a text.

3.7.1 The Study Process

3.7.1.1 1st week

The pre-test and questionnaire was conducted on the first week of the

study. Learners from the experimental group and the controlled

group were required to answer questions based on a comprehension

text. The learners had to attempt the questions individually without

any discussions. Both the groups were given similar set of questions

and the time allocated was one and a half hour for both the groups.

The topic that was given was ‘Sleep’ and the learners were familiar

with the topic. After two days, the questionnaire was given to gather

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the required information on the learner for further study. The learners

were strictly not allowed to have a conversation during the section of

answering to avoid same answers which could jeopardize the

findings. The findings were utilized to conduct the treatment.

3.7.1.2 2nd week to the eleventh week

During the weeks, the experimental group was introduced to the

extensive reading strategies with the readers in the reading corner.

The learners were able to adapt to the new approach gradually and

the teacher only acted as a facilitator. The controlled group was only

exposed to the text book and with the teacher being in control.

3.7.1.3 Twelfth week

In the twelfth week, both the group of learners were given a post-test

to evaluate the differences in their competence level.

3.7.2 Data collecting procedures

The learners from both the respective groups had to sit for a pre-

test in the first week of the study. They were required to answer

questions after reading a text individually. The learners were not

allowed to have any kind of discussion. All the answer sheets were

139

collected and marked by the researcher according to a marking

scheme. The marks were all recorded.

The learners were also given a set of questionnaires to both the

groups to further collect data on their back ground knowledge,

parents involvement in their studies, teachers contribution and they

personal interest towards English Language. Each and every learner

had to fill in the details individually without any discussion. The

questionnaire was collected and required data was recorded.

The post test was carried out in week eleven for both the groups,

experimental group and controlled group. The same type of text was

given and the learners had to answer after reading the text. The

answer sheets were collected, marked and results recorded and

comparison was done with the result of the pre-test.

3.8 Data analysis

3.8.1 Data analysis of the pre –test and post test

The accumulated marks for the pre-test and post-test were calculated to

obtain the mean scores. The scores were obtained after the marks were

calculated and analyzed. The marking scheme was used as guidance.

140

These scores were used to analyze and compare the data to arrive

at a conclusion for the null hypotheses. The results were analyzed to

draw a conclusion whether the extensive reading strategies helped in

a better understanding of the text. The higher scores in the post test

indicated the benefit of the strategies used from the extensive reading

program. These test determined whether the changes in the learner’s

marks were due to the treatment or some other unknown variables.

3.8.2 Questionnaire

Questionnaires were analyzed to understand the learner’s

background, their parent’s involvement in their studies, the teacher’s

contribution and also their interest in the English Language. The

learner’s thoughts towards reading and understanding a text in

English were also studied. The scores were tabulated according to

frequency counts.

They were analyzed using qualitative method. The worksheets

and questionnaires were analyzed using quantitative method. Scores

of pre-test and post-test were written down according to the learner’s

achievement. The statistical analysis of the data was done using SPPS

version 11.5 software program. The percentages obtained were used

to analyze the data.

141

3.9 Conclusion

The methods that were used in the study were appropriate based on

the competence level of the learners. These kinds of learners cannot

be pushed or stressed to achieve an objective. Learners in the

experimental group were given freedom to read in their own space

and also only read the text that interest them.

The Motivational Theory was like a pillar to encourage learners

in the right manner to read more books that could enhance their

proficiency level. Gradually, the interest to read was built in the

learners and the teacher played a small role as an observer only.

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CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

4.0 Introduction

In this chapter, analysis of the data is presented. This study was

done to motivate the learners to read English books in Form Four of

Sek.Men. Kpg Pasir Puteh, Ipoh which was located in the rural area of

Perak. Most learners came from the ‘kampung’ area. These were the

suggestions given to overcome the problems.

The lack of interest among learners regardless urban or rural area to

read in English had become an alarming issue in the current education

system. The factors that contributed to the problems were poor

reading habit, lack of knowledge and interest in English Language,

143

failing to know the consequences if lack of competence in the English

Language and hardly a thought to reflect on the future.The reason

could be due to excessive instructions from the teacher concern

(Assor,Kaplan, Kanat-Maymon and Roth,2005) and could also be

due to the purpose of task completion rather than a focus on self-

efficacy to read (Schunk,2003). Focus tend to be given more to the

advent of modern technologies such as computer, tab, handphones

and so on. Learners tend to be willing to learn any English words

that was pertaining to the current technology.

Thus, the research was done to low proficency of reading among

the learners. The aim of the study was to explore into :-

a) Learners attitude towards reading and their reading habit and also

to motivate the learners to indulge in reading

b) Learners exposure as a reader.

c) Learners preference of reading materials.

d) Learners factors contribute to lack of reading.

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4.1. Research Question 1

Why were the Form 4 Science 3 students’ lack of motivation to read in English?

Findings pertaining to respondents’ background

4.1.1 Section 1

This section was based on students’ personal particulars, their parents

particulars such as occupation and academic qualifications and how

often English Language was used in their environment.

Table 4.1

Analysis according to race

RACE FREQUENCY % Malays 35 87.5 Indians 5 12.5 Chinese 0 0 Others 0 0 Total 40 100

Table 4.1. revealed analysis according to race. The analysis has shown

35 (87.5%) respondents were Malays and 5 (12.5%).respondents were

Indians.

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Table 4.2

PMR Results

GRADE FREQUENCY % A 5 12.5 B 10 25 C 15 37.5 D 5 12.5 E 5 12.5

F 0 0 Total 40 100

Table 4.2. revealed statistical analysis of Penilaian Menengah Rendah

results obtained last year. Only about 5 (12.5%) respondents obtained A,

10 (25%) respondents obtained B, majority of 15 (37.5%) respondents

obtained C and the rest about 10 (25%) respondents obtained D and E

which was below average performance. This could be due to

environment and background knowledge that hardly had any motivation

to be competent in English Language, only participate in learning

English in the school environment in the formal manner of studying in

class.

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Table 4.3

Language Often Used In the Home Environment

LANGUAGE FREQUENCY % Standard Malay 0 0

English 0 0 Malay Dialect 35 87.5

Tamil 5 12.5 Chinese 0 0 Others 0 0 Total 40 100

Table 4.3. statistical was analyzed according to the language frequently

used in the home environment. The analysis showed all along the

respondents used mother tongue to communicate because they were of

the same race and everyone understood the dialect. Learners were more

interested in making sure the message conveyed across to the other party

accurately. So, the Malay respondents 35(87.5%) spoke in the Malay

dialect at home and the remaining minority Indian respondents 5(12.5%)

spoke in Tamil in their home environment.

Table 4.4

Speaking English among the Peers.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

FREQUENCY %

Always 0 0 Seldom 10 25 Never 30 75 Total 40 100

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Table 4.4. indicated the statistical analysis of how frequently English

Language was spoken among peers. The analysis showed majority 30

(75%) respondents did not speak in English and only 10 (25%)

respondents spoke but also very rarely. None of them spoke frequently

and it could be due to the environment that has most students of the same

race and they come from speaking the same dialect at home. So, there

was no necessity of any aspect to motivate to speak English Language

which was considered difficult to communicate.

Table 4.5

Parent’s Skilled Level

Table 4.5. statistical analysis showed that majority of the male and

female who were working were non-skilled job, 25 (62.5%) fathers

and 10 (25%) mothers. Only 15 (37.5%) were doing skilled job and

none of the mothers were doing any skilled jobs. Most probably none

of the parents had a higher level of education to do a professional job.

About 30 (75%) of the mothers were housewives which could be due

to lack of education or exposure to the outside working world.

OCCUPATION LEVEL

FATHER % MOTHER %

Non Skilled Job 25 62.5 10 25 Skilled Job 15 37.5 0 0 Professional 0 0 0 0 Not Working 0 0 30 75 Total 40 100 40 100

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Table 4.6

Parents Academic Qualifications.

LEVEL OF QUALIFICATION

FATHER

% MOTHER %

University 0 0 0 0 College 2 5 0 0 Higher School Education 15

37.5 17

42.5 Lower School Education 13

32.5 15

37.5 Never Schooled 10 25 8 20 Total 40 100 40 100

Table 4.6. statistical analysis clearly stated none of the parents have a

high tertiary education and only 2 (5%) parents have gone to the college.

So, it is quite difficult to expect any kind of extra coaching for

respondents at home from parents, especially in English. So, respondents

were more exposed to parents with average knowledge in education and

most of the time they had to depend on the teachers in school for

education. Parents might have instilled the importance of education but

there was a possibility that they were unable to guide them in their

learning subjects. Tuition was very farfetched because parents earning

capacity did not permit for extra classes. There were 32 (40%) of the

parents who received higher school education but they might not be able

to guide or motivate their children or even tutor their children at home.

There were also 27 (33.75%) who had lower school education and 18

(22.5%) never schooled before.

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4.1.2 Section 2

In this section, based on the survey carried out, 40 respondents stated

their parents have never read a storybook to them when they were

toddlers in any languages. But, about half of them (20 respondents) did

mention that either one of their parents have narrated the Malay fairytale

stories when they were young. Most of the parents have the tendency to

speak, read and write in Malay but the level of fluency is unknown. Two

of the respondents stated that their parents could speak in English but not

fluently. From the respondents’ perception, some of the parents could

read and write in English averagely.

The survey indicated that none of the families bought

English newspaper or magazines in English. Most of the families only

bought Malay newspapers and ample of Malay magazines. So,

hundred percent the respondents depended on the school for the

exposure in English.

The English teacher did allocate about half an hour twice

a week for the respondents to read English storybooks and

respondents were taken to the library once a week to be exposed to

extra reading materials. About 30 of the respondents borrowed

English books twice a month and about 10 respondents only once a

month. The teacher did not impose on the respondents reading habit

because if they were allowed to read for pleasure and entertainment

then only it would be a successful strategy. Furthermore, the teacher

often motivated the respondents to read what interested them and not

only be focused on the textbook. The teacher did put in the extra effort

to motivate the respondents to read. On the research questions, 20

respondents also supported the fact that the teacher often had a

conversation on the storybooks that they had read. The teacher

encouraged the respondents to be vocal by narrating the story they

150

had read but only 50% of the respondents had the courage to do it.

The teacher rewarded respondents who have read more than 3 books

in a month and this project was also enhanced in the Nilam Program

at school.

The researcher also managed to find out that the teacher

encouraged to use the dictionary if respondents came across

unfamiliar words. It was a compulsory for every respondent to carry

a dictionary to class every day. Respondents were also asked to write

the synopsis on their understanding of the story in the ‘Buku Nilam’

for further reference. The teacher had encouraged the respondents to

participate in the Nilam competition end of the year but the

respondents were reluctant because did not have confidence in their

competence in English Language.

Only 8 respondents were members of the public library and

most of the time they borrowed Malay storybooks. In the research, 20

respondents stated that the teacher was the main influence in

motivating the interest to read in English and about 10 respondents

stated that they also had self-interest. Factors that influenced

respondents to read English storybooks was the fear of not doing well

in the exam, regular access to the library and reading corner in the

class.

151

Table 4.7

Reading Newspaper.

SUBJECT FREQUENCY READING NEWSPAPER

YES % NO % 5 12.5 35 87.5

TOTAL 40/100%

In this analysis, it is clearly shown that respondents were not motivated

to read newspaper as they were towards storybooks. It could be related

to lack of confidence in the language or a thought that newspaper

language was of high level of frequency and one had to be competent in

the language to read and get the gist of the content in the paper. Only 5

(12.5%) respondents read the newspaper and further information

revealed it was ‘The Star’ newspaper and the section they were interested

to read were advertisement and movie sections.

Table 4.8

Reasons for ‘NO’ to read newspaper.

REASONS FREQUENCY % 1) No time 20 50 2) Not proficient in the English

Language 30 75

3) No interest 35 87.5 4) No interesting topics to read 0 0 5) Easier to read and understand

Malay newspaper 30 75

6) Other reasons 0 0

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A brief look at the analysis, provided the ultimate reason for

not reading an English newspaper because lack of interest in the text,

35(87.5%) of the respondents. This was an alarming fact that needs

to be studied... Most probably, the teacher should find activities in the

newspaper to familiarize respondents with the text. Teacher could

motivate respondents to do some summarization strategy to locate

main ideas and start with simple text like advertisement. Being not

competent in the language, respondents tend to accept it, as a part of

their journey in the educational life and they don’t seem to do

anything to change the situation unless the teacher did some changes

to their thoughts and skills. In addition, about 30(75%) preferred to

read Malay paper because that was easily accessible and easy to

comprehend. Half of the class (50%) claimed no time which could be

related to not being motivated to read or too much of formal revision

of textbooks of all subjects that is needed to be done regularly.

Table 4.9

Reading English Storybooks.

SUBJECT FREQUENCY

ENGLISH STORYBOOK

YES % NO % 40 100 0 0

TOTAL 40-100%

Each and every respondent read a storybook in English for

the past one month, 40 respondents (100%). None of the respondents

stated that they did not read a story book in English and it could be

due to the reading strategies implemented and the teacher was

keeping a close contact to make sure the respondents were involved

153

in the activity related to the research. The respondents did state a

variety of storybooks that they have read and showed some

motivation in them which the teacher has nurtured

Table 4.10

Types of English books liked by students.

TYPES OF BOOKS FREQUENCY %

Historical 5 12.5

War stories 10 25

Adventurous Stories 20 50

Science Fiction 0 0

Horror Stories 15 37.5

Science & Technology 2 5

Romantic Stories 30 75

Bio data 3 7.5

Sports 12 30

Others 0 0

On the above survey, it was noticeable that most

respondents were motivated to read romantic stories, about 30(75%)

respondents. It could be due to age factor where they like things

related to love and romance compared to science and technology or

154

related to science fiction. So, teacher should provide books related to

their interest to motivate reading on their own even not during

English lessons. Next, adventurous stories also had half the class, 20

(50%) respondents motivated to read. The rest like horror movies

15(37.5%) respondents, war stories 10 (25%) respondents and sports

12(30%) an average of respondents were motivated to read compared

to science and technology ,2 (5%), bio data 3(7.5%) and historical

5(12.5%) of respondents were motivated to read text related to these

genres. The worst scenario was science fiction, none of the

respondents were interested in the genre which could be due to the

fact that they were not adequate with the vocabulary related to this

genre.

Table 4.11

Time Spent at Home

Activities Frequency % 1. Read storybooks in English 0 0 2. Using Internet 10 25 3. Listen to songs 5 12.5 4. Do school homework 12 30 5. Watching television 8 20 6. Do housework 5 12.5 7. Others 0 0 Total 40 100

The respondents were requested to make one choice in the

above activities done at home. They had to choose the most done

activity in the home environment and none of the students ticked

reading an English storybook at home. Most of them 12 (30%) stated

doing homework at home and this was possible because completing

155

the homework given was a compulsory activity. Next, respondents

were likely to use internet which was the ‘thing’ for today’s

generation but most homes in the kampung environment did not have

access to internet, so some of them opted out to watching television,

8 (20%) respondents. A few percentage listened to music 5 (12.5%)

and did housework 5(12.5%). Listening to music could be a hobby to

overcome boredom and doing housework could be out of force by

family. So, to motivate respondents at home, the teacher could have

an activity in school, students to present what they have read the day

before at home during assembly or in front of the class during English

lessons and reward the students to motivate the rest of the students to

follow suit.

Table 4.12

Spend less time at home

Activities Frequency % 1. Read storybooks in English 18 45 2. Using Internet 0 0 3. Listen to songs 8 20 4. Do school homework 5 12.5 5. Watching Television 2 5 6. Do housework 7 17.5 7. Others 0 0 Total 40 100

On this analysis, it was disappointing to view the

highest level of 18 (45%) of respondents, nearly half of the class spent

less time reading storybooks in English. This epidemic has to be

changed gradually by giving storybooks that is suitable to their level

of competence and mainly should motivate them. Respondents 8

156

(20%) of them also spent less time listening to songs which could be

due to television whereby dramas in all languages captured audiences

regardless whether they understood or not. Respondents tend to

watch dramas that are from foreign countries even though not familiar

with the language and the dramas are not in English Language.

Table 4.13

An activity liked most.

Activities Frequency % 1. Read storybooks in English 0 0 2. Using Internet 30 75 3. Listen to songs 2 5 4. Do school homework 0 0 5. Watching television 8 20 6. Do housework 0 0 7. Others 0 0 Total 40 100

Respondents who did not have internet access tend to go to

the Internet café to be able to access to the internet. They are so well

versed with the internet and it was not surprising to know that they

are familiar with all the vocabulary related to this genre. About 30

(75%) respondents have selected using internet on their most liked

activity. Reading task could be conducted in the language lab

whereby respondents could be instructed to read aloud and record

their own voices. Then, listening to the recorded version to identify

their mistakes in pronunciation and also to rate their fluency in

reading. Next, most liked activity by students 8(20%) was television.

This could be due to no access to internet and too expensive to pay in

157

the internet café or being too addicted to the dramas in the television.

Only 2(5%) students were interested in listening to songs which could

be related to hobby or trying to keep in touch with the latest songs in

the fast moving world.

Table 4.14

A Disliked Activity

Activities Frequency % 1. Read storybooks in English 6 15 2. Using Internet 0 0 3. Listen to songs 2 5 4. Do school homework 21 52.5 5. Watching television 0 0 6. Do homework 11 27.5 7. Others 0 0 Total 40 100

It was not surprising to gather from the survey that 21

(52.5%) more than half of the respondents did not like to do school

homework. It was a known fact for ages. This could be due to no

interest in spending time sitting down and writing or not being able

to comprehend what should be written to arrive at the right solution.

Homework has been a trend in schools and teachers believe by giving

homework, they could gather information whether the objectives for

that particular lesson has been achieved. When respondents are

pressured to accomplish an activity like homework, the end result

might not be favorable to the teacher. It is due to the fact that the

outcome from many forced activity or skill are usually negative. So,

teachers could use certain strategies like allocating enough time for

158

the respondents to complete the work in school itself, giving lesser

homework or rewarding the respondents who finishes with all correct

answers with a small gift, like a pen.

For today’s generation, doing housework is like a big task

accomplished. So, the next disliked activity by 11 (27.5%)

respondents were housework. This chore was usually done out of fear

of being scolded if not done or out of sympathy towards their mother.

In the Malaysian culture, it is believed that girls must be able to do

chores at home so that they will be good wives when they get married

and able to take care of their own family. Next, reading storybooks in

English was not liked by 6 (15%) respondents which could be due to

lack of motivation and competence in English Language.

Furthermore, storybooks in English were only available in the school

environment. A small amount of 2 (5%) students did not like the idea

of listening to songs.

4.1.3 Section 3

In this survey section, respondents were requested to provide their

honest views on the facts or statements regarding English Language.

Respondents were encouraged to state their opinion based on their

current situations regarding English Language and their approach

towards it. Respondents were given the freedom to state their own

views on certain issues. Simple statements were constructed to enable

respondents to be able to get the gist of it and respond appropriately.

It was noted that respondents did not have any issues in

comprehending and responding to the statements.

159

Table 4.15

Views on English Language

A – Strongly agree C – Don’t Know E – Strongly Disagree

B - Agree D – Disagree

VIEW FREQUENCY TOTAL A % B % C % D % E %

1. Being able to read in English is important.

22

57.5

12

30

5

12.5

0

0

0

0

40 100%

2. Reading in English is a waste of time.

0

0

0

0

5

12.5

30

75

5

12.5

40 100%

3. I like to read an English book.

3

7.5

15

37.5

2

5

10

25

0

0

40 100%

4.

I like to write English essays.

1

2.5

14

35

0

0

25

62.5

0

0

40 100%

5. I only like to read English books.

0

0

4

10

0

0

30

75

6

15

40 100%

6. I’m excited to receive English books as gifts

0

0

4

10

20

50

16

40

0

0

40 100%

7. I enjoy reading a storybook than watching an English movie.

0

0

0

0

1

2.5

35

87.5

4

10

40 100%

(Continue)

160

(Continue)

8. Don’t see

the necessity to be able to read in English because well versed in other languages.

15

37.5

20

50

0

0

5

12.5

0

0

40 100%

9.

I would acquire lot

of knowledge if I could read in

English.

20

50

15

37.5

5

12.5

0

0

0

0

40 100%

10. I have difficulty reading in English because I cannot understand the content.

15

37.5

10

25

0

0

15

37.5

0

0

40 100%

11. I have a desire to be able to read fluently in English.

12

30

20

50

3

7.5

5

12.5

0

0

40 100%

12.

I don’t like reading in English.

0

0

15

37.5

5

12.5

20

50

0

0

40

100%

Students realized that being able to read in English was

important. More than half of the respondents 22 (57.5%) had strongly

agreed that English was important for them. Then, another 12 (30%)

of respondents also agreed to the fact of the importance of English

Language, in total about 35 students had acknowledged the fact that

English Language played a vital role in their life. Only about 5

(12.5%) respondents did not see the importance of the language

161

which could be due to the fact that one could survive in Malaysia if

they knew Bahasa Melayu alone because majority of Malaysians

were fluent in the Malay Language for communicating purpose.

Although they knew the importance of the English Language, not

much effort was put in by the respondents individually to enhance

their knowledge in English. In fact, without the motivation from the

teacher’s side, there might not have been any improvement or self-

motivation. This situation could be due to their environment, lack of

interest and cultural background. In their environment, hardly anyone

spoke in English, not even in the school other than the English

teachers. English month and English weeks were conducted and other

subject teachers were encouraged to speak in English for a certain

period of time but the respond was very negative, which could be due

to low self-esteem and not being fluent in the language from the

teacher’s part.

Next, majority did not agree reading in English was a waste

of time. About 35 (87.5%) of respondents felt reading in English

would only benefit them but most probably there was not enough

guidance from the home environment to motivate and English

teachers tend to be connected to them for a specific time in a week

only. But, it was disappointing to see about 10 (25%) of respondents

did not like to read in English and a few did not even know what are

their thoughts about reading in English. Only 18(45%) respondents

liked to read in English but how much effort had been put in to

achieve the task was still unknown.

Majority of the respondents 25 (62.5%) disagreed with the

idea of liking to write essays. It could be related to the fact of lack of

proficiency in the language and did not have adequate knowledge in

vocabulary. Some of the respondents were struggling to even write

162

one sentence grammatically correct, so writing a whole lengthy essay

was a big task. About 15 (37.5%) respondents agreed with the idea of

writing essays and usually essays pertaining to their background

knowledge created a better atmosphere to write.

In the background of majority Malay students, it was

impossible for them to be motivated to read English books only. So,

a majority of 36 (90%) respondents totally disagreed to the idea of

reading English story books only. It was a known fact that most of

them with a given choice would pick a Malay storybook compared to

an English storybook. The drive to read English books were only 4

(10%) among respondents. It could be due to self-motivated factor to

improve themselves in the English Language or to compete with

peers. Receiving English books as gifts seemed to be something new

to them as 20 (50%) of respondents did not even feel it was a good

idea and 16 (40%) of the respondents totally disagreed it was exciting.

It could be because they have never yearned for it or they do not know

the value of getting an English book as a gift or their reaction could

be based on not knowing how to react or state their opinion.

Next, 39 (97.5%) respondents totally did not agree on the

opinion of reading a storybook in English compared to watching an

English movie. Majority preferred watching the English movie to

reading English book because watching a movie was more interesting

and fun compared to sitting in a corner and reading a storybook.

Watching a movie did not require one to fully concentrate to

understand the movie compared to reading that needed more focus

and concentration. In addition, there were usually subtitles in a movie

to help the process of understanding and most of the time the subtitles

were in Malay

163

A concept or believe most respondents had was they could

not see a reason to be good in English when they were good in another

language, Malay which was also the National language in the country.

So, about 35 (87.5%) respondents believed being adequate in the

Malay language was good enough for them to go further in life.

English Language had not been a compulsory pass subject in SPM

until now and therefore no force to motivate the learners to be

competent in the subject. Only about 5 (12.5%) respondents

disagreed with the idea of being fluent in one language. The

respondents failed to realize most reference books for higher studies

were in English. Majority of the respondents did know for a fact and

realized that a lot of extra knowledge could be acquired by being

fluent in English but there was no force within them. There were

about 35 (84.5%) with the opinion of extra knowledge when one

could read in English but they dare not come out of their comfort zone

of being fluent in one language, to face the challenges.

Majority of the respondents 25 (62.5%) agreed with the

fact that they were having difficulty in reading a text and

comprehending the content. It was a true fact that at times the

respondents were demotivated to read a text in English. This problem

arose because most of them had lack of vocabulary and lack of

exposure to difficult level. To build their confidence and to motivate

them to read, teacher had to select text based on their background

knowledge and their level of competence. There were also about 15

(37.5%) respondents who disagreed with the fact that the content

influences their reading ability. These respondents had to be

emotionally prepared to face challenges and have to be self-motivated

to improve their English language.

164

About 32 (80%) of the respondents stated they had a

desire to read fluently in English but most of the time these students

expected miracles to happen within a short span of time. They tend

to get bored to do ample activities to reach the stage of fluency. At

times, their laziness actually overthrew their enthusiasm. There were

also about 3 (7.5%) respondents living in a dilemma and did not know

or haven’t reached the level of understanding, what they desire or

things they would want to achieve in future. Only about 5 (12.5%)

respondents were not motivated to acquire fluency in English which

could be due to frustration after many trials or never had a liking for

English Language.

There were about a small amount of respondents 15

(37.5%) never liked to read in English which could be due to never

was motivated since young or nothing impressed them about the

language or lack of exposure. As usual 5(12.5%) respondents still

were in the dark and did not know whether they liked or disliked

English and learning English was for a purpose, a compulsory subject

in exam. Next, 20 (50%) respondents, half the class stated they liked

reading in English and these respondents could be used as a

motivating factor for the rest of the respondents. It was usually easier

to motivate or encourage students to read by using students at their

level of age because they find it easier to communicate compared to

teacher-student relationship.

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4.1.4 Section 4

In this part of survey, respondents were supposed to reveal

their attitude towards English Language. Most of their opinions were

very positive and that gave the teacher an easy approach to guide and

motivate the respondents in the reading strategies. Most of them are

showing a positive attitude towards enhancing in the English

Language. It is easy to influence respondents with a desire to achieve

compared to students who like to isolate and withdraw from the

environment.

Table 4.16

Desire to Be Fluent In English

A – Very true B – True C – Not True

ATTITUDES FREQUENCY TOTAL A % B % C %

1.

I read materials in English because it is a compulsory subject.

28

70

10

25

2

5

40 100%

2.

Being able to acquire the reading material in English would create a path for me to pursue my education to higher levels.

35

87.5

5

12.5

0

0

40 100%

(Continue)

166

(Continued)

3. I read materials in English because all the members in my family are fluent in English.

0

0

2

5

38

95

40 100%

4.

I like to read in English because I find the articles in English are interesting and improves my knowledge.

0

0

4

10

36

90

40 100%

5. I only read in English with the purpose to complete my English homework.

32

80

6

15

2

5

40 100%

6. The ability to be able read in English enhances my knowledge.

5

12.5

35

87.5

0

0

40 100%

7.

I have an interest to read in English to gain more knowledge about English speaking countries.

5

12.5

13

32.5

22

55

40 100%

(Continue)

167

(Continued)

8. I read in English to be par wide my friends who are good in reading English text.

20

50

15

37.5

5

12.5

40 100%

Nearly all of the respondents, 38(95%), except 2(5%) of the

respondents read materials in English because it was a compulsory

subject in SPM. So, this attitude motivated them to read more

materials in English. Furthermore, the respondents tend to be

confident that they do not have to strive for the Malay language as

they were already well versed in it. So, they tend to put in more effort

in English language with the intention of doing well.

The respondents 40(100%) knew that by acquiring the

reading skills in English, it would create a path for them to pursue to

higher level of education. The question to ponder was ‘How much of

seriousness did they put into this fact?’ Most of them understood the

importance but were unable to materialize it in action. Most of the

reference books in the higher level studies were in English. Students

have to acquire a higher level of vocabulary to be able to

accommodate to the current situation and one of the method was

reading more materials in English. Understanding the need and

accomplishing the need were entirely two different things. So, these

168

respondents had to start to build in the self-interest to explore into the

world of reading English books.

Next, these respondents had an issue with their home

environment, not exposed to the English language at all. So, this led

to respondents being demotivated to enhance themselves. Most of the

parents were not highly educated and not much emphasis was given

to English Language few years back. The respondents spent most of

their time in the home environment compared to being anywhere else,

even school. In school, the respondents communicated in Malay with

their peers and teachers other than the English teachers. So, time

spent speaking in English was very limited.

Most of the respondents 36(90%) disagreed with the fact

that they liked to read in English because articles in English were

alluring. Only 4 (10%) agreed that interesting articles taunt them to

read especially if it was related to background knowledge. Majority

of the respondents 38 (95%) admitted that one of the main reason for

reading in English was to complete the task of doing their English

homework. Only 2 (5%) stated for other purpose which could be for

pleasure or interest.

About 5 (12.5%) respondents invincibly agreed that ability

to read in English enhanced the knowledge and the rest of the

respondents 35 (87.5%) also supported the verifiable truth that

knowing an extra language was always an asset to any individual.

Next, reading in English for the fact of gaining knowledge about

English speaking countries did not sound substantial for many of the

respondents 22 (55%) as they felt that it was not the ultimate reason

to acquire English Language or to read in English.

169

In today’s generation, peer groups played an important role

in students’ life. In schools, one could notice that most of the time

students of the same level of achievement in academic will be

attached securely together. So, for the sake of acceptance in a certain

group that spoke English, students tend to self-motivate themselves

to be fluent in English. This would be actually a positive drive for

students and a healthy competition. So, about 35(87.5%) of

respondents totally agreed with the fact that speaking in English

usually created a bond or they could be par with their friends.

Students tend to disappear or go unnoticed if they cannot be on par

with most of their classmates. Only 5 (12.5%) respondents felt they

did not need this kind of acceptance or recognition.

4.1.5 Section 5

In Section 5, a pre-test was conducted. This pre-test was done to

analyze the lack of motivation level before implementing the ERP

under research. In this test, the data collected revealed the lack of

motivation and competent level of the controlled group and

experimental group.

170

Descriptive Analysis on the Pre-test Questions

Table 4.1

1. Multiple – Choice Questions.

No of respondents got the questions correct.

Item Frequency %

Question 1 30 75

Question 2 30 75

Question 3 35 87.5

Question 4 25 62.5

Question 5 25 62.5

Figure 4.1. Multiple Choice Questions

Respondents were able to do these multiple-choice questions but there were about 10

to 15 respondents who had difficulty as the questions became more challenging to

their competence in the English Language.

0102030405060708090

100

QUESTION 1 QUESTION 2 QUESTION 3 QUESTION 4 QUESTION 5

FREQUENCY %

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2. Meaning of words

Table 4.2

Looking for meaning of words through context

Figure 4.2. Locating meanings of words.

Only half of the respondents 20 (50%) to 25 (62.5%) were

able to locate meaning through context. The respondents have not

practiced using background knowledge and predicting meaning

through context.

20 20 2025 25

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

QUESTION 1 QUESTION 2 QUESTION 3 QUESTION 4 QUESTION 5

Item Frequency %

Question 1 20 50

Question 2 20 50

Question 3 20 50

Question 4 25 62.5

Question 5 25 62.5

172

3. Main Ideas

Table 4.3

Looking for main ideas in the text

Figure 4.3. Locating Main Ideas

Respondents were able to locate the first main idea easily,

followed by 35 (87.5%) respondents being able to locate second main

idea and forth main ideas. They had difficulty is finding the fifth main

idea. The respondents were not thought the strategy of think aloud yet

Item Frequency %

Main Idea 1 40 100

Main Idea 2 35 87.5

Main Idea 3 30 75

Main Idea 4 35 87.5

Main Idea 5 23 57.5

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

MAIN IDEA 1 MAIN IDEA 2 MAIN IDEA 3 MAIN IDEA 4 MAIN IDEA 5

FREQUENCY %

173

0

20

40

60

80

100

FACT 1 FACT 2 FACT 3 FACT 4 FACT 5 FACT 6 FACT 7

Writting A Summary

and to picture the text as they read to be able to understand the main

facts. Visual clues would make it easier too.

4. Summary of the text

Table 4.4

Summarize the text

Figure 4.4. Writing a Summary

Item Frequency % Fact 1 35 87.5 Fact 2 30 75 Fact 3 21 52.5 Fact 4 23 57.5 Fact 5 24 60

174

Respondents had on average knowledge in summarizing the

text. Most of them wrote a lot of unrelated facts compared to the

requested summary facts. The respondents had problem locating facts

that provided the gist of the text. The search was conducted on

teacher’s request but no assistance was provided. The respondents

probably were not able to make notes or phrases as they read before

being familiar to this reading strategy, thinking aloud.

5. Comprehension Question.

Table 4.5

Answering Comprehension Questions.

Item Frequency %

Question 1 40 100

Question 2 30 75

Question 3 22 55

Question 4 20 50

Question5 18 45

175

Figure 4.5. Answering Comprehension Questions

The respondents did not have a problem attempting the first

question which was simple and directly related to the text. There was

no need to do any inferences. Respondents lacked in using their prior

knowledge in answering and always depended on the teacher for

clues or a part of the answer. Respondents were not used to

visualizing or doing critical thinking for locating answers. Some of

the respondents were motivated to complete the task only without

giving much thoughts to the answers or to the text.

4.2 Research Questions 2 and 3

What was expected in learners’ development after being motivated to

read using extensive reading program?

How did extensive reading program strategies motivate learners to

indulge in more reading?

Findings pertaining to respondents’ post test

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

QUESTION1

QUESTION2

QUESTION3

QUESTION4

QUESTION5

Answering Comprehension Questions

FREQUENCY

%

176

4.2.1 Section 1

In this section, the results of what was expected in learners’

development after being motivated to read using Extensive Reading

Program and also how the Extensive Reading Program strategies

motivated learners to indulge in more reading. According to

Yildirim (2014), there is a major hurdle to the development of

reading culture due to negative outlook towards reading. But, with

the freedom to choose what to read for pleasure purpose could be a

motivating factor which had led to a positive attitude in the learners

under this research (Varona, 2012). In addition, students could have

felt more self–confident and a relaxed atmosphere in the Reading

Corner environment.

Extensive reading program ensured that students were given

easy reading materials and that was done under this research.

According to Day, Prentice et. al., (2016), Extensive Reading is

defined as a teaching approach that encourages learners to read as

much as they can to gain fluency in English and they are given the

freedom to choose their own material to read. According to Day et.

al., (2016), learners who tend to read more are capable of reading

faster than those who read less.

In this research, learners who were motivated and allowed to

select books through ERP, were able to be involved in more reading

and Al Homoud and Schmitt (2009) also stated that learners who

were allowed to select the texts, showed a notable improvements in

terms of reading speed and motivation to read compared to those

text selected by the teacher from text books. Grabe (2010),

mentioned that a study carried out by Guthrie and Cox found a close

link between, positive attitude and motivation for reading. Overall,

the findings revealed that the participants perceived ERP positively.

177

The respondents were also asked short interview questions on

the reading to make sure they were motivated to read from time to

time. In the short interview, most of the respondents gave positive

answers and were very motivated to read. The respondents felt there

was no pressure and freedom to read what they wanted.

There was a vast differences in the result from pre– test to post test.

The dependents showed a drastic change in the research. The ERP

has motivated them to read more books which created a better

understanding of the English text. The evidence was seen in the data

collected after the post – test.

The data collected after the Extensive Reading Program. The

research has been completed. Learners were given a post-test to

evaluate the effectiveness of the research. Learners were given

similar test as the pre-test but the text was a different one. The

learners were instructed to complete the task in the given time

individually. The respondents were from two groups. The

respondents from Frequency A were from the experimental group

and the respondents from Frequency B were from the controlled

group. The post-test was done to compare the differences in

motivation among both the groups. The Frequency A group was

exposed to ERP where else the Frequency B group was thought only

using the traditional method. The results of the respondent’s data

were as below.

178

Section 1

Descriptive Analysis on the Post-Test

Table 4.6 Multiple – Choice Questions.

No of respondents able to answer correctly.

Item Frequency A % Frequency B %

Question 1 20 100 18 90

Question 2 20 100 17 85

Question 3 20 100 13 65

Question 4 18 90 13 65

Question5 18 90 12 60

Figure 4.6. Multiple Choice Questions

Respondents from Frequency A did better than the

respondents from Frequency B. In Frequency A were the

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5

Answering Multiple Choice QuestionsFrequency A % A Frequency B % B

179

experimental group and in Frequency B were the controlled group. In

Frequency A, the 20 respondent were able to tackle questions 1 to 3

without any struggle compared to Frequency B, the 20 respondents

were not able to complete the task with accurate answers. In

Frequency B none of the questions the respondents were able to score

100 % and it could be due to the fact they were taught only using the

traditional method and Frequency A were taught using ERP. Majority

of Frequency A respondents were able to score 100% and only for

questions 4 and 5 were 90%. The respondents in Frequency A and

Frequency B were instructed to read all the options given before

choosing the best answer based on what they comprehended.

Respondents from Frequency A were able to use the skimming

reading method to locate the appropriate answers.

Meaning of word

Table 4.7

Looking for meaning of words through context.

Item Frequency A % Frequency B % Question 1 20 100 15 75 Question 2 20 100 15 60 Question 3 20 100 13 65 Question 4 20 100 13 65 Question5 20 100 13 65

180

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5

Locating Meaning Of Words

Frequency A % A Frequency B % B

Figure 4.7. Locating Meaning of Words

Respondents from Frequency A were able to score all correct

(20) 100% compared to Frequency B. The respondents in Frequency

B had difficulty in locating the meaning of words through context. In

Frequency B, the 20 respondents could not locate all the meaning of

words to 100%. In questions 1, the respondents of (15)75% only were

able to locate and in questions 3 to 5, only (13)65% were able to

locate the meaning through context. These learners were not exposed

to ERP. In the Frequency A the respondents were given a few

exercises on guessing the meaning through context and the facilitator

was able to guide them to use their background knowledge.

181

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5

Locating Main Ideas

Frequency A % A Frequency B % B

Main Ideas

Table 4.8

Looking for main ideas in the text.

Item

Frequency A % Frequency B %

Question 1 20 100 16 80

Question 2 20 100 15 75

Question 3 20 100 15 75

Question 4 18 90 14 70

Question5 18 90 12 60

Figure 4.8. Locating Main Ideas

The respondents in Frequency A were able to locate the main

3 ideas (20) 100% and the next 2 main ideas about 10% only were

not able to locate. In Frequency B, Question 1 of main ideas only (16)

182

80% of respondents were able to locate and on Question 2 and 3 only

(15) 75% of the respondents were able to do it and Question 5 nearly

half of the respondents (12) 60% only could locate it. The respondents

in Frequency A were exposed to locating main ideas in the ERP at

the reading corner. Teacher was only doing the job of a facilitator.

Table 4.9

Summarize the text

Item Frequency A % Frequency B %

Fact 1 20 100 12 70

Fact 2 20 100 14 70

Fact 3 20 100 14 75

Fact 4 20 100 12 70

Fact 5 18 90 12 70

183

Figure 4.9. Writing a Summary

In this section, summarizing the fact was not an easy

task for Frequency B. The Frequency A respondents were able to

practically rewrite most of the facts. Facts 1,2,3,4 and 5 were easily

written by the (20)100% respondents. This has shown the ERP

method has helped the respondents to rewrite the facts easily.

Frequency B respondents did face difficulty in writing the facts and

none of the facts were located by all the 20 respondents. Facts 1, 4

and 5 were only located by (12)60% respondents and facts 2 and 3

were only written by (14)70% of the respondents. The rest of the

learners were struggling to write out the facts grammatically correct

without the teacher’s guidance.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Fact 1 Fact 2 Fact 3 Fact 4 Fact 5Frequency A % A Frequency B % B

184

Comprehension Questions

Table 4.10

Answering Comprehension Questions.

Item Frequency A % Frequency B %

Question 1 20 100 18 90

Question 2 20 100 15 75

Question 3 20 100 15 75

Question 4 19 95 15 75

Question5 19 95 14 70

Figure 4.10. Answering Comprehension Questions

In this section, most of the respondents were well versed. It

was a noticeable fact that the respondents from Frequency A always

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5

Frequency A % A Frequency B % B

185

liked to attempt comprehension questions. The respondents from

Frequency A were able to complete the task without any hindrance.

The Frequency A respondents scored 100% for questions 1 to 3 and

95% for questions 4 and 5. This revealed the fact that ERP method in

the reading corner produced learners with more competence and

motivated in attempting questions. Frequency B respondents faced

difficulty in completing the task due to a fact of not being exposed to

a more effective method ERP. Question 1 about (18)90% of the

respondents were able to complete because most of the time

Question1 was a direct Question from the text. Question 2 to 4 only

(15)75% of the respondents managed to get it correct and the last

Question 5 (14)70% of the respondents were correct.

4.3 Conclusion

In this chapter, analysis was done based on data collected. It was

noted that most of them came from an average background and the

parents were not highly qualified in their academic. So, most

probably background or home environment did not play a role in the

respondents’ education. The respondents depended 100% on the

school for their achievement in studies. Respondents were not

exposed to any materials in English at the home environment.

Respondents about 35 (87.5%) were from a Malay

background and the language of communication was only Malay. The

rest 5 (12.5%) were Indians and their language of communication was

Tamil. The Malay teachers only communicated in Malay to the

respondents at school. The respondents’ managed to communicate in

English with the English teachers only. Some of the respondents had

186

low self-esteem and most of the time they maintained silence or

isolate themselves with the hope the English teacher would not notice

them.

Most of them read in English due to the fact, it was a

compulsory subject in SPM and they tend to only hoped to pass the

paper and not score to further their studies to higher tertiary. A

minority of them, were not interested in the language and they cannot

be blamed because they are victims of circumstances.

There was a tremendous change in the responds attitude after

the ERP followed by the reading corner were introduced and rewards

were given every now and then to motivate them to read English

Storybooks. Respondents liked the change of atmosphere from

formal instructions and class control to informal instructions and

more relaxed classroom. The respondents were allowed to walk to

any corner of the class and read. They were also allowed to sit with

friends in groups to read and retell the story to each other.

In the beginning, teachers formed questions to provoke their

prior knowledge pertaining to the text read but gradually respondents

were able to connect their prior knowledge to the text read. This

activity was noticed when respondents were able to tell facts related

to the story or text read orally. Respondents were also trained to think

aloud in their mind as their fluency in reading improved. Respondents

were able to visualize the story and tell out orally in sequence without

much difficulty or stressed situation. Respondents liked the idea of

predicting the story before reading by the illustration or title and they

felt a sense of accomplishment or achievement when the prediction

matched after the story was read. There was always a glow in their

face to show something has been accomplished without any

guidance.

187

As a teacher, she/he had to always remind herself/himself that

she was only a facilitator and had to motivate the respondents to make

bold moves and always accept failure as the first step to achieve

success.

Respondents preferred to read fiction books compared to non-

fiction because it was easier to comprehend and was more

captivating. There was a lot of difference seen in certain category of

questions at the pre-test and post-test. Respondents were not exposed

to many reading strategies during the pretest. The post-test was only

done after the respondents were exposed to a few reading strategies

for several times in the classroom.

In conclusion, in order for learners to become actively

engaged with texts, learners should be taught to do so. Teachers have

to explain the extensive reading strategies that good readers use when

comprehending texts. Learners must be given the opportunities to

practice using these strategies over and over again. The participants

of this research agreed that it was enjoyable under the extensive

reading program. When the teachers are excited and passionate about

their program, learners are going to be more engaged with the actual

lesson. It was a powerful moment for the researcher because the

researcher could see the ERP materializing in front of her eyes .This

analysis revealed ERP and with motivation , learners could be

indulged into reading more books and perform better in English.

.

188

CHAPTER FIVE

IMPLICATION, RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSION

5.0 Introduction

In this study, the researcher presented a lot of interesting findings

under implication, recommendations and lastly in conclusion. The

researcher adapted a few new strategies in teaching reading in

English and the outcome or results were amazing. The new approach

did change most of the learner’s attitude. The learners were

motivated to read and it built their confidence. The new ERP

strategies created a better environment for the learners and they felt

comfortable with their classroom activities. Most probably, learners

were not motivated with the traditional classroom method, teacher

talked or conquered the situation; learners were only allowed to

listen and carry out normal activities without much interactions. In

the traditional method, it was always teacher oriented and learners

were hardly given a chance to voice out opinions or suggestions.

Learners were only allowed to answer or respond upon request from

the teacher. The traditional method is being carried out for ages.

189

Now, in the new extensive reading strategies the teacher was only a

facilitator and was not supposed to impose her believes and opinions

on learners. Learners were given ample of chance to speak up and

also carry out activities that motivate them during English lessons,

like reading a story book that interest them with a group of friends

of their choice. Learners were motivated to use reading strategies

like predicting, using prior knowledge, thinking aloud, summarizing

and doing questions on their own.

Most learners were able to predict the story by using prior

knowledge based on the title or illustrating on the book cover.

Learners felt motivated to read more when their prediction turned

out to be correct and a sense of accomplishment crept into their

mind. Next, they were able to think aloud the story as they read,

followed by locating main ideas in the next activity. Visualizing as

they read was also an enhancing activity that they enjoyed. Tasks

were given to find out if these strategies worked as accredited. So,

students were given activities like multiple choice questions,

locating meaning of words, locating main ideas and answering

questions. Learners were able to do activities based on their prior

knowledge, thinking aloud and visualizing. The learners were able

to comprehend the text deeply by answering a few types of questions

written in different pattern but based on the same text for answers.

There were factors that created hindrance for learners to

accomplish or acquire a better level in their English. Reading

difficulties had been a concern of educators, parents and politicians

but most learners still persist the difficulty in reading from

childhood. In the educators’ part, syllabus for every level of teaching

was a compulsory task to be completed regardless of students’ levels

of competence in every stage. In between, teachers had to allocate

190

time for reading activity to accomplish a certain level of proficiency

in the reading skills which is the root for all the other skills in

English. On the parents’ part, it depended on their early stages of

growing up, whether they were exposed widely to English

Language, to be able to know the importance and motivate their

children to take the right path. In this research, most parents do not

speak in English, so no extra coaching or guidance from home. Next,

politicians have been trying their best to cultivate the interest in

English, by requesting policy makers to find better methods to

enhance or plant the interest from young in English. According to

Green (2005), reading habits should be cultivated at a very young

age in school and when it is formed it would last a lifetime .The

overall strength of extensive reading and its effect on individual

differs based on participants age and periods of instructions

(Nakanishi’s 2015)

There have not been many reliable programs to inseminate

the interest or motivate reading skills among children to adulthood

for all races. There should be specific time allocated for reading in

the school timetable so that it would become a compulsory activity

under English skills. Schools do have activities under Reading Club,

English Week and English month but all these programs involved

learners who were well- read in English only. The others do not have

the courage to step forward to try, fear of failure and embarrassment.

In this kind of rural school, a learner that is good or polished in

English Language was known to be a prominent figure and

preference was given by the teachers to motivate this particular

learner and the rest were usually isolated or they were made

invisible in the eye of the teacher. It could also be due to the fact

191

that when there was going to be a competition among schools, the

prestige of the school matters. So, only the preeminent was chosen

to participate with the thought of only winning.

So, implications, recommendation and conclusions

suggested by the researcher were presented in this final chapter.

5.1 Discussions

5.1.1 The Form 4 Science students view towards reading in English.

The first results in this study showed the Form 4

Science learners attitude towards English language .About 10 out of

40 respondents stated that they seldom spoke English to their peers

while the other thirty respondents stated that they totally never

communicated in English with their peers. It could be due to the fact

that majority of them were the same race and same first language,

Malay.

For the questions of whether students read English

newspaper only 5 respondents stated ‘yes’ and the other 35

respondents stated ‘no’. The reason given were a few, such as no

time, not proficient, not motivated and it was easier to read and

understand Malay newspaper.

The next questions on reading English storybook, 40

of them totally agreed they do read storybooks in English. This

could be due to the reading strategies that were implemented.

In section 3, the learners’ views towards reading in

English Language was studied. In this section, more than 20

respondents did not show an interest in English Language. Some of

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the respondent did not know whether they liked English Language

or whether they were studying only for a purpose. When ERP was

implemented, learners became avid readers although they opposed

to reading before. When a learner has good reading habits it would

be like a missile to excel in life (Bashio & Matto, 2012)

More than 50% of the students did not agree with

the idea of liking to read in the language compared to the idea of

knowing the importance of the English Language. It could be due to

the fact, they were not competent in the English Language as they

do not have long term habit in reading. This results reflected another

study by Ogeyik & Akyay (2009), stated that one should cultivate

reading on a long term habit to cultivate the interest in reading.

According to Agree (2005), the society that we lived in today, did

not emphasize much on reading and the issue has to be addressed

before it becomes an unsolved issue.

5.1.2 The expectation in learner’s performance using the

extensive reading

The second results in this study stated that 35 respondents

understood the fact that reading proficiently in English would create

a better path to pursue a higher level in education. This kind of

understanding would create an expectation to see a vast

improvement in learners after the use of extensive reading program.

By enhancing the learner’s self-confidence, they were likely to

control their inner life. (Goleman 1995, Hamacheck 2000). In the

early stage, the leaners were not motivated to read in English. They

did complete the work given in English. About 38 respondents

completed all the work given in English. 100% of the respondents

knew that the ability to read in English would enhance their English.

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So, a variety of methods were introduced to motivate the learners.

Day & Bamford (2000), have implemented a few methods as

guidelines under ERP. By providing a variety of text, learners

interest could be cultivated (Hedge, 2000).

A pre-test was conducted to see the learner’s level

of competence before the ERP. There was an expectation to see a

vast improvement in the learners after the ERP. According to Palani

(2012), he believes that learners should be taught to read with ERP

because reading is part of educational process and to be successful

in academic, need to be proficient in reading.

In the pre-test a variety of questions were tested. In

the first and third section of questions, respondents were able to

score well, above 60% for each and every question. The section two,

four and five, there were scores above 50% above also.

5.1.3 ERP motivated learners to indulge in more reading

In the first set of questions, multi-choice questions were given

similar to the pre-test. The respondent in Frequency A completed

the task well, Questions 1 to 3, these respondents scored 100% and

Questions 4 and 5 the respondents were able to score 90%. The ERP

showed a vast improvement among the learners. It was noticeable

when the Frequency B learners could not achieve a remarkable

results compared to the Frequency A learners. Frequency B

respondents did not score 100% in any of the questions and only

about 13(65%) respondents were able to score in Questions 4 and 5.

Most of the respondents had a negative approach towards reading

and were not willing to interact or participate and this statement was

also stated by Brown (2001). Palani (2012), also stated that the

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reading habit has lost its importance and the younger and older

generation are glued to television. In the ERP, facilitators had to be

sensitive towards student’s reactions and change their attitude

gradually to motivate learners to read more.

In the second set of questions, locating the meaning

of words, Frequency A respondents were able to complete the task

effectively, 100%. Furthermore, Robb (2001), stated that students

under ERP acquire better reading habits and reduce the use of

dictionary. The Frequency B respondents had difficulty in locating

the meaning of words through content and relied on using dictionary

which did provide the meaning but not the accurate one based on

context.

Next, locating main ideas from the text was also

completed remarkably by the Frequency A respondents compared

to the Frequency B respondents. Guthrie.et.al, (2007), stated that

students with lack of interest in reading, the competency is slow and

the quality of a reader decreases gradually. It could be seen that

Frequency A respondents had more competency compared to

Frequency B respondents.

The fourth questions was locating facts which

required a lot of skimming and scanning. The respondents had to

reread the text a few times to be able to locate the required facts.

The reading text was provided according to the learner’s interest and

competence level generally. Nuttal (2005) has also stated an

enjoyable and easy to read text plays a vital role in reading and the

researcher made sure the reading text suited the requirements of the

readers. Frequency A respondents managed to score 90 to 100% in

locating the facts but Frequency B respondents only managed to

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score 70 to 75% and this could be due to the fact of negative

approach towards reading (Brown, 2001).

The last question was based on comprehension

questions. The Frequency A respondents were able to score 95 to

100% compared to Frequency B respondents. The respondents in

Frequency A always had an interest in reading compared to

Frequency B respondents because under ERP, Frequency A learners

were given a choice to read what they preferred and not forced,

Grabe (1991). Palani (2012) stated, reading is process of able to

think, to evaluate a text, judging and also problem solving

comprehension questions which helps the learner to locate meaning

of words in isolation or in context and that motivates to read.

Overall, the data suggested that ERP was an effective

method for learners to be motivated to read. Under ERP, learners

would be able to select the text based on their interest and

competence level. Learners would not be forced to read and they

have the freedom to choose and discover the writer’s message on

their own Varona (2012). Teacher played the role of a facilitator and

no force was put on learners to read. Ruiz & Arian (2009), carried

out ERP and discovered three main findings, learners motivation

increased if they select their reading text on their own, the reading

habit would change to a positive level due to the amount of reading

done and doing a writing on the reading skills would enhance the

writing and vocabulary skills too.

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5.2 Implications

5.2.1 Home

In the home environment, there were two various variables, socio

economic and language spoken at home. Most of these learners

came from a low income family and parents worked only with the

thought of giving mere basic things to survive and there was no extra

money to buy reading materials. Some of the learners did not have

money to buy food in school during recess and they were placed

under School Welfare Program. The burden of buying text books

has been solved by the Education Ministry in Malaysia, supplying

free books for all the learners in Malaysian Government Schools.

Most of the parents were also unable to speak in English and reading

was farfetched for them, so nil effort or guidance from parents.

Parents should play a role of motivating their children to read by

setting themselves as an example of what happened to them for

neglecting education. Positive reactions and encouraging statements

from parents would place a strong grip in their behavior. Parents

must be involved in their children’s academic like as regular

communication, volunteering, guidance at home, making decisions

and always having a collaboration talk with the community (Vera

2012)

A major implication would be if parents played a vital role

in motivating their children to read. Parents have to invest a little

money monthly to buy storybooks or magazines in English by

taking the learners to the bookshop and allowing them to pick the

books that interest them. If parents could not afford it, they should

allocate time to take their children to the library to read and

gradually the habit of reading could be cultivated. Lately, for the

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past two years learners were given brim RM100 early of the year by

the Malaysian government. So, it would be a good investment if

parents used the money to buy extra reading materials for their

children other than school workbooks. Learners usually perceived

parents as an important source of motivation. Parents should fulfill

children’s need by ensuring the home environment was conducive

for reading or put in an extra effort of sending or going with them

to the library once a week, to cultivate the habit from young. Most

parents should change their routine habit of watching television,

chatting with friends on Facebook or twitter and playing games for

hours online to spend leisure time reading with their children to be

a good role model. Regardless to say, most families in today’s

generation tend to spend more time on internet than getting engaged

in a conversation with the family members. This could be also seen

in most families when they go out together for dinner, every

individual tend to be busy on the hand phone or tab and no

conversation would be going on among the family. This habit should

be monitored by parents and put a stop as it is not a healthy activity.

The closeness in a family is dying off and even among family

members conversation only happens on hand phone or internet.

Parents’ attitude has to change by making an effort to

motivate children to read top news in the English newspaper or retell

a story in English which they have read. Shower the children with

praises to motivate them to read more. Researchers have found out

that children depend nearly hundred percent on parents as role

model and to guide them. So, if parents failed to do their role as

parents by giving invalid excuses and hoping the teachers in school

would do their part also, then they would be heading for a big

disappointment in future. Teachers could only afford very little time

with the learners and the time of teaching and being around learners

198

is divided among so many teachers in a day. Parents are likely to

handle only about five to ten percent of the children in class at their

home compared to teachers handling thirty to forty students in a

class .Parents must do a transformation in the home environment to

bring in positive changes, immaterial of socio economies, status or

education background.

5.2.2 School

School is the environment for learning. A learner could use

appropriate advantage in school to fulfill the task of being proficient

in reading. Firstly, learners have to change their mind set and always

face challenges with a positive attitude. Schools should conduct a

lot of motivational seminars to build the positive attitude in students.

Motivational talks should be given at least once in two or three

months and not only when the exam is around the corner to keep the

enthusiasm and sprit in high flame in them, Today’s generation tend

to be very sensitive and fear challenges in life. It could be due to the

‘comfort zone’ at home and in school. Those were the days when

parents and teachers were very strict and discipline was the key

factor to establish growth in education. In school, teachers used to

reprimand learners and that was the accepted norm. Learners tend to

study by motivating themselves and could also be due to a little fear

added from the school environment but end of the day task was

accomplished and learners performed well in school. There was no

excuse for incomplete homework and parents were able to

accommodate to schools rules and regulations. More focus was on

education and there was no high technology world to interrupt or

influence learners mind and attitude. Today’s generation, most of

them are pampered by the parents and teachers’ authority is

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restricted. As teachers, most of them fear parents who take drastic

actions on teachers if any kind of castigation is carried out on their

children, regardless of any discipline problem.

Next, learners themselves have a lot of reasons for being lack

of motivation such as depression, fear of failure, low self-esteem,

lack of interest, procrastination habit, stress or overwhelm are

common symptoms of depression which would lead to lack of

motivation in activities that used to be very interesting or

pleasurable. Depression could lead to academic downfall and

treating it would gradually lead to positive effect on motivations and

productivity. Fear of failure would make learners to avoid work such

as participating in reading aloud activities. This problem arose due

to some parents who tend to raise children with the thought of being

perfectionist attitudes, especially professionals’ children. Then, low

self-esteem was a kind of thought in the mind which made one to

believe of not being capable of succeeding in any attempt and often

self-sabotage. They tend to pass with minimal effort or incomplete

work done due to lack of confidence.

Lack of motivation would be a major problem that led to

withdrawal and isolating themselves or diverting attention

somewhere else, such as daydreaming. In today’s culture, teachers

have to bring in materials for reading text to motivate among the

learners and not decide or emphasize on what they should read.

Next, procrastination habit which could be feeling depressed,

anxious or fear of failure, so the learners would not be motivated to

do anything or to succeed. Stress also could occur and it would

affect the cognitive and emotional part of a person. So, learners

would not be motivated. All the above could lead to not being able

to participate and perform well in the school. So, counseling sections

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should be given to these kinds of learners to overcome the problems

and motivate them to do well in school activities. Teachers could

give books that interest them to read and the activity could release

them from depression and stress.

Learners should take advantage of the facilities in school.

There would be a lot of reading materials available in library and

reading corner in the classroom for all levels of competence. By

reading these books that interest them, their motivation would

automatically be built. In the classroom, teacher should allocate time

for learners to make use of the reading corner to read and also

encourage reading in groups, to wave off boredom. The learners

could also exchange and retell the stories in group which would

inspire them to read more books. The books in the reading corner

should be based on learners’ interest and a variety topic to cultivate

the interest to read during their free time. The key person or main

source of encouragement would always be the teacher because it

would be easy for them to motivate learners to read as Malaysian

learners’ trend would be to idolize their teachers, especially in the

primary level. So, cultivating the habit from primary level will be

much easier and when motivation is given, it usually produces

positive results. Teachers should take advantage of learners believe

in them. Teachers should organize reading clubs, reading

competition, public speaking done by individuals and in groups in

the classroom environment, to build their confidence and to be

motivated to excel. It would be good to encourage individual

participation. As the learners learn to believe in themselves, they

could go to a bigger crowd outside the classroom, like presenting

during assembly or in an inter-school competition.

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Teachers should also pay attention to the low achieving

group. Without constant attention or motivation given to them, the

learners would tend to isolate themselves and eventually their names

would disappear from the teachers mind literally. Low achievers

have to be motivated, frequently praised though they might only

show a slight improvement. For the low achievers, a simple

compliment would give them the confidence to try again. Teachers

also should reduce formal readings to more informal readings, like

having more oral conversations, drama acting on the story read in

groups. Teachers should take learners to the language lab in school

to communicate through face book, twitter among themselves and

ask questions on the books they have read and should ask them to

write a synopsis on it and likely to the teacher’s surprise even weak

students would tend to respond.

During the lesson hours, teachers could allocate the first ten

minutes daily for news to be read from newspaper cuttings,

storytelling and also an incident that excited some of the learners for

the day. The purpose would be to develop conscious process in the

reading activity and also to give an opportunity for learners to

communicate. Learners will be able to differentiate formal and

informal setting and the atmosphere would definitely change their

mood and create active participation which would create an

enjoyable atmosphere without stressful. When stress is avoided, it

should be easy to encourage the learners to do independent reading

outside the classroom. Teachers have to be constantly aware of their

varied needs and interest although not much differences in the

background environment.

Next, the meeting point for the teachers and parents (PIBG)

which was formed to cater for the students’ needs. Teachers could

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make use of the meetings opportunity with parents under PIBG to

encourage parents to motivate their children to read English books

and also enlighten parents about the importance of knowing and

being fluent in English Language. Teachers could suggest to parents

ways to accommodate English at home by buying newspapers,

storybooks or taking children once a week to the library and the

teachers could build a good rapport with the parents. Teachers

should not give negative remarks about children to parents by using

crude or harsh words. Teachers should always use polite terms when

referring to children. There must always be a healthy

communication between teachers and parents for the benefit of

learners.

5.2.3 Education

In the current syllabus, more reading is done in the comprehension

sections and literature components section, very less emphasize on

reading story books for leisure. So, authorities should allocate time

for reading section in the timetable and teachers could take them to

the library, language lab or under a tree for a change of environment.

When the time is allocated in the timetable, indirectly learners

would be forced to read; eventually they will get adapted to the idea

and understand the importance of knowing to read fluently in

English. Teachers and learners tend to always complaint of not

having enough time to read in most circumstances.

Reading materials should be recommended according to

school performances in major exams and based on the band a school

is placed. The reading materials should be tailored to the

competence level in English by the specific school. A lot of

researchers have revealed the major reasons learners are

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demotivated to read often is because the text is difficult, not related

to their prior knowledge, unknown vocabulary and does not match

their level of competence.

Officers in charge of the English section in the Education

Department should create various projects to allocate more books

for learners. Books exhibition, book fairs and mobile libraries

should be carried out more often, especially schools located in rural

areas because learners from these types of schools have difficulty to

get their hands on the books due to transport problem, lack of

exposure, parents illiterate and no motivation from home. There

are English activities conducted district level and state level such as

public speaking, choral speaking and dramas. Most of the time only

academically good learners are selected to safeguard the school’s

reputation, weak and low achievers are usually not given a chance

to try for fear of losing. So, education department should conduct

activities for all level learners, good and for below average learners

to motivate and build confidence and to motivate them. Schools

which enrolled good students for low achievers activities should be

disqualified.

Next, in the Teachers’ Training Centers, some teachers

should be trained to only concentrate or teach reading in English at

schools like the SISC+ trainers were only there to enhance the

teaching of English in all aspects generally. Once specialized in a

particular aspect, the teacher concern should be able to provide

guidance to enhance reading ability and find measures to solve the

current situation.

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5.3 Recommendations

5.3.1 Suggestions for difficulties in reading

An attempt was done to delineate the environment obstacles faced

by learners to read in English. However, the cognitive factor also

played a role in reading attainment. A few recommendations for the

reading difficulties faced by learners. Word by word reading would

be a disadvantage for learners with inadequate decoding ability but

to motivate the learners to read further, teachers could start with

simple text to build the learner’s confidence and interest. Incorrect

Phrasing would occur due to lack of exposure to basic vocabulary.

Learner has to be exposed to words more than twenty to seventy

times before it becomes a sight word. Poor pronunciation could be

due to unfamiliar with the word. Teachers should teach the learners’

phonics and use a lot of teaching aids like flash cards and drilling on

these words should be done to familiarize the learners. Next,

omission of words or phrases is also a regular habit of most learners.

They tend to omit and go on without realizing it while trying to read

fast and fluently. The focus should be more on fluency and not on

word recognition or comprehending the context. A teacher has to

do an immediate correction to break the habit. One way to overcome

the problem, point at each word as the learner reads by

himself/herself.

Repetitions is also done due to lack of confidence in their

fluency in reading. Learners are likely to believe they pronounced

the word wrongly and repeat it again for confirmation which should

not be encouraged. Teachers should be generous with praises and

motivate the learners to believe in their ability and competence in

reading as it would enhance the learners to read more. Teacher could

205

help the learner by making them use their fingers and practicing a

left to right movement. Insertion is when learners add own words in

the text which are not present in the sentence and this is done

particularly when they read fast with the thought it shows their

fluency in the language. Teachers could correct the learners by

letting them understand fluency does not mean fast reading but

being able to pronounce the words accurately. Vocabulary

knowledge does influence understanding the content and ability to

pronounce well. So, learners with lack of understanding the meaning

of words could be taught through teaching two new words a day and

encouraging them to locate the meaning using dictionary.

Learners tend to be unable to answer questions based on the

text read. One of the reason is lack of vocabulary knowledge,

background knowledge on the particular text, inversion of reversals,

unable to decode facts and so one. The easy way to handle this

situation is to drill learners with lots of WH Questions on one

particular text, simplify the text, give text related to their

environment and guide the learners to get the gist of the text.

5.4 Conclusion

In conclusion, ERP and motivation can be used in schools

for low proficiency students to cultivate the interest to read. In the

research, one could conclude that by using an ERP and also

motivating the learners who find reading especially in English as

difficult lack, to change their attitude gradually and have a positive

view in reading. Children can be motivated if there is no pressure

and force in accomplishing a task. In this research ,student were

given the freedom to select their own books from a variety of text,

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encouragement was regularly given and monitoring the progress

was done, had a short discussion with the learners on and off,

encouraged them to write a feedback, and made them to set their

own goals. These factors tend to motivate learners to produce a

positive results. (Day & Bamford, 2002)

The teacher is also answerable if the learners do not produce

good results by the end of the year. In between of the reading

process, the teacher has to focus on the reading part which is not a

mystical process. Most learners require personal attention to learn

how to decode or read fluently, one to one attention which cannot

be supplied by a teacher with approximately forty learners in a class.

For some learners, direct instruction is substantial. They are able to

decode and encode information with little supervision from a

teacher. But, all learners need abundant opportunities to learn new

text and to cultivate the habit to read. This practice should be an

ongoing process in and out of school including both oral and silent

reading. Parents and teachers must plant the seed in every child to

read for information and pleasure as well.

This study was only done based on a sample of forty students

and the findings cannot be generalized or represented for all the

schools in Malaysia. The method, research design suggestions and

factors have to be amended to suit the need or situation of other

schools. Furthermore, absentees, insincere response to questionnaire

are unavoidable. Reading a text aloud could also create nervousness,

stress and stage fright which could lead to inaccuracy of the

findings. There is also a possibility, learners would have just glanced

and answered the questions with only thought of getting the

questionnaire done.

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Most of the factors influencing the reading ability are a

known knowledge, environmental factors. Shoebottom (2016,)

stated that learners need factors that comprises of curriculum,

opportunity and a supportive environment. The researcher’s belief

any learner can be motivated to read better if proper program was

introduced. The findings from this study support current approaches

to motivation that look at the learner in social context (Dornyei &

Ushioda, 2011). The researcher has taught both urban and rural area

learners.

One factor that is similar in urban and rural area learners are

parents’ involvement. Most parents in both these areas do not spend

enough time with their children and most of the time they are

ignorant about their children’s problems until it reaches critical or

perilous level. Although most of the urban area parents are educated

and professionals, they have these believes that if the child has a

beautiful home with all the latest gadgets, a variety of food on the

table, tuition, maid and the best things money could buy, the child

is contented and the bonding part is only necessary during holidays.

The loneliness and depression in the thought of a child goes totally

unnoticed. Next, rural area parents, most of them are lack in good

education and they work to only make sure they have the minimal

basic needs. Most of these rural parents, have the mindset that

sending the child to school with all the obstacles they face, half the

battle won. They ignore the fact that the child needs to be monitored

at home also and most probably deficiency in education makes them

to hope only on the school to take care of their child.

A real minority of parents in the urban and rural area are

playing a role as model parents. It is stated that learners who live in

a supportive environment acquire a given language faster than those

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who live in a non- supportive environment. A supportive

environment is when parents motivate their children to speak in the

given language by speaking the language at home. (Sudsa-ard,

2013) If parents do their part, teachers could also do their part

smoothly to produce good learners for the nation.

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APPENDIX A

PRE TEST

Read the following text and answer the questions.

The secrets of sleep were a mystery for centuries simply

because there was neither the means to explore them, nor the need.

Only when candles gave way to gaslight, and gas to electricity,

when man became able to convert night into day, and double his

output by working shifts round the clock, did people start

wondering if sleep could possibly a waste of time. Our ability to

switch night into day is very recent, and it is questionable if we

will ever either want, or be able, to give up our habit of enjoying a

good night’s sleep. However, a remarkable research project in

London has already discovered a few people enjoyed insomnia.

Even chronic insomniacs often get hours of more sleep than they

think. But, by placing electric contacts beside the eyes and on the

head, it is possible to check their complaint by studying the tiny

currents we generate which reveal the different brainwaves of

sleep and wakefulness. This has shown that for some people seven

or eight hours of sleep a night are quite unnecessary.

A lot of recent work has shown that too much sleep is bad

for you, so that if you are fortunate enough to be born with a body

which needs only small amount of sleep, you may well be healthier

and happier than someone who sleeps longer.

226

Every attempt to unravel the secrets of sleep, and be

precise about its function, raises many problems. The sleeper

himself cannot tell what is going on and, even he wakes, has only a

very hazy idea of how good or bad a night he has had. The

research is expensive and often unpopular, as it inevitably involves

working at night. Only in the last few years have experts come up

with theories about the function of sleep and the laws which may

govern it.

The real advance in sleep research came in 1937 with the

use of the electroencephalogram. This machine showed small - 50

microvolt - changes in the brain, so, for the first time, we could

observe sleep from moment to moment. Before that time one could

put the person to bed, watch him mumble, toss, turn, and bring

back a few rough memories of dreams, and that was about all. In

1937 it was possible to read out these changes, second by second.

Then in 1959 two other things happened. Kleitman and Aserinsky,

as they were looking at eye movements, trying to understand the

brainwaves, noticed that after about ninety minutes there would be

a burst of the EEG, as if the person was awake, and the eyes would

move rapidly. It was not hard to guess that maybe that was a

dream. And indeed it was. Waking people up during that period,

they found they were dreaming; waking them up at other periods,

they found no dreams.

The electroencephalogram shows that when we fall

asleep we pass through a cycle of sleep stages. At the onset of

sleep, the cycle lasts about ninety minutes during which you pass

227

through stages one, two and three to stage four. This is the deepest

form of sleep, and from it you retreat to stage two, and from there

into REM, or rapid eye movement sleep. Here, for ten minutes on

the first cycle and then gradually longer, it is thought that we do

most of our dreaming.

Studies of people who volunteered to be locked up for

weeks in an observation chamber with no idea of whether it is

night or day, give remarkable results. We are not, in fact, twenty-

four-hour creatures. Put people in such circumstances and even,

even though the patterns of sleep continue, the day is extended to

about twenty-five and a half hours. Without any clues to time,

these people got to sleep the first night about an hour later than

usual, the next night an hour later, and the next night. So that, after

about ten days, the person is going to sleep at three o’clock in the

afternoon, thinking that he is still going to sleep at midnight.

Today, jet-lag is a familiar hazard for seasoned traveller.

Travel across time zones plays havoc with the biological clock

rhythms of the human body. For the active pilot, who is rarely in

one place long enough to know if it is time for breakfast or dinner,

the impact of jet-lag on his sleep is critical. Several air disasters

have been partly caused by overtired pilots ignoring the natural

laws of sleep. Much research is directed to finding out what these

laws are and to what extent pilots and astronauts dare disobey

them. But they are laws which affect all of us, not just pilots.

(From an article in The Listener)

227

PRE-TEST QUESTIONS

Section A

Multiple-choice Questions

Choose the best answer.

1. Why do we sleep? A. To waste time

B. To take a good rest

C. To cultivate the habit

2. Insomnia means ... A. Inability to sleep soundly

B. Restlessness to do an activity

C. Able to relax and sleep well.

3. How many hours does a person needs to sleep? A. 8 hours

B. As long as he feels tired

C. 10 hours

228

4. How long does the cycle of sleep last? A. 40 minutes only

B. 90 minutes only

C. 10 minutes only

5. Who are those who face jet-lag? A. Businessman

B. Housewives

C. Seasoned travellers

Section B

Locating meanings of words through context pick the meaning of these words based on context

1. Explore - _____________ 2. Ability - _____________

3. Generate - _____________ 4. Precise - ____________ 5. Volunteered - _____________

Section C

229

Looking for main ideas in the text

Locate five main ideas from the text based on the issue sleep.

1) ___________________________________________________

2) ___________________________________________________

3) ___________________________________________________

4) ___________________________________________________

5) ___________________________________________________

Section D

Writing out a summary

Based on the passage given, write a summary on:

The study of sleep Effects of sleep on human Credit will be given for use of own words but care must be taken not to change the original meaning.

Your summary must:

Be in continuous writing form (not in note form) Use materials from line 8 to 59 Not be longer than 130 words, including the 10 words given below

Begin your summary as follows:

A research project in London discovered that people enjoyed insomnia...

230

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Section E

Comprehension Questions based on the text.

Answer the comprehension questions based on the text.

1. From paragraph 1.

a) Why was sleep a mystery? _______________________________________________________________

b) What was the finding of the research done in London?

______________________________________________________________

2. From paragraph 3.

Which statement supports the idea that the study of sleep has its difficulties?

_________________________________________________________________

231

3. From paragraph 4.

a) How are dreams related to EEG?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

b) Which word has the same meaning as the phrase ‘with great speed’?

________________________________________________________________

4. From paragraph 5.

a) How long did it take to pass through a cycle of sleep stages? ________________________________________________________________

b) Discuss on the outcomes of the experiment done using the observation chamber?

____________________________________________________________________

5. Explain about the important of sleep?

_________________________________________________________________

232

Appendix B

INSTRUMENT TO INVESTIGATE INFLUENCE OF L1 IN READING

Section 1

1) School Name & Address:-

2) Address:-

Tick the suitable boxes (/)

3) Gender:-

Male Female

4) Race:-

Malay Chinese

Indian Others

5) Results obtained in English for PMR:-

A B C D E F

233

6) What is the language often used in the home environment?

Standard Malay

English

Malay Dialect

Tamil

Chinese

Others: - __________

7) How often do you speak in English with your peers?

Always

Seldom

Never

8) Father’s Occupation.

Non-Skilled job

Skilled job

Professional

Others: - ___________

9) Mother’s Occupation.

Non-Skilled job

Skilled job

Professional

Non-working

234

10) Parent’s highest Qualification.

Section 2

1. Have your parents read story books to you when you were a toddler?

If yes, state in what language:-

Yes, Language:-

No

2. What are the languages your parents can speak, read and write?

FATHER MOTHER SPEAK READ WRITE LANGUAGE (F) (M) (F) (M) (F) (M) Cannot read in any

language Can speak in Malay Can read in Malay Can write in Malay Can speak in English Can read in English Can write in English Can speak in Tamil

3. Does your family buy English newspaper?

Father Mother Level of Qualification University College Higher School Education Lower School Education Never Schooled

235

Yes

No

Regularly

Seldom

Weakly

Never

If yes, state the name of the paper?

_______________________________________________

4. Does your family purchase magazines in English?

Yes No

If yes, state the name of the magazines.

a) ____________________________

b) ____________________________

Always

Seldom

Never

5. Does your English teacher allocate a certain time for personal reading?

Yes No

6. Is there a library in your school?

Yes No

7. How many times in a month do you borrow English books from the library?

236

Once

Twice

More than 3 times

Never

8. Does your teacher encourage you to read story books other than your text books in English?

Yes No

9. What are the efforts does you teacher put in to encourage you to read?

Having a conversation about the story books that you read.

Encourages you to tell the story you have read to the class.

Rewards you when you have read more than 3 books in English for the month.

Teaches you to use the dictionary regularly to locate the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Asks you to rewrite the synopsis of the story in ‘Buku Nilam’

Encourages you to read more and participate in the NILAM competition end of the year.

Others. State: - ________________________

Nothing above

10.

a) Are you a member of the public library in your town?

Yes No

b) If yes, state the books that you often borrow ?

237

(If no, go straight to Question 11)

Malay storybooks

English storybooks

Malay revision books

English revision books

Others. State: - __________________

11. Who are those who influence you to read English Storybook?

Parents Teachers

Friends Own self-Interest

12. What are the factors on facilities that influence you to read English storybooks?

Library Interesting Novels

Exams Bookshop

Reading corner in the class.

Others. State: - ___________________

238

Section 3

1. Did you read newspaper in English this week?

Yes No

If no, answer question 2 only.

If yes, answer question 3 only.

2. State the reasons for your answer ‘No’

No time

Not proficient in the English Language

No interest

No interesting topics to read

Easier to read and understand the Malay newspaper

Other reasons. State: - ______________

3. If yes, state the name of the newspaper in English that you read.

a) ________________________

b) ________________________

4. Tick (. /) for the content that interest you in the English newspaper.

Local news Education section

Overseas news Advertisements

Articles Movies section

Entertainment section TV section

5. Did you read English storybooks for the past one month?

239

Yes No

If ‘No’ answer Question 6, omit Question 7.

If ‘Yes’ answer Question 7, omit Question 6.

6. State the reasons for your answer ‘No’

Expensive No interest

No time others. State: - _____________

Not proficient in the language

Difficult to occur the magazines

7. If yes, state the names of the books you have read.

a) _______________________________________

b) _______________________________________

c) _______________________________________

8. State 4 types of English books that you like.

Historical

War stories

Adventurous stories

Science Fiction

240

Horror stories

Science & Technology

Romantic stories

Biodata

Sports

Others. State: - ______________________

9. a) Most of the time at home, I (Tick one only)

Read story books in English

Watch television

Listen the songs

Do school homework

Do my hobby / hobbies activities

Do housework

Others. State: - _____________

b) I spend less time at home, (Tick one only)

Read story books in English

Watch television

Listen the songs

Do school homework

241

Do my hobby / hobbies activities

Do housework

Others. State: - __________

10. a) one activity that I like the most. (Tick one only)

Read story books in English

Watch television

Listen the songs

Do school homework

Do my hobby / hobbies activities

Do housework

Others. State: - ________________

b) One activity that I don’t like at all. (Tick one only)

Read story books in English

Watch television

Listen the songs

Do school homework

Do my hobby / hobbies activities

Do housework

Others. State: - ________________

242

Section 4

Fill in the boxes ta state your view with the alphabets given below pertaining to certain facts.

No answer will be considered write or wrong in the questions below.

Strongly Agree Disagree

Agree Strongly Disagree

Don’t know

1. Being able to read in English is important.

2. Reading in English is a waste of time.

3. I like to read an English book.

4. I like to write English essays.

5. I only like to read English books.

6. I’m excited to receive English books as gift.

7. I enjoy reading a story book than watching an English movie.

8. I don’t see the necessity to be able to read English when I’m well versed in other

languages.

9. I would acquire a lot of knowledge if I could read in English.

10. I I have difficulty reading in English because I cannot understand the content.

11. I have a desire to be able to read fluently in English

12. I don’t like reading in English.

A

B

D

E

C

243

Section 5

There are a lot of reasons for a person to have the desire to be fluent in reading English

books. State your reasons based on the categories given below.

Very true – based on one of your main reason.

True – one of your many reasons.

Not True – not one of your reasons at all.

1. I read materials in English because it is a compulsory subject.

2. Being able to acquire the reading in English would create a path for me to pursue

my education to higher levels, like colleges and universities.

3. I read materials in English because all the members in my family are fluent in

English.

4. I like to read in English because I find the articles in English are interesting and

improves my knowledge.

5. I only read in English with the purpose to complete my English homework.

6. The ability to be able to read in English enhances my knowledge.

7. I have an interest to read in English to gain more knowledge about English

speaking countries.

8. I read in English to be par with my friends who are good in reading English text.

a

b

c

244

THE PROGRESS CHART

A Progress chart was in the Reading Corner Based on Extensive Reading Corner

Implementing an extensive reading program in the reading corner.

Name:

Date :

Day :

Title :

1. How is the book? Did you enjoy reading it?

2. How well do you understand the book?

A very well

B average

C very little

3. When I read this book, I...................

4. Summary of the book..........

5. In my opinion, the book..........

A Great...... I loved it

B Good....... I liked it

C OK....... I didn't mine reading it

D Boring..... I didn't like it

245

READING INTERVIEW

1. How is your reading going on? ________________________

2. What are you thinking about your book? _________________________

3. Is this a good book choice for you? __________________________

4. Talk to me about your reading. __________________________

5. Read a part you really like ____________________

6. Would you recommend this book to other student? _________________________________

7. What goals do you have for your reading? ________________________________

8. What do you think about your reading list so far? ______________________________

9. Where can I help you? _______________________

10. Do you have any question for me? ___________________________

246

APPENDIX C

POST TEST

Read the following text and answer the questions.

The secrets of sleep were a mystery for centuries simply because

there was neither the means to explore them, nor the need. Only when candles

gave way to gaslight, and gas to electricity, when man became able to convert

night into day, and double his output by working shifts round the clock, did

people start wondering if sleep could possibly a waste of time. Our ability to

switch night into day is very recent, and it is questionable if we will ever either

want, or be able, to give up our habit of enjoying a good night’s sleep.

However, a remarkable research project in London has already discovered a

few people enjoyed insomnia. Even chronic insomniacs often get hours of

more sleep than they think. But, by placing electric contacts beside the eyes

and on the head, it is possible to check their complaint by studying the tiny

currents we generate which reveal the different brainwaves of sleep and

wakefulness. This has shown that for some people seven or eight hours of

sleep a night are quite unnecessary.

A lot of recent work has shown that too much sleep is bad for you, so

that if you are fortunate enough to be born with a body which needs only small

amount of sleep, you may well be healthier and happier than someone who

sleeps longer.

Every attempt to unravel the secrets of sleep, and be precise about

its function, raises many problems. The sleeper himself cannot tell what is

going on and, even he wakes, has only a very hazy idea of how good or bad a

night he has had. The research is expensive and often unpopular, as it

247

inevitably involves working at night. Only in the last few years have experts

come up with theories about the function of sleep and the laws which may

govern it.

The real advance in sleep research came in 1937 with the use of the

electroencephalogram. This machine showed small - 50 microvolt - changes in

the brain, so, for the first time, we could observe sleep from moment to

moment. Before that time one could put the person to bed, watch him mumble,

toss, turn, and bring back a few rough memories of dreams, and that was about

all. In 1937 it was possible to read out these changes, second by second. Then

in 1959 two other things happened. Kleitman and Aserinsky, as they were

looking at eye movements, trying to understand the brainwaves, noticed that

after about ninety minutes there would be a burst of the EEG, as if the person

was awake, and the eyes would move rapidly. It was not hard to guess that

maybe that was a dream. And indeed it was. Waking people up during that

period, they found they were dreaming; waking them up at other periods, they

found no dreams.

The electroencephalogram shows that when we fall asleep we pass

through a cycle of sleep stages. At the onset of sleep, the cycle lasts about

ninety minutes during which you pass through stages one, two and three to

stage four. This is the deepest form of sleep, and from it you retreat to stage

two, and from there into REM, or rapid eye movement sleep. Here, for ten

minutes on the first cycle and then gradually longer, it is thought that we do

most of our dreaming.

Studies of people who volunteered to be locked up for weeks in an

observation chamber with no idea of whether it is night or day, give

remarkable results. We are not, in fact, twenty-four-hour creatures. Put people

in such circumstances and even, even though the patterns of sleep continue,

the day is extended to about twenty-five and a half hours. Without any clues to

time, these people got to sleep the first night about an hour later than usual, the

248

next night an hour later, and the next night. So that, after about ten days, the

person is going to sleep at three o’clock in the afternoon, thinking that he is

still going to sleep at midnight.

Today, jet-lag is a familiar hazard for seasoned traveller. Travel

across time zones plays havoc with the biological clock rhythms of the human

body. For the active pilot, who is rarely in one place long enough to know if it

is time for breakfast or dinner, the impact of jet-lag on his sleep is critical.

Several air disasters have been partly caused by overtired pilots ignoring the

natural laws of sleep. Much research is directed to finding out what these laws

are and to what extent pilots and astronauts dare disobey them. But they are

laws which affect all of us, not just pilots.

(From an article in The Listener)

249

POST-TEST QUESTIONS

Section A

Multiple-choice Questions

Choose the best answer.

1. Why do we sleep? A. To waste time

B. To take a good rest

C. To cultivate the habit

2. Insomnia means ... A. Inability to sleep soundly

B. Restlessness to do an activity

C. Able to relax and sleep well.

3. How many hours does a person needs to sleep? A. 8 hours

B. As long as he feels tired

C. 10 hours

4. How long does the cycle of sleep last? A. 40 minutes only

B. 90 minutes only

C. 10 minutes only

5. Who are those who face jet-lag? A. Businessman

B. Housewives

C. Seasoned travellers

250

Section B

Locating meanings of words through context pick the meaning of these words based on context

2. Explore - _____________ 2. Ability - _____________

3. Generate - _____________ 6. Precise - ____________ 7. Volunteered - _____________

Section C

Looking for main ideas in the text

Locate five main ideas from the text based on the issue sleep.

1) ___________________________________________________

2) ___________________________________________________

3) ___________________________________________________

4) ___________________________________________________

5) ___________________________________________________

251

Section D

Writing out a summary

Based on the passage given, write a summary on:

The study of sleep Effects of sleep on human Credit will be given for use of own words but care must be taken not to change the original meaning.

Your summary must:

Be in continuous writing form (not in note form) Use materials from line 8 to 59 Not be longer than 130 words, including the 10 words given below Begin your summary as follows:

A research project in London discovered that people enjoyed insomnia...

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

252

Section E

Comprehension Questions based on the text.

Answer the comprehension questions based on the text.

1. From paragraph 1.

b) Why was sleep a mystery? _______________________________________________________________

b) What was the finding of the research done in London?

______________________________________________________________

2. From paragraph 3.

Which statement supports the idea that the study of sleep has its difficulties?

_________________________________________________________________

3. From paragraph 4.

a How are dreams related to EEG? ____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

b Which word has the same meaning as the phrase ‘with great speed’?

________________________________________________________________

253

4. From paragraph 5.

b) How long did it take to pass through a cycle of sleep stages? ________________________________________________________________

b) Discuss on the outcomes of the experiment done using the observation chamber?

____________________________________________________________________

5. Explain about the important of sleep?

______________________________________________________________