Tuesday December 18, 2012
Extensive reading
RIGHT FOR BUSINESS
By ALISTAIR KING
I AM grateful for all the positive feedback in response to my article on Malaysian English on Nov 27 entitled “Just don’t call it Manglish!”.
It is clear that the English language is dear to the hearts of some Malaysians. Several readers have added their voices to the lament that the present school system, with its focus on passing exams, produces many young people who are neither competent nor confident in using the English language.
While the SPM Syllabus purports to cover all the main aspects of English Grammar, the reality is something quite different. Retired English teachers who offer tuition often have more students than they can handle. School leavers and fresh graduates frequently depress potential employers with their command of English at interviews.
Reader Iris Ng points out that an important component of language learning is reading – reading which is outside the textbook-workbook-past-year-papers paradigm! She recounts that the reading of novels was a significant part of her youth. Sadly, today, young people seem to spend large amounts of time reading text messages and Facebook posts.
Reading for enjoyment has become an anachronism and Enid Blyton and Mark Twain are now largely unheard of. Even Harry Potter is viewed more as a movie.
While my recent article indicates the value of Malaysian English Mesolect and Basilect, the harsh reality is that only with Acrolect will anyone progress professionally and internationally. (Note: In socio-linguistics, a language can have many “levels” namely: Acrolect (high language), Mesolect (middle language) and Basilect (low language). Acrolect has proper grammar, even if it’s spoken with a local accent while Basilect is a “very Malaysian” kind of English, with Mesolect somewhere in between.)
Corporate reports and scientific papers are written in Acrolect. Presentations and conferences are conducted in Acrolect. If the school is failing to produce Malaysian Acrolect users, then how will a Malaysian attain the required standard of competence?
The answer may lie in the point which Iris Ng makes – reading, reading and reading! Despite the large body of research supporting the use of Extensive Reading as a valuable tool in second language acquisition, many still doubt its effectiveness.
“Story books” are somewhere on the non-essential fringe of language learning and pedagogically inferior to the all-important exam-oriented, classroom-taught curriculum, ie: The Syllabus.
Certainly, the SPM requirements includes ONE novel, but that is hardly Extensive Reading. Even the SPM English Literature subject (taken by relatively few students) covers only a set (limited) number of texts.
In contrast, Extensive Reading refers to reading large amounts of text, particularly pertaining to an area of interest for the learner, in which the meaning of new vocabulary, when read in context, is inferred and reinforced as the reader continues to read. Usually, this is best effected by the use of graded readers.
This can be compared to Intensive Reading, which refers to the close consideration of a small portion of text, an approach which may kill off the desire to read!
Researchers into Extensive Reading include: Elley and Mangubhai, 1983; Tudor and Hafiz, 1989; Hafiz and Tudor, 1989; Elley, 1991; Pilgreen and Krashen, 1993; Cho and Krashen, 1994; (1995a); (1995b); Constantino, 1994. I hope, at a later date, to write more on Extensive Reading and will refer more to those sources.
There are, of course, those who do not believe that anything so apparently unstructured could be responsibly used in the acquisition of a language. However, the results of the research are highly compelling.
Meanwhile, if I were to give a young language learner a little friendly advice it would be: Put your iPhone down! Forget Facebook for a week! Pick up a good novel and READ!
Dr Alistair King is an Applied Linguist and Corporate Training Consultant with clients throughout the region, the Middle East and Southern Africa. He looks forward to receiving feedback to: alistair@aksb.com.my / www.aksb.com.my
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