The part 2 of the second article journal review and its implications

[The Second Article Journal Review] Reading Journal: Its Benefits for Extensive Reading by Jonathan Aliponga part 2

          Title of the article        : Reading Journal: Its Benefits for Extensive Reading

      Author                         : Jonathan Aliponga from Kansai University

      Types of Journal          : International Journal of Humanities and Social Science vol. 3

                                             (12), [Special Issue –June 2013]

In the previous blog, I explained about the components of the journal in the form of introduction parts and methodology parts. For this blog, I will explain the other two components of the journal, namely discussion and conclusion. In the discussion section, the authors report on the results of the research that has been done. Based on verbal feedback, students still have difficulty reading non-fiction books and articles in English such as those on the TOEFL. However, almost half of them showed that they were motivated to read because of the reading journal. Students also write that reading journals allow them to learn new vocabulary, increase reading speed, enable them to concentrate, and help them when they have difficulty understanding the content. All of this is believed to have contributed to students' motivation to read more.

Meanwhile, the conclusions section contains a brief explanation of all the explanations from the introduction to the discussion. In this case, this study focuses on the benefits of reading journal in extensive reading. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the reading journal motivates students to read more, allows them to understand the main ideas and important details of their chosen reading material, and allows them to think critically.

In other word, careful implementation of reading journals plays an important role as far as achieving these benefits. This involves observing three stages of learning skills or strategies, namely: presentation, automation and autonomy. Therefore, reading journals for this study are intended to be used in English reading courses. However, any course that requires reading students can take advantage of reading journals. Beside that, the contents of a reading journal or guide questions can be modified to suit the needs of students.

The Part 1 of Second Article Journal Review

[The Second Article Journal Review] Reading Journal: Its Benefits for Extensive Reading by Jonathan Aliponga part 1

     Title of the article        : Reading Journal: Its Benefits for Extensive Reading

      Author                            : Jonathan Aliponga from Kansai University

      Types of Journal          : International Journal of Humanities and Social Science vol. 3

                                                  (12), [Special Issue –June 2013]

In this blog, I would like to review the Introduction part and Methodology Part of the second article with the author's name Jonathan Aliponga. In the introduction, Jonathan gives a specific explanation of the topic to be discussed. He divided it into three parts. The first part explains what extensive reading is. Jonathan begins the discussion on extensive reading by giving a prior description of the meaning of reading itself. Jonathan also provides many definitions of various experts on what is extensive reading. One of them said that the extensive reading is a large amount of reading materials that provide large comprehensible input in students' new language in order to make progress toward the overall command of that language (Krashen, 1982). In addition, Jonathan also explained about several characteristics generally thought to be the most important for successful reading, specifically using the reading journal.

The second section explains about reading journal. In this part, Jonathan also gave a brief explanation of the Reading Curriculum. The reading journal in this study uses a log journal model suggested by Lyutaya (2011). The journal consists of six parts, namely: (1) Title of book, text or article, (2) Content prediction based on title, (3) Interesting sentence or reading, (4) Inferential or critical question, (5) Opinion about story , and (6) Summary or plot. For the first part, students only write the title of the book, text or any article they choose to read. This is done to identify what readings students should choose to enable students and teachers to better understand the entire contents of the journal. Therefore, students make many predictions when trying to analyze each part of the journal. After that, the reading journal is saved to Dropbox, a free software tool that allows anyone to synchronize files on their home and office computers, smartphones and tablets.

The third part explains the purpose of the research conducted by the author. The purpose of this study is to find out the opinions of students about whether reading journals can motivate students to read and understand the main ideas or important details of reading material, and enable them to think critically. In this case, the author hopes that students will be able to get a better score on the TOEFL test.

         Then, the next part is Methodology of Study. The study involved sixteen Japanese students, who were identified as average advanced learners. They are given texts that mostly contain vocabulary and high frequency structures. At the time when the study was conducted, the students were taking Reading I, a reading course offered for first year students who were major in English. In this course, students met twice a week, for 90 minutes each meeting. At the first meeting, students learn about how to use reading journals and reading journal rubrics. Then the following meeting, students should try to practice on how to use the reading journal. The third meeting is silent reading and the last meeting is submission of the reading journal. These were the weekly processes that students had to observe for one semester.  Finally, students will be given a questionnaire by the teacher in order to give their opinions about the use of the reading journal in their Reading I class.

The analysis of differences and similarities of various journals

Hello readers, welcome back on my blog. I am really very happy to be able to share stories and knowledge once more here. Previously, I had read an article of  international journal with the theme of reading. On this blog, I will also explain my second journal that I have chosen to read and analyze during critical reading lessons. But for this blog, I will be more specific to explain about the similarities and differences between the two articles that I have read. The following bellow is a more detailed explanation on that.

THE FIRST JOURNAL

     Title of the article        : Extensive Reading through the internet :Isit worth the while?

       Author                         : Juan Pino Silva from Universidad Simón Bolívar

      Types of Journal          : International Journal of English studies vol. 9 (2), 2009, pp. 81-

                                       96

THE SECOND JOURNAL

     Title of the article        : Reading Journal: Its Benefits for Extensive Reading

      Author                         : Jonathan Aliponga from Kansai University

      Types of Journal          : International Journal of Humanities and Social Science vol. 3

                                       (12), [Special Issue –June 2013]

Well, after I read the entire article, I found some similarities and differences from the two articles. The first equation, this journal has the same topic of discussion. It is about extensive reading. In addition, the method of research conducted by both authors is a qualitative approach with the media used in the form of a questionnaire. The use of the questionnaire aims to determine the benefits of both types of reading techniques on the effectiveness of extensive reading.

However, there are also many differences between the two articles such as different authors and different research subjects. The research subject in the first article is about the benefits of Reading Online in the application of extensive reading  especially for student ESL. However in the second article, the research subject focused on the benefits of reading journal in developing extensive reading in student EFL. In addition, the structure or component of the article compilation is also different. In the first journal, the author does not provide an overview of methods, purpose, technical, and discussion implicitly so that there are no separate sub-chapters that explain these parts. Instead in the second journal, the author explains all components of the journal explicitly and clearly in its own sub-chapter. Other differences can be seen in terms of research objectives, data collection techniques, analysis of data used, etc.

That's all about the similarities and differences of the articles I've read, Thanks for reading my blog. See ya guys !!!

The result of Extensive Reading through the internet :Is it worth the while?

IV. CONCLUSION

      Title of the article: Extensive Reading through the internet :Is it worth the while?

      Author                  : Juan Pino Silva from Universidad Simón Bolívar

      Types of Journal : International Journal of English studies vol. 9 (2), 2009, pp. 81-96

In this section, the author explained about the result of his research paper. The paper has presented a rendition of how a successful 10-year paper-based extensive reading program gradually developed into a web-based procedure. Web tools, web pages, and Yahoo groups are very basic tools in helping to implement this program, although it is not very sophisticated, but it is easy to learn and use. The Yahoo Group has everything you need to maintain student material in a well-organized electronic portfolio (eg, one folder per student). However, on the other hand a far more serious concern is related to reading online.

The title of this article asked whether having students read extensively online was worthy of attention. During the course of his research, there are at least 5 important points that can be concluded, including:

1.   Comments indicate that students do learn vocabulary by chance so that they feel less knowledge about vocabulary and this can make it difficult for them to understand texts written in English.

2.  One of the advantages of web projects is providing projects for students and teachers to work together.

3.    Students seem to learn the permanent skills needed in the information age beyond mere language skills.

4.  This article has shown how internet use can play a role in building pedagogical options for students.

In short, extensive reading through the Internet seems to be a very promising pedagogical approach that can strengthen student learning. This can be proven by several things, including:

a.     Students can take advantage of the opportunity to gain access and reading from the vast amount of information available on the web

b.     Students can ensure access to updated and diverse information

c.     Students can develop discipline in the use of their own time, and take the risks needed to explore, evaluate, and make their own decisions about what to read now and what to postpone for later.

Reading Online as the Journal Content of Extensive Reading through the internet :Is it worth the while?

III. READING ONLINE (RO)

      Title of the article: Extensive Reading through the internet :Is it worth the while?

      Author                  : Juan Pino Silva from Universidad Simón Bolívar

      Types of Journal  : International Journal of English studies vol. 9 (2), 2009, pp. 81-96

In this section, there are five sub points that the authors explain to get evidence about reading online that he has observerd. Therefore, I will give a little description of each sub point.

1.      General considerations

This point contains several considerations that make the author make observations about reading online in USB. In this sub-point, Pino explained that what is meant by RO is reading that involves the interaction of the eyes, the screen, the texts presented in hypertext and comprehension of  verbal and nonverbal information. The term RO is usually reserved for the act of reading when connected to the internet, but given that hypertext can be browsed when the connection is lost, restrictions may not be needed.

2.      Rationale for RO in the context of the program

This point explains about the reasons why RO needs to be implemented in the context of the program. In this case, Pino refers to what Bates states that "the education and training of the workforce must continue throughout a person 's lifetime because of the continuing pressure to remain competitive" (2000: 11). He contends that one way to do this is through approaches that emphasize self-directed learning and autonomy. In addition, the second way to comply with the requirements outlined by Bates (2000) is using the web online that makes us directly connected to the Internet network in which there is a wide variety of information. In brief, the author argues that it is very possible to teach L2 skills and skills acquired in their college studies.

3.      The paper-based ancestor

In this section, Pino started an extensive reading program at Universidad Simón Bolivar. Caracas, Venezuela. He incorporated the “reading a lot” premise as a central part of his approach to ER. A key innovation in this framework was that texts were accompanied by a non- obtrusive production task to check comprehension and other aspects relevant to the reading process. In brief, the p-ERP asked students to read for the gist, hence, students were encouraged to ignore most details and focus on the time it took them to finish a text so that they could push themselves to read faster.

4.      The web-based program

       This point is devided into three part , including:

             a.      Phase 1: Extensive reading at home

Students read the amount of reading done at home autonomously, added to the work done in class, and bringing to the fore the idea that the presence of the teacher,  was not all that necessary in order to learn to read L2 texts.

b.      Phase 2: Extensive Reading through the Internet

The author turned to the Internet to give complete freedom to students to access texts of their choices and submit their work to a web site. Two procedures were designed, one involving the author’s own web page and one involving a Yahoo Group.

c.       Procedural details of the web based program

The author demonstrated how to become a member of the group and post messages to all members and upload files to each student’s electronic portfolio.

5.      Reported benefits of the web-based program: Some preliminary data

               In this section, Pino is working on a project to evaluate web-based programs. Most of them confirm that extensive reading through the internet helps students to learn vocabulary, learn to read for main ideas, gain speed and / or fluency in reading texts, develop skills that remain over time, etc. Briefly, the preliminary data on Web-ER benefits seem encouraging because it shows the perceived benefits of the approach.

The brief background of Extensive Reading through the Internet: Is it Worth the While?

 II. EXTENSIVE READING: A BRIEF BACKGROUND

      Title of the article: Extensive Reading through the internet :Isit worth the while?

      Author                  : Juan Pino Silva from Universidad Simón Bolívar

      Types of Journal : International Journal of English studies vol. 9 (2), 2009, pp. 81-96

In this section, the author explained about the definition of extensive reading based on a lot of experts such as  Hafiz and Tudor(1989), Grabe and Stoller (2002), Krashen’s  (1982), Day and Bamford  (1988), etc. One of them is, based on Hafiz and Tudor (1989), Extensive reading is “the reading of large amounts of material in the second language over time for personal pleasure or interest, and without the addition of productive tasks or follow up language work” (p.4). The latter  definition  appears  to  implicitly  recognize  Krashen’s  (1982) Input Hypothesist that means students are to read materials that are a little beyond their current reading skills levels. It means that extensive reading involves learners reading texts for enjoyment and to develop general reading skills. Most ER procedures also capture the essence of “students learn to read by reading” slogan (Smith, 1983). It can be compared with intensive reading, which means reading in detail with specific learning aims and tasks including phrases, vocabulary exercises, and grammar and text analysis, etc.

In short,I conclude that Extensive reading is reading as much as possible for your own pleasure. When learners read extensively, they read very easy, enjoyable books to build their reading speed and fluency. Another way to say this is students learn to read by actually reading rather than examining texts by studying the vocabulary, grammar and phrases. It is instructive to compare Intensive Reading (IR) with Extensive Reading. However, One objective of Extensive Reading is reading for pleasure. It builds confidence and motivation which makes the learner a more effective user of language.