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.