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Chapter 1 M

The document discusses using graded readers to improve vocabulary acquisition for English language learners. It introduces the problem that vocabulary improvement is challenging for many English learners. The study aims to investigate how graded readers can contribute to improving vocabulary for second semester students. It outlines the methodology which involves pre- and post-testing students who will either use graded readers or not to measure vocabulary improvement.

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Mohamed Juma
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35 views5 pages

Chapter 1 M

The document discusses using graded readers to improve vocabulary acquisition for English language learners. It introduces the problem that vocabulary improvement is challenging for many English learners. The study aims to investigate how graded readers can contribute to improving vocabulary for second semester students. It outlines the methodology which involves pre- and post-testing students who will either use graded readers or not to measure vocabulary improvement.

Uploaded by

Mohamed Juma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter One

Background to the Study

1.1 Introduction
If language structures make up the skeleton of language then it is “
. vocabulary that provides the vital organs and flesh”.(Jeremy,1995,p. 153)

Acquiring a large enough vocabulary for successful communication in a


variety of settings has always been a concern for EFL /ESL teachers and
a daunting task for most second/ foreign language learners. This is due to
the fact that every language has an astonishingly large number of words.
English, for example is estimated to have anywhere from 100,000 to one
million words, depending in part on how words are counted. No matter
how long the lists of vocabulary each language has, there is always a
desperate need to learn more words "acquiring a basic vocabulary

significant accomplishment for a second language learner". (Patsy and


.Spada , 2006, p .97)

To make such an accomplishment possible, many teaching


approaches and techniques in boosting vocabulary growth have emerged.
For a long time, teaching approaches such as the Direct Method and
Audiolingualism gave a greater Priority to the teaching of grammatical
structures, which led to less focus on the importance of presenting enough
lexical items in the language syllabuses. However, among the major
concerns of how to stimulate a better and more effective vocabulary
learning for EFL /ESL learners, there has always been a high correlation
.between vocabulary development and classroom sources of vocabulary
Traditionally, words targeted for active study were supplied to
learners in the form of lists .Many learners quite like learning words from
lists ;for they are economical: large number of words can be learned in a
relatively short time .In fact, such a source does not seem to be valid any
more due to many reasons. Thornbury (2002 :33) points out that this is
not of much use for real life vocabulary use, when words must be recalled
.”independently of the context in which they were learned

Course books are another source of vocabulary in which the treatment


of vocabulary varies considerably. Another more focused and richer
source is vocabulary books. In fact, there is a wide selection of
supplementary vocabulary books now available. Such books are
organized thematically i.e. topics such as countries, nationalities houses ,
education, work…etc are accompanied with their relevant expressions
.phrases , collocations ..etc

Undoubtedly , the teacher is also a highly productive –although


often undervalued –source of vocabulary input .Learners often pick up a
lot of incidental language from their teachers, especially words and
phrases associated with classroom processes. Other students in the class
are a particularly fertile source of vocabulary input. Learners often pay
more attention to what other learners say than they do to either the course
.books or their teacher

While course books ,vocabulary books and short texts are useful for
focusing on specific words for active study, the point, here should be
made that learners still need plentiful exposure to language in context.
This exposure provides an effective element of repetition in a meaningful
. context

The best way of providing the necessary exposure is through extensive


reading – that is , the reading of long texts ,and for pleasure rather than
for information.’ Extensive reading of graded readers either inside or
outside the classroom provides the opportunity to meet words in their
context of use, and also supplies repeated encounters with many of these
words.’( Norbert and McCarthy,1997,vol 3, p .237). Research suggests
that it takes six or more encounters with a word before learning is likely
take place. Wodinsky and Nation (1988, p.155) posit that such books
provide learners with chance to read without encountering large
quantities of unknown words, and thus learners are able to read
successfully and get pleasure from their reading .In fact, such simplified
readers tend to follow a topic over a length of text, ensuring at least some
repetition of key vocabulary. Moreover, they are graded both in terms of
their grammar complexity and their vocabulary load. For example, the
number of words used at each level of the Penguin series of graded
.readers is limited according to a certain scale

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Many researchers agree that the task of improving vocabulary has been a
challenge for so many English language learners. The researcher during
his teaching career and even he was an undergraduate student, he had
always noticed that many English language students are in need to find
easy , interesting and interactive source for vocabulary input and
practice .In addition, many of those students seem to be unable to interact
in English effectively and it is believed that insufficient lexicon is one of
the major problems they face.
1.3 Aims of the Study
This study aims to investigate how graded readers can contribute to the
improvement of vocabulary acquisition for second semester students at
English Language Department, Benghazi University.

1.4 Hypothesis
Using graded readers helps students improve their
vocabulary .

1.5 limitation of the Study


This study is limited to second semester students at English Department,
Benghazi University.

1.6 Research Questions


1.Can the use of graded readers be a useful and effective way to stimulate
improvement of vocabulary for English language learners ?

2. Does extensive graded reading help students review familiar


vocabulary?

3.How do students feel about the graded reading based activities ? Do they
make them more motivated to improve their learning vocabulary ?

1.6 Methodology
The subjects were from forty students from second semester at English
department for class 2017-2018.They were tested before the course (pre-
test) to gain an insight about their command of vocabulary and English
language competence .Then, they were divide into independent groups
(control and experimental ).The experimental was instructed by the
researcher of the study a post-test was conducted to assess how their
vocabulary learning has changed. The experimental group was taught by
the researcher using graded readers, whereas the control group was taught
by another teacher.

The data was collected from the tests and a questionnaire to shed light
on the opinions and attitude among the experimental towards graded
reading. The improvement of the students' vocabulary acquisition was
assessed and analyzed through the use of proper statistics.

1.7 Organization to the study


Chapter one gives a general introduction to the framework of the study.
Chapter two is a literature review to the study including some of the
previous studies dealing with the use of graded readers to teach vocabulary
and all the related issues. In addition, the different methods to teach
second language vocabulary are presented. Chapter three deals with the
methodology adopted in this study, including information about the
participants as well as providing procedures of data collection and data
analysis. Chapter four presents the conclusion and the recommendations of
this study.

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