An Application of Extensive Reading to English for Academic Purposes Programs at Tertiary Level for Functional Academic Literacy: A Turkish case-study, the Distance between Students’ Needs and the Curriculum

Savaş B.

Geras AsP, sa.55, ss.65-84, 2009 (Hakemli Dergi)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2009
  • Dergi Adı: Geras AsP
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Index Copernicus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.65-84
  • Kocaeli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This paper discusses the need for an extensive reading component in English for Academic Purposes programs at the tertiary level as a way of improving students’ academic literacy. It presents research results of a project conducted to determine the influence of extensive reading classes on the development of functional academic literacy. The research was carried out within the framework of the inter-lingual transfer hypotheses of Cummins (1981), Clarke (1980), and Hacquebord (1989) together with the theories of first- and second-language learning. Efficiency of extensive reading was evaluated by comparison of academic literacy development of the experimental group who learned academic English through extensive reading with tasks and the control group who learned academic English through intensive reading and translation. Findings indicate that extensive reading is more productive than intensive reading as the former focuses on meaning while the latter focuses mostly on language.