User:MRCProject

So far, whatever has been discussed about the plan of the project:

1. Introduction

1.1 Definition of reading

1.2 Reading in relation to improve language

1.3 Focus on English Language

1.4 Performance rate of English at SC level in relation to reading English books

Formulation of title

Problem Formulation

o	British Council Report

o	% rate of SC level

o	SC report 2011

2. Literature Review

References

Read abstracts of articles and put forward ideas in sub-titles form

3. Objectives

Reading enhances grammatical knowledge

Faster critical mind

4. Hypothesis

An investigation on the impact of reading English books on performance in English at Form V level

Students are distracted in various ways:

•	Play stations

•	Television with multiple cahnnels

•	Computer games

•	Cell phones

•	Long hours spent surfing on internet

•	Habit of sending short messages – distorting proper writing skills

Reading is the process of decoding graphic symbols including:

o	Talking

o	Thinking

o	Interacting

o	Valuing

o	Integrating skills

o	believing

Also the process of interaction between the text & previous knowledge

Reading is an indispensable tool in the learning process

•	Direct exposure to English inside & outside the classroom

•	Better language learning outcomes

•	Change of attitudes towards reading

•	Better examination performance

•	Vocabulary & knowledge of the world

•	Language learning development

•	Cognitive & spiritual development

•	Develop language skills

Impact of reading

•	Become a good reader

•	Develop good writing skills

•	An adequate vocabulary

•	Advanced grammar

•	A good speller

•	Enrich knowledge of the world

•	Ability in dealing with organisation of ideas

•	Understanding of conceptual information

•	Sparks imagination

•	Proficiency achievement

Reports published by British Council

•	Low performance of students in English

•	More than 50% fail to obtain a credit in SC

•	Colleges focusing on quantity to obtain pass mark

•	Oral Exams qualitywise not good

Bamford (2002)’s principles of reading

•	Easy & variety of reading materials on a wide range of topics

•	Learners choose what they want to read

•	Read as much as possible

•	Speed is usually faster

•	Purpose- pleasure, information, general understanding

•	Individual & silent

•	Teachers orient & guide students

•	Teacher acts as role model of a reader

Why reading not implemented

•	Resistance from teachers

•	Lack of research evidence of its benefits

•	Crowded teaching programmes

•	Insufficient time

•	Lack of resources

•	Unavailability of reading material

An overview of major topics to be covered

The relations between reading and performance

Reading and rate of literacy

Definitions of Reading

“the construction of the meaning of a written text through a reciprocal interchange of ideas between the reader and the message in a particular text.” Harris & Hodges, 1995

meaning arises from the active, deliberate thinking processes readers engage in as they read

Literature review

Reading in relation to performance

A significant number of studies have shown the effect of reading habits and use of the university library on academic achievement. Raul Arias Lovillo, rector of the Universidad Veracruzana, has highlighted the importance of reading as a means to foster critical minds, recognizing that college students should not only be trained in the professional field, but also as thinking and reflective beings (Rodríguez, 2007).

Reading and impact on literacy

The 2005 Mexican National Census found the following data: 12% of the population between 6 and 14 do not read or write, that is, 7 out of 100 men and 10 out of 100 women 15 years or older, are illiterate (inegi, 2005). The states where the highest percentage of literate population over the age of 15 are, the Federal District (97.09%), Nuevo León (96.68%), Baja California (96.47%), Coahuila (96.13%) and Baja California Sur (95.79%), those with lower percentages of literate population aged 15 + are Chiapas (77.06%), Guerrero (78.43%), Oaxaca (78.51%), Hidalgo (85.08%) and Veracruz (85.13%) (conaculta, 2003).

According to the National Survey of Reading in Mexico the following information was obtained describing the status of reading in the nation: the highest levels of book reading are between 18 to 22 years and 12 to 17 years with 69% and 66.6% respectively, reading books for school is strongly as-sociated with age; the 12-17 year old group has higher levels of daily reading with 49.7% and the percentage decreases as age increases, the most frequent reading material are textbooks with 30.8% and finally, 56.4% of Mexicans read books, 42.0% newspapers, 39.9% magazines and 12.2% comics books (conaculta, 2006).

Reading skills make reading enjoyable In Mexico, most college students lack the basic reading skills needed to improve the quality of their academic and cultural learning (Ortega, 2007: 88; Gutierrez and Montes de Oca, 2004: 12), and consequently, the education system recognizes the na¬tional need to improve the reading skills of children and young Mexicans at school, so that the act of reading is not limited to the context of school learn¬ing (sep, 2008: 8).

According to several authors, the indicators to determine the presence of reading habits are: the amount of reading, or number of books read in a given time and space, usually a year or semester (e.g. Katsikas and Leontsini, 1996), the amount of time reading or number of hours spent reading for pleasure in a given unit of time, usually a week (Anderson, Wilson and Field¬ing, 1988: 287), and the frequency of library attendance and attitudes toward reading, as variables related to reading habits (Gilardoni, 2006: 26; Murillo et al., 2003: 37).

The ability to read is the traditional criterion of beginning school achievement and later academic success (Perfetti 1985). An individual’s initial experiences in learning to read influence both subsequent accomplishment in reading and the development of reading-related self-perceptions (Chapman & Tunmer 1995). At the college level, students’ levels of reading ability as acomposite factor may influence their overall academic experiences.

Collins (2006) found that freshman undergraduates who reported the highest levels of writing apprehension and overall library anxiety tended to have the poorest study habits and the lowest levels of reading comprehension.

Summary of literature review

Reading improves performance

Reading impact on literacy

Importance of reading skills

Foster critical mind

Examiners report 2011 on English language

Candidates are advised to use wide range of vocabulary, including some appropriately used complex words.

Credit was also given for added description of places, people and emotions that made the events of a story more interesting to the reader.

The best writers were generally confident in their use of grammar. For most candidates this was the area where most work was needed, particularly the use of correct tenses

OBJECTIVES

•	 To understand to which extent reading influences performance in English

•	 To compare the difference of achievement level of those who read and those who don’t read

LITERATURE REVIEW

Definition:

‘the meaningful interpretation of written or printed verbal symbols’

and

‘a result of interaction between the perception of graphic symbols that represent language and the reader’s language skill, cognitive skill and knowledge of the world’ (Albert J. Harris and Edward R.Sipay, 1985)

Some of the micro-skills involved in reading 1. recognize vocabulary.

2. pick out key words, such as those identifying topics and main ideas.

3. figure out the meaning of the words, including unfamiliar vocabulary, from the (written) context.

4. recognize grammatical word classes: noun, adjective, etc.

5. detect sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object, prepositions, etc. 6. recognize basic syntactic patterns.

7. get the main point or the most important information.

8. distinguish the main idea from supporting details.

9. adjust reading strategies to different reading purposes,  such as skimming for main ideas or studying in-depth.

•	Hughes–Hassell & Rodge (2007) studied the leisure reading habits of urban adolescence. The result showed that there was a strong relationship between leisure reading and academic achievement.

•	Research evidences show that extensive reading promotes the growth of vocabulary, verbal fluency and general information (Andrson, Wilson and Fielding, 1988).

From the Report of the National Reading Panel:

“The idea behind explicit instruction of text comprehension is that comprehension can be improved by teaching students to use specific cognitive strategies or to reason strategically when they encounter barriers to comprehension when reading.” (NRP, 2000, p. 4-39).

“Reading instruction is effective in stimulating student comprehension abilities to the extent that it stimulates students to process texts as good readers do.” (Pressley, 2000, p. 545)