Reading in a foreign language can be taught in several ways. One of them, although rarely practiced, is extensive reading. Extensive reading presupposes that students read books and other reading material as much as possible, while striving for understanding the gist rather than total comprehension. They choose their own reading material according to their interests. The tasks that follow the reading are usually not in form of comprehension questions, but centred around their reading experience. A number of studies conducted around the world have shown progress in terms of language ability, reading fluency, vocabulary acquisition, reading habits, reading motivation and attitude towards a foreign language.
The master’s thesis is divided into a theoretical and an empirical part. In the theoretical part of my master's thesis, I first defined reading, different types of reading, reading literacy, what affects the motivation to read and how we learn to read in our first and foreign language. Then I described extensive reading, presented the characteristics of the extensive reading program, the criteria and conditions for its implementation, the course of implementation and evaluation of the program, and the positive effects on the development of language ability in English, reading habits, motivation for reading and attitude towards the English language. I also presented the characteristics of using the classroom library in learning English as a foreign language.
In the empirical part of the thesis, I researched the extent to which extensive reading affects the development of reading, writing, listening and grammar skills in learning a foreign language. Research around the world has shown positive results in this area, so I was interested if we can observe the same results sampling students from the second triad of Slovenian primary school. In the research, I focused mainly on the aspects of extensive reading, which are so far less researched on a global level – I ensured an equal representation of the number of students in the research and control groups, I looked for the long-term effects of the program on the reading habits of the students, and I sampled students of a lower age group. I was also interested in whether the class library represents a motivational input in the implementation of the extensive reading program and how the program affects the attitude towards the English language and the reading motivation.
The research lasted 10 months and was carried out with 4th grade students of one of Ljubljana's elementary schools. During the research, the students had access to the class library and reading corner in the main classroom, which contained “graded reader” books at an appropriate level of difficulty. Books were read extensively in the experimental group for 4 months. In addition to reading, the students took a test of prior knowledge and final knowledge. During the program, they completed reading logs and 6 months after completing the reading program, they completed a questionnaire on reading habits, attitude towards the English language and satisfaction with the program.
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