IMPACT OF EXTENSIVE READING ON SOPHOMORE ENGLISH MAJORS’ READING COMPREHENSION DEVELOPMENT AT DALAT UNIVERSITY

Abstract

In this research, the Additive Extensive Reading program was implemented, utilizing an interesting source of graded-readers and the Moodle Reader, on a group of 71 second year English students at Dalat University. The main purpose of the study was to determine the influences of such a program on promoting English-major sophomores’ reading capabilities and to explore their attitudes towards the program. A pretest-posttest design and questionnaires were used to measure students’ reading performance and explore their opinions toward the program. Accordingly, the findings indicated that the higher mean gain on the posttest made by the experimental group was largely affected by the Extensive Reading treatment. Simultaneously, the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the questionnaire data also showed positive opinions of a majority of students towards the program. Finally, some suggestions and pedagogical implications on the implementation of such a program to English students and lecturers at Dalat University were offered.