How Does Extensive Reading Help Japanese EFL Learners to Develop Grammatical Knowledge and Reading Fluency?
Abstract
Extensive reading (ER) plays a prominent role in EFL classrooms as it provides learners with English input in various contexts. This study has two aims: to investigate how the development of grammatical knowledge is related to the development of reading rates and to ascertain the reading behaviors of learners who developed grammatical knowledge and fluency and of those who did not. A total of 431 Japanese university students participated in the study: 247 in ER classes and 184 in the control group, where textbook-focused teaching was implemented. A latent profile analysis was conducted to find latent classes of related cases (individuals) from multivariate data. Three classes emerged, and they were named Classes 1 to 3. The results showed the grammar gain scores and reading rate gain scores were almost positive across all three classes. A detailed analysis of the reading behaviors of different class members showed similar reading patterns.
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