LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 17:11 November 2017
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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We Acquire Language by Reading:
A Comparison between Avid Readers and Moderate Readers

Dr. R. Joseph Ponniah, Ph.D.
Paul Abraham, M.A.

Abstract

The study compares the performance of avid and moderate readers of first year Civil Engineering of National Institute of Technology, India, on a test that tests reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing competence. The results of the study confirm that avid readers performed better than moderate readers and the difference between the groups is statistically significant with an effect size of d=1.36. It is found that those who read more acquire more language and readers use the acquired language on standardized tests and in actual performance. In addition, reading results in the incidental acquisition of vocabulary, grammar, and writing skills and there is a strong relationship between the amount of reading and the language competence of readers.

Keywords: incidental acquisition; writing apprehension; pleasure reading; acquired competence.

Introduction

Studies have confirmed that reading results in the acquisition of all measures of language competence including grammar, vocabulary, spelling, syntax and writing competence (Krashen, and Lee 2004; Ponniah, 2011 & Smith, 2006). In order to make reading more effective, reading material must be well within the linguistic competence of a reader (Day and Bamford, 1998). This is consistent with the comprehension hypothesis that readers must be provided with a text that is comprehensible and, further, language acquisition will be effective only when readers focus on meaning. David, Hunt, and Kite, (2012) have also shown that readers who experience simplified version of difficult texts had greater gains in reading rate and acquisition as they received comprehensible input. Another experimental study conducted in India has also confirmed that reading simplified version of the story 'The Chinese Statue' facilitated incidental acquisition of vocabulary and grammar of words. Moreover, readers were able to use the acquired words in sentences (Ponniah, 2011). In both studies the experimenters simplified the reading texts in order to facilitate reading by providing comprehensible input.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. R. Joseph Ponniah, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
National Institute of Technology
Tiruchirappalli 620015
Tamilnadu
India
joseph@nitt.edu

Paul Abraham M.A.
Research Scholar
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
National Institute of Technology
Tiruchirappalli 620015
Tamilnadu
India
paulabrahamgjofficial@gmail.com

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