Oldal 50 [50]
EXTRAMURAL ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES
benefits of extensive reading identified that extensive reading may inciden¬
tally but gradually improve learners’ L2 proficiency both in terms of grammar
(Aka 2020, Elley-Mangubhai 1983, Lee et al. 2015, Shintani-Ellis 2010, Song¬
Sardegna 2014) and vocabulary (Brown et al. 2008, Horst 2005, McQuillan
2019, Nation-Waring 2020, Pigada-Schmitt 2006, Rott 1999, Suk 2017, War¬
ing-Takaki 2003, Webb-Chang 2015), and even writing skills (Im et al. 2010,
Mermelstein 2015, Park 2016). In addition, extensive reading, by definition,
improves reading speed and reading skills in general (Beglar et al. 2012, Be¬
glar—Hunt 2014, Huffman 2014, McLean—Rouault 2017, Nakanishi 2015, Suk
2017). The key significance of extensive reading lies in the fact that learners
encounter linguistic elements repeatedly in meaningful contexts catering to
incidental learning.
Webb (2015) points out that besides grammar, one of the biggest chal¬
lenges in foreign language learning is vocabulary development. He argues that
after acquiring the 2000 most frequent words, which, according to Nation
(2001), need to be learned in an explicit and direct way, i.e., intentionally, it is
much more difficult to learn less common and frequent words, especially be¬
cause in many learning contexts (e.g., classroom lessons) there is not enough
L2 input providing enough encounters for successful acquisition. However,
there is no consensus in the literature on how many times it is necessary to
encounter a linguistic element for a language learner to successfully acquire
it. Table 4 provides an overview of the number of required encounters sug¬
gested by different studies.
Table 4. The number of encounters required for the acquisition
of vocabulary items in extensive reading
Number of required encounters Research article
6 Rott (1999)
8 Horst et al. (1998)
10 Webb (2007)
12 Elgort and Warren (2014)
20 Herman et al. (1987)
more than 20 Waring and Takaki (2003)
As demonstrated in Table 4, the number of required encounters is between
6 and 20. Webb (2015) theorizes that the reason behind such inconsistent
research results may lie in the individual differences of language learners (e.g.,
their working memory). Even though there is no consensus on the exact num¬
ber of required encounters, researchers agree that the more a learner is exposed
to a linguistic element, such as a vocabulary item, the more likely they acquire
+ 48 +