Thursday, January 08, 2015

In-school independent reading works

Sent to the New York Times, Jan 8

I was astounded to read that studies show that independent reading time in school has "litte connection" to more or better reading ("Study Finds Reading to Children of All Ages Grooms Them to Read More on Their Own," January 8). 

This claim, announced by the National Reading Panel nearly 15 years ago, was based on a small, incomplete sample of studies and was replete with errors in reporting.  Study after study has confirmed by sustained silent reading works for all ages, first and second language, and in a variety of locations. 

Stephen Krashen

original article: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/us/study-finds-reading-to-children-of-all-ages-grooms-them-to-read-more-on-their-own.html?referrer=

A few sources
"based on small, incomplete sample, many errors": Krashen, S. (2001). More smoke and mirrors: A critique of the National  Reading Panel report on fluency. Phi Delta Kappan 83, 119-123. Krashen, S. (2005). Is In-School Free Reading Good for Children? Why the National Reading Panel Report is (Still) Wrong. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(6), 444-447. Krashen, S. (2006). SSR is a very good idea. Reading Today (Aug/Sept 2006).

"all ages, first and second language, variety of locations": Cho, K.S. and Kim, Hey J. (2004). Recreational reading in English as a foreign language in Korea: Positive effects of a sixteen-week program. Knowledge Quest 32(4), 36-38.; Krashen, S. (2007). Extensive reading in English as a foreign language by adolescents and young adults: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 3 (2), 23-29; Lee, S. Y. (2007). Revelations from Three Consecutive Studies on Extensive Reading. Regional Language Center (RELC) Journal, 38 (2), 150-170;  Mason, B. (2004).The effect of adding supplementary writing to an extensive reading program. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 1(1), 2-16;  Nakanishi, T. (2014). A meta-analysis of extensive reading research. TESOL Quarterly, DOI: 10.1002/tesq.157; Smith, K. (2011). Integrating One hour of in-school weekly SSR: Effects on proficiency and spelling.  International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (IJFLT).  7 (1), 1-7.  (ijflt.com); Krashen, S., Lee, S.Y. and McQuillan, J. (2012). Is the library important? Multivariate studies at the national and international level. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 8(1): 26-36. Tse, S. K.,  Xiao, X.Y., Ko, H. W., Lam, J. W. I., Hui, S. Y., & Ng, H. W. (in press). Do reading practices make a difference? The analysis of PIRLS data for Hong Kong and Taiwan fourth-grade students. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education.



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