Published on TaipeiTimes
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2003/11/15/2003075949
Letters:
Saturday, Nov 15, 2003,Page
8
Pleasure
boosts English
In order to improve
Taiwanese students' English competence,
specifically performance on
the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign
Language), experts have
recommended that English education be
extended to all four years
of college and that teacher quality be
improved ("Students'
English disappoints," Nov. 7, page 2).
Research shows that the
best predictor of scores on the TOEFL is the
amount of recreational
reading students do, using material that
students select themselves
and read for their own pleasure. Other
studies come to very
similar conclusions: Students in classes that
emphasize pleasure-reading
acquire more grammar and vocabulary than
students in traditional
classes.
These studies have been done
in several different countries, and
include important work from
was a significant predictor
of how well students performed in a
writing test. Of great
interest is the finding that the amount of
formal study and the amount
of writing did not predict writing
proficiency.
We know from linguistics
research that the grammatical system of any
language is far too complex
to be taught and learned. Linguists admit
that they have not yet
succeeded in accurately describing all the
rules of any language. In
addition, academic English requires a
vocabulary of between
50,000 and 150,000 words, which is far too many
to memorize one at a time.
complex writing style of
English, gradually acquire the huge
vocabulary they need, as
well as complex grammatical rules.
Before prescribing
"more of the same," we might consider taking
advantage of this easier,
more pleasant path.
