THE GENERATION GAP BETWEEN 20TH CENTURY AND 21ST CENTURY

CULTURE OF MILLENIALS IN BUTUAN CITY

__________

A Term Paper
Presented to
Mr. Erdy John Galdiano
A Faculty of Job Enabling English Proficiency Center
Arts and Sciences
Father Saturnino Urios University
Butuan, Philippines

__________

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
English 102A-J
(Communication Arts 2 and Writing in the Discipline with JEEP)

__________

by

John Andy Beltran

Kier John Bollozos
Noel Corvera
Jfhen Bedolido
 February 2017
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researchers would like to offer their deepest gratitude, first and foremost to
the Lord Almighty, for His assistance, knowledge, guidance and protection throughout
the conduct of this research study;
To the researchers parents whose firm and steadfast love and support encouraged
the researchers pass the downs of the research;
To Mr. Erdy John Galdiano for his patience in advising the researchers and
guiding them all throughout the revision of this paper; and
To many other individuals who made the completion of this research study
possible.

J.A.B
K.J.B

N.C

J.B
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Title Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Acknowledgement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Table of Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii

CHAPTER

I. THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED. . . . . . . . . .1

A. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..1

B. The Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Statement of the Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Importance of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Scope and Delimitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

C. Definition of Terms Used. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

II. PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA. . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

III. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. . . . . . . . 16

BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED

A. INTRODUCTION

Reading is the art of interpreting printed and written words and is the most
effective process of conscious learning which influences the extent and accuracy of
information as well as the attitudes, morals, beliefs, judgment and action of readers
(Nation, 2002).It is considered essential for the overall development of a human being.
Reading is also known as a tool of the acquisition of the mind and the vehicle for
obtaining ideas that cannot be transmitted verbally. It has been subjected to various
studies and researches for its importance in education as well as for unhindered
intellectual growth of a person.

Reading is also a significant activity in improving ones language skills. Frequent

reading is related to the development of sophisticated language structures; higher levels
of comprehension, improved word analysis skills, and fluency in significant amounts of
voluntary reading, are associated greater interest and skill development (Irving, 2000).
Nation (2002) stated that reading provides an opportunity for new words to be learned, so
the vocabulary of the reader can grow and expand. A person is far more likely to
encounter a word outside of his current vocabulary while reading than while watching
television or engaging in interesting conversation with a college-educated adult (Corson,
1995). In fact, researchers suggest that reading could enhance a persons vocabulary; for
through reading, students come in contact with vocabulary that rarely occurs in spoken
language but that is much more likely to be encountered in printed language.
 Reading and vocabulary are both important concepts within any written language,
and they typically develop together for young people. They are also connected as a
process of learning and expanding on ideas and of mutual improvement and growth

(Meister, 1998). As a person reads, he or she is likely to encounter new words and
ideas that he or she has not read or met before, and then his or her vocabulary typically
expands a great deal beyond what he or she previously had. Even though many teachers
focus on vocabulary lessons in a classroom, no number of lessons can ever cope to each
word available in a complex, written language. Reading and vocabulary are important to
each other because reading provides an opportunity for new words to be learned so the
vocabulary of the reader can grow and expand (Nation, 2002).

The process of learning new words or acquiring vocabulary begins in infancy and
continues throughout ones life (Cunningham, 2005). The number of words that a person
needs to learn is exceedingly large; on average an individual should add 2,000 to 3,000
new words in their vocabularies every year (Beck, McKeown & Kucan, 2002). Given the
staggering number of new words that an individual, specifically students must add to
their vocabularies each year, it would be impossible to directly teach all of them. It is
estimated that it would require teaching about twenty new words a day each day of the
school year (Anderson, 1992). Because of this, various methods and means to acquire and
enhance vocabulary have received increasing attention in recent years and reading is one
of these.

However, with the advent of modern digital technologies, especially the growing
popularity of social networking on the web, mobile phones, televisions, and other means
of entertainment, the reading habit of the general public is undergoing a decline (Porcella,
2005). Akanda (2010) stated that the gradual decline in peoples reading habit is a
common phenomenon not only in the developing countries but also in the developed ones
and that this downward trend is most noticeable among young people because they are
the people who are most affected by the emerging digital technologies. Because of this,
the proponents of this research study would like to study the benefit of reading
specifically on vocabulary enhancement to encourage good reading habits among the
present generation and to raise awareness among parents and school administration and
faculty of their roles in facilitating vocabulary instructions and enhancement through
reading.

B. PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem. Reading is important in acquiring language skills and word
knowledge. This paper seeks to study reading as means of vocabulary enhancement.
Specifically, this study probes the following questions :(1)What is the relationship
between reading and vocabulary enhancement?; (2)At what rate can learners learn new
words through reading?; (3) What factors affect vocabulary enhancement through
reading?; (4) What are the books that enhance vocabulary?; and (5)What methods or
techniques should supplement the act of reading to better enhance vocabulary?.

Importance of the Study.In recent times, reading habits of the general public,
especially among students and the younger generation has been declining because of the
emergence of digital technologies. Hence, if the role of reading as means of enhancing
ones vocabulary is proven, people will be more encouraged to read more and to improve
their reading habits. People will also be able to note that active learning from books is
better than passive learning such as watching televisions and playing games. Parents,
educators and school administrators will also be aware of their roles in administering and
facilitating vocabulary instructions that should supplement the act of reading to better
enhance vocabulary.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study.This study focused on reading as means of

vocabulary enhancement by gathering data from various references and was conducted in
the second semester of the school year 2014-2015.
 C. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

The following terms are defined as used in this study:

Enhancement. It means the increase or improvement in quality, value or extent.

Frequency. It refers to the rate at which something occurs or is repeated over a

particular period of time or in a given sample.

Lexical Density. It constitutes the estimated measure of content per functional

(grammatical) and lexical units (lexemes) in total.

Means. It refers to a method or way of doing something.

Reading. It means the art of interpreting printed and written words.

Supplement. It refers to something that completes or enhances something else

when added to it.

Vocabulary. It refers to the stock of words used by or known to a particular person

or group of persons.

Vocabulary Instruction. It refers to the methods and techniques that are employed
to improve vocabulary.
 CHAPTER II

PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

A. INTRODUCTION

This chapter focuses on the presentation and interpretation of the data gathered from
various references specifically data on the relation of reading to vocabulary enhancement,
the rate at which new words are learned through reading, factors that affect vocabulary
enhancement through reading, kinds of books that enhance vocabulary and methods and
techniques to supplement reading to better enhance vocabulary.

The Relation of Reading to Vocabulary Enhancement

Reading and vocabulary are both important concepts within any written language,
and they typically develop together. As an individual read, then his or her vocabulary
typically expands a great deal beyond what he or she previously had. This is because
reading and vocabulary are connected as a process of learning and expanding (Meister,
1998).

The process of learning new words begins in infancy and continues throughout
ones adult life. It has been estimated that an 18-month old child needs to learn an
average of 5 new words a day in order to have an average vocabulary of approximately
8,000 words by the time he or she is 6 years old while the average student graduating
from high school is estimated to know 40,000 words. In order to increase ones
vocabulary from 8,000 to 40,000 in those 12 years, a child should learn approximately 7
words a day or 3,000 words in a year. While according to a conservative estimate based
on figures by Goulden, Nation and Read (1990), speakers of English know roughly
20,000 word families by the time they reach university age. But the number that could
possibly be taught in class in a given year is in the order of hundreds, not thousands of
words. Beck, McKeown and Omanson (1987) reckon that the number of English words
that could be taught effectively in a year of schooling amounts to 400 at most. Even with
very approximate figures and disagreement among researchers about how to count word
units, the overall picture is clear: People know many more words than they could
possibly have been taught. Therefore, for want of a better explanation, the enormous
increase in vocabulary knowledge during the school years must be due to incidental
acquisition through reading.

Reading practice is one variable proposed to influence aspects of reading and

language development throughout the lifespan (Cain, 2011). Its importance in the growth
of students vocabulary is critical (Naggy and Hermann, 1985). In fact, even an individual
with limited reading and comprehension skills will build vocabulary and cognitive
structures by being encouraged to read (Cunningham, 2005).

Though there are mainly two means of improving ones vocabulary, specifically
through oral language and written language, Waring and Nation (2002) stated that all
other methods of vocabulary learning are less effective, or less useful than simply just
reading.

The lexical density of oral language relative to written language is substantially

degraded or impoverished, and indicates that text is a particularly effective way of
expanding a persons vocabulary compared to conversations. This is because a person is
far more likely to encounter a word outside of his current vocabulary while reading than
while watching television or engaging in interesting conversation with a college-educated
adult for access to words in our productive and receptive vocabularies is largely
dependent on the words relative frequency. The less common the word, the longer it
takes to retrieve the word from memory. As a result, conversation relies heavily on the
use of common words. By contrast, in writing there is far more time to search ones
vocabulary (or thesaurus or dictionary) for the most appropriate, precise and
communicative words. This typically results in the use of rare or less common words
(Cunningham, 2005). Texts also introduce a person to new words, and in many cases, he
or she can deduce their meanings from the written context. Presumably, he or she
remembers some of these new meaning associations, especially if he or she continues to
read and meet the new items in context again.

The importance of written input can be gauged from a study by West and
Stanovich (1991). In this investigation, American university students were tested on their
ability to recognize names of magazines and authors (an indicator of exposure to print)
and names of TV celebrities (an indicator of exposure to oral input). Results indicated
that exposure to oral input facilitated far less vocabulary learning than reading did. High
levels of magazine and author recognition were associated with strong performance on a
test of vocabulary size.

Researchers estimate that 515% of all the words we learn we learn from reading
(e.g., Nagy, Herman, and Anderson, 1985). And indeed, children who read more tend to
have richer vocabularies (Stahl, 1998).

Rate at which New Words are learned through Reading

In the mid 1980s, a number of researchers set out to see whether classroom
reading tasks resulted in demonstrable vocabulary knowledge gains. The studies
investigated the vocabulary gains of school age English speaking subjects reading short
texts in their native language. In the 1985 study by Nagy et al., eighth-grade participants
read one of two 1000-word texts each containing 15 unfamiliar words. After reading the
text, they were tested on their knowledge of 30 words, 15 from the text they had read and
15 from the other text which they had not read. Comparisons of the reading and non-
reading conditions indicated that participants picked up knowledge of new word
meanings as a result of exposure to the experimental texts. Mean gains were very small,
on the order of two or three words, but were found to be statistically significant.

Extrapolating from these findings, Nagy and his colleagues determined that the
probability that a subject will be able to produce a full definition of a word that he or she
has encountered once in a reading passage amounts to 10 percent. They calculated that
the chances of being able to recognize a correct definition in a multiple-choice format are
15 percent. In other words, about every tenth encounter with an unfamiliar word in a
reading text can be said to result in a learning event. Nagy and his colleagues go on to
consider what this might mean in numbers of words acquired in a year. They estimate that
the typical school age child reads about 1 million words per year. By applying their
probabilities to this approximation and estimates of how often unknown words would
occur, they arrive at growth figures of 3125 to 4875 words per year (Nagy et al., 1985, p.
250). These figures coincide rather neatly with prior estimates based on what would have
to be achieved on a yearly basis in order to arrive at an adult-sized vocabulary. Thus, their
vocabulary learning results appear to give substance to the claims of the default position.

Nagy and his colleagues conducted further studies of child vocabulary

acquisition. In addition to considering a wider range of ages and reading abilities, a 1987
study improved on the earlier one by involving more participants, more reading passages,
more target items, and a longer delay between reading and testing. Under these stiffer
conditions, results still confirmed the finding of a small but significant amount of word
growth (two or three words) that could be ascribed only to reading the texts. Growth
occurred across ability and age groups.

Meister (1998) also provides evidence of subjects acquiring new vocabulary

through reading. The mean number of words acquired was 68.4, amounting to about three
quarters of the 90 words tested. Some of these words occurred more than 100 times in the
text and frequency of occurrence was found to be a factor in the sizable gains subjects
made.

Nagy, Herman & Anderson (1985) showed that the likelihood that a word would
be learned after one meeting was 0.15.In other words, only one in seven of the target
words were likely to be learned in one meeting. On the other hand, Anderson (1992)
stated that the over all probability that a child will learn a new word while reading is
about 1 in 20 (i.e., for every unfamiliar words encountered, a child will learn 1 word).
Although this number may seem small, its magnitude is clear when one considers the
amount of unfamiliar words read by the average child in a years time. For example, the
average fifth grader reads approximately one million words of text a year and
approximately 2% (i.e., 2,000) of those words are unfamiliar to the child. If 1 out of 20
of those unfamiliar words is incorporated into the childs lexicon, then the average fifth
grader learns approximately 1,000 words a year through reading. The retention of these
new learned words depends upon how often one practices the use of these words in their
daily living (Nation, 2001).

Given the staggering number of new words that children must add to their
vocabularies each year, it would be impossible to directly teach all of them (Naggy and
Herman, 1985). Beck, McKeown and Omanson (1987) reckon that the number of English
words that could be learned effectively through direct teaching in a year of schooling
amounts to 400 at most. On the other hand, according to Waring and Nation (2002),
learners will learn about 3-6 words per hour of reading. Assuming that a student in school
has 3-4 hours of exposure to English each week for 40 weeks a year and one third of that
is reading, this totals about 50 hours of reading per year or a vocabulary growth of
between 150-300 words per year.

The more one practices the newly acquired or learned word determines how
resistant it is to memory decay (Cunningham, 2005). That is why constant use of it (in
writing or in conversation) is needed (Nation, 2002).

Factors that Affect Vocabulary Enhancement through Reading

The case with which a word is learned from text is also a function of the words
conceptual difficulty and the number of times the word is encountered (Anderson, 1992).

The difficulty of the text and the childs level of comprehension have a dramatic
influence on the likelihood that a child will derive the meaning of an unfamiliar word
(Cunningham, 2005). A person is twice as likely to learn an unfamiliar word when
reading a narrative text that is matched to his level of comprehension; whereas it is less
likely that a child will learn an unfamiliar word when the text is a difficult exposition
(Anderson, 1992). A person will not be able to comprehend text that has too many
unfamiliar words (more than 10%); on the other hand, a person will not be able to
encounter many new words if he or she read text that is below his or her grade level
(Palani, 2012).
 Word repetition is a favorable condition in vocabulary learning (Nation, 2001). In
fact, word learning was found to be largely a function of word frequency (Elley, 1999).
An analysis of the rate of learning depending on the frequency of occurrence showed that
words that had been met more frequently were more likely to be learned and are more
resistant to decay.

The effects of repetition of words in reading on learners language acquisition and

lexicalization have been investigated. Chen and Truscott (2010) studied the vocabulary
acquisition of freshmen students whose levels in English as a foreign language (EFL)
were all intermediate. The result of this study revealed that repetition positively affects
vocabulary acquisition including word retention, productive knowledge, orthographic
knowledge and semantic knowledge. That is, as the frequency of exposure to the target
words increased, a learner not only better retains the word meanings but also more easily
uses target words in speech.

The subjects in the Meister (1998) study learned 93% of the words that had been
presented to them six times or more but words presented to learners fewer than six times
were learned only by half their subjects. Senechal (1993) discovered that only about 25%
of their learners had learned a word after 10 meetings. Nagy and Hermann (1985)
determined that the probability that a subject will be able to produce a full definition of a
word that he or she has encountered once in a reading passage amounts to 10 percent
which means about every tenth encounter with an unfamiliar word in a reading text can
be said to result in a learning event.

Another factor that researchers said to affect vocabulary enhancement through

reading is the individuals early and frequent opportunities to interact with written text
and language prior to schooling. This is because, early exposure to texts from a young
age is thought to aid in the development of skills that serve as the foundation for learning
conventional reading and writing (Cunningham, 2005).

The factors that greatly influence vocabulary acquisition by means of reading are
the individuals reading habits, specifically his or her independent reading and out-of-
school reading (Nation, 2002).
 People especially those in school-age display vast differences in their amount of
independent reading. This difference in language experiences directly influenced
childrens language growth (Elley, 1998). Although not a substitute for direct and explicit
instruction in reading, independent reading increases reading ability and is particularly a
potent mechanism of increasing language skills. We can reliably attribute some of the
differences we observe in vocabulary development among school-age children to their
reading volume (Stahl, 1999).

The out-of-school reading volume is also a factor that affect vocabulary

enhancement. Although there are considerable differences in the amount of reading that
children engage in within the classroom, it is likely that differences in out-of-school
reading volume are an even heavier cause of the difference in vocabulary enhancement of
children (Stanovich, 2000). An analysis of reading habits indicates huge differences in the
number of words per year between children who engage in lots or little out-of-schools
reading. The most avid readers (98 percentile rank) encounter over 4 million words a
year; those with the average levels of leisure time reading (50 percentile rank) read
approximately 600,000 words a year; those who rarely read (10 percentile rank) will
encounter 50,000 words (Anderson, 1988). This means that the more an individual reads,
the more his or her chance is in learning and acquiring new words.

Kinds of Books that Enhance Vocabulary

All books are good means of improving ones vocabulary (Cunningham, 2005).

Most bookstores carry books on building a more powerful vocabulary like

vocabulary-building books.

The first advantage of vocabulary-building books is that they present words

generally considered important to know, thus saving time. Another advantage of many of
these books is that they will use the words in several sentences, so that a person can see
the words in different contexts. A third advantage is that they usually have exercises that
test what a person have learned, which gives a clear sense of progress (OConnor, 2010).
 The dictionary is also one of the best books to improve vocabulary. One way to
increase ones vocabulary is to open the dictionary and begin to read and memorize
words. Though this method is simple and inexpensive, simply reading the dictionary and
memorizing words is not always fun or effective. The same goes for reading a thesaurus.
A thesaurus is like a dictionary except that it groups words within constellations of
meaning. It is often useful in discovering the right word one needs to express what he or
she want to say. One could Look up words he or she has found to be unfamiliar, learn
similar words, and use those words as well. (Janssen, 2010).

Reading books labeled as high literature and the classics could enhance ones
vocabulary (Hansen, 2011). The author of these kind of books use sophisticated language
in general, so their word choice can help an individual to build his or her own vocabulary
and to see the ways in which sentences can be formed to convey meaning.

According to Cunningham (2005), abstract of scientific articles, newspaper,

popular magazines and adult books top the list on printed texts that contains the most
unfamiliar words. This would mean that reading these printed texts would give a big
opportunity for one to encounter and learn words that are new to them.

It is also important to read books that have high-frequency vocabularies (Nation,

2002). High-frequency vocabulary refers to those words that are used over and over again
in communicationsthey are important to both meaning and literate vocabularies. A
mere 100 words make up about 50% of most English texts; 200 words make up 90% of
the running words of materials through third grade; and 500 words make up 90% of the
running words in materials through ninth grade. If a reader is to have at least a modicum
of fluency, it is critical that these words be taught systematically and effectively
(Cunningham, 2005).

One book will not give a person all the words he or she needs to know (O'Connor,
2010). An individual should read different types of text at different levels, including text
that is simple and enjoyable, and some that is challenging (Palani, 2012). An individual
should not also just read one specific genre. He or she must expand her readings beyond
genres and kinds of prints; for every reading material have different type vocabulary
levels. For example, someone reading a sports magazine is unlikely to encounter any
new words that can help him or her read a Shakespearian tragedy. Similarly, reading
Chaucer is unlikely to give someone the vocabulary necessary to understand operational
specifications for wireless devices. This is why it is important for someone to read a wide
range of subjects to develop a vocabulary that is wide, as well as deep by reading texts
and published works of different kinds and types, genres and levels of difficulty.

Another alternate way to increase your vocabulary is to read voraciously. By

increasing the amount you read, you will increase the size of your vocabulary (Nation,
2002).

People should read books that are fit to their level of comprehension (Zahar,
2001). As one factor that affects the learning of new words through reading, the difficulty
of the text and the individuals level of comprehension should match. A person will not be
able to comprehend text that has too many unfamiliar words (more than 10%); on the
other hand, a person will not be able to encounter many new words if he or she read text
that is below his or her grade level (Palani, 2012). As someones vocabulary expands,
through reading, then he or she is able to read at a higher level. This allows a person to
take on more challenging works of literature or writing as his or her comprehension of
language has improved (Cunningham, 2005).

Method and Techniques to Supplement Reading to Better Enhance Vocabulary

Acquiring the ability to read independently, children still benefit from listening to
text read aloud (Elley, 1999). Most helpful will be reading aloud books and other
materials (such as magazines or environmental print) that have some, but not too many,
words that are new to children. Read-aloud of storybooks is important, but also important
is read-aloud of other types of text, such as information books (Duke, 2003; Pappas,
1991). Some research even suggests that teachers and parents highlight vocabulary more
when reading aloud information books than when reading aloud stories (Lennox,
1995;Pellegrini, Perlmutter, Galda, and Brody, 1990). Seven and eight- year olds showed
vocabulary gains of 15% after hearing a story on three different occasions with no
required participation or teacher explanation. In addition, 8- year olds demonstrated gains
of 40% when explanation accompanied the story (Elley, 1999).

Another effective method is to develop the word consciousness of students by

instructing them in the ways that word parts contribute to word meanings. Word
consciousness can be defined simply as interest in and awareness of words. In this
approach, children are encouraged to treat an unknown word as an opportunity for
problem solving. Students are taught word relationships and families in an attempt to
increase their ability to do independent word analysis and derive the meaning of
unfamiliar words in text (Anderson, 1992). It can be developed at all times and in several
ways: through encouraging adept diction, through word play, and through research on
word origins or histories. There are many ways to draw childrens attention to and
interest in words around them. Playing with words through games, songs, and humor can
be effective (Stahl, 1999). Simply encouraging children to recognize when they have
encountered new words, and to notice special characteristics of words, will also raise
word consciousness (Elley, 1998).

Theory and research on vocabulary learning suggest that helping children relate
new words to words they already know is very important For example, if a child knows
the word fruit, and knows the word apple, these words can help children learn the word
kiwi. If a child knows what it means to be mad, that may help him learn frustrated.
Teaching children to use the context around a word to try to figure out word meanings
can also be effective. (Stahl, 1999). It often makes sense to teach words not individually
but in sets that are conceptually-related, for example words related to farms, words
related to families, or names of different animals. Indeed, several research-tested
techniques for teaching vocabulary are well suited to teaching groups of words (Naggy,
1985).

People also learn new words through reading independently and by engaging in
out-of-school reading (Anderson, 1988). As mentioned as factors that affect vocabulary
growth, independent reading and out-of-school reading enables an individual especially
students to encounter and learn more words that are unfamiliar with them.

Hulstijn (1998) investigated the amount of vocabulary learned from reading only
versus reading plus additional vocabulary activities. His study concluded that reading
should be supplemented by other activities. As students continue to explore and think
about words, they can be encouraged to keep vocabulary notebooks in which they jot
down interesting words they come across in their reading. As they become comfortable
with this technique, they can add information to each word as appropriaterecording
the sentence in which it occurred so they gain a sense of the context in which it is used,
its word parts and their meaning, and the appropriate dictionary definition. Once a person
has begun looking up words and knows which ones to study, vocabulary building is
simply a matter of reviewing the words regularly until they are fixed in ones memory.
This is best done by setting aside a specific amount of time each day for vocabulary
study. They should also be encouraged to use these words in their own sentence.

Raptis (1997) observes that activities designed to develop the skill of inferring
meanings of unfamiliar words from context feature prominently and repeatedly in
textbooks for learners of English. The message to the learner either stated or implicit
is that there are more words to learn than can be taught in a language course or looked
up in a dictionary, and therefore learners themselves must become responsible for their
vocabulary growth. Rather than attempting to teach all the words, the premise is that
training students how to work out the meanings of unfamiliar words from context will
help them to acquire vocabulary incidentally as they read.

CHAPTER III
 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

This paper seeks to study reading as means of vocabulary enhancement. Reading

and vocabulary are both important concepts within any written language, and they
typically develop together. The process of learning new words begins in infancy and by
university age, one is estimated to know 20,000 word families. But the number that could
possibly be taught in class in a given year is in the order of hundreds, not thousands of
words. Researchers stated that the enormous increase in vocabulary knowledge during the
school years must be due to incidental acquisition through reading.

Reading practice is one variable proposed to influence aspects of reading and

language development especially to ones vocabulary. It is said that one enhances
vocabulary better through the written language than through oral language. It is because
there are more unfamiliar words written in text compared to those in conversations. In
fact, 515% of all the words we learn, we learn from reading.

The rate that an individual learns an unfamiliar word that he or she encountered
once is 10 percent. In other words, about every tenth encounter with an unfamiliar word
in a reading text can be said to result in a learning event. Other studies also said that six
encounters with the unfamiliar word was an adequate number to learn the word and that
the more an individual encounters a word through reading, the greater the chance that he
or she will learn it. This makes word repetition or frequency a factor that affects
vocabulary enhancement through reading. Another factor is the difficulty of the text and
the childs level of comprehension. A person is twice as likely to learn an unfamiliar word
when reading a narrative text that is matched to his level of comprehension while a
person will not be able to comprehend text that has too many unfamiliar words (more
than 10%). It was also found out that reading habit greatly affects vocabulary
enhancement through reading. On the other hand, an individual should read different
types of text at different levels, including text that is simple and enjoyable, and some that
is challenging for all books are good means of improving vocabulary.

There are methods of improving vocabulary through reading such as read-aloud

and developing word consciousness and word relations. One can also be encouraged to
read independently and increase habit of out-of-school reading. Reading should also be
supplemented by other activities. As a person reads especially students, they should be
encouraged to write down the unfamiliar word and look for its meaning and use it in their
own sentence. The more one practices the newly acquired or learned word determines
how resistant it is to memory decay. That is why constant use of it (in writing or in
conversation) is needed.

B. CONCLUSION

Therefore, as an individual read, his or her vocabulary typically increases more

than talking or direct-teaching and it also improves his or her spelling. Reading does
significantly expand your vocabulary in ways that you may not notice right away. It
exposes you to and lets you uncover the context of the words that youve probably never
heard of before. Reading compels you to look up the meaning of the words youve just
read; hence as you go further along, the more the sentences make sense to you than
before you began reading them.

The more you read, the more words you have available in your frame of reference
to use in everyday conversations. Reading teaches you new words and new ways to use
the words more correctly when constructing sentences in your mind.

C. RECOMMENDATIONS
 The researchers recommend that individuals should read more, especially
students. They should read books of different genres, magazines, newspapers and other
written texts to have a rounded vocabulary. Parents should also play an active part in
encouraging their children to read at an early age for their children to develop good
reading habits. It is also recommended that teachers incorporate various vocabulary
instructions inside the classroom and give specific time for the students to read.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Books
Anderson, R. (1992). Developing Vocabulary Knowledge. Newark, DE: International
Reading Association.
Elley, A. (1999). Reading Psychology. New York: Guilford Press.
Senechal, w & Cornell, B. (1993). Frequency Analysis of English Usage. Washington,
DC: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Waring, B. (2003). Writing and Vocabulary in Foreign Language Acquisition.
Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press: University of Copenhagen.

B. Newspaper, Magazines/ Journals

Anderson, R. (1998). Exposure to Print and Orthographic Processing. Reading Research
Quarterly, 24, 402-433.
Cain, K. (2011). Graded Readers and Vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign Language, 12
(2), 355-380.
Corson, C. (1995). Reading Storybooks to Kindergarteners Helps Learn New Vocabulary
Words. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 54-64.
Cunningham, T. & Stanovich, J. (2003). Developing Lifetime Readers: Suggestions from
Fifty Years of Research. The English Journal, 80 (6), 61-64.
Cunningham, T. (2005). Vocabulary Density and Reading Comprehension. Reading in a
Foreign Language, 3, 403-430.
Meister, P. (1998). Graded Readers and Vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign Language, 2,
125-156.
Naggy, C. & Herman, J. (1985). Relation Between Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary,
Reading Pleasure and Reading Frequency. Educational and Evaluation Research,
4, 143-166.
Nation, P. (2002). The Language Learning Benefits of Extensive Reading. The Language
Teacher, 21, 13-16.
Palani, K. (2012). Promoting Reading Habits and Creating Literate Society. Journal of
Arts, Science and Commerce, 3, 90-94.
Waring, R. & Nation, P. (2002). Second Language Reading and Incidental Vocabulary
Learning. Angles on the English- Speaking World, 4, 11-23.
C. Websites
Busayo, I. (2011). The School Library as a Foundational Step to Childrens Effective
Reading Habits. Retrieved January 6, 2015, from
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/busayo-reading.pdf.
Hansen, R. (2011). Easy Ways to Improve and Expand Your Vocabulary: Seven Tips for
Learning New Words. Retrieved February 9, 2015, from
http://www.enhancemyvocabulary.com/improve-expand-vocabulary.html.
Johnson, P. (2013). Why Reading May Give Advantages in Your Education. Retrieved
February 9, 2015, from http://flyhigh-by-learnonline.com/2013/05/why-reading-
classic-literature-may-give.html.
MiKulecky, B. & Jeffries, Q. (1986). A summary of Research on Reading Interests and
Habits. Retrieved December 20, 2014, from
https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/3836/gslisoccasionalpv000
00i00074.pdf?sequence=1.
OConnor, P. (2010). Effective Ways to Build Your Vocabulary. Retrieved February 9,
2015, from http://www.jocrf.org/resources/EffectiveWays.html.
Stanovich, J. (2000). Effective Vocabulary Instruction. Retrieved January 6, 2015, from
http://www.keystoliteracy.com/wp content/uploads/2012/08/effective-vocabulary-
instruction.pdf.
Zahar, C. (2001). The Reading Habit. A missing Link Between Literacy and Libraries.
Retrieved December 20, 2014, from
http://www.pngbuai.com/000general/libraries/literacy-services/READRAB.pdf.