1. SEMINAR
Tam Suet Yet GS34752

2. The Effects of Graded Reading on Low
Proficient Secondary School ESL
Students in Vocabulary Literacy

3. Background
- English is the lingua franca in the developing and
developed countries (Megawati & Abu Bakar, 2010)
- reader will have to be well exposed to the experiences,
knowledge and most importantly, the vocabulary that
carries the meaning of the intended conception
Schoenbach, Greenleaf, Cziko and Hurwitz (1999)
- LINUS & NILAM

4. Statement of Problem
• UNDERACHIEVE LITERACY RATE
- With the literacy rate reported by the United Nations Development Programme in 2007/2008 at
93.2%, this percentage is a far cry from the standards of other modern countries such as Japan or
Germany with the literacy rate of 99%.
• LACK OF INTEREST
- In a UK Nestle Smarties Book Price report (2003), it was noted that young people would prefer to
do something else than read books if given a choice and that 55% of them find that books do not
impact them in any way in their livelihood, causing them to overlook reading.
- FORMAL INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD
Howerton and Thomas (2004) blame it on the instructional approach carried out in schools
where the systematic approach in learning to read is not taught transparently as it is. Most of the
time, students learn reading through incorporation of other learning outcomes or skills for the
day which causes students not to have the time to internalize the new found reading materials
SELF EFICCACY AND SHAME
• Nathanson (2003) focused on the shame built when students could not match the word to a
meaning that they are able to understand when they are reading in a class and how it affects their
point of view as a student, a fellow peer and an individual within a classroom setting.

5. Objectives and Research Questions
• The research aims to find out whether intervention on reading will
increase the vocabulary and allows students the extra time and
coaching to learn, comprehend as well as consciously notice the
words in texts. It is also important to find out whether intervention
during adolescence is as helpful as when it occurs in children by
looking at the effectiveness executed from the LINUS as well as from
this intervention.
• 1. Can graded reading help in increasing the vocabulary of low
proficient students?
• 2. Will the low proficient students be able to notice and comprehend
the words learnt through graded reading in other forms of texts?
• 3. Does graded reading assists students to be motivated to read on
their own?
• 4. Which type of materials do low proficient students prefer in self
reading?

6. Significance of Study
• There are no specific reading programmes for
English teachers to help students at secondary level
who are of low proficiency.
• Graded reading in secondary level has not been
executed before unlike in developed countries such
as the US which have K-13 programmes
• Graded reading will further assist stores to increase
their supply of reading materials which can be found
in native speaking English countries.

7. Limitation
• Grade B and C schools within the Negeri
Sembilan zone
• Behaviour of individual attitude of the students
as well as their metacognitive development. This
also includes the events in their personal and
school life which will affect their attitude
towards the experiment which later influences
the observation of the researcher.

8. Definition of Terms
• Graded Reading
• Literacy
• Low Proficient

9. Some Literature
• Maracek (1978), reminds us that “when skills take
over . . . and word recognition becomes an end in
itself, there is a greater dislike for the whole reading
process.
• Hill (2008) Graded readers are books written for
learners of English using limited lexis and syntax,
the former determined by frequency and usefulness
and the latter by simplicity.
• In order to escape the prejudice against graded
readers the ExtensiveReading Foundation have
promoted the term ‘Language Learner Literature’
(LLL)

10. Chapter 3
• Mix Method
• Pretest – Posttest
• Criterion Sampling
• 100 students
• Vocabulary test
• Comprehension/ Reading Test
• Survey
• Interview

11. Research Procedure
• Interviews with teachers / implementers
• Pre Tests
• Graded Reading 6 months
• Post Tests
• Interviews with teachers/ implementers