Abstract:
This article reports on the extensive reading (ER) component of a reading intervention
programme to improve first-year students’ reading proficiency. To make the intervention more
practical and to accelerate improvement, an ER component was included in the programme.
Two groups of first-year students (high-risk and low-risk) were required to read short stories
and novels of their choice and to record their affective and cognitive experiences during the
reading to submit as a portfolio. In addition, students answered pre- and post-intervention
questionnaires on their reading habits. Students were selected based on their performance in a
reading test and interviewed to gain more insight into their reading experiences. The
questionnaires were analysed using the t-test, and the interview responses were analysed by
content analysis. The findings show that students had benefited from ER. Questionnaire
results show that students’ reading habits had improved significantly. The reports from the
interviews and inventories show that students’ affective and cognitive reading levels, including
reading speed, had also improved. Students also reported on the transfer of reading strategies
from their ER to their academic reading. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for
reading programmes at the tertiary level, specifically at this institution, to include ER in order
to complement explicit teaching, instil motivation and accelerate the improvement of students’
reading proficiency.
