Adult learners Extensive reading for academic purposes for adult learners of English more

Tue, Aug 8, 09:00-09:35 Asia/Makassar

Adult learners of English who are professional workers may intend to pursue a postgraduate degree, and they need to develop their reading skills to comprehend academic texts. However, English formal training catering to their specific needs is not always available. This presentation will report the result of an informal learning program involving eight Indonesian adult learners of English. The program aimed to identify their difficulties in reading academic texts, equip them with strategies to develop reading competency through extensive reading, and assess if the habit of extensive reading can aid their comprehension. Throughout three one-hour learning sessions, the participants were given both intensive and extensive reading tasks and invited to reflect on the reading activities. From the classroom discussions, it was reported that intrinsic motivation, rather than perceived linguistic competence, helped reading fluency and reading for pleasure promoted through extensive reading could ease pressure in reading an academic text.