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A Case for Narrow Reading | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| james1 Senior Member Korea, South Joined 5709 days ago 121 posts - 145 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 7 17 November 2009 at 7:00am | IP Logged | ||
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http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/narrow/index.html
Please read this... 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6788 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 7 17 November 2009 at 9:48am | IP Logged | ||
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In principle Krashen has got a point here: if you read texts of a certain type and about a certain theme during the first part of your study then you will get an inbuilt review that will make it easier to deal with new texts within the same range. And you can learn more from a text if it is reasonably comprehensible.
But as noted by Krashen himself this presupposes that you are interested in the chosen kind of texts, otherwise you will be bored or even antagonistic towards them, and then you will almost certainly learn even less from your participation in the course than with the usual diffuse spread in themes (which may however be an illusion, - how big is the spread in styles and themes in the average textbook?). Steve Kaufmann - who normally is fairly positive towards the ideas of Krashen - says in one of his videos that he doesn't like poetry (I quote from memory), and it is a waste of time to discuss study methods with him if the crux of the matter still is that someone tries to lure him into reading poetry. I fully agree with that. I generally find literature both boring and irrelevant because of the fictive plots and the ubiquitous gallery of unpleasant and stupid characters who do unpleasant and stupid things. So trying to make me learn from literature is counterproductive. This has even been tested in practice: I had problems with one and only one course during my French studies - conversation. Then I decided to stay away from all conversation classes and instead take a two week vacation in France prior to the exam. The result: my notes jumped from 5 to 8 (still the lowest character I ever got, but safely above the average). So the new proposal from Krashen will only function if each and every student is deeply interested in the chosen theme, otherwise it will be a monumental disaster, that may transform a flimsy and volatile learning experience into a black and terrifying homogenous unending hell for those students who don't share the teacher's preferences. Edited by Iversen on 17 November 2009 at 10:14am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6853 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 3 of 7 17 November 2009 at 11:12am | IP Logged | ||
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Maybe it's better advice for out-of-the-classroom learning. I found I made rapid Japanese progress (going from
intermediate to advanced in a few weeks) once I found a mystery author I liked. I have read 13 of his books already, and I can make faster progress than with other authors because I am used to his storytelling style, vocabulary, and the non-standard kanji he likes using. Thanks for the site link, I'm going to see what his other articles have to say. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5652 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 4 of 7 17 November 2009 at 4:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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Iversen is completely correct here. If you are not interested in the material, then it won't work. But if you are interested in a particular type of reading material, then that may be another factor that makes narrow reading work better than non-specialized reading. You will obviously learn more if you have more of a desire to read, which engages you in reading for longer periods of time and with more focus.
Furthermore, this type of reading will give you some topics you are competent at discussing. You can try to steer conversations in the language to your topics, where you have the vocabulary to converse freely. Like Iversen, I am not particularly interested in literature or fiction. I much prefer to read non-fiction, especially books about science. Edited by Levi on 17 November 2009 at 4:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 6052 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 7 17 November 2009 at 6:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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That was a good article. When I was in Spanish classes a long time ago at university, I remember making fast progress only when I reached advanced levels which were focused on more specific topics, and the classes were much more fun and challenging.
I guess I am the odd one out here with a fondness for fiction, but actually I've been reading a lot of nonfiction lately, and I especially love scientific topics, too. Some of the articles I choose for study online are nothing very important in themselves, but I enjoy them and learn because they are just interesting, not because they are in another language. It's kind of a two-for-one learning strategy. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6521 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 7 17 November 2009 at 7:48pm | IP Logged | ||
Which is exactly the reason why many works of literature work fine for me. Prose, poetry, you name it. :) Thanks for sharing this article with us, james1. This seems to support my method of effortless but inefficient language learning. ;) You know what I'm talking about. Now back to watching Europa Aktuell videos... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| doviende Diglot Senior Member Canada languagefixatio Joined 6071 days ago 533 posts - 1245 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese | Message 7 of 7 18 November 2009 at 8:13am | IP Logged | ||
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What I take from the Krashen article is that narrow reading (of a series of books, say) has greater potential to inspire "fanatical" interest in reading. I've found this to be true. When I've already read one or more books in a series, I'm quite likely to get the next book just to see what happens.
He also says that we shouldn't worry about getting any kind of book that makes us happy and keeps us motivated. Some Germans may be disappointed that I'm currently reading translated Harry Potter novels and dubbed Star Trek TV shows, but right now I'm motivated to watch and read these things despite their total lack of cultural information. The bottom line is: read lots. Whatever helps you read more is good :) 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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