Extensive Reading and Memory Improvement through English Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension: A Large-Scale Correlational Study
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Abstract
This large-scale correlational study explored the possibility of the correlation between extensive reading, vocabulary acquisition, and reading comprehension using memory-oriented tasks. The participants were first-year undergraduate Thai students (n = 506) who had taken a four-month comprehensive reading program as a part of required external reading before they took an external reading test with test items focused on memory elicitation. The participants’ scores from the external reading test was then compared with the scores from their midterm and final examinations. Regression analysis showed a weak positive correlation between the test scores on the external reading test and the scores from vocabulary and reading sections, especially with regard to the final examination, compared with the scores from the midterm examination. In terms of memory enhancement, the results indicated a modest correlation between the test aimed at memory elicitation and memory improvement, but at the expense of other cognitive faculties, such as comprehension. The pedagogical implication is that extensive reading, to a certain extent, helps improv both their reading and vocabulary
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