The Lexical Advantages of Narrow Reading for Second Language Learners

In the article The Lexical Advantages of Narrow Reading for Second Language Learners (2000), Schmitt and Carter argue that reading is very important to learn a language. They first mention that teachers cannot teach all the necessary words for an effective language use. As a solution, they explain how reading can be an essential complement to the explicit teaching of vocabulary. In order to acquire new words, students should be repeatedly exposed to recurrent topics and vocabulary. It is also important that this should be done through authentic texts such as newspapers and magazines. Because these mediums may be too difficult for beginners, the authors suggest using narrow reading as a way to ease learners into authentic texts. They explain that narrow reading implies the readings of different texts related to the same topic. This method is advantageous because readers become familiar with the topic and with the recurrent vocabulary (key words). Next, the authors aA brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource.pproach narrow reading from three perspectives: using corpus analysis to explore the benefits of narrow reading, learners’ reactions to narrow reading, and incorporating narrow reading into the syllabus.

Strategy: Describe the authors’ point of view (Response Journal Guidelines for Students)

Karine Ledoux