A STUDY OF ENGLISH NOVEL READING CAMP

Reading is an active involvement and mutual interaction between the reader and the text. Many studies show that reading causes a dramatic improvement in writing and literacy development. Teachers who adopt children's novel in their teaching believe students can achieve higher levels of reading comprehension in critical thinking and experience the essence of reading for pleasure. To explore the effects of English novel reading on EFL learning, a five-day English Novel Reading Camp was held to help students familiarize themselves with reading strategies and activities as well as reading for pleasure. A children's novel which provides topics for discussion was used. The participants were thirty-eight senior high school students from a high school in central Taiwan. Data gathered for analysis included their journal writing, survey, group discussions, and interview. This study found that more than ninety percent of the students thought they had learned a lot from this camp and would like to attend similar camps in the future. They found that reading English children's novel was not as difficult as they thought before. Finishing reading it, they felt an excellent sense of achievement that they had never had before in learning English. They stated that they not only gained more vocabulary, but also realized the value of life, the importance of family and friendship. They also experienced how to interact with the text, illustrate some plots, initiate questions, exchange ideas or negotiate with their peers. This camp helped them be involved in literature discussion for meaning making, connection, and critical thinking. It is hoped that the results of this study will provide ideas concerning literacy development and an alternative method for developing EFL student's English proficiency.

關鍵字

children's English novel ； critical thinking ； literature circle ； reading for pleasure

並列摘要

閱讀理解來自於讀者與文章間緊密互動的結果。研究顯示英文小說閱讀可以提升學生英文寫作能力、人文素養、批判性思考能力及享受休閒閱讀的樂趣。本研究藉由一個星期的英文小說「悅」讀營以達到提升學生英文閱讀理解能力、獨立思考及批判能力。同時希望培養獨立閱讀人，增進閱讀英文樂趣及習慣。參加者為38 位高中同學，學生反應良好，他們表示參加此次活動除了學習如何以另外一種方式學習英文外，也發現學習英文是有趣的。同學之間的討論除了可以使問題更清楚外，也可以了解每個人不同的看法。學習過程中除了學到如何交換意見達到共識，更可學習人際互動。問卷顯示98%以上的學生將來都願意參加類似的英文研習活動。