The Starbucks® School of Language Acquisition: A Cheap,CaffeinatedPlan to Prepare for Academic Study

Authors

  • Jeff McQuillan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33474/eltar-j.v2i2.8670

Abstract

Many international students enroll in yearlong Intensive English Programs (IEP) in English-speaking countries in the hope of acquiring the language proficiency necessary for academic study. Nation (2006) estimatedthatthese students need to know between 8,000 and 10,000 of the most commonly used word families in English to havegood comprehension of adult-level texts. There is considerable evidence, however, that reading for pleasureis at least as effective as formal study inboosting vocabulary knowledge (Krashen, 2004), including academic vocabulary (McQuillan, 2019).

References

Krashen, S. (2004).The Power of Reading. 2nd Edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Krashen, S., Lee, S. Y., & Lao, C. (2017).Comprehensible and compelling: The causes and effects of free voluntary reading. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

McQuillan, J. (2019). Where do we get our academic vocabulary? Comparing the efficiency of direct instruction and free voluntary reading. Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 19(1), 129-138.

McQuillan, J., &Krashen, S. (2008). Commentary: Can free reading take you all the way? A response to Cobb (2007).Language Learning & Technology, 12(1), 104-108.

Nation, P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue canadienne des languesvivantes, 63(1), 59-82.

Nation, P. (2014). How much input do you need to learn the most frequent 9,000 words?. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26(2), 1-16.

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Published

2020-08-29

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2020): Volume 2 Number 2

Section

Articles

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