Open College: Impact of Non-Assisted L2 Readings on EFL Learners

This report presents a research proposal investigating the effects of non-assisted repeated reading on L2 learners' reading comprehension. The study, targeted at low-intermediate EFL learners at Open College, aims to assess the development of comprehensive reading skills, focusing on reading fluency and automaticity. The proposal outlines the research purpose, literature review, research questions, and methodology, including participant selection, data collection methods (pre/post-tests, surveys), and statistical analysis. The research explores the relationship between vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, and reading comprehension, along with the reading strategies adopted by learners. It also examines factors affecting the selection of reading strategies and potential variations from previous studies. The study's duration spans from July to October, involving both male and female students from diverse academic backgrounds. The project addresses the challenges of instruction delivery due to the learners' limited English proficiency, proposing the use of short passages and monitoring the performance of the students. The proposal also emphasizes the importance of teacher guidance and motivation in enhancing reading abilities and the role of systematic approaches in fostering academic development. The study aims to measure the instructional methods used, analyze the reading comprehension of EFL learners, and explore their experiences with English-mediated courses, considering both modified and non-modified texts to measure the proficiency level of adult EFL learners.

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Proposal on L2 readings in Open Colleges
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Table of contents
Title............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction............................................................................................................................2
Research purpose...................................................................................................................2
Literature review........................................................................................................................2
Research questions.....................................................................................................................4
Method.......................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Title
‘Impact of non-assisted readings on L2 learners’
Introduction
The proposal deals with the impact of non-assisted readings on L2 learners. In this,
the focus would be on the reading comprehension. The issue to be addressed in the proposal
is that of the lack of efficient English speaking skills in case of the students, which adds
hypothetical approach to the plan of training the L2 learners (O’Rourke & Bunting, 2018).
Within this, mention can be made of the speed, fluency, competency and lack of awareness
towards the language. The level targeted through the proposal would be of the EFL learners,
low-intermediate level students, admitted in the Open College. The concept of Open College
is a program, aiming to enhance their academic skills, competencies and abilities. The
dynamics of the courses in the L1 and L2 reading generates specific interest within me for
selecting it as a topic for research proposal.
Research purpose
The purpose of the proposal is assessing the outcome of assistance on EFL learners
regarding the development of comprehensive reading skills.
Literature review
As a matter of specification, L1 reading is extensive and complex, catering to the
academic needs of the L2 learners. On the other hand, Eckstein and Ferris, (2018) is of the
view that the contexts of the L2 readings are far more complex. Variation in the research
settings requires additional resource materials, which is difficult, if there is no proper
planning. However, researches indicate that L2 readings provides ample opportunities to the
students regarding language proficiencies. Along with this, assessment of the impact of the
classroom pedagogies on the academic establishment of the students is one of the other
interesting factors. As per the arguments of Ferris, (2018), the instruction methods come from

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directly from the tasks and the project readings allocated to the students. As a result of this,
the students develop metalinguistic awareness, as a crucial resource for the readings.
Interference of the teachers is apt for the students to gain easy understanding about the
complex course readings. Provision of proper motivation and encouragement to the students
accelerates development for their reading abilities. This motivation is assistance for selecting
the appropriate reading strategy for exposing better performance. Examination of the L1
reading skills of the students is limited in case of the teachers and the researchers. On the
contrary, Shih and Reynolds, (2018) argues that the L2 teachers do not likely give much
preference to the guidance regarding the issues faced by the students. This approach proves
detrimental in terms of academic development of the L2 learners. This is in terms of the
difference, which prevails between the practice and preaching of the students regarding
language.
The professors play an important role in developing the academic skills of the
students, especially the L2 learners. Typical example of this lies in the consideration of
aesthetic sense of the disciplines for shaping the development of the reading abilities, skills
and competencies of L2 learners. Systematic approach in this context is apt for ensuring the
academic development. According to Antonio Gramsci, the term ‘dominant hegemony’ is
coined, which maps the power and authority, which the teachers are to exert towards the
academic needs of the L2 learners. Assessing the hegemonic power helps in excavating the
outcome on the culture and religion on the education (Shih & Reynolds, 2015). All these
aspects can be correlated with learning, which formulates the entity of the individuals, which
in this case are the L2 learners. As per the cognitive learning theory, societal interactions
slowly and gradually enhance the preconceived knowledge and skills.

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According to some of the studies, comprehension varies according to the purposes of
reading, which is accomplished by undertaking different and wide ranging exercises and
tasks. Typical example in this is the focus on reading strategies, vocabulary development, and
importance of discourse in the organization, text structure, word recognition and fluency on
reading. There is a disbelief regarding the fact that all L1 reading strategies automatically
transfer to L2 readings. However, there is ease in terms of raising awareness about the
productive steps to deal with the situations and contexts. The practicality of the application
would be focused in the process of conducting the research proposal (Eckstein, Casper, Chan
& Blackwell, 2018). Metacognitive knowledge would be transferred for enhancing the clarity
regarding the understanding of the strategies.
Research questions
 What is the relative contribution of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge to L2
reading comprehension among advanced EFL learners?
 What reading strategies are adopted for enhancing the reading comprehensive skills of
the L2 learners?
 How frequently are meetings conducted in the Open colleges for evaluating the
effectiveness of the selected reading strategies for adult EFL L2 learners?
 What are the contributions of the experts in selecting the reading strategies for
upgrading the reading comprehensive skills of the adult EFL learners?
 What factors may account for divergent findings in the previous studies regarding the
strategies adopted for enhancing the reading comprehensive skills of the adult EFL L2
learners?
Method
The duration of the course would be from July to October, where different EFL L2
learners would be trained, so as to develop their comprehensive reading abilities and

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competencies. The size of the students would be 8 males and 8 females, whose major subjects
would vary from science, engineering and liberal arts. Lack of awareness towards English
speaking would be an issue in terms of disseminating the instructions (Thoms & Poole,
2017). I have planned to distribute short passages to read out aloud. The measuring criteria in
this aspect would be monitoring the performance until they reach the target of 80 words per
minute. Emerging successful in this task would help them to move on to the next passage.
Scores would be awarded to the students, which would be assistance for identifying the
additional resources needed for enhancing their comprehensive reading skills.
Recording would be done for every 5 minutes, which would be assist in assessing the
communicative skills, competencies and abilities. In this, the methods of pre-test and post-
test would be undertaken for measuring their capabilities for making practical application of
the learnt skills into the completion of the assigned duties and responsibilities. Along with
this, pre-survey and post survey methods would be crucial for measuring the extent to which
the operations align with the expectations of the students. Apart from this, Sparks, Patton and
Luebbers, (2018) makes mention that t-test and Cronbach test for developing validity and
reliability within the course activities. These tests would help in explaining the total variance
by considering the number of the test items.
In case of the language threshold, hypothesis states that L2 readers need to enough
knowledge of the vocabulary and structure for efficient comprehensive text of L2. Based on
this, the purpose of the research is:
 To measure the instruction methods used for teaching the students
 To analyse the condition of the reading comprehension of EFL learners in Korea
 To explore the experiences of the adult EFL learners towards English mediated
courses

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 To demonstrate the vocabulary acquisition from psycholinguistics perspective
 To explore the nature and organization of the mental lexicons
Examining the contribution of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge is one of the
major aspects behind execution of the research proposal. Here, the main focus is on the
Korean learners admitted in the EFL learning courses. Within this, consideration of the
modified and non-modified texts is an important issue, which the proposal aims. This
consideration would further act assistance in measuring the proficiency and competency level
of the adult EFL learners. Synthesis of the findings would enhance the awareness about the
type of knowledge imparted and gained. All these aspects indicates the hypothetical approach
to the role of the teachers in enhancing appropriate reading strategies are selected and applied
in the course curriculum for upgrading the academic skills of the students. However,
complexity of the L2 reading materials necessitates the need of guidance from the teachers
for providing an easy understanding about the texts.

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References
Eckstein, G., & Ferris, D. (2018). Comparing L1 and L2 texts and writers in first‐year
composition. TESOL Quarterly, 52(1), 137-162.
Eckstein, G., Casper, R., Chan, J., & Blackwell, L. (2018). Assessment of L2 Student
Writing: Does Teacher Discipplinary Background Matter?. Journal of Writing
Research, 10(1).
Eviatar, Z., Ibrahim, R., Karelitz, T. M., & Simon, A. B. (2019). Speed of reading texts in
Arabic and Hebrew. Reading and Writing, 32(3), 537-559.
Ferris, D. R. (2018). Writing in a second language. In Teaching English to Second Language
Learners in Academic Contexts (pp. 75-88). Routledge.
Gómez, J. D. (2016). A Cognitive Approach to L2 Reading Comprehension and the Limits of
Description. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 18(2), 119-130.
O’Rourke, P., & Bunting, M. F. (2018). The cognitive underpinnings of mental model
construction in L1 and L2. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(4), 801-
807.
Shih, Y. C., & Reynolds, B. L. (2015). Teaching adolescents EFL by integrating Think-Pair-
Share and reading strategy instruction: A quasi-experimental study. RELC Journal,
46(3), 221-235.
Shih, Y. C., & Reynolds, B. L. (2018). The effects of integrating goal setting and reading
strategy instruction on English reading proficiency and learning motivation: A quasi-
experimental study. Applied Linguistics Review, 9(1), 35-62.
Sparks, R. L., Patton, J., & Luebbers, J. (2018). L2 anxiety and the foreign language reading
anxiety scale: Listening to the evidence. Foreign Language Annals, 51(4), 738-762.

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Thoms, J. J., & Poole, F. (2017). Investigating linguistic, literary, and social affordances of
L2 collaborative reading. Language Learning and Technology, 21(2), 139.