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Making the Moves from Decoding to Extensive Reading with Young Learners: Insights from Research and Practice around the World

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International Perspectives on Teaching English to Young Learners

Part of the book series: International Perspectives on English Language Teaching ((INPELT))

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Abstract

The main theme of this chapter is supporting the progress of Young Learners from the first steps of learning to read in English towards independent reading in English. We will consider the support that children need in making the transitions from one stage to the other and the skills and knowledge that this requires from their teachers. The first part of the chapter identifies key issues and priorities in supporting young learners with reading in English, drawing upon research on this topic in a number of young learner contexts worldwide, while the second part illustrates how these inform the steps taken to successfully prepare and support young learners’ introduction to independent reading through an extensive reading programme in Hong Kong. The term ‘extensive reading’ is being used to mean independent reading of a variety of fiction and non-fiction text.

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© 2014 Wendy Arnold and Shelagh Rixon

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Arnold, W., Rixon, S. (2014). Making the Moves from Decoding to Extensive Reading with Young Learners: Insights from Research and Practice around the World. In: Rich, S. (eds) International Perspectives on Teaching English to Young Learners. International Perspectives on English Language Teaching. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137023230_2

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