Implementing a Literary Text Extensive Reading Program through Learning Logs

In: Qualitative report: an online journal dedicated to qualitative research and critical inquiry

Abstract

This article reports the findings of action research on the implementation of extensive reading to literary text (henceforth ER) with learning logs (henceforth LL). The research question was: In what ways do the students engage in comprehending literary texts through ER with learning logs? And what are students' reactions to these activities? The research was conducted in the English Language Education Study Program English Education Department of a state university in Indonesia in which twenty six students voluntarily participated in this study. The data of the research were collected from students' reflective journals and semi-structured interviews. The empirical findings show that the students engaged actively and autonomously in the literary text identifying, word defining, class presentation, vocabulary enforcement and reflection through literary text extensive reading (ER) program with learning logs (LL). The findings also reveal that through the use of scaffolding by teachers and peer support, the students were engaged in the discovery of English literature vocabulary by documenting unfamiliar or interesting words from their English literature reading texts. The students also enjoyed exploring the different meanings of vocabulary using electronic dictionaries and corpus software. Furthermore, the findings show that they had enhanced awareness of word classes, word orders, and word meanings. The research suggests that the use of learning logs has managed to engage the students in reading literary texts as meaning making and learning autonomy that expand their reading ability and lexico-grammatical repertoires.