{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125904"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125904","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Researching the effects of reading for pleasure in English on adult esl learners' acquisition of English","abstract":"Many experts in the field of second language acquisition believe that reading for pleasure in a second language facilitates learning of that language, that it may be even more valuable to the learner than direct instruction. Little empirical evidence exits, however, to imply the effectiveness of pleasure reading for adult second language learners. This study was conducted as a first step in searching for such evidence. A web survey was designed and run with 70 English as a Second Language learners, international graduate students at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, to identify all their English language learning activities (including three pleasure reading activities) and the amount they had engaged in each. The amount they had engaged in each activity was then correlated to proficiency, and the correlations compared. For the EFL period, the correlations of the three pleasure reading activities were weaker than or comparable to the correlations of most other communicative activities, but stronger than the correlations of almost all form-based activities. For the ESL period, correlations for the three PR activities were stronger than those for almost all other activities, either communicative or form-based.","abstract_html":"Many experts in the field of second language acquisition believe that reading for pleasure in a second language facilitates learning of that language, that it may be even more valuable to the learner than direct instruction. Little empirical evidence exits, however, to imply the effectiveness of pleasure reading for adult second language learners. This study was conducted as a first step in searching for such evidence. A web survey was designed and run with 70 English as a Second Language learners, international graduate students at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, to identify all their English language learning activities (including three pleasure reading activities) and the amount they had engaged in each. The amount they had engaged in each activity was then correlated to proficiency, and the correlations compared. For the EFL period, the correlations of the three pleasure reading activities were weaker than or comparable to the correlations of most other communicative activities, but stronger than the correlations of almost all form-based activities. For the ESL period, correlations for the three PR activities were stronger than those for almost all other activities, either communicative or form-based.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Maclin, Margorie J."],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Teaching English as an International Language","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Davidson, Fred"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003","date_published":"2003","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z","subjects":["Teaching English as Second Language","Reading Language Learning Activities","Proficiency Correlations"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright by Margorie J. Maclin, 2003"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125904","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Davidson, Fred"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Maclin, Margorie J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2003"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation/Thesis","text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Teaching English as an International Language"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Teaching English as Second Language","Reading Language Learning Activities","Proficiency Correlations"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by Margorie J. Maclin, 2003"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125904"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Many experts in the field of second language acquisition believe that reading for pleasure in a second language facilitates learning of that language, that it may be even more valuable to the learner than direct instruction. Little empirical evidence exits, however, to imply the effectiveness of pleasure reading for adult second language learners. This study was conducted as a first step in searching for such evidence. A web survey was designed and run with 70 English as a Second Language learners, international graduate students at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, to identify all their English language learning activities (including three pleasure reading activities) and the amount they had engaged in each. The amount they had engaged in each activity was then correlated to proficiency, and the correlations compared. For the EFL period, the correlations of the three pleasure reading activities were weaker than or comparable to the correlations of most other communicative activities, but stronger than the correlations of almost all form-based activities. For the ESL period, correlations for the three PR activities were stronger than those for almost all other activities, either communicative or form-based."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Researching the effects of reading for pleasure in English on adult esl learners' acquisition of English"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Davidson, Fred"],"dc:creator":["Maclin, Margorie J."],"dc:date":["2003"],"dc:description":["Many experts in the field of second language acquisition believe that reading for pleasure in a second language facilitates learning of that language, that it may be even more valuable to the learner than direct instruction. Little empirical evidence exits, however, to imply the effectiveness of pleasure reading for adult second language learners. This study was conducted as a first step in searching for such evidence. A web survey was designed and run with 70 English as a Second Language learners, international graduate students at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, to identify all their English language learning activities (including three pleasure reading activities) and the amount they had engaged in each. The amount they had engaged in each activity was then correlated to proficiency, and the correlations compared. For the EFL period, the correlations of the three pleasure reading activities were weaker than or comparable to the correlations of most other communicative activities, but stronger than the correlations of almost all form-based activities. For the ESL period, correlations for the three PR activities were stronger than those for almost all other activities, either communicative or form-based."],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125904"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by Margorie J. 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