A case study on how extensive reading develops students’ background knowledge and contributes to the content knowledge of classroom discussion

Abstract

The study investigates how extensive reading (ER) develops students’ background knowledge and how it contributes to the content knowledge of the classroom discussion. The study was conducted at one of MARA colleges at the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia involving 12 semester 4 students. The students completed the Reading Response Journal after their ER process. The findings of the study showed that ER allowed the students to develop their background knowledge through developing new ideas and concept, improving their understanding of the content knowledge, expanding their knowledge by viewing new standpoints and perspectives of the content knowledge, and supporting their ideas or premises with relevant information and reference to others’ work. ER allowed the students to develop their background knowledge and assist them in reading independently. This study implicates that the use of ER can help students in preparing the relevant content for their group discussions.