Building Communicative Competence Through Extensive Reading

Abstract

Although implementing Extensive Reading (ER) worldwide has been becoming a trend in support of learning and teaching English, it seems hardly the case for Korea. The Korean students are often under extreme pressure on pursuing a higher education, meaning that their learning endeavors are primarily focused on receiving high marks on exams, especially the college entrance exams and standardized tests. Kim (1995) asserts that students studying English in Korea are unable to build communicative competence even after 10 years of formal education. More importantly, however, too much focus is put on grammar and translation with little consideration for real life communication. Because the college entrance exam is deemed as utmost importance in a Korean student’s life, much burden is put on his/her shoulders. Stemmed from this pressure, they are taught how to take tests, which seems almost automatized, overlooking the actual learning process of learning English. Korean students are often stressed and exhausted from school and private institutions to the point where they are dispirited about learning English upon taking the college entrance exam. Not only do they stop learning, despite years and years of education, they still cannot seem to communicate in English with foreigners.