Extensive Reading for Korean EFL Learners:Motivation as an Investment in Cultural Capital

Extensive Reading for Korean EFL Learners:Motivation as an Investment in Cultural Capital

This study describes the process of implementing an after-school extensive reading program for Korean high school students. During a two-year period, the researcher set up an extensive reading program as an extracurricular activity for a group of Korean high school students who volunteered to participate in the program. In addition, the program operated as a teaching practica for MA TESOL students who were enrolled in the course as partial fulfillment for their MA degree. In order to practice their teaching skills in an authentic learning environment, the MA students took on the role of the teachers of the extensive reading program. The MA students met with the high school students once a week for approximately eight weeks each semester and guided them with extensive reading activities based on the weekly reading assignments. Drawing from the researcher's observations, excerpts from the MA students' online journals along with excerpts from a semi-structured interview with a high school student and his mother, this study concludes with implications to consider for implementing an extensive reading program for Korean high school students.