Enhancing Young Learners' Reading Comprehension And The Ability To Use Vocabulary Through A Big Book Approach

Reading is an important skill in the process of language learning and is a crucial activity in English as foreign language (EFL) classrooms. According to relevant studies on foreign language acquisition and child psychology, teaching reading through a big book approach (BBA) can not only stimulate the young learner's motivation, but also enhance students' reading comprehension and enlarge their vocabulary.Based on the previous studies and theoretical framework of teaching children to read, the research of young learners around 9 years old was undertaken to examine the effect of teaching reading with BBA in EFL classrooms. The research lasted for 10 months. It was an exploration in teaching young learners reading, and to see whether the results of the reading program can be adapted to the non-native young learners as well as the native young learners. Data was collected through a variety of instruments: pre- and post-tests, student questionnaire and interviews. The most important factor in the research was the subjects in the Experimental Class who were highly motivated in the big book-based reading and made great progress in their reading comprehension and vocabulary expansion. Compared with the scores in the pre-test, the subjects achieved higher scores in the post-test. Not only did the research present the effectiveness of teaching reading through BBA, but the adoption of native materials for native children around 4 or 6 years old also proved to be effective for non-native learners around 9 years old.