Selecting extensive reading materials

[Ogrim]

According to Arguelles and Nation, to actually enjoy a book you need to understand at least 98% of the vocabulary.

I don't agree with this. If you already know 98% of the vocabulary you sure won't have any problem following the story, but to me that means that your reading skills are already at C1-C2 level, unless you are talking about really simple, adapted texts for beginners or intermediate learners. I have read a couple of books in my native language where I don't think I understood 98% of the vocabulary, because a lot of it was technical, related to agriculture, fishery or car manufacturing.

For me, extensive reading is not about never having to look up a word, but to be able to follow a story without looking up every single new word you come accross, because you will be able to deduct the meaning from context. I have read lots of books where my understanding ranges from, let's say 70% to 90% and I still have enjoyed them very much.

Last winter I read my first 400-page novel in Russian. I knew perhaps 50% of the words in the first two-three chapters, and I had to look up a lot of words. As my reading progress, I could understand more and more, having to consult the dictionary less and less. With 100 pages to go, I could read long sections without looking up a single word. Sure, it was not the same experience as reading in a language I know to an advanced level, but I did not expect it to be, and I could still enjoy the book, more and more as I progressed.

For me, enjoying a book is not about knowing all the vocabulary beforehand, it is about reading something that engages you and makes you want to continue reading. Your vocabulary will increase and your understanding progress as you go along. As Brun Ugle says, "almost by magic".

[reineke]

Thank you for the answers! Let me reformulate the questions, very briefly.

I watched some videos by Prof. Arguelles, and read some articles by Prof. Paul Nation. I would like to follow their advices for extensive reading, basically:

1) as Sizen wrote, you need to enjoy what you are reading. According to Arguelles and Nation, to actually enjoy a book you need to understand at least 98% of the vocabulary.

categorize books for vocabulary size.

The conclusion of some of these studies is that 98% is the lexical coverage for adequate comprehension. For reading to be considered a pleasurable activity some researchers (Hirsh and Nation, 1992) suggest that 98-99% coverage may be necessary (one unknown word in every 50). Arguelles cites Nation.

98% coverage amounts to one unknown word in 50 or seven-eight unknown words per average page. I don't know of a better way than eyeballing the text and deciding on my own comfort level.

If you want to follow Paul Nation's advice:

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/publications/paul-nation/foreign-language_1125.pdf

[kaffesugen get]

1) as Sizen wrote, you need to enjoy what you are reading. According to Arguelles and Nation, to actually enjoy a book you need to understand at least 98% of the vocabulary.

2) so, as Sizen wrote again (thank you Sizen ) you need to understand the content you're reading, at a precise level. You won't actually enjoy the reading process if you don't understand at least the 98% of the vocabulary. It's very interesting, in this video Prof Arguelles says, I don't remember at what point, that if we don't understand enough, we won't be able to follow the story and we will lose interest. And personally, I totally agree with this statement.

OK, if you want to determine if you understand enough of the vocabulary to find the book interesting, the by far easiest method would, in my opinion, be to try reading it and see if it is enjoyable. The whole business of 98% is very interesting from an academic viewpoint of second language acquisition, but nothing that any individual should follow slavishly (again, obviously, in my opinion).

[reineke]

I think that paz enjoys reading about the theory

http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/september_2011/prichard_matsumoto.pdf

"Considering that comprehension scores vary among learners with similar vocabularies, the variance is likely due to other factors mentioned above, such as background knowledge, grammar knowledge, motivation, and the task."

"While there is a clear and undeniable correlation between vocabulary and reading proficiency, it is an oversimplification to consider 95% or 98% coverage as an “all-or-nothing” threshold. Researchers have expressed doubts about using a specific threshold in research, but these numbers have continued to be used as a benchmark in research studies."

"As mentioned above, the meaning of threshold is ambiguous. It could refer to many coverage points:

Lower threshold: A percentage at which comprehension becomes possible; a percentage at which few learners below have any significant comprehension of the text (referred to by Hu & Nation, 2000, as potentially being between 80 and 90%)

Significant increase threshold: A coverage point above which learners’ mean comprehension increases significantly (95%, based on Laufer, 1989).

Adequate comprehension threshold: A percentage at which most learners achieve “adequate comprehension” (suggested as 95% in Laufer, based on 55% comprehension; hypothesized as 98% coverage in Hu & Nation based on 85% comprehension).

Upper threshold: A point above which an increase in coverage does not lead to improved comprehension (Laufer, 1992). If it exists, it is likely 98-99%.

Clearly, lexical coverage is complex and needs to be examined in more depth. One potential direct influence on lexical coverage that was not examined in the studies above is dictionary use. While not allowed on most proficiency tests and not preferable for extensive
reading for pleasure, dictionaries are commonly used by L2 readers in academic, professional, and personal settings. Not considering the influence of dictionary use ignores a potentially significant variable."

"The research studies described above suggest that there are some advantages, disadvantages, and a number of variables concerning the use of dictionaries for L2 readers. Considering the importance of lexical coverage, it could be concluded that dictionaries might effectively be used if learners’ look-up behavior increases their coverage to the 95-98% range."

The study

"Ninety-two to ninety-three percent coverage could be considered a significant threshold mark above which comprehension increases. Just one in seventeen learners below 92% reached an “adequate” comprehension score, while 11 of 32 learners above this mark did so. The mark of 92.75% is the only point at which the comprehension of learners below and above the mark are significantly different, based on t-tests (5.3/10 versus 6.3/10, p < .05). Nevertheless, the data reveals that 90-96% coverage was not enough for most learners."

[tiia]

When I'm looking for books, I always started reading the first page and some pages in the middle. If it seems comprehensible enough and interesting I take it. In the beginning I overestimated what I could read, but still chose the books which seemed to be as easy as possible. Just my level was too low. However, when I really started reading two years ago, the method worked perfectly. (I use a dictionary, when I feel like I have to, so not for every unknown word.)

I never calculated any percentages and the effort it might take to do so would be much more than just cross-reading.

[Montmorency]

For the moment I am thinking about:
A) Bilingual books, that are not so common
B) Graded books, that are quite expensive

I would like to know, since we have the possibility of finding huge amounts of free ebooks online, if you know a way to categorize books for vocabulary size.

I have found graded readers very useful, but there comes a time when you want to move on to "real books". As you suggest, parallel texts aren't all that common (or one can't find a parallel text of a book that you would actually want to read), but what are more common are translations, that you could read "side by side". Not quite as convenient as parallel texts, but it's doable.

I think Professor Arguelles has referred to using them himself (in addition to or as an alternative to parallel texts) when he is at an early stage in a language. As you may have heard him say, he never uses dictionaries at that stage.

I think if one has the assistance of either a parallel text or a separate translation, then the issue of vocabulary size becomes less important.

[rdearman]

I take whatever I can get. I'm not picky.

[lingua]

98% is ludicrous. A couple of years ago I read about a dozen Italian fiction books and what I found was that my comprehension improved as I got further into the book. Partly because I got used to the authors style and partly because authors have a tendency to use consistent phraseology so there is a certain amount of repetitiveness after a few chapters and partly because of understanding the context. I try to work out the meaning of unknown words from context and then may look them up to confirm. I'm correct more often than not.

I completely agree with Sizen's points. If you wouldn't enjoy the book in your native language than it's quite unlikely that you will like it in your target language. Also, study the sentence structure at the beginning of the book to get used to the authors style. I avoid translated books and old books. I want to learn the way the way the language is used today not 100 years ago.

[Cainntear]

1) as Sizen wrote, you need to enjoy what you are reading. According to Arguelles and Nation, to actually enjoy a book you need to understand at least 98% of the vocabulary.

Leaving aside the specifics of the figure and the subjectiveness of the term "enjoy", let me ask you this:

Do you have to enjoy the start of the book, or is enjoying the ending good enough?

When I've first read a novel in a new language, the first few chapter or two is a real drag. Slow, trudging, like being frog-marched through treacle. But if I persevere, it gets quicker and quicker, and as the writer's style becomes familiar and the vocab repeats, I start to understand more and more. Don't we only need to achieve the X% coverage by the last few chapters, once the action's hotting up?

For what it's worth, my first two books in Spanish were aimed at adolescents: La Ciudad de las Bestias and El Reino del Dragon de Oro by Isabel Allende. They were pretty straightforward adventure stories in the classic mold -- kids have an adventure and see things that the adults all miss and never know about. Wholesome messages about being responsible, generous and honest. Consciously written to be a good model of language and a good influence on the kids. Nothing completely unexpected to throw you or confuse you. But an engaging story nonetheless.
That's the sort of material that's ideal for the learner, I think.

(I really should get a copy of the third part of the trilogy some time...)

[neofight78]

On the percentage question, I think it's also important to understand your own tolerance for looking things up and/or being content reading without full comprehension. There's no point torturing yourself, on the other hand it's a skill that can be developed. But I know nothing as I've not yet left the realm of intensive reading