Text Selection
Narrative text was determined as the material to help connect the learners’ reading
and writing literacy. Generally speaking, narrative text (i.e. fiction) is easier to
comprehend and remember than expository text (i.e. factual and informational
material) (Williams, 2000). In this study, all the students chose the literary texts from
Heinemann ELT Guided Readers Series and compiled a preference reading list. To
meet the diversity of the students’ proficiency levels, the instructor selected three
books among the list, according to the difficulty level, as the required reading
assignments for one semester. The first book, Nick McIver's love story, "Dear Jan…,"
was a beginner’s work with approximate 30 pages, 600-basic word vocabulary level.
The second book, "A Christmas Carol," written by Charles Dickens, has 58 pages
with 1200 vocabulary level. The last one was "Wuthering Heights," written by Emily
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Bronte, with approximately 90 pages, 2000 words of vocabulary range.