2003

We want to preve in this study that giving students a choice in reading materials will enrich their vocabulary, and increase their motivation towards reading. We chose three intact groups of middle school students (12 to 14 years old) from an EFL Language class. The participants (N=22) were asked to look for new words found in books chosen by themselves (treatment groups) or assigned by the teacher (control group). Both control group and treatment groups were involved in vocabulary peer-evaluation and in designing the final written vocabulary test. Finally, they wrote a reflection on what they have learned and how they felt about being in this kind of educational experiment. We used the following methods to collect data: surveys, questionnaires, test design and quizzing, discussion groups and observations. In addition, we explored sorne teachers' beliefs towards reading. The results of our study, would have been strengthened by having base line data from a pre-test to compare with the post-test results. However, we conclude that the treatment groups showed an increase in vocabulary and a better attitude towards reqding due to ~tlO ice in reading materials.