promoting extensive reading
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Promoting Extensive Reading. Rob Waring Extensive Reading Symposium Sookmyung University Nov 14, 2009. The aim of graded reading / ER. To recycle important and useful words and grammar time and time and time again to aid acquisition To provide massive fluent reading practice - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Rob Waring
Extensive Reading SymposiumSookmyung University Nov 14, 2009
The aim of graded reading / ERTo recycle important and useful words and grammar time and
time and time again to aid acquisitionTo provide massive fluent reading practiceTo build reading speedTo be enjoyable – so they read moreTo build depth of knowledgeTo consolidate and strengthen partly known language
Types of ERMinimum requirements for ER
Easy - no dictionary needed Fast - at a good speed and with minimum pauses High comprehension - almost everything is understood Fun – so they continue reading
VariablesNo assessment test / reports / exercisesSelf–selected teacher selected Lots of reading very littleOut of class reading In class readingNo follow up lots of follow up
(discussion / language work)
ER Program typesPurist ER program
Lots of self-selected reading at home with no / little assessment or follow up. Often is a stand-alone class.
Integrated ER programLots of self-selected reading at home and in class. Follow up
exercises / reports which aim to build the 4 skills.
Class reading - studyStudents read the same book and work through it slowly. Lots
of follow up / comprehension work and exercises.
ER as ‘literature’Students read the same book and discuss it as if it were a work
of literature.
ER / EL program types overviewPurist ER Integrated ER Class Reading ER as literature
Style Individual Individual Lock-step Lock-step
Amount of reading
Lots Lots Little Little
Speed Fast Fast Slow Slow
Control Student Student Teacher Teacher
Language focus No No Yes No
Follow up assessment
Little Little Lots Lots
Materials Library Library Class sets Class sets
Skill work Reading 3-4 skills 3-4 skills / language
1-3 skills
Class time needed
Little Little Lots Lots
ER program types - summary
Many different types of ER programDifferent aimsDifferent levels of involvement for teachers / studentsSome programs may adopt two or more types at the same
timeSome programs can start more easily than othersEach type is scalable – from a single class to a whole schoolNo ‘best’ type for all programs
Understanding their program
How much time does their curriculum allow?How flexible is it? How much time for homework? Make a new ER course? Add to an existing one?
Do they have suitable materials?Budget? (one off or recurring?) Staff?How will they manage the materials? Library? Class bags?What borrowing systems do they need?
How will the reading be assessed? Graded or not? Formal or informal assessment?
Ways to promote ER - EmotionalReading makes you smart
learn about the human conditionlearn about other cultures / places / people etc.
Reading is enjoyableit enriches your life and can open worlds
Reading is good language practice it’s the only realistic language skill most students may need
allows them to read web pages, magazines etc.
Ways to promote ER - LogicalCourse books only can introduce language elementsCourse books can’t teach everything – too much to learn / doVocabulary selection in courses tends to be topical and not
systematically selectedCourse books are mostly linear in design Typically, course books repeat the average word only 2-3 times
in the whole seriesCourse books don’t teach more than a few collocations,
sentence patterns and multi-word phrases
Comparison of IR and ER
Intensive reading Extensive reading
Language focus Why? Fluency meaning focus. ‘real reading’
Very little Amount? A book at week at their level
Hard Difficulty? Easy – so they can read fluently
Teacher Who selects? Student
Text books What? Materials at smooth reading level
In class Where? In class at first , then home reading
With exercises Comprehension check?
Not always necessary as students choose a book they can already read
Explain the differences between IR and ER
Ways to promote ER - MathematicalLearners need 8-9000 words to read native texts at 98%
coverage (i.e. with high levels of comprehension)Learners need about 2000 words to be intermediate levelIt takes 20-30 meetings with a word to learn it receptively (even
more for production)Graded readers recycle the vocabulary systematically by
frequency and usefulness to aid DEPTH of knowledge and allow learners to meet collocations, phrases and so on they won’t meet in course books
AB C (= 100 / B)
D (= x times C ) E (= D / Book length)
Word rankPercentage of
general English that
this word covers
Number of running words needed to be
met to meet all these words once
Volume of text you need to read to meet the words at these recurrence rates
Number of books to cover this volume given these recurrence rates
5 times 20 times 50 timesBook length 5 times
20 times 50 times
1st most frequent (the) 5.83898% 17 (1) 86 343 856 4,500 0.0 0.1 0.2
2nd most frequent (be) 5.12332% 20 98 390 976 4,500 0.0 0.1 0.2
25th (as) 0.44382% 225 1,127 4,506 11,266 4,500 0.3 1.0 2.5
50th (like) 0.24109% 415 2,074 8,296 20,739 4,500 0.5 1.8 4.6
100th (hear) 0.10505% 952 4,759 19,038 47,595 4,500 1.1 4.2 10.6
500th (present) 0.02477% 4,037 20,183 80,732 (4) 201,829 4,500 4.5 17.9 44.9
1000th (blood) 0.01172% 8,533 (3) 42,665 170,658 426,645 10,000 4.3 17.1 42.7
1500th (intent) 0.00677% 14,773 73,864 295,455 738,636 15,000 4.9 19.7 49.2
2000th (stumble) 0.00432% (2) 23,103 115,625 462,500 1,156,250 20,000 5.8 23.1 57.8
3000th (sergeant) 0.00211% 47,343 236,713 946,850 2,367,126 30,000 7.9 31.6 78.9
5000th (satellite) 0.00076% 132,143 660,714 2,642,857 6,607,143 80,000 8.3 33.0 82.6
10,000th (relativity) 0.00016% 632,895 3,164,474 12,657,895 31,644,733 80,000 39.6 158.2 395.6
Promoting ER – the data
Furukawa (2009) 2 years of ER gives 2nd grade JH students an equivalent
reading level of 3rd grade HS students (even taking into account time on task and extra time studying English)
Mogi (2008) “from the view point of neuroscience, the best way to make
progress in learning English is … to read as many English sentences as possible.”
Promoting ER – Showing how ER fitsCourse books and graded readers are two sides of the same coin
– they help each otherCourse books introduce languageGraded readers help deepen / strengthen this knowledge
Graded reading should be integrated into our courses. It should not be an option
Choose books at the right level for your students (so they can read fluently with high levels of understanding and without a dictionary)
Students need to learn to listen fluently too
Dealing with objections“The books are too easy and childish. They are not learning
anything.”-> easy is good - so they can build reading speed. Choose
books are at the student’s fluent reading level-> Native materials are too hard, demotivating, inappropriate-> ‘intermediate’ learners can’t read intermediate graded
readers“I’m not teaching so they aren’t learning”
-> our job is not to ‘teach’ but to help people learn, build independence, reading speed, fluency etc. etc.
“I don’t know how to do it, or where to get information”-> I’ll help
Dealing with objections II“Nice idea but I have no time in my course”
-> If you don’t have graded reading where will your students get the massive exposure they need?
-> How else will they get the ‘sense of language’ they need?“We don’t have the money for this”
-> Ask your schools to reallocate funds so this reading is done; ask for donations; get some free samples etc.
“We have to go through our set curriculum”-> Speak with your course designers to build in graded reading.
Re-allocate resources and re-set class hours“We have to prepare the students for tests”
-> Research shows students perform better on tests if they have a general sense of language, not a deconstructed ‘bitty’ one.
Why do ER programs fail?ER is optional. If it’s optional:
students will opt outthe message is ‘do the reading if you have time, it’s not as
important as other things’the administrators don’t see it as valuableit becomes a target to be cut out completely
ER should be REQUIRED. Requiring ER means:the teachers value this reading, so we want you to do it.it’s part of the full course work – and you’ll be graded on it.the students see it as ‘natural’ and ‘normal’ not an ‘option’
Why do ER programs fail II?Curriculum changes
Change to ‘test’ / speaking / CLT ….. focusER enthusiast leaves the school
Inappropriate materials Reading is too difficultAge inappropriateBooks don’t get replaced when lost
Starting badly Too fast, Too high, Too much to read too soonStudents don’t understand why they need ER
Promoting / adopting ERWork within the system – don’t expect miraclesUnderstand where teachers / institutions are coming from – find
out their aimsWhat is at stake for them / what would prevent them from
adopting ER? Solve those problems first.If they mistake the meaning of ER, then used the term ‘graded
reading’
Introducing ER to newbiesDemonstrate with an intensive reading book to show the
differences between ER and IRLeave publisher catalogs and ER booklets with themOffer to speak to their staff and students – set up workshopsShow them what you do, your library, your methods etcBe a contact point for their questionsDirect them to websites
http://www.extensivereading.net http://www.robwaring.org/er/http://www.erfoundation.orghttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExtensiveReading/http://www.seg.co.jp/sss/ (Japanese and English)
Things to recommend to newbiesStart small – their own class and then expand laterGo slowly at first – new things take timeLook for potential problems when expanding and think what
they can do about them. Help them with ideasExperiment with different styles of ER to see what suits them
and their learnersSet aims for the students, the program and themselvesBe aware that things don’t always go well – so they need your
support
HomeworkAim to improve / introduce ER at your own institutionsHelp another institution to start a programGive a talk / lecture about ER
Why do itHow to do it / setting up a programSelecting the best books / materials
Become a contact point in your local areaWrite an article on your ER program (ERJ???)Openly discuss successes and failuresWrite your own graded readersDo some ER action research
This presentation is available online along with other presentations. Feel free to use and abuse as you wish.
http://www.robwaring.org/presentations/http://www.robwaring.org/er/
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