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/

waring_robert@yahoo.com

Thank you for listening