the missing piece of the puzzle the indisputable case for extensive reading tesol arabia - march 16,...
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The missing piece of the puzzle
The indisputable case for Extensive Reading
TESOL Arabia - March 16, 2013Dubai
Rob Waring
What do learners need to know?
Learners need 7000-8000 word families to read native novels with high vocabulary coverage (98%).About 2000 General Service word families occur in all types of English.Learners need ‘specialist words’ as well.There are two stages in word learning.
1. The form-meaning relationship (its pronunciation, spelling and meaning)2. The deeper word knowledge– its nuances and shades of meanings– Its derivations (useful, useless, uselessness, etc.)– its collocations and colligations (blonde hair but yellow car; rely on s/one) – if it’s typically spoken, or written– if it’s useful or rare, polite or pejorative, formal or informal– the discourse domains the word lives in (e.g. science, music, biology)
What collocations do they need to learn? 2
Verb uses of one word - Idea… “Abandon an idea.” abandon, absorb, accept, adjust to, advocate, amplify, advance,
back, be against, be committed/dedicated/ drawn to, be obsessed with, be struck by, borrow, cherish, clarify, cling to, come out/up with, confirm, conjure up, consider, contemplate, convey, debate, debunk, defend, demonstrate, develop, deny, dismiss, dispel, disprove, distort, drop, eliminate, encourage, endorse, entertain, explode, explore, expound, express, favor, fit, fit in with, follow up, form, formulate, foster, get, get accustomed/used to, get rid of, give up, go along with, grasp, hammer out, have, hit upon, hold, implement, imply, impose – on sb, incorporate, inculcate, instill, jot down, keep to, launch, meet, modify, negate, oppose, pick up, pioneer, plant, play with, popularize, present, promote, propose, put an end to, put forward, put – into practice, raise, refute, reinforce, reject, relish, resist, respond to, revive, ridicule, rule out, spread, squash, stick to, subscribe to, suggest, support, take to, take up, test, tinker with, toy with, turn down, warm to …
What collocations do they need to learn? 2Adjective uses. “An idea is ………...” abstract, absurd, advanced, ambitious, arresting, basic, bizarre, bold,
bright, brilliant, classical, clear, common, commonsense, confused, controversial, convincing, crazy, diabolical, disconcerting, elusive, enlightened, entrenched, exaggerated, extravagant, extreme, false, familiar, fantastic, far-fetched, feasible, feeble, fixed, flexible, foolish, grotesque, hazy, heretical, imaginative, inflated, ingenious, ingrained, innovative, instinctive, intriguing, irresponsible, mad, misconceived, mistaken, monstrous, new-fangled, novel, original, old-fashioned, outdated, out-of-date, outrageous, peculiar, persuasive, preconceived, preposterous, prevalent, provocative, (un)real, (un)realistic, remarkable, revolutionary, ridiculous, risky, sensible, silly, splendid, strange, striking, superficial, untenable, useful, vague, valid, well-defined …
What else do they need to know? 3Colligations
Give something to someoneDepend on someoneAllow someone to do somethingBe interested in something
Phrasal verbsGive in to, catch up with, bring about, play down
Idioms and expressionsLet the cat out of the bag, flash in the pan, slippery slopeA welcome change, to cut to the chase,
Plus THOUSANDS more
What else do they need to know? 4Lexical phrases and chunks of language
How’s things?I’d rather not … If it were up to me, I’d … So, what do you think? We got a quick bite to eat. What’s the matter? What do you mean by that?Well, what do you know? Look who’s just walked in…..
Plus THOUSANDS more
What else do they need to know? 5The grammar systems (e.g. the present perfect tense)
A government committee has been created to …He hasn’t seen her for a while, has he? No, he hasn’t.Why haven’t you been doing your homework?There’s been a big accident in Market Street.Have you ever seen a ghost?
It’s very hard to see the patterns – there are many forms:Statement, negative, yes/no and wh- question forms, Simple or continuousActive or passiveShort answers and questions tagsRegular and irregular - has vs. have walked vs. boughtPresent perfect for ‘announcing news’, PP for ‘experiences’, etc. etc.
The forms of the present perfect tense
I have given.You have given.He/she/it has given.We have given.They have given.Have I given?Have you given?Has he/she/it given?Have we given?Have they given?I haven’t given.You haven’t given.He/she/it haven’t given.We haven’t givenThey haven’t given.What have I given?What have you given?What has he/she/it given?What have we given?What have they given?
I have been given.You have been given.He/she/it has been given.We have been given.They have been given.Have I been given?Have you been given?Has he/she/it been given?Have we been given?Have they been given?I haven’t been given.You haven’t been given.He/she/it hasn’t been given.We haven’t been givenThey haven’t been given.What have I been given?What have you been given?What has he/she/it been given?What have we been given?What have they been given?
I have been giving.You have been giving.He/she/it has been giving.We have been giving.They have been giving.Have I been giving?Have you been giving?Has he/she/it been giving?Have we been giving?Have they been giving?I haven’t been giving.You haven’t been giving.He/she/it hasn’t been giving.We haven’t been givingThey haven’t been giving.Yes, I have. No, I haven’t.Yes, you have.No, you haven’t.Yes, he/she/it has.
No, he/she/it hasn’t.Yes, we have.No, we haven’t.Yes, they have.No, they haven’t……, have I?….., haven’t I?……, have you?……, haven’t you?….., has he/he/it?….., hasn’t he/she/it?….., have we?..…, haven’t we?….., have they?….., haven’t they?
What else do they need to know? 6
Discourse patterns and textual awarenessacademic vs narrative prose,norms for writing emails and lettersetc.
Cultural capitalbackground knowledgecultural knowledge, norms, precepts
Reading skills – skimming, scanning, Reading speed and fluency
etc…..
Much of language teaching and learning is…
Bitty, atomistic and largely unconnected to each otherTaught individually and sequentiallyUnsystematic and randomLike making a jigsaw without having the picture to guide you ..Like building a wall brick by brick but without the cement
How long will it take to teach this?
An average word needs 30-50 meetings for it to be learnt receptively from reading (more for productive use)Little research has been done into the rate learning of collocation, colligation or lexical phrases from readingWe know nothing at all about how long it takes to master a particular grammatical form e.g. a tense
A Typical Reading Text
Short textsShort texts
Many difficult words
Many difficult words
Many exercisesMany exercises
Definitions givenDefinitions given
How well are our courses presenting the language students need?
Research suggests an average language course:• does not systematically recycle the grammatical forms
outside the presentation unit / lesson• has an almost random vocabulary selection without much
regard to frequency or usefulness (mostly based on topic)• rarely, if ever, recycles taught words either later in the unit,
the book, or the series• provide minimal additional practice in review units or
workbooks• has an overwhelming focus on new material in each lesson
A linear structure to our syllabuses
• Each unit has something new• Little focus on the recycling of vocab, grammar and so on• The theory is “We’ve done that, they have learnt it, so we can move
on.” i.e. teaching causes learning
Unit 1
Be verb
Simple adjectives
Unit 2
Simple present
Daily routines
Unit 3
Present continuous
Sporting activities
Unit 4
can
Abilities
Unit 5
….
…..
What happens to things we learn?
• We forget them over time unless they are recycled and memories of them strengthened
• Our brains forget most of what we meet
Time
Knowledge The Forgetting Curve
What will naturally happen to the learning?
Unit 1
Be verb
Simple adjectives
Unit 2
Simple present
Daily routines
Unit 3
Present continuous
Sporting activities
Unit 4
can
Abilities
Unit 5
….
…..
What does this all imply?
A linear course structure • is focused on introducing new words and grammatical
features• does not fight against the forgetting curve • by its very design cannot provide enough repetitions of words
and grammar features for long-term acquisition to take place• is not focused on deepening and consolidating older
knowledge because the focus is always on new things
Does this mean course books are bad?
This is NOT a criticism of course books or courses. There’s too much to actually teach / learn.
– Thousands of words plus their collocations, multiple meaning senses etc.– Thousands of lexical phrases– The grammar systems – Phrases and expressions– The pronunciation, reading skills, listening skills etc. etc. etc.
No course book can teach all this.Course books are designed to introduce new language and give minimal practice with it not to deepen that knowledge.
So what needs to happen?
We have to ensure our curriculums and courses:• build in recycling and repetition of words and grammar
structures, language patterns, phrases• give students chances to see how the grammar, vocabulary
and expressions are used together in real discourse• give students chances to deepen and consolidate the
language they learn in their course books (or they forget it)• allow students to develop their own ‘sense’ of how the
language works• give students chances to use language rather than just study
about it
What is Extensive Reading?
When reading extensively, studentsRead something Enjoyably and quickly withAdequate comprehension so they Don’t need a dictionary
SSR = Sustained Silent ReadingSURF = Sustained Uninterrupted Reading for FunDEAR = Drop Everything And Read
What are graded readers?
• They are books written for learners of English written at various difficulty levels
• Level 1 books have very few words and only the simplest grammar
• Level 2 books have slightly harder vocabulary and grammar• Level 3 increases the difficulty … and so on• The students progress through the levels reading books that
mirror what they learnt in their course work
Course work and Graded Readers work together II
Level 1 books Level 2 books Level 3 books ….
Unit 1
Be verb
Simple adjectives
Unit 2
Simple present
Daily routines
Unit 3
Present continuous
Sporting activities
Unit 4
can
Abilities
Unit 5
….
…..
Graded readers
Graded readers are GRADED
Phonics Easy vocab More difficult vocabEasy grammar More difficult grammar
Nativebooks
Non-fiction too
Beginner level
Easy vocabularyPresent tenses onlyVery simple plot
High beginner level
Little bit more difficult vocabulary
More difficult grammarHarder plot
High Intermediate
• Some difficult vocabulary
• More difficult grammar
The number of words a learner will probably learn from course work plus graded readers
Probably known Partially Known Probably unknown
50+ 30-49 20-29 10-19 5-9 1-4 Total
Course book only 523 210 229 472 580 1,261 3,275
Data from Sequences, Foundations, Page Turners and Footprints by Heinle Cengage 225,000 60,800 570,000 174,000 (=1,029,000)
Add one reader a
week1,023 283 250 539 570 1,325 3,990
Add two readers a
week1,372 380 367 694 877 2,882 6,572
The aim of graded reading
• To recycle important and useful words and grammar time and time and time again to aid acquisition
• To provide massive fluent native-like reading practice• To build reading speed• To be enjoyable – so they read more• To build depth of knowledge• To consolidate and strengthen partly known language• To build cultural capital and background knowledge• To raise discourse competence
What’s the optimum vocabulary coverage for building fluency?
SlowReading speed
High
% of known vocabulary100%
LowComprehension
High
90% 98%
ReadingPain
(too hard, poor comprehension,
high effort,de-motivating)
Intensive reading
(Instructional level, can learn new words and grammar)
Speed reading practice
(very fast, fluent, high
comprehension, natural reading,
enjoyable)
Extensive reading
(fast, fluent, adequate
comprehension, enjoyable)
Reading at the right level
How much reading should they do?
About a book a week or more.Beginners - A book at week at their ability level• They can meet unknown words easily, so they don’t need to
read much.Intermediates - A book at week at their ability level• They don’t meet unknown words all the time, but their books
are thicker, so they are reading more.Advanced – 2 books at week at their ability level• They rarely meet unknown words, so they have to read more
to meet language they don’t know.
Some objectionsNice 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.
Summary• Course books and graded readers are two sides of the same
coin – they help each other• Graded (extensive) 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.
Extensive Reading Foundation Congress
September 13-15, Seoul Korea
www.ER-Central.com
The go-to place for all our Extensive Reading needs
About us
Extensive Reading Central is:• a brand new website developed for the ER community by EFL Technologies•completely free•still building the site, so bear with us as we add content.
www.er-central.com
Finally…
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www.er-central.comThank you for listening