Seven Keys to a Successful Extensive Reading
Program
Akio FURUKAWA
SEG, JAPAN
fakio@seg.co.jp
We
have implemented an English program based on extensive reading (ER) and
listening for students from grades 7 to 12. In our program, students read an
average of more than 500,000 words per year. Some students, starting from the
reading level of Oxford Reading Tree Stage 1, reach the reading level of
the Harry Potter series in two years. The seven keys to building a
successful ER program are: 1) the SSS (Start with Simple Stories) method, 2)
in-class reading and listening, 3) out-of-class reading and listening, 4)
teacherfs advice on choosing books, 5) teaching grammar and vocabulary, 6)
opportunities to speak and write, and 7) support from parents and administrators.
Introduction
SEG
is a juku, or tutorial school, in
Tokyo for 7th to 12th graders who would like to learn
English or math in addition to their ordinary school lessons. We started an
ER-based English program in 2002. The number of our ER class students has been
increasing since 2004, as the following table shows.
Table 1: Number of Students in the ER Program
|
@ |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|
7th Grade |
6 |
12 |
55 |
68 |
106 |
177 |
247 |
211 |
|
8th Grade |
@ |
@ |
@ |
49 |
77 |
118 |
199 |
262 |
|
9th Grade |
@ |
@ |
@ |
@ |
52 |
76 |
129 |
181 |
|
10th Grade |
@ |
@ |
36 |
33 |
21 |
79 |
131 |
183 |
|
11th Grade |
@ |
14 |
4 |
@ |
@ |
21 |
91 |
112 |
|
12th Grade |
@ |
@ |
@ |
@ |
15 |
8 |
19 |
77 |
|
Other |
40 |
36 |
47 |
48 |
58 |
36 |
@ |
@ |
|
TOTALS |
46 |
62 |
142 |
198 |
329 |
515 |
816 |
1,026 |
Outline of the SEG English Programs in 2011
Our
English programs are one-year programs for 7th to 12th
graders. Most of our students start our program in March, but every month some
students join the program. Some take only seasonal 4 or 5 day classes, and some
skip these seasonal classes because of school club activities or study-abroad
programs. Here are some facts about our school:
- The number of students
on April 30, 2011 was 1,024.
- The number of classes
on April 30, 2011 was 106.
- The average number of
students per class is 9.67.
- There are 48 lessons
in an academic year: 29 weekly lessons and 19 seasonal intensive lessons.
- Each lesson is 160
minutes long. Half of the lesson is extensive reading and listening conducted
by Japanese teachers, and the other half is grammar, oral communication, and
writing, mainly conducted by native English speaking teachers.
- There are three levels
in each grade: basic, standard, and advanced.
Environment
Here
are some additional facts about the ER program:
- There are 18
classrooms dedicated to the ER program.
- Each classroom has a class
library with an average of 20,000 books.
- The total number of
books in the ER program is about 400,000.
- The book budget is
40,000,000 yen ($500,000) per year. This represents about 12.5% of the
total income from the ER department,
which generates about $4,000,000 annually.
- 24 Japanese teachers
and 14 foreign teachers work in the program.
- 3 staff members
maintain the ER library.
Average Total Number of Words Read in the Program
Table
2 below shows the number of students who handed in a reading record (N), the average total number of words
they read in our ER program (Words),
the average number of months that the students have been enrolled in the ER
program (M), and the average number
of words they read per month (W/M)
for all the students. The table shows the data for the top 25% and bottom 25%
of students (in total number of words) for each grade.
Table 2: Average Numbers of Words that
Students Have Read in the Program (Aug, 2011)
|
|
|
Whole |
Top 25% |
Bottom 25% |
||||||
|
|
N |
Words |
M |
W/M |
Words |
M |
W/M |
Words |
M |
W/M |
|
Grade 7 |
198 |
145,584 |
5.3 |
27,457 |
296,369 |
5.7 |
52,306 |
43,192 |
4.6 |
10,365 |
|
Grade 8 |
246 |
582,009 |
14.5 |
39,753 |
1,188,460 |
17.6 |
68,180 |
176,140 |
10.0 |
22,785 |
|
Grade 9 |
173 |
985,645 |
20.7 |
48,170 |
2,236,922 |
26.5 |
93,330 |
199,418 |
9.8 |
25,641 |
|
Grade 10 |
178 |
991,991 |
18.7 |
49,833 |
2,202,633 |
33.7 |
71,296 |
172,635 |
5.6 |
30,690 |
|
Grade 11 |
113 |
1,173,924 |
23.8 |
61,553 |
2,936,262 |
40.5 |
96,633 |
1,063,040 |
7.7 |
36,529 |
|
Grade 12 |
76 |
1,176,535 |
29.3 |
43,255 |
1,360,072 |
32.8 |
51,100 |
264,577 |
27.3 |
33,273 |
Note
that even the 7th graders who started learning English in March read
an average of more than 130,000 words within 6 months. Our students in grades
eight to twelve read an average of more than 500,000 words in one year.
The
diagram at the right is a scatter plot which shows the relation between the
total number of words our ER students had read by August 2011 and their scores
on the ACE test in July 2011, where the unit for the number of words read is
one million.
Goals of a Successful ER Program
What are the goals of a successful ER program? I believe the characteristics of a successful ER program are as follows:
1 At least 50% of the participants in the program read 600,000 words in just 2 years.
2 At least 50% of them reach the reading level of Oxford Bookworms Stage 1 in just 2 years.
3 At least 5% of them reach the
reading level of Harry Potter in only three years
What are the Keys to a Successful ER program?
We
are still developing our ER-based English program and we have a long way to go,
but with respect to the total number of words our students have read, we
believe that our ER program is the most successful one in Japan.
We
will briefly describe the keys to our program. They are 1) the SSS (Start with
Simple Stories) method, 2) in-class reading and listening, 3) out-of-class
reading and listening, 4) teacherfs advice for choosing books, 5) teaching
grammar and vocabulary, 6) opportunities to speak and write, and 7) support
from parents and administrators.
1 The SSS (Start with Simple Stories)
Method
The
Start with Simple Stories Method was first advocated by Mr. Kunihide Sakai and myself
in 2001. Before then, it was widely believed among English teachers that
students should start extensive reading at one level below their intensive
reading level. For example, if students were using a course book at the level
of Penguin Readers Level 3, it was believed that they should start their
extensive reading with Penguin Readers Level 2.
In
Japan, course books in high schools and universities are generally extremely
difficult for students to understand without translation. So I believe that we
should start with simpler stories like Oxford Reading Tree, Foundations
Reading Library or Building Blocks Library.
If
we start with very simple stories, our students can read quickly and easily
without translation, and they will develop confidence in being able to read
English materials without using dictionaries.
My Advice about the SSS Method
1@Oxford Reading Tree is the best series for beginners because it starts with very short stories
of less than 50 words. Because of the illustrations, even complete beginners in
English can understand the content very well. However, there are many other
series that complete beginners can read easily. So you don't have to start with
Oxford Reading Tree in your program.
2@Although Oxford Reading Tree appeals to most
beginners, some of them do not like it. For these students, you should
recommend another series such as Longman Literacy Land.
3@Oxford Reading Tree is becoming very popular in Japan, so some students may have already
read it before entering your ER program. In this case, you should have
them read other book series.
4@If every student can read Penguin Readers
Easystarts easily, you do not have to start with Oxford Reading Tree in
your classroom.
5@In Oxford Reading Tree, there are large gaps
between stages 4 and 5 and between stages 6 and 7. To bridge these gaps, you
need to use other readers, such as Springboard, Building Blocks Library, I
Can Read Books, Rookie Readers, and Welcome Books.
6 Your goal is to enable your students to read authentic readers such as Harry
Potter, Eragon, Twilight,
Percy Jackson, etc. To have the students reach this reading level,
you should have them read at least 100,000 words before finishing Oxford
Reading Tree Stage 9.
2 In-class Reading and Listening
Japanese
students these days are extremely busy from their schoolwork and afterschool
club activities. Therefore, it is impossible to have all our students read on
their own at home every week. To be honest, only about one-third of the
students in our program read English books at home. Therefore, it is essential
to have them read in class. We allow our students at least one hour for reading
in each lesson. This means that they have at least 48 hours for reading per
year. The students who have had more than six monthsf extensive reading
experience can read English at a rate of at least 80 words per minute, which
amounts to over 4,800 words per lesson, or 230,400 words per year. Most of our
students can read more than 160 words per minute, which translates to over
460,800 words per year in class. If we do not provide sufficient time for
reading, it is clear that students cannot read enough to reach a high reading
level.
My Advice
about In-class Reading and Listening
1 Provide your students
with enough books so that they can read for a continuous period of at least 20
minutes. This will allow you to observe their reading, which is quite
important.
2 Observe their speed of
reading. If it is too fast or too slow, there is a problem.
3 Share your comments
about the books with the students. They will feel encouraged if they know you
are also a reader of the same book.
4 Ask your students if
they enjoy reading or feel that reading is hard.
5 Ask your students
which genre they would like to read.
6 Have the students
maintain reading records and ask them for comments about books they have read.
7 Advise your students
about which books they should read next. To give them appropriate advice, you
need to be familiar with the books in your library.
8 Have your students
read books while listening to any accompanying CDs as much as possible. This
helps the students to read books without translation. Portable CD players are a
very useful and inexpensive tool for just this purpose.
3 Out-of-Class Reading and Listening
During
the school year when classes at junior and senior high schools are in session, two
thirds of the students in our extensive reading program do not have time to
read outside the ER class. However, consider the following two significant
facts: First, the other one third of the students are highly motivated and read
a lot outside class. Second, almost all the students read on their own when
there are no classes at school. It is obvious that we should lend as many books
as possible to all our students. In our experience, some 7th graders
read more than 100 titles a week and some 9th and 10th
graders read more than 100,000 words a week. If the students are provided with
a sufficient library of books, they can achieve significant progress in their
reading milestones.
Let
us now examine the reading records of three highly motivated students from our
ER program.
This
student started ER with Oxford Reading Tree Stage 1 on March 1, 2009,
when she was in the last month of grade 6. She reached the reading level of Harry
Potter in December 2010. After that, she read more than 400,000 words every
month. She read more than 800,000 words in May 2011. In August 2011, she
reached a total of 6,071,242 words. She was able to reach this level even
though she had never lived overseas.
Table 3: Reading Record after 27 months (May 2011)
|
Grade 9, Female, Started ER on 01/Mar/2009 |
|||||
|
Date |
Title |
@ |
YL |
Length |
Total
Amount |
|
1-May |
Girls Under Pressure |
JW |
5.0 |
44,752 |
4,337,873 |
|
2-May |
Girls Out Late |
JW |
5.0 |
46,000 |
4,383,873 |
|
5-May |
Girls in Tears |
JW |
5.0 |
32,000 |
4,415,873 |
|
6-May |
Hunters of the Dusk |
DS7 |
5.0 |
38,132 |
4,454,005 |
|
9-May |
Inkspell |
IKH2 |
7.0 |
182,079 |
4,636,084 |
|
11-May |
Allies of the Night |
DS8 |
5.0 |
39,000 |
4,675,084 |
|
14-May |
sraveling
Pants |
TP1 |
4.5 |
54,763 |
4,729,847 |
|
16-May |
House at Pooh Corner |
PO2 |
5.0 |
25,312 |
4,755,159 |
|
18-May |
Killers of the Dawn |
DS9 |
5.0 |
40,000 |
4,795,159 |
|
21-May |
Second Summer |
TP2 |
5.0 |
76,677 |
4,871,836 |
|
23-May |
Inkdeath |
IKH3 |
7.0 |
188,944 |
5,060,780 |
|
29-May |
Lake of Souls |
DS10 |
5.0 |
39,000 |
5,099,780 |
|
TOTAL |
@ |
@ |
@ |
806,659 |
@ |
This
next student started ER with Oxford Reading Tree Stage 2 on March 25,
2010, when she was in the last month of grade 7. She reached the reading level
of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in October 2010 after reading
1,532,833 words. In August 2011, she reached a total of 5,702,412 words. She
first started to learn English when she entered junior high school.
Table 4: Reading Record after 15 months (May
2011)
|
Grade 9, Female, Started ER on 25/Mar/2010 |
|||||
|
Date |
Title |
|
YL |
Length |
Total Amount |
|
1-May |
Prisoner of Azkaban |
HP |
7.0 |
107,253 |
4,304,414 |
|
2-May |
Toothpaste Millionaire |
Merrill |
4.0 |
17,067 |
4,321,481 |
|
3-May |
Otherwise knows as Shelia |
FDG2 |
4.0 |
26,519 |
4,348,000 |
|
5-May |
Number the Stars |
Lowry |
4.5 |
21,000 |
4,369,000 |
|
7-May |
Nelson's Dream |
CER6 |
6.0 |
29,299 |
4,398,299 |
|
8-May |
Tales of Fourth Grade |
FDG1 |
4.0 |
23,394 |
4,421,693 |
|
9-May |
Four Weddings and a Funeral |
PGR5 |
5.0 |
17,678 |
4,439,371 |
|
10-May |
An Education |
SCE3 |
3.8 |
14,553 |
4,453,924 |
|
15-May |
Great Blue Yonder |
|
6.0 |
59,000 |
4,512,924 |
|
21-May |
Leaving Microsoft |
PGR3 |
3.2 |
14,017 |
4,526,941 |
|
22-May |
House at Pooh Corner |
YHL |
5.0 |
25,760 |
4,552,701 |
|
22-May |
Rachel Carson |
RKR |
1.0 |
483 |
4,553,184 |
|
22-May |
Bad Kitty Gets a Bath |
BK |
1.7 |
2,211 |
4,555,395 |
|
28-May |
Romeo and Juliet |
BCT2 |
3.0 |
5,500 |
4,560,895 |
|
28-May |
When You Reach Me |
Stead |
4.0 |
39,247 |
4,600,142 |
|
TOTAL |
|
|
|
402,981 |
|
The
following student started ER with Foundations Reading Library Level 1 on
March 25, 2010, when he was in the last month of grade 9. He reached the
reading level of Deltora Quest in August 2010 after reading 2,378,471
words. In August, 2011, after finishing The Hobbit, he reached a total
of 12,679,912 words. He first started learning English when he entered junior
high school.
Table 5: Reading Record after 15 months (May 2011)
|
Grade 11, Male, Started ER on 25/Mar/2010 |
|||||
|
Date |
Title |
|
YL |
Length |
Total Amount |
|
8-May |
Sherlock Holmes |
Doyle |
7.0 |
703,080 |
9,501,632 |
|
10-May |
Momo |
Ende |
6.5 |
67,000 |
9,568,632 |
|
13-May |
Little Charo 2-1 |
NHK |
3.0 |
18,000 |
9,586,632 |
|
13-May |
Barcelona |
FPR7 |
4.5 |
1,721 |
9,588,353 |
|
15-May |
A Faraway Island |
Thor |
5.0 |
52,706 |
9,641,059 |
|
19-May |
Leaving Microsoft |
PGR3 |
3.2 |
14,017 |
9,655,076 |
|
26-May |
Glass Castle |
Walls |
7.0 |
99,409 |
9,754,485 |
|
27-May |
Book of Shadows |
SWP1 |
4.0 |
44,209 |
9,798,694 |
|
30-May |
Coven |
SWP2 |
4.0 |
45,507 |
9,844,201 |
|
TOTAL |
|
|
|
1,045,649 |
|
Note
that most of the books the students read are authentic readers. Authentic
readers are more popular with our students than graded readers and 70% of the
books in our library consist of authentic readers, including picture books and
graphic novels.
We
recommend that our students read as many easy books as possible and that they
read a variety of books. When students have not yet reached 2,000,000 words,
half of the books they read are graded readers from ELT publishers and the
other half are authentic readers for native English speaking children. But when
they read more than 2,000,000 words, most of the books they read are authentic
readers.
Ultimately,
we would like our students to reach the reading level of authentic books for
young adults such as Harry Potter as soon as possible, although in many
cases, it may take at least one and a half years to reach that goal. This clear
and attractive objective in our program motivates our students to read more.
The following is a list of authentic book series that are popular in our
classroom, arranged in increasing level of difficulty:
(1) Oxford
Reading Tree, Curious George, Winnie the Witch, Henry and Mudge
(2) Usborne Young
Reading, Nate the Great, Ricky Ricotta Mighty Robot
(3) Magic Tree
House, A to Z Mysteries, My Weird School, Zack Files
(4) The Secrets
of Droon, Dragon Slayersf Academy, Geronimo Stilton
(5) Full House,
Gifted, Alex Rider, Mates Dates, Princess Diaries
(6) Girl 15,
Traveling Pants, Deltora Quest, Darren Shan, Haruhi Suzumiya
(7) Harry Potter,
Percy Jackson, Twilight, Eragon, Demonata
Although
authentic readers are more popular among high level students, we recommend that
they also read a graded reader every two months. Completing a graded reader
fairly easily will contribute to their sense of achievement.
The
following tables are from a 7th grade student who started learning
English and extensive reading at the end of March 2011. The numbers in the
first column indicate the number of books he has read, and the underlined
numbers show that they were read out of class. It is not uncommon for students
at our school to read extensively at home, especially when their regular school
is not in session.
Table 6: Reading Record of the First Day of ER (March 2011)
Makoto
had almost no experience learning English when he was in elementary school. He
read 13 books, or 281 words, in class and 10 books, or 317 words, at home on
the first day of the ER program.
In
2011, the last day of our first term was July 2, which was one week later than
in previous years because of the Great East Japan Earthquake. At the end of the
term, Makoto spent two weeks preparing for his end-of-term exams at his junior
high school. After he finished his exams on July 17, he restarted his reading
as follows:
Table 7: Reading Record after 6 months of ER Experience
|
|
Grade 7, Male, Started ER on
25/Mar/2011 |
|||||
|
|
Date |
Title |
|
YL |
Length |
Total Amount |
|
449 |
2-Jul |
The Lost Key |
ORT7 |
0.7 |
1,050 |
79,902 |
|
450 |
19-Jul |
Collection FRL1 |
FRL1 |
0.6 |
3,361 |
83,263 |
|
451 |
20-Jul |
Danger! Keep Out |
BBL6 |
0.6 |
593 |
83,856 |
|
452 |
29-Jul |
Collection FRL2 |
FRL2 |
0.7 |
4,294 |
88,150 |
|
453 |
31-Jul |
Collection FRL4 |
FRL4 |
0.8 |
8,076 |
96,226 |
|
454 |
31-Jul |
Ski Race |
MMR1 |
0.8 |
448 |
96,674 |
|
455 |
31-Jul |
The Well |
MMR1 |
0.8 |
948 |
97,622 |
|
456 |
1-Aug |
Collection FRL3 |
FRL3 |
0.8 |
4,719 |
102,341 |
|
457 |
1-Aug |
Madagascar |
SPR1 |
0.7 |
560 |
102,901 |
|
458 |
1-Aug |
Collection FRL5 |
FRL5 |
1.0 |
9,271 |
112,172 |
|
459 |
2-Aug |
Flying Home |
PGR0 |
0.8 |
974 |
113,146 |
|
460 |
2-Aug |
The Motorway |
ORT7 |
0.8 |
883 |
114,029 |
|
461 |
2-Aug |
The Bully |
ORT7 |
0.8 |
852 |
114,881 |
|
462 |
2-Aug |
The Hunt for Gold |
ORT7 |
0.8 |
916 |
115,797 |
|
463 |
2-Aug |
Chinese Adventure |
ORT7 |
0.8 |
880 |
116,677 |
|
464 |
2-Aug |
Roman Adventure |
ORT7 |
0.8 |
600 |
117,277 |
|
465 |
2-Aug |
Roommates |
CPT1 |
1.2 |
4,217 |
121,494 |
|
466 |
3-Aug |
John Cook 1,2 |
JC |
1.2 |
1,409 |
122,903 |
|
467 |
3-Aug |
Magical Animals |
UYR1 |
1.4 |
1,600 |
124,503 |
|
468 |
3-Aug |
Mr Cool |
IAR |
1.2 |
1,520 |
126,023 |
|
469 |
3-Aug |
Small Bad Wolf |
IAR |
1.2 |
1,300 |
127,323 |
|
470 |
3-Aug |
Noisy Neighbours |
IAR |
1.2 |
1,580 |
128,903 |
|
471 |
3-Aug |
Scaredy Dog |
IAR |
1.2 |
1,400 |
130,303 |
|
472 |
4-Aug |
The Lost Wallet |
FRL6 |
1.1 |
2,590 |
132,893 |
|
473 |
4-Aug |
No, You Can't |
FRL6 |
1.1 |
2,345 |
135,238 |
|
474 |
4-Aug |
Does He Love Me? |
FRL6 |
1.1 |
2,633 |
137,871 |
|
475 |
4-Aug |
The Jigsaw Puzzle |
ORT7 |
0.8 |
854 |
138,725 |
|
476 |
4-Aug |
Stories of Robots |
UYR1 |
1.4 |
1,600 |
140,325 |
|
477 |
4-Aug |
The Clumsy Crocodile |
UYR1 |
1.4 |
1,600 |
141,925 |
|
478 |
7-Aug |
A Helping Hand |
FRL6 |
1.1 |
2,590 |
144,515 |
|
479 |
7-Aug |
Trouble at Sea |
FRL6 |
1.1 |
2,301 |
146,816 |
|
|
E |
E |
|
|
|
E |
|
485 |
9-Aug |
The Dinosaur Next Door |
UYR1 |
1.4 |
1,600 |
170,534 |
|
|
E |
E |
|
|
|
E |
|
496 |
10-Aug |
The Evil Genie |
ORT8 |
0.9 |
1,294 |
183,066 |
My Advice
about Out- of-Class Reading
1 Motivation levels at
the beginning of the course are usually high, so it is crucial to lend the
students as many books as possible during this period. For this reason, you
should purchase at least three copies of each popular title for your library.
In fact, we have purchased 100 copies each for our most popular titles.
2 Purchase as many books
as possible. If you have n students and you would like to lend x books to each
student, you need at least 2nx books in your library. At SEG, about 1,000
students borrow an average of 10 books every week, so at any one time almost
10,000 books are in the possession of the students.
3 Choose appropriate
books for each student. During in-class reading, students can change books, but
they cannot change books at home. Therefore, you should lend the students books
that are easy for them to read. It is also a good idea to lend them an upper
level book, a middle level book, and a lower level book simultaneously.
4 Do not test your
students on their reading. Instead, let them share their feedback on their
reading with you. If students feel that their teacher doubts that they have
really read a book, this may demotivate them.
5 Make plans to improve
the reading level for each student. Your students will be motivated if you give
them a clear goal and show them a way to reach it.
4 Teacherfs Advice for Choosing Books
This
shows that although the scores and the total number of words read have a
positive correlation, it is not a strong correlation, and there are some
students who did not get good ACE scores despite having done a lot of
reading. In [1], I presented
Furukawa's Hypothesis:
The
increase in English ability is proportional to (Number of words) ~ (Level of
understanding)4
This
claims that if a student reads a book with 10,000 words with 80% understanding,
then his/her increase in English ability is proportional to 10,000~(0.8) 4
= 4096, and, if the same student reads another book with 20,000 words with 50%
understanding, then his/her increase in English ability is proportional to
20,000~(0.5) 4 = 1250.
Therefore,
it is very important to give appropriate books to each student, so that every
student is able to read the books with high understanding.
Besides,
even intermediate level students who can read B1/B2 level readers are unable to
choose appropriate books on their own. Even if they have read more than
3,000,000 words, they still have fairly little experience reading in English.
When choosing books in their native language, people can get information from
newspapers, magazines, TV and radio programs, and friends and family members.
If our students read English newspapers, magazines, books, watch English TV
dramas, and talk with friends in English in their everyday life, they can
choose appropriate books on their own. But most students are not in this situation,
so the teacherfs advice for choosing books is one of the most important keys to
a successful ER program.
To
recommend appropriate books for each student, we have to know the reading level
of each title and some basic information about it. It is impossible to read
every title in our library, but we should read at least 5% of the titles in our
library to confirm the content and the reading level of each title. To indicate
the reading level, at the SSS group we created the Yomiyasusa Level (YL) system.
The Japanese word yomiyasusa can be
translated as greadabilityh. There are many reading level systems, such as the
Lexile Level, but we think they are not reliable for Japanese learners of
English. For example, according to Scholastic Counts (http://src.scholastic.com), Ruby the
Red Fairy in Rainbow Magic has a Lexile Level of 520L, and Dinosaurs
Before Dark in Magic Tree House has a level of 240L. But most
Japanese learners of English, both students and adults, feel that Ruby the
Red Fairy is easier than Dinosaurs Before Dark. Based on their
feelings, we assigned a YL of 2.0 to Ruby the Red Fairy and a YL of 2.5
to Dinosaurs Before Dark.
The
YL system is becoming a de-facto standard for bookstores and libraries in
Japan. You can get YLs for many titles at http://www.seg.co.jp/sss/reading_level/A/index.shtml.
My Advice
about Choosing Books for Each Student
1 Choose several books
from the same reading level and have your students choose the one they wish to
read. In this way, they feel they have the freedom to choose, but there is no
risk that they might select books that are too difficult.
2 Select books from the
r +1, r, and r -1 levels, where r indicates the appropriate reading level for
each student, r+1 a slightly higher reading level, and r-1 a slightly lower
one. Students can challenge
themselves with the higher level r+1 books, read comfortably with the r books,
and read confidently with the r-1 books.
3 In the case of
out-of-class reading, you should be more careful in choosing books for the
students, as they cannot change these books until they return to class.
Therefore, you should choose easy books for them to take home or use the technique
mentioned above.
4 Check the students'
reading records. Have the students write down their favorite books in their
native language. Talk with your students about the books they read. Choose
titles whose themes might interest the students. In our ER program, some
students mainly read otaku books translated into English, while others mainly
read historical books. Some students prefer books about weapons and war, and
others enjoy books about celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.
Every individual is different, and it is important to realize this when
recommending books to the students. Reading is for the students, not the
teachers, so you should not force your students to read your favorite book.
5 Teachers should be
familiar not only with graded readers but also with authentic readers. If you have children of your own, ask
them which books they like. Go to bookstores or libraries to find appropriate
books for your students. Also, ask publishers or booksellers about books that
are popular among young readers.
5 Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary
There
are some Japanese teachers who are against teaching grammar and vocabulary in
an ER program. But knowledge of grammar helps students read English more
accurately, and it helps the students guess the exact meaning of unknown words
in many contexts. Both extensive reading and learning grammar and vocabulary
accelerate acquiring a foreign language. Besides, they both help students get
high scores on English exams in a short time. Although I am against giving
reading comprehension tests to students right after they read a book, I do not
deny the necessity of tests to measure the students' proficiency in
English. I do not think tests such
as the TOEIC, TOEFL, ILETS and entrance examinations should be the main focus
of English education for high school students. However, most of our students
have to get high scores on an entrance exam to enter a reputable university, or
on the TOEFL or ILETS to study abroad, or on the TOEIC to get a good job with a
company. If our method did not enable students to get high marks on these
tests, only a few students would want to learn English through ER, even though
it is a good way to acquire English in the long term. So we have designed an ER program that can help the students
both acquire English and get high scores on tests.
In
addition, I know there have been some ER programs that have failed because the
students had little knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. If your students
cannot reach the reading level of Oxford Reading Tree Stage 6, this is
probably due to weaknesses in the students' grammar and vocabulary skills. In this case you must change your
grammar and vocabulary lessons.
In
my experience, there have been some students who could not get high scores on
tests even after they have read more than 1,000,000 words. In my observation,
the reason was that when they read they only paid attention to the nouns in the
text and skipped all the prepositions and most of the verbs. It is possible to get the basic idea of
a book by only paying attention to the nouns, but reading in this way will not
help a student acquire grammar and vocabulary. For example, these students cannot understand passive
sentences; therefore, you can easily identify who they are.
My Advice about Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary
1 Quite a few university
students, especially in Japan, lack basic grammatical knowledge and simple
vocabulary. If your students know
less than 300 basic headwords, it is hard for them to participate in an ER class
in the usual way. Talk with your
colleagues, and make your grammar and vocabulary lessons easier. For example, if your students can't
reach Oxford Reading Tree Stage 6, this means that your school's English
syllabus is not suited to your students.
2 Do not teach grammar
and vocabulary that is too difficult. If the level of grammar and vocabulary in
your English lessons is too high, this will not help the students in extensive
reading. Only grammar and vocabulary
at an appropriate level promotes extensive reading, and vice versa.
6 Opportunities to Speak and Write
The
weakest point of ER is that ER does not provide opportunities for students to
speak and write. Many Japanese students are accustomed to not expressing their
opinions in the classroom, even in Japanese, because in many schools teachers
do not appreciate students who speak out in class. However, in order to acquire a foreign language it is
necessary for students to speak and write in the target language. Speaking and
writing helps the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary.
My Advice about Speaking and Writing
1 Have the students
speak and write about topics that interest them, that are relevant to their
daily lives, and that they would be likely to want to talk about even in their
native language, for example, what they did last weekend or what kind of music
they like.
2 For speaking
activities, have the students speak in pairs or small groups as much as
possible. Many students who are
too shy to speak in front of the whole class are willing to speak when they are
in a small group.
3 Try to match the
speaking and writing topics to grammar points. For example, in a lesson on present simple, have the
students talk and write about their daily activities, and in a lesson on past
simple, have the students talk and write about a trip that they once took.
4 Help build the
students' confidence by giving them speaking and writing assignments that are
within their ability. Start off
with easy tasks. If you give
assignments that are too difficult, the students may not say or write anything
at all and will begin to lose confidence in their English ability. Also, if you give students a reading or
writing task that might be slightly difficult for them, help them do it by
first giving a clear example to follow. With a good example, students will be
able to accomplish speaking and writing tasks in a foreign language that might
be beyond their ability otherwise.
5 Always give the
students lots of positive feedback about their progress in English.
7 Support from Parents and Administrators
It
is important for your program to have support from both parents and
administrators. In fact, as a juku, we would go bankrupt if we were to lose the
parentsf support. The best way to obtain their support is to show them the
effectiveness of the program. We have three different approaches for getting
their support.
First,
we use the Assessment of Communicative English Test (ACE Test) every half year.
The ACE test is conducted by the Association for English Language Proficiency
Assessment. The level of the ACE test is almost the same as that of the
National Center Test in Japan, and the ACE test is widely used in high schools
nationwide. Therefore, with the ACE test, we can compare our ER students to
senior high school students nationwide. The following table shows the average
ACE test scores of our ER students and of students nationwide. The maximum possible score for the
total test and for each section is given in parentheses in the first row.
Table 8: Average ACE Test Scores
|
|
ACE 039 / Administered in
July of 2011 |
Number of Students |
Total |
Vocabulary Score (150) |
Grammar |
Reading |
Listening |
|
A |
Grade 8 ER Students/ average |
205 |
496.4 |
73.7 |
65.7 |
163.7 |
193.2 |
|
B |
Grade 8 ER Students/ top 25% |
52 |
628.3 |
90.1 |
81.8 |
219.3 |
237.2 |
|
C |
Grade 8 ER Students/ bottom
25% |
52 |
388.0 |
60.7 |
51.7 |
120.7 |
154.9 |
|
D |
Grade 9 ER Students/ average |
149 |
612.9 |
89.6 |
85.8 |
207.3 |
230.3 |
|
E |
Grade 9 ER Students/ top 25% |
37 |
771.5 |
111.0 |
104.8 |
270.1 |
285.6 |
|
F |
Grade 9 ER Students/ bottom
25% |
37 |
472.6 |
74.2 |
67.8 |
153.2 |
177.5 |
|
G |
Grade 10 ER Students/ average |
119 |
656.5 |
96.2 |
95.9 |
227.6 |
236.9 |
|
H |
Grade 10 ER Students/ top 25% |
30 |
793.9 |
115.0 |
111.2 |
288.6 |
279.2 |
|
I |
Grade 10 ER Students/ bottom
25% |
30 |
520.7 |
79.9 |
83.3 |
169.4 |
188.1 |
|
J |
Grade 11 ER Students/ average |
74 |
729.2 |
114.2 |
104.8 |
257.7 |
252.6 |
|
K |
Grade 11 ER Students/ top 25% |
19 |
840.7 |
130.2 |
119.3 |
298.6 |
292.6 |
|
L |
Grade 11 ER Students/ bottom
25% |
19 |
581.4 |
91.3 |
86.8 |
200.2 |
203.1 |
|
M |
Grade 10 Nationwide Students/
average |
1023 |
439.7 |
71.8 |
70.5 |
141.5 |
156.0 |
|
N |
Grade 10 Nationwide Students/
top 25% |
256 |
518.0 |
83.6 |
79.7 |
174.0 |
180.7 |
|
O |
Grade 11 Nationwide/ average |
1103 |
469.0 |
75.8 |
74.6 |
154.3 |
164.0 |
|
P |
Grade 11 Nationwide/ top 2% |
22 |
725.1 |
113.7 |
108.5 |
255.3 |
247.6 |
|
Q |
Grade 11 Nationwide/ top 10% |
110 |
630.4 |
98.7 |
95.0 |
219.3 |
217.3 |
|
R |
Grade 11 Nationwide/ top 25$ |
276 |
575.6 |
91.5 |
88.9 |
198.1 |
196.3 |
|
S |
Grade 11 Nationwide/ bottom
25% |
276 |
376.6 |
60.5 |
59.8 |
116.9 |
139.1 |
The
data shows that our 8th grade ER students, who have only been
studying English for one and a half years, get an average of 496.4 points,
which is higher than the nationwide average of 469.0 points for 11th
graders, who have studied English for four and a half years.
It
is also instructive to compare rows B and Q. The average total score for the top 25% of our 8th
graders is 628.3 points, whereas the average total score for the top 10% of
eleventh graders nationwide is 630.4.
Although these two averages are almost the same, which is impressive in
itself, it is especially impressive when you look at the listening
comprehension section of the test.
In the listening comprehension, the average score of the top 25% of our
8th graders is 237.2, which is higher than the average score of
217.3 for the top 10% of 11th graders nationwide. This clearly shows that not only do ER
students perform better on the ACE test than
students several years older, but their listening comprehension is superior as
well.
We
also have a standard English course taught with the traditional grammar
translation method. The following table is a comparison between the average
scores of students in our ER class and the average scores of the students in
our traditional class.
Table
9: The Ratio of Differences of the Scores between 2010 and 2011
|
@ |
ACE 039 / Administered in July
of 2011 |
Number of Students |
Total |
Vocabulary |
Grammar |
Reading |
Listening |
|
A |
Grade 10 ER Students |
49 |
638.3 |
93.1 |
94.3 |
216.5 |
234.5 |
|
B |
Grade 9 ER students |
49 |
502.6 |
77.9 |
76.5 |
167.9 |
180.4 |
|
C |
Difference/ A-B |
49 |
135.6 |
15.2 |
17.8 |
48.6 |
54.1 |
|
D |
Grade 10 TR students |
6 |
608.5 |
83.0 |
87.7 |
208.7 |
229.2 |
|
E |
Grade 9 TR students |
6 |
498.0 |
76.3 |
76.8 |
174.8 |
170.0 |
|
F |
Difference D-E |
6 |
110.5 |
6.7 |
10.8 |
33.8 |
59.2 |
|
G |
Difference C-F |
@ |
25.1 |
8.5 |
7.0 |
14.9 |
-5.1 |
|
H |
Ratio C:F |
@ |
1.23 |
2.27 |
1.65 |
1.44 |
0.91 |
|
I |
Grade 11 (Nationwide) |
709 |
535.4 |
86.7 |
87.3 |
181.3 |
180.1 |
Rows
B and E contain the data for the students whose ACE scores in 2010 were less
than 600 points. It is hard for students who earned nearly full marks in 2010
to get higher scores in 2011. Therefore, we only consider the difference in ACE
scores from 2010 to 2011 for students who scored less than 600 points on the
2010 ACE test.
The
average difference between total ACE scores in 2010 and in 2011 for students in
the ER class is 1.23 times greater than that for students in the traditional
class. In the grammar and vocabulary
sections, the difference in scores for students in the ER class is over two
times greater than that for students in the traditional class. This data
clearly shows the greater effectiveness of the ER class compared with a
traditional class.
Another
way we get support from parents is to show them comments from students who have
graduated from our ER program. We
have some graduates who entered top-level universities such as Waseda
University, Keio University, and the University of Tokyo. These are comments
from our graduates:
-When I entered the ER class, I was
asked to read very simple picture books, which
were definitely written for infants. I was very doubtful that I could develop
English proficiency through reading such easy books. But such worries proved to
be groundless. I was amazed that English, which used to be my weakest subject,
turned out to be my strongest subject.
(
I.S. Kaisei High, Chiba University Medical Department)
-Because of ER in English, I was
always good at reading comprehension tests.
(O.Y. Kaisei High, Keio University Medical Department)
-I became accustomed to enjoying
reading in English through ER class. Reading English books was a chance to have
some fun while studying for entrance exams.
(N.Y. Shirayuri High, University of Tokyo)
-ER class was a wonderful class. I
entered it to study English for the entrance exams. But I found that it was fun
to read English books in class.
(Y.N. Shiba High, Waseda University)
-Through reading books and watching
DVDs, I learned English not as a subject for an exam, but as a language.
(A.C. Gakugeidai Fuzoku High, Keio University)
My Advice about Support
from Parents and Administrators
1 Collect data that
shows the effectiveness of ER from your classes and from magazines and books.
Give it to the parents or administrators with a clear explanation.
2 There are many
gtadokistsh, who are doing ER on their own in Japan. In fact, there appear to
be more than 10,000 tadoku teachers in Japan. Find some in your town and ask
them to speak in favor of ER. If you are not able to find one, ask the SSS
Extensive Reading Study Group at sss@seg.co.jp .
3 Find parents who work
at an international company or a company with an international department and
ask them to speak about what level of English ability is needed in their
company. They know the importance of extensive reading because of their work
experience.
4 Find some excellent students
in your class. Encourage them to join some contests. In our program, a smart
student who read more than 3,000,000 words got the gold medal in the 2008
International Geometry Olympiad. He is still the only Japanese gold medalist in
the Geometry Olympiad, and he is very cooperative about promoting our ER
program. There are also many speech contests all over Japan. If one of your ER
students wins the contest, more parents, students, and administrators will
become interested in your ER program.
5 Persuade someone
important in a parentsf association or an alumni association to help your ER
program. They have great influence over opinions about English teaching at your
school and also have some power over the budget.
Conclusion
The
motivation of the students is the most essential component of a successful ER
program. For this reason, I am
against giving reading comprehension tests to students after they finish a
book. The best way to motivate
your students is for them to have fun while reading in an ER environment.
Your
job as an ER practitioner is to help your students read more easily and to help
them reach the reading level of the Harry Potter books within a few
years of ER practice.
You
need a substantial budget to buy a variety of books so that your students can
read a lot. There are many ways to
get this budget if you are able to persuade administrators, parents, and alumni
that this program is right for the students.
It
is really fun for you to see your students develop a high proficiency and
confidence in English. Observe a
successful ER class and pick up ideas to use in your own programs. And remember, ER is not only for
students; people of all ages and skill levels can enjoy reading.
References
[1]
ΓμΊv(FURUKAWA, A): upκ½Η@v(gExtensive
Reading in Enlishh), ¬wΩ(Shogaku-kan), Tokyo,
2010, pp.89-96.
[2] Scholastic Inc: http://src.scholastic.com, August 2011.
[3] SSS Study Group: http://www.seg.co.jp/sss/reading_level/A/index.shtml.,
February 2009.