2. A. Summary
1. Overall goal: To get students hooked on reading. “To get students to
enjoy reading in the English language”
(Day & Bamford 1998).
2. ER usually means reading a lot of self-selected, easy, interesting
texts, and doing few or no exercises afterwards.
“ER is reading A LOT of easy books” (Helgesen, 2006).
3. Low reading speed and poor reading fluency have been and continue
to be a concern for both our ELI students and instructors.
4. Our IEP focuses more on Intensive Reading (IR) than Extensive
Reading (ER):
Intensive Reading (IR) Extensive Reading (ER)
slow ------------------------ fast
skill building------------------ fluency building
test focus-------------------- pleasure focus
2
3. 5. Key Elements of ER
• Suitable level (current level or even –1 level)
• Read a great deal in a short period of time
• Read books that are Graded Readers, especially for upper-
intermediate and advanced levels
• Read for pleasure
• Engaging book topics: Story, Story, Story!
• Students choose the books; not the instructor
• Limited instructor guidance
• No formal assessment; only informal post-reading activities
• 90% of ER is done outside of the classroom
• Read for the main idea; do not focus on vocabulary
• Variety of books & reading material: e.g., magazines could
include Biography, Teen, People, Hilite (beginning levels and
low-intermediate), etc.
• Accessible books
• Student reads silently; it helps them focus
• Student must keep a Reading Log
• Rapid reading: at least 1 graded reader/week
• No dictionaries
3
4. 6. Our ER pilot, in Fall 2006, with Wendy Jackson as the
instructor, could indicate that a full ER launch in all 6 levels would be
feasible and effective for our Reading Program.
7. Feedback & Evaluation
Feedback is needed from students in the pilot level and from Wendy, the
lead instructor. If the ER pilot succeeds and our IEP implements ER, this
Proposal suggests that ER receive a 20% weight (the current equivalent
of 1 reading test) of the overall reading grade.
8. Limitations of the Extensive Reading Pilot
Because the pilot is being conducted on only 1 level, it cannot guarantee
an indication of student success of ER. Other problems may become
apparent only when ER is implemented on a larger scale. The
methodology of the ER pilot may need to be revised, based on feedback
and the success/failure of the pilot.
4
5. B. Background and Significance of ER
Mikulecky Model
(also see Bamford & Day)
1. 4 Essential Strands of Reading Development (Mikulecky 2006)
a. Extensive Reading (ER)
b. Vocabulary Development
c. Comprehension Skills and Strategies (inference, topic,
main idea, connecting ideas in a paragraph, patterns of
paragraph organization, understanding discourse,
annotation, connecting graphics to text, summarizing,
critical reading skills, evaluation of texts, etc.)
d. Fluent Reading (emphasis on ER, scanning, previewing,
skimming, questions designed for increasing reading rate)
2. For beginning and low-intermediate levels, graded readers should
present only 1-2 (at the most 3) unknown words per page. However,
for upper-intermediate and advanced levels, students can handle up
to 10 unknown words per page IF they are engaged in the story
(Mikulecky 2006).
3. Benefits of ER
a. Reviews (indirectly) sentence structure
b. Writing (Mason & Krashen 1997), listening, and speaking
skills all increase
c. Provides exposure to the interface between form and
meaning
d. Reinforces sight vocabulary, or automatic recognition
(Coady 1997)
5
6. e. New vocabulary acquisition (Coady 1997)
f. Chunks (not words) are processed; speed and fluency
increases. “Under 250 words per minute, students are not
chunking, but are reading 1 word at a time” (Mikulecky
2006). [ER] increases reading fluency (Mason & Krashen
1997).
g. Improves students’ attitude toward reading and language
learning (Mason & Krashen 1997)
h. Builds reading confidence
i. Hooks students on the Reading Habit
3. Reading begins with automatic recognition of words. Students
become able to do this only through massive amounts of practice (Koda
1996; Paran 1996).
4. By experiencing language in context, students deepen their
knowledge of vocabulary and grammar in use (Coady 1997; Nation
1997).
5. Successful individual reading experiences promote learner autonomy,
which leads to “learning success and enhanced motivation”
(Dickinson 1995: 174).
6. Isik (2000) showed that a group with 75% comprehensible input (2
graded readers a week, communication and TPR activities) and 25%
grammar instruction was impressively better on many tests than a
comparison group with 80% grammar instruction and 20%
communicative tasks. Each group had over a 1,000 hours of
instruction and the comprehensible input group outscored the
‘grammar’ group by more than 20 points on an Oxford grammar test
6
7. (they were also far ahead in listening, reading and writing).
7
8. “ER is not supplemental. It is essential.”
7. “ER is not supplemental. It is essential. Students need to learn the
collocations and colligations (the grammatical relationship between
words, such as ‘depend on’ vs. ‘depend to’) so they get a sense of
how the language goes together. There is not enough time in class to
teach these items as discrete points; students need exposure to
massive amounts of language for this. Students need to meet a word
at least 10-20 times to learn it. They can learn these words only if the
surrounding text is not too difficult; that is, 98%+ of the words are
known (think i-1 in Krashen’s terms)” (Norma King, 2006 – Director,
University of Denver). King is a colleague of Keith’s.
8. Per K. Maurice’s conversation with Norma King, “[ER] has really
made a positive difference in their program” (2006).
9. They can develop their language and reading skills. Specifically, the
learner, “…builds knowledge of words and their relationships, builds
automatic [word] recognition, and learns to chunk words into
groups…” (Waring 2002).
10. ER keeps students in-charge of their own vocabulary; i.e., make
students responsible for their own vocabulary acquisition (Mikulecky
2006). Since a wealth of research demonstrates that ER strongly
builds sight vocabulary and introduces some new vocabulary, ER is
one way to make students accountable for their own vocabulary
learning.
8
10. Reservations concerning ER
11. Waring, one of the leading researchers today in ER, states that the
design of ER research, to-date, has been flawed and is, therefore, not
reliable. Waring’s 2001 comprehensive review of ER literature
suggests that “we should treat the findings for the effectiveness of ER
from the ‘gains’ and ‘comparison’ ER research with more than
considerable pause. It also suggests that we should be extremely
cautious in proposing that there is ‘strong evidence for the value of
ER’ (Lituanas, Jacobs and Renandya 1), and that we should take
Krashen’s very strong claim about the effect of reading with a ton of
salt. The research certainly does not give us enough evidence to
support his position because much of the evidence we have comes
from troubled research. Thus, we are a very long way away from
being able to answer Alderson’s questions [of what we really know
about reading and about the assessment of reading]” (22).
However, Waring continues:
“This review has not turned me into a disbeliever. I believe very
strongly that ER has an important place (not the only place) in
second language learning. I sincerely hope that a relatively trouble-
free research base will emerge in the future that pays heed to some
of the problems that have been found here which can relieve me of
my nagging doubts about the present quality of much L2 ER
research. I also hope it will allow us to develop a reliable base
upon which those of us who care about ER can rest our case.”
10
11. B. Goals and Objectives
12. Overall ER goal: “To get students to enjoy reading in the English
language” (Day & Bamford 1998). In other words, to get students
hooked on reading!
13. Specific goal for our ER Pilot in the ELI: Does Extensive Reading, at
the end of a 16-week semester, indicate student fluency in reading
and, to a larger measure, in the English language (structure/grammar,
writing, spelling)?
11
12. C. Planned Activities (Methodology)
ER Reading Levels
Graded readers and all other types of reading materials will be assigned a
level from Pre-1 to Post-6, a total of 8 levels, (see Appendix 1 – ER Level
by Vocabulary Count). Each level will be uniquely color-coded.
From Bamford & Day (1998: 7-8)
It is imperative that…
a. Teachers orient students to the goals of the program,
explain the methodology, keep track of what each student
reads, and guide students in getting the most out of the
program.
b. The teacher is a role model for students—an active
member of the classroom reading community who
demonstrates what it means to be a reader [especially the
1
st
week of the semester when ER is introduced in the
classroom] and the rewards of being a reader.
The following is adapted from Waring & Takahasi, The Oxford University
Press Guide to the ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of Using Graded Readers (2002).
Planning an Extensive Reading Program
1. It is vital to make sure that all the people affected by the ER program
are involved. As much as possible, try to make group decisions.
Ensure that everyone involved (teachers and students) understand
the ER program.
12
13. Balancing a Reading Program
1. It is important to understand that any ER program cannot sit by itself.
The key to a successful Reading Program is BALANCE.
2. Too much Intensive Reading leads to insufficient work on developing
on developing reading fluency.
3. Too much Extensive Reading can lead to a learner not noticing
certain language.
4. Too much work only on reading skills will not provide enough
practice in reading fluently.
5. Not enough vocabulary support leads to learners who cannot
develop their reading fast enough.
Preparation of an ER Program
1. Start small; think big. Find ways to manage the Graded Reading
library so that it can grow and change as the reading program
changes over time.
2. Purchase some graded readers. To begin, 45 different titles per
level (270 graded readers total) should suffice for our IEP. Later on,
try to build the library so there are 2-3 books per learner, or more.
3. Number/catalog each book. Multiple copies of a title would be
helpful, especially for titles, which prove to be popular.
4. Grade the books by difficulty. Various publishers assign different
levels depending on the headword count. Aim to identify 6-8 levels
from ‘easy’ to ‘very difficult’.
5. Assign a color for each level; this way, learners can easily identify
books at their reading level.
13
14. Comments on ER and Novel Class Sets
Novel Class Sets at our IEP
* Our Reading Program could still maintain reading at least 1 novel per
semester with little or no change in the novels currently assigned for
various levels. Since students will be collectively reading the novel as a
group, reinforcement of comprehension and vocabulary and guidance by
the instructor and class members will aid student comprehension; i.e.,
students do not read alone but work collaboratively to understand the
novel.
* While Novels are not considered solely ER material, It is also
recommended that reading class novels be treated less as an Intensive
Reading activity. Less emphasis should be placed on quizzes and testing,
and more emphasis should be placed on the concept of the class
ensemble experiencing the novel: students should respond to, discuss,
and enjoy the novel.
14
15. D. Resources
14. Staff
a. Wendy Jackson, ER Instructor of Test Group
b. Carol Orloff and Donna Pepperdine, ER Instructor(s) of
Control Group (2 sections)
c. Deborah Johnson-Evans, Grammar & Writing Coordinator
has volunteered to code and analyze all writing data
collected, according to the variables listed in Section F.
d. Nancy Baum, ER Coordinator (Reading Coordinator)
15. Physical Capabilities
a. 270 graded readers (single titles) for a start
b. 1-270 audiocassettes or audio CDs where available (Do
we have the funds to do this?)
c. Additional bookshelf in Trimble 24 designated for graded
readers only; books will be color-coded with levels 1-8:
Pre-1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Post-6.
16. Projected Capabilities
a. A separate room for a Student Library which would be
decorated to visually stimulate student readers
b. 100-200 more graded readers, depending on need and
student population
4. Software
a. CONC, a free concordance software from SIL
b. KWIC collocation concordance, a freeware download
15
17. F. Evaluation Plan
Test Group and Control Group(s) for the ER Pilot – Fall 2006
Wendy’s Level 4 class, is the ER pilot group. Carol and Donna’s
Level 4 classes are the control group.
Pre- and Post-Assessment of Reading Skills
For both the Test Group and the Control Group, the following variables will
be assessed during the 1
st
week of class
(pre-assessment) and the 16th week of class (post-assessment):
a. Reading Speed: Jamestown timed reading
b. Vocabulary from Context: a level 4 vocabulary/reading test will
be given from Contemporary’s Getting the Meaning from Context
c. Vocabulary Acquisition: test each student on the 2-3 new words
she indicated she learned from each graded reader (for Test
Group only)
d. Standardized reading test: practice THEA test
Pre- and Post-Assessment of Writing/Structure Skills
The following variables will be assessed in the Test Group’s students’
essay compositions (placement compositions and final exam compositions
in their respective Grammar/Writing classes)
Sentence-level Variables
1. Passive constructions
2. Conditional clauses
3. Perfect aspect in verbs
4. Word forms
5. Word choice
6. Idiomatic phrases (any incidence of)
Discourse-level Variables (possible)
17
18. 1. Idea parallelism: Is each body paragraph balanced in content and
length with the other two body paragraphs?
2. Logical sequencing of details
3. Collocations: both phrasal and conceptual
Software
Deborah Johnson-Evans will use CONC, a free concordance software
from SIL and KWIC collocation concordance, a freeware download to analyze all
data collected.
Assessment of Each Book Read
Regarding the length of assignments:
“The assignments [the evaluation of the graded reader] should be of
sufficient length so that neither teacher nor pupils will fall for the
temptation to talk them through in class” (Light 1970). The assigned
reading can be talked about, but it should not be completely discussed.
Presentation of ER Assessment – Wendy Jackson
18
19. G. References
Books
Bamford, Julian. and Richard R. Day eds. Extensive Reading Activities for
Teaching Language. Cambridge Handbook for Language Teachers. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Barnett, Marva A. More Than Meets the Eye: Foreign Language Learner Reading:
Theory and Practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents, 1989.
Coady, James. and Thomas Huckin eds. Second Language Vocabulary
Acquisition: A Rationale for Pedagogy. Cambridge Applied Linguistics. ed. Michael H.
Long and Jack C. Richards. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Day, Richard R. and Julian Bamford. Extensive Reading in the Second Language
Classroom. Cambridge Language Education. ed. Jack C. Richards. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Hedge, Tricia. Using Readers in Language Teaching. Essential Language
Teaching Series. ed. Roger H. Flavell and Monica Vincent. London: Macmillan
Publishers Ltd., 1985.
Krashen, Stephen. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research.
Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1993.
Krashen, Stephen and Tracy D. Terrell. The Natural Approach: Language
Acquisition in the Classroom. Language Teaching Methodology Series. ed.
Christopher N. Candlin. Essex: Pearson Education Limited: Longman, 2000.
19
20. Tannen, Deborah ed. Linguistics in Context: Connecting Observation and
Understanding (Lectures from the 1985 LSA/TESOL and NEH Institutes). vol. XXIX of
Advances in Discourse Processes. ed. Roy O. Freedle. Norwood, NJ: Ablex
Publishing Corporation, 1988.
Wadden, Paul. A Handbook for Teaching English at Japanese Colleges and
Universities. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Articles
Barfield, Andy. “Extensive reading: From graded to authentic text.”
Studies in Foreign Language Teaching, 19, 25-48 (Foreign Language Center,
University of Tsukuba). (online article)
-----. “The promise and practice of extensive reading: An interview with
George Jacobs and Willy Renandya.” Literacy across Cultures, 2000. 3(2), 25-30.
(online article)
Bell, Timothy. “Extensive Reading: Speed and Comprehension.” The
Reading Matrix, Vol. 1, no. 1 (Apr 2001): 1-9.
Chow, Ping-Ha & Chi-Ting Chou. “Evaluating sustained silent reading in
reading classes.” I-TESL-J. (online article)
Chow, Ping-Ha and Chou, Chi-Ting. “Evaluating Sustained Silent Reading
in Reading Classes.” The Internet TESL Journal. vol. 6, no. 11 (Nov 2000).
20
21. [Journal on-line]; Available from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Chow-SSR.html; Internet;
accessed 16 April
2005.
Davis, Colin. “Extensive Reading: An Expensive Extravagance?” ELT
Journal. vol. 49, no. 4 (1995): 329-36.
Day, Richard R., and Julian Bamford. “Reaching Reluctant Readers.”
Forum. vol. 38, no. 3 (July-Sep 2000): 12-20.
Dubravcic, Jasna. “Telling the Truth about Extensive Reading.” The
Language Teacher. Vol. 20, no. 12 (Dec 1996): 52.
Dupuy, Beatrice, Lucy Tse, and Tom Cook. “Bringing Books into the
Classroom: First Steps in Turning College-Level ESL Students into Readers.”
TESOL Journal. vol. 5 (1996): 10-5.
Elley, Warwick B. and Francis Mangubhai. “The impact of Reading on
Second Language Learning. Reading Research Quarterly. vol. 19, no. 1 (1983): 53-
7.
“Extensive Reading: Why? and How?” The Internet TESL Journal. vol. 4,
no. 12 (Dec 1998). [journal on-line]; available from
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Bell-Reading.html; Internet; accessed 16 April 2005.
Gee, Roger W. “Encouraging ESL Students to Read.” TESOL Journal. vol.
8, no. 1 (1999): 3-7.
Haver, Johanna. “Rebuttal of Dr. Stephen Krashen’s Critique of Structured
21
22. English Immersion.” See the original article in the listing below. (online article)
Heal, Louise. “Motivating large reading classes.” The Language Teacher
22(12), December 1998. (online article)
Helgesen, Mark. “Bringing Those Books Back into the Classroom: Tasks
for Extensive Reading.” The Language Teacher. vol. 21, no. 5 (1997): 53-4.
Jacobs, G. M., & Gallo, P. (2002, February). “Reading alone together:
Enhancing extensive reading via student-student cooperation in second-
language instruction.” Reading Online, 5(6).
Kim, H., and Krashen, Stephen. “Why Don’t Language Acquirers Take
Advantage of the Power of Reading?” TESOL Journal. vol. 6 (1997): 26-9.
Krashen, Stephen. « Comments on Johanna Haver. » Structured English
Immersion (2003). See also J. Haver’s rebuttal listed above. (online article)
Krashen, Stephen. “We Acquire Vocabulary and Spelling by Reading:
Additiona Evidence for the Input Hypothesis.” The Modern Language Journal. vol.
73, no. 4 (1989): 440-64.
Laufer-Dvorkin, Batia. “Intensive’ vs. ‘Extensive’ Reading for Improving
University Students’ Comprehension in English as a Foreign Language.” Journal
of Reading. vol. 25, no. 1 (1981): 40-3.
Lituanas, Propitas J., George J. Jacobs & Willy Renandya. “A study of
extensive reading with remedial reading students.” This paper reports a study
that used a pre-test, post-test control group design to measure the effectiveness
of extensive reading with remedial reducing students in a Philippines secondary
22
23. school. Results suggest that extensive reading led to greater gains than
traditional reading instruction. (online article)
Mason, Beniko and Stephen Krashen. “Can we increase the power of
reading by adding more ouput and/or correction?” (online manuscript)
Mason, Beniko (2004). “The effect of adding supplementary writing to an
extensive reading program.” [online article]
Mason, Beniko (2005). “Extensive reading; Why do it, how to do it, how
not to do it.” [online article]
Nation, P. “The Language Learning Benefits of Extensive Reading.” The
Language Teacher. vol. 21, no. 5 (1997): 13-6.
Powell, Stephen John. “Extensive reading and its role in the future of
English language teaching in Japanese high schools.” (online manuscript)
Renandya, W. A., B. R. S. Rajan, & G. M. Jacobs. “ER with adult learners
of English as a second language.” (online article)
-----. (1999). “Extensive reading with adult learners of English as a
second language.” RELC Journal, 30, 39-61. This article reports a study that
looked at the effect of reading habits on the second language learning of
government officials from Vietnam learning English in Singapore. Results
suggest that extensive reading is a significant predictor of second language
proficiency.
Robb, Thomas N. and Bernard Susser. “Extensive Reading vs. Skills
Building in an EFL Context. Reading in a Foreign Language. vol. 5, no. 2 (1989): 1-11.
23
24. Seow, Anthony. “What Do We Really Want out of USSR?” TELL Journal.
vol. 15, no. 2 (Nov 1999): 1-4.
Susser, Bernard, and Thomas N. Robb. “EFL Extensive Reading
Instruction: Research and Procedure.” JALT Journal. vol. 12, no. 2 (Nov 1990):
1-19.
Tangitau, Vuki. “Intensive and Extensive Reading.” TESL Reporter. vol. 7,
no. 1 (1973): 7-9.
Tse, Lucy. “When an ESL Adult Becomes a Reader.” Reading Horizons vol.
37 (Sep-Oct 1996): 16-29.
Websites
www.extensivereading.net: Extensive Reading main page: Dr. Rob
Waring’s ER website
www.erfoundation.org: The Extensive Reading Foundation’s website
http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl: Reading in a Foreign Language online reading
journal
http://www.readingmatrix.com: The Reading Matrix online reading journal
24
25. http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng: Tom Cobb’s Vocabulary Profiler
http://www.gopdg.com/plainlanguage/readability.html: General
Readability Information
http://uk.cambridge.or/elt/readers/teacher: Cambridge University Press
Graded Readers
http://www.penguinreaders.com: Penguin Readers
http://www.oup.com: Oxford University Press Readers
http://www.macmillaneducation.com/catalogue/readers/readindex.htm:
Macmillan Readers
http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej13/int.html: An extensive
list of on-line Extensive Reading websites for lower level learners of EFL/ESL
25
26. Extensive Reading Discussion List
1. Send an email to:
extensivereadingsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
-and-
2. Send an email to waring_robert@yahoo.com explaining why you would
like to join the ER discussion list.
26
