This PPT accompanied a presentation given by Joseph Dias and Gregory Strong at the JALT PAN-SIG Conference in Matsumoto Japan on May 21, 2011 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
As most of our students now are digital natives who prefer YouTube to Hugo, Facebook to Fitzgerald , and Twitter to Twain, it’s difficult to have them attend to texts longer than status updates. The speakers will discuss ways of inviting students to become lifelong learners by making reading relevant.
The speakers discussed the groundwork for a reading curriculum revision project in an English Department of a Japanese university by presenting the results of their investigation of current teaching practices, along with an exploration of all aspects of their students' reading: both in the L1 and L2, online and off, mobile and static, for pleasure and required, current and projected. The project began with a thorough needs analysis (Brown, 1995; Richards and Rogers, 2001) that involved focus groups, classroom observation, and the administration of online surveys to students, reading teachers, and upper division content course instructors. Particular attention was focused on how reading instruction could be made relevant to digital natives and how the practice of reading could be made into a habit and carried beyond the temporal and physical confines of school life.
4. EXAMPLE: IE I Themes: Childhood, Urban Life Food and Health T A S K S IE ACTIVE LISTENING TASKS • Listening Genres: News, Interviews, Documentaries •Interaction • Presentation IE CORE TASKS • Small group discussions (reading and discussing news articles) • E.R. book reports • Journal IE WRITING TASKS (3 Paragraphs) • Topic sentences • Transitions and sentence craft • Detail, examples, • Writing genres
5. the project:revising Reading I & II 1) To improve the reading of our college students and set lifelong habits of mind 2) To better coordinate the classes of Reading teachers in terms of texts, activities, tasks, and grading 3) To differentiate two courses, Reading I (freshmen) from Reading II (sophomores) 4) To incorporate a broader view of reading instruction, including new pedagogical approaches, reading strategies, and vocabulary instruction 5) To capitalize on the abilities and the expertise of the Japanese teachers of the class in translation and contrasts between L1 and L2.
6. 5) To introduce new ways of teaching reading through translation 6) To utilize new media for the teaching of reading 7) To encourage students of different abilities and strengths, including returnees, to work cooperatively on several tasks 8) To include input from teachers, faculty, and students to better meet the needs, interests and desires of students
7. Part 1: A Needs Analysis Survey of Reading I and II teachers
11. READING I & II All but one of the 18 reading classes are taught by 15 PT Japanese instructors and 1 FT faculty. Student perceptions that the class is too passive and involves too much translation. The course goals seem vaguely defined and there are very different assignments and expectations for each teacher’s class. Large classes of some 45 students representing a wide range of ability; including returnees who high English abilities but are weak in reading Japanese.
12. Surveys designed for Ts & Ss • STUDENTS: December 2010/ January 2011 -- detailed survey focusing on reading habits and their reading courses • P/T TEACHERS: January 2011 – focus on teacher perceptions of students’ reading habits and preferences/ Ts’ take on purpose of the course • FULL-TIME TEACHERS: January 2011 – focus on what they felt students’ reading skills should be by junior and senior years Part of the student survey
13. Student Reading Survey: Some Results 396 students participated: * 70% freshmen / 30% sophomores * 75% female / 25% male * 15% have spent more than 3 years abroad
14. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Method of entering the university (of the 354 students who answered the question).
15. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Self-assessment of ability according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * 90% of students (N=340) considered themselves to be, at least, at the B1 level—roughly equivalent to 550 - 785 points on the TOEIC. They agreed with the statement: If it's an easy text in my field, on a theme that I'm interested in, I can understand fairly well. * Nearly 40% of students (N=148) felt that they were, at least, at the B2 level—roughly equivalent to 785 - 945 points on the TOEIC. They agreed with the statement: I can read various genres well for my own pleasure. Although I haven't mastered low frequency idioms, I have some confidence in my knowledge of vocabulary.
16. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Self-assessment of ability according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * About 5% of students (N=18) assessed their level to be, at least, at the C1 level—roughly equivalent to 945+ points on the TOEIC They agreed with the statement: I can understand texts that are outside of my area of specialty in detail, even if they're long and complex. * About 5% of students (N=21) thought that they were at the highest level, C2, which is native-like ability. They agreed with the statement: I can understand a wide range of readings, even if they're long and complex, appreciating nuances of meaning and style.
17. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Percentages of time spent reading ONLINE – in English and Japanese. Over half of the students are doing more than 35% of their reading online—both in English and in Japanese.
18. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Data showing percentages of students who enjoy reading certain genres vs. wanting to use those genres in their reading class (out of N=376 responding). What students enjoy reading, is not necessarily what they want to study in their reading course, and vice versa.
19. Student Reading Survey: Some Results What are students reading ONLINE…. Data in percentages, out of 379 respondents Wikipedia, email, blogs, social networking sites, and online news were the most popular aspects of the Web/ Internet for our students. Online news was the only one that was accessed (marginally) more in English.
20. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Do you use some type of MOBILE DEVICE (e.g., iPad, iPhone, e-book reader, etc.) for reading e-books, long documents, or PDFs? 392 respondents
22. Some writing on the wall NPR’s “All things considered” reported this morning that sales of e-books have just overtaken sales of conventional books on Amazon—at a rate of 105 to 100.
23. Percentages of all respondents who say they use some type of MOBILE DEVICE (e.g., iPad, e-book reader, etc.) for reading e-books, long documents, or PDFs.
24. Student Reading Survey: Some Results How much time do you spend each week reading e-books (or other long documents) on your mobile device? Nearly 8% spending 2 to more than 4 hrs. 121 respondents
27. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Materials that students are using in class and percentages of students who would like to use those items in class. 371 respondents
28. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Some general findings: Although reading is often regarded as our students’ strongest skill, 80% were either not at all confident about their reading ability or only a bit confident. 53% like reading in English and 72% in Japanese; 39% like reading in both languages, and 15% don’t like reading in either language.
29. When reading in Japanese, 57% spend less than an hour per week on pleasure reading, with about 42% of those students spending less than 30 minutes. When reading in English, more than 75% spend less than an hour per week on pleasure reading, with about 52% of them spending less than 30 minutes.
35. Lack of sufficient background knowledge (e.g., “Historical or scientific articles I'm not familiar with.”
36. Survey of reading instructors : Some Results The Use of English in the Reading Courses
37. Survey of reading instructors : Some Results Average ratings for time spent doing various activities in the reading classes (out of 6; with 6 being the most time spent and 1 the least).
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39. Create a family tree of the characters in a story.
40. Show the passage of time in a story using a flow chart.
41. Use study guides in English and giving brief information about the background of reading texts.
42. Demonstrate how to use dictionaries—English-Japanese and English-English, including O.E.D.
59. Student Reading Survey: Dreaming How ONE student said (s)he would teach the course… I would not spend more than half the class translating text books to Japanese because English terms and sentences cannot be accurately translated and doing that changes the meaning slightly. It might be better for students whose English level is not top notch, but they have to be pressured more to keep up rather than the course itself being soft for them. As for exams, all my teachers in the 1st and 2nd grade has given us questions that we cannot do unless we memorize the passages from the textbook we use in class. I think this is the most ridiculous part of the course. Memorizing an English passage does not improve your English, and it should be done more like a iBT TOEFL exam where we are given a long difficult passage that we've never read in class and answer questions about that passage in a certain amount of time. The level of vocal used in that passage and the skills to take tests should be covered in class. At least that's how a TOEFL preparation school teaches a Reading class. (182 words) Demonstrates the strong interest some students have in making improve- ments to the course and their willingness to offer constructive criticism.
61. A unit on Reading teaching through Translation: Reading I Translation Process Mistranslations Machine mistranslations Introductory Collaborative Task Group Translation and Presentation Task Teacher circulates a • recipe • brochure • comic strip DOCs Individual Translation Task 1st Draft 2nd draft and teacher evaluation Small groups comment Online news
62. A unit on Reading teaching understanding genres: Reading II Communications Academic articles Linguistics Literature Collaborative Community Responses DOCs • teacher introduces genre and presents one of each type Individual Commentary on an article Group Task of Presenting an academic article Online article database
63. 1) collaborative task The teacher circulates a document (a comic strip, recipe, or brochure) suitable for the interests and abilities of the class. Students work in groups of 5- 8 members. Each student translates a phrase or sentence and passes it on with a comment. The final product is shared with the class. Concept 1: Translation is a process of revision. Concept 2: Academic articles build upon the work of others in a particular discipline.
64. 2) Individual Translation/ response Task TRANSLATION: Students choose from a variety of online texts identified by the teacher. Each student prepares a translation for class as well as questions about certain parts of the translation. In a small group, the student explains the translation, shows the English version and reads the Japanese and solicits comments. This is repeated with several groups. Afterwards, the student uses the comments to revise the translation. The 2nd draft is handed in. COMMENTARY: Students choose from a variety of academic articles in different genres. Each student prepares a summary and commentary, then presents these in class to a small group along with questions. The commentary is revised and handed in to the teacher.
65. 3) Group Presentation of a Translation or commentary In small groups, student prepare a translation or commentary on an academic article. The presentation is organized like an academic seminar with an emcee, Introductions of group members, visuals, and questions for the class.
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67. Studying Vocabulary • Teachers select vocabulary words from their textbooks then refer to the Academic Word list to determine the relative usefulness of the words • 5 – 8 words are given to students weekly; they download an application for their cell phones and prepare a flashcard set of the words • The teacher gives weekly quizzes, varying the types of questions (including matching, sentence completion, true-false, modified cloze, vocabulary depth tests).
68. References: Colina, S. (2003). Translation Teaching: From Research to the Classroom. McGraw-Hill: New York. Grabe, W. (2008). Ten Good Ideas for Teaching L2 Reading. Retrieved May 4, 2008 from http://www.cal.nau.edu/english/faculty/grade.asp Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willis, J, and Willis, D. (2007). Doing Task-based Teaching. Oxford University Press: New York.
69. Student Reading Survey: Some Results How do you feel about the level of difficulty of the materials? 371 respondents
71. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Do you feel that your reading class helps you to be a better reader? 62% of students feel that their reading class either helps them or “helps greatly.” 371 respondents
72. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Comments offered by students when asked about how much the course helped them: Positive or neutral comments I can change my way of reading. It taught me how to read newspaper articles. I could read "real" English. It maintains my English at a certain level. We can know answers of others. Negative comments The class is too quiet. Translates into Japanese every time for everything. The teacher's voice is not clear so that I cannot understand what (s)he said. We just translate the texts which is boring and not helpful.
73. Survey of reading instructors : Some Results Between Jan. 13th and 25th 2011, 12 of the 15 reading instructors responded to an online survey that we asked them to fill out. Numbers of respondents teaching each of the courses
75. Survey of reading instructors : reading material What full-timers are using in their classes
76. Student Reading Survey: Some Results Materials that students are using in class and percentages of students who would like to use those items in class. 371 respondents
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78. I'd try to use more than one author. I wouldn't use a collection of stories by one author, in case students didn't like that author.
79. I would give the students an interesting book and make them read a lot.
80. If I were to teach a reading course, I would not assign students to translate from English into Japanese.
81. I would rather use set a theme at the start of the class and use materials that are related to the selected theme. Not random.
82. I would teach skills that help students when they read books. (like skimming, scanning, and so on).
