This article provides an outline of an extensive reading elective reading course for second year students at Toyo Gakuen University.It describes the decisions that were made when designing the course,the in-class activities that helped foster learner confidence and motivation,and the evaluation of the course from the perspectives of both the students and the teacher. Published in Bulletin of Toyo Gakuen University 東洋学園大学紀要 17 pp.157-176

1. Toyogakuen University
17
5
Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:
The Beginning, the Middle, and the End
Andre BOON
w
Abstract
This artic provide an outline of an e
le s xtensive reading elective reading course for
second y ar stude at Toy Gakuen University describes the decisions that were made
e nts o .It
whe de
n signing the course,the in-
class activities that helped foster learner confidence and
motivation,and the evaluation of the course from the perspectives of both the stude and
nts
the teache .
r
1. Introduction
Extensive Reading (ER)aims at building learner fluenc and motivation f reading so that
y or
students may e ntually be ome compe
ve c tent, enthusiastic and indepe
, ndent readers of the L2 In
.
an ER program, learne are e
rs ncourage to re as muc as possible and as quic
d ad h kly as possible
from a range of materials within the spe ifi language level f inf
ir c c or ormation or entertainment,
general understanding of the text, and f pleasure Through exposure to large quantities of
or .
comprehensible text, ER can he le
lp arners to develop automatic recognition of lexical items,
increase their lexical knowledge, inc ase the f
re ir ormal and content schemata, and also, provide
them with initial and ongoing opportunitie to e rienc succ ss in and deve
s xpe e e lop more positive
attitudes towards L2 reading (Day& Bamford,1998;Grabe 991)
,1 .This artic provides an outline
le
of an ER e tive c
lec ourse f se
or cond y ar students at Toy Gakuen Unive
e o rsity It de ribes the
. sc
decisions that were made by the te her while designing the course the in-lass activities that
ac , c
helped foste learne c de e and motivation, and the e
r r onfi nc valuation of the course from the
perspectives of both the students and the te he Just like a story
ac r. ,the ER course has a beginning,
a middle, and an end. Le me be
t gin.
2 The beginning
.
2.1 Introducing ER to the students
As Japane stude
se nts may be unfamiliar with ER having usually expe nced intensive
rie
reading or grammar-
translation reading programs, it is important to begin the fi lesson by
rst
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5 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
,
orienting the learners of the course to the maj diff
or erenc be
es twe ER and the more traditional
en
approache to the te hing of L2 re
s ac ading. To do this, Welc (
h 1997)suggests building up a chart
on the chalkboard to contrast the ty al goals of an intensive c
pic ourse with an ER course in order
to help:
students come to understand that the class will be conducted differently from the othe
ir r
reading classes (but)will he the de
lp m velop into more fluent f ign language re
ore aders (p.53 .
)
Adapting this ide I cre d a Powe
a, ate rPoint slide show to bring to students attention the main
diff nces of ER and inte
ere nsive reading.In slide one,students we aske what e
re d xtensive reading
is to help me disc r whe
ove ther anyone in the class had any previous knowledge or e rience of
xpe
ER. As expecte although having had prior ac ss to a course sy
d, ce llabus and having had decided
to selec the c
t ourse the students who atte d knew ve little if not any
, nde ry thing about ER. In the
next two slides,to build understanding,students we shown dic
re tionary definitions of the lexical
items intensive and extensive . In slide four, I tried to elicit from students the diff rent
e
purpose of an intensive reading and ER c
s ourse;the forme being to f
r ocus on formal language
study and the latte to f
, r ocus on ge ral text unde
ne rstanding and e oy nt. The ne slide
nj me xt
contrasted the diff nc in the leve of reading mate
ere e l rial of the two courses with intensive reading
often involving the use of texts that have be written f native speakers while ER courses te
en or nd
to use graded readers. In slide six, students we asked about the amount of te
re xts they would
expe to read in both courses. From the earlie dic
ct r tionary definitions, students we able to
re
determine that in intensive reading courses learne f
rs ocus on one or two books while in ER
course they re many Slide se n introduced stude
s ad . ve nts to the spee of re
d ading to be expec d
te
in an ER course. Whe as in intensive reading classe students may read slowly translating or
re s ,
looking up unknown le al ite as the go,ER is conc
xic ms y erned with students reading texts quickly
and fluently The fi slide introduc d students to the class goal f the course ( e fi
. nal e or Se gure 2.1.
1).
How many books can we read?
1?
2?
10?
15?
20?
More than 2 ?
0
As a class ― 4 books in one semeste
00 r!
Figure 2 .1
.1 :PowerPoint Slide 8 ― Setting the class goal
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As I clicked on the mouse to reveal e h of the fi
ac gures one by one on the sc n, I e
ree licited
responses of more from the students until we re hed the fi
ac gure of 20.With 20 students having
registered f the c
or ourse I set a re
, alistic target of requiring e h student to re 20 grade
ac ad d
readers thus creating an e of se ste group goal of 4 0 books in total. This class goal could
nd me r 0
then be use throughout the seme r as a critic motivating tool (
d ste al Boon,20 7 41)helping to
0 ,p.
focus the ER group s attentions, e orts, and pe
ff rsistence on its successf attainme by the
ul nt
completion of the course. Throughout the PowerPoint slide show, students were aske to write
d
down the information regarding the obj c
e tives and methodology of the ER course on a separate
handout I provide ( e fi
d Se gure 2.1 )
.2 .
What is e nsive reading?
xte
1. Purpose:
2. Le l:
ve
3. Amount:
4. Spe d:
e
5. How many books c y re in one se ster?
an ou ad me
Figure 2.1 :Exce
.2 rpt from lesson one handout
Students then had a writte re
n cord whic they could ref bac to at any time during the c
h er k ourse.
2.2 Introducing students to graded re rs
ade
Af orienting students to the princ
ter iple of ER,I passe around a numbe of graded re
s d r aders
that I had borrowe f
d rom the university library or rec ived as sample c
e opie in order to f
s amiliar-
ize students with the various le ls,publishe
ve rs,and types of books available.Then,at the e of
nd
the fi lesson, I took the stude
rst nts to the university library in orde to show the where
r m
additional graded reading materials f the course could be located, if ne ded.
or e
2.3 Introducing students to book swap
Unlike normal English e c
le tive courses which of n re
te quire students to purchase one set
coursebook f the c
or lass, the ER course involves establishing a substantial library of material.
From this, students c c
an hoose what the would like to re f
y ad rom a range of diff rent books.
e
However, with only a limite supply of graded readers in the university library and no spe c
d cifi
budget available,buying materials f the exclusive use and convenient ac ess of the stude of
or c nts
the ER class throughout the duration of the course appeared problematic at fi Howeve
rst. r,Day
and Bamford ( 998)sugge asking:
1 st
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6 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
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students to contribute the cost of one or two books.. return f this individual outlay the
.in or ,
students are able to read a whole library of books ( 10 .
p. 8)
Taking this ide on board, at the end of the fi lesson, I e
a rst xplained to students that the would
y
each pay f one grade re r to he e
or d ade lp stablish a class library and aske them to bring 75 y n
d 0 e
along to the ne c
xt lass. I told the that f this small, one- pay nt, the would have the
m or off me y
opportunity to read not one but many books.Betwe lessons one and two,I went to a bookstore
en
to obtain the class re rs and by purc
ade hasing graded re rs in spec disc
ade ial ount packs,I was able
to re e the ove
duc rall c f e h student to 500 y n.At the beginning of lesson two,I spread the
ost or ac e
readers out on a table at the bac of the classroom and asked eac student to browse through the
k h
books and choose one the c
.I n olle ted the mone f
c y rom eac stude recording the name and the
h nt ir
title of the book the had chose and c c
y n he king offtheir pay nt on a f
me orm I had created to act
as a re eipt ( e fi
c Se gure 2.3.1 .
)
NAM E: BOOK TITLE: PAID:
Ke i Suzuki
nj Escape
Figure 2 .1: Example of receipt of stude pay
.3 nt ment
I then explaine the book swap rules to the class and provided stude
d nts with writte instruc-
n
tions on a handout ( e fi
Se gure 2 .2 .First,I asked students to write the names on the inside of
.3 ) ir
the front cover of the graded re r the had sele
ade y cted.I told them that af r reading the book and
te
completing their book report ( e fi
Se gure 2 .1 ,the we to return the re
.4 ) y re ader to me eithe in class
r
time or at my offic ,c
e hoose anothe book f
r rom the ER class library,and write the name unde
ir s r
the name of the pre
s vious stude who had read the book.In this way
nts ,the grade re rs would
d ade
be in constant circulation amongst the course members and also,the would be a writte rec
re n ord
of which students had re whic books.To e
ad h nsure that the we alway e
re re s nough ne books in
w
the class library f stude
or nts who we re
re ading at a quicker pace or f those students who
or
occasionally forgot to bring the books to c
ir lass, I purchased 3 graded readers f a class of 2
0 or 0
students. The cost of the additional 1 re rs c
0 ade ame out of my university research allowance.
Finally I advise stude
, d nts to borrow graded readers from the university library in orde to
r
supplement the book swap sy m f times when they had fi
ste or nishe re
d ading books but could not
get acce to the ER class library to swap their reade ( . we
ss rs e g. ekends, holiday the teac r is
s, he
in a class or meeting).
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BOOK SWAP RULES
1 Write y
. our name in the front c r.
ove
2 Read the book in c
. lass and at home.
3.Whe y fi
n ou nish reading,write a book report about the grade reader in y
d our
B5 notebook.
4 Whe y fi
. n ou nish the book report, hand the graded reade back to Andy
r .
5 Pick up anothe reade f
. r r rom Andy and write your name in the front c r
ove
unde the name of the othe stude
r r nts who have read the book and repeat
stages 2 5
-.
IF YOU LOSE YOUR READER, YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY
ANOTHER ONE TO REPLACE IT OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE OUT
OF THE BOOK SWAP
Figure 2 .2 Exc rpt from le
.3 : e sson two handout
2.4 Introducing students to book reports
As a substantial part of the ER course assessme students we instruc d to write brie
nt, re te f
book reports f e h grade re r the read in a B5 notebook to be submitted at the e of the
or ac d ade y nd
course.In lesson two,I provided stude with a sample book re
nts port form and the e
n xplaine how
d
to complete each se tion. Adapted f
c rom Schmidt ( 0 , the report (
20 4) See figure 2 4. raise
. 1) s
students awareness of the diff nt le ls of re
ere ve aders whic of varyf
h ten rom publisher to publisher
( . 1:Reading leve / Publishe . It also provides the opportunity f stude
Figure 2 4. l r) or nts to demon-
strate that the have re and unde
y ad rstood each book by summarizing the story (Figure 2. 1:
4.
Question 1 . Que
) stion 2 is the heart of the report (Schmidt,20 ,p.1 8)and allows stude
04 3 nts to
re ect more de ply on the reading experie e through giving opinions of eac book or making
fl e ir nc h
connections from each story to their own individual live The report also give students the
s. s
chance to re e t on the le
flc vel of the reade and thus guide them in the ne sele
r ir xt ction from the
ER class library(Figure 2 .1
.4 :Part 4 .Que
) stion 5 provides students with the option of making any
additional comments they f may be use ul or rele
eel f vant or to re ord new vocabulary encounte
c r-
ed. Finally part 6 allows stude
, nts to track the progre
ir ss.
Af introducing students to the book re
ter port task, they we then give class time to re
re n ad
quietly and to comple the fi report by copy
te ir rst ing the form into the fi page of the B5
rst ir
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6 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
,
BOOK REPORT
Date:
Title:
Reading level:
Author:
Publisher:
1 Summarize the book in 1 2 sentence What is it about?What happe
. - s. ns?
2 Write 3 4 se nc about y
. - nte es our response to the book. For example, how did
y like it?Why did
ou /didn t y like it?What expe
ou rience does it remind y
s ou
of?
3 Book rating:
. Gre ..Good...
at... ..Okay..Not so good...
... ..Bad
4 This book was:
. Too e ... a good level...
asy..At ..Too difficult
5 Any othe c
. r omments?For example, questions, comments, ne voc
w abulary.
6 I have re
. ad books so f this se
ar mester.
Figure 2.4.1:Book report form
notebooks and filling in the se tions.As students were engaged in this activity disc
c ,I overe there
d
was some unc rtainty about how to c
e omple eac se
te h ction of the book report.I therefore quickly
modeled the exerc my lf byre
ise se ading a graded reader,completing a report,and then photocopy-
ing it f eac stude to take away f
or h nt rom the class. Students were then able to make use of the
example I had cre d in class as a guide when writing the own book reports.
ate ir
2.5 Establishing class routine ( ) Sustained silent re
s 1: ading
One of the ke princ
y iples of ER is f stude
or nts to be provide with a set pe
d riod of class time
to read individually and silently.Sustaine sile reading (
d nt SSR)provide the opportunityf class
s or
members to f us c
oc ompletely on the task of reading;of making sense of the incoming data, the
lexic ite
al ms, the grammar, the rhetoric organization, and c
al ohesive relations in the text,
mapping this against the own expe nc and background knowledge of the world whilst
ir rie es
working to achie a c rent and pe
ve ohe rsonal interpretation of what the te means to the
xt m.From
an outside s pe
r rspective looking in,it mayappe that students are me
ar relyreading and that little
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language learning and instruction is taking place On the c
. ontrary through the proc
, ess of SSR,
students are making initial c ial ste to bec
ruc ps oming fluent and inde nde reade of the L2.As
pe nt rs
Grabe ( 991)argues:
1
Sustained sile re
nt ading should be encourage to build fl
d uenc automaticity ,confi
y( ) dence,and
appreciation of reading..
.longer concentrate pe
d riods of silent reading (are ne d)
ede .Students
learn to re by reading ( 396 .
ad p. )
Starting in lesson two and continuing throughout the ER course I provide stude with 3
, d nt 0
minutes of SSR e ry le
ve sson.This regular period of class time helpe to transf
d orm the classroom
environment into a place of uninterrupted and f used activity Each week, whe I gave the
oc . n
instruction, the students took the re rs f
ir ade rom the bags, ope d the and spent the allotte
ir ne m d
time reading,writing book reports,asking me text-
related questions,or swapping books the had
y
finishe with ne ones f
d w rom the ER class library During this time I c
. , ould demonstrate to the
class the importance I plac on re
e ading, ER and SSR by joining in with the busy community of
silent readers and reading the graded reade as well. In order to e
rs ngage in the dual role of ER
class participant and teacher,I re grade re
ad d aders whilst walking around the class,monitoring
students,and stopping to answe que
r stions when asked.Not only was this a valuable opportunity
as teacher to ac as a highly visible role model of a re r f students (
t ade or Day& Bamford,1998,
p.8),but by be oming f
c amiliar with each book in the ER class library c
,I ould e ourage students
nc
motivation f reading by making comme
or nts on and giving advice about the ne se tion of
ir xt lec
graded reader during the book swap. For example:
Oh! That b o s go
ok od. It s a true s .
tory
Have y u trie this o ? It s a b like Pris n Bre .
o d ne it o ak
Oh! I j t re d tha o . It has a re
us a t ne d nding ― v ry f
ally goo e e unny!
2.6 Establishing class routine ( ) Progre re
s 2: ss ports
Goal-
setting c have a signifi ant eff ct on stimulating L2 motivation.A goal c establish
an c e an
a standard by whic an individual c e
h an valuate his or he behavior whilst working towards its
r
attainment and f us the individual to work hard and ke at a certain activity until it has bee
oc ep n
accomplished (Boon, 2 7 Dorny i, 200 ; Oxf
00 ; e 1 ord & Shearin, 1994) In this respe t, to help
. c
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6 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
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generate initial learne motivation f
r rom lesson one I se the ER group an individual goal of
, t
reading 20 grade re
d aders and a group goal of reaching 40 graded readers in total (
0 See figure
2.1.1 . From le
) sson four, I then introduce a warm- ac
d up tivity which was repeate at the
d
beginning of e ry subse
ve quent ER class:
Ste 1:Group the stude
p nts in fours and give one student a piece of chalk.
Ste 2:Write on the board ― How many b s ha y re d s f
p ook ve ou a o ar?
Ste 3:Instruc student 1 to ask the que
p t stion to student 2 and to write his or her answe on
r
the chalkboard. Stude 2 the asks the que
nt n stion to stude 3 and writes his or he
nt r
answe on the chalkboard. Stude 3 asks the que
r nt stion to stude 4 and writes his or
nt
he answe on the c
r r halkboard. Finally student 4 asks the que
, stion to stude 1 and
nt
write his or he answe on the chalkboard.
s r r
Ste 4:Add up all of the numbe and write the class total on the board.
p rs
Ste 5:Provide f e
p e dbac on stude
k nts current progre towards the class goal.
ss
Ste 6:Give stude
p nts the lesson handout and ask the to rec
m ord the class total in section 1.
The aim of the progre report ac
ss tivity was to provide weekly opportunities f both students
or
and te her to re ec on the group s c
ac fl t urrent progre towards the fi goal,to encourage f
ss nal eelings
of individual importance and responsibility amongst group members f he
or lping to increase the
class total and to ge the numbe e r ne r to the goal (
t r ve are Boon, 2007 , and to help maintain the
)
motivation of the group through positive words of encourageme f
nt rom the teac r ( p 5)
he Ste .Each
lesson handout also included a spac f students to re
e or cord the class total so that they had a
writte re
n cord of the ER group s progression to take away from the class (see figure 2 )
.6.1 .
1 Progre Report:
. ss
So f the exte
ar, nsive reading
class has read books!
Figure 2 .1 Exce
.6 : rpt from lesson four to twelve handouts
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3 The middle
.
3.1 Getting students talking about the grade re rs
d ade
Once the class routine of progress reports,sustaine sile reading,and writing book reports
d nt
had been established, I began to introduce post-
reading activitie in which stude
s nts could talk
together about the grade re rs in the ER c
d ade lass library.In lesson four,students we provide
re d
with a handout of a sample dialogue in which two people discuss a graded reader (See figure 3.
1.1).Students re through the dialogue in pairs and the used it to structure their own conve
ad n rsa-
tions by replacing the italicize parts of the dialogue with the own response about the books
d ir s
they had been reading in the SSR period. In lesson fi , students were given a list of additional
ve
questions,and active listening phrase See fi
s( gure 3.1.2)that could be use when discussing books.
d
Students were the plac d in rotating pairs to practice talking about the graded readers.
n e ir
The post-
reading activitie se
s rved a numbe of important pedagogic purposes. First, the
r y
provided students with the opportunity to improve oral fluency as we as reading fl
ll uency during
the course.Second,bymonitoring pair work discussions,theygave the teacher an indire t method
c
of checking how muc re
h ading students had done during SSR and how much understanding was
taking place during the reading proc ss. Third, the helped turn the individual solitary ac of
e y t
reading into a community event (Day & Bamford, 1998, p. 14 ac
1)f ilitating group cohesion and
motivation by stude c
nts oming togethe to share the pe
r ir rsonal reading experiences.Finally,they
helped to prepare stude f the mid- mester assesse task ( sson six)in whic stude were
nts or se d le h nts
asked to discuss with a partne one of the graded readers the had re
r y ad.
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6 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
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Task 2:Talking about books
Prac e the dialogue in pairs:
tic
A］ He !What book did y re
y ou ad?
B］ I read Alic in Mos ow .
e c
A］ Oh really?What kind of story was it?
B］ It was a lo e story
v .
A］ I se What was it about?
e.
B］ We it was about a da e c d Alic w w nt to Mos o to do a
ll, nc r alle e ho e cw
show She me a guy c lle Nik lai a he inv d he o a p nic He
. t a d o nd ite r n ic .
f ll in lo e w Alic b s had to go b k to England.
e v ith e ut he ac
A］ Right. What happened at the end?
B］Nik la w nt to the a o as Alic w le ving a
o i e irp rt e as a nd ga he his
ve r
addre s
s .The p mis d to me t in Engla
y ro e e nd.
A］ Romantic ending, y a Who we the main characte
e h! re rs?
B］We Alic a
ll, e nd Nik i re
ola ally.
A］ What did y think of Nik la
ou o i?
B］He w v ry b e to a k Alic o a date He s e d a nic p rs
as e rav s e n . e me e e on.
A］ Did y like the book?
ou
B］Ye h. It w s t b d. I like the re tions
a an a d la hip b tw e Alic and Nikola
e en e i
b I w uld lik to k
ut o e now mo abo w t ha ns to the ne t.
re ut ha ppe m x
A］ You me n w n he ge to Engla
a he ts nd, right?
B］Ye h, I w nt to kno w the the re tions
a a w he r ir la hip w las or no
ill t t.
How about you?What book did y read?
ou
Task 3-In pairs,talk about the book y have re
ou ad.Use the dialogue above to help
you
Figure 3 .1 Exc rpt from lesson four handout
.1 : e
REACTIONS:
QUESTIONS:
Right.
1 Whtat did y read?
］ ou
Uh huh.
2 Whe does the story take plac ?
］ re e
Oh really?
3 Who are the Characte
］ rs?
I se .
e
4 What is
］ ［name］like?
Wow!
5 What happe d?
］ ne
Oh no!
6 Did y like it?
］ ou
Too bad!
7 Have y e
］ ou xperienc any
ed thing similar in your lif ?
e
How inte sting!
re
8 So, what did y learn f
］ ou rom the story?
Wow!So romantic!
Figure 3.1 :Exce
.2 rpt from lesson fi handout
ve
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3.2 The mid- me r asse
se ste ssed task
In lesson six, students we asse d on their ability to ask and answe que
re sse r stions, share
information, and ke p a c
e onversation going on a graded re r they had read. Af r completing
ade te
progress reports ( e 2 6 , I gave the group the rest of the class time to do SSR. While students
Se . )
were engaged in reading, I dre two random names f
w rom a hat and asked these students to sit
at a table at the front of the class to do an eight-
minute timed assessed conversation ( our minute
f s
per grade reade . The proc
d r) ess was the repe d until all stude
n ate nts had undergone the assess-
ment task.
3.3 Preparing students for poster presentations
In lesson seven,I introduc d students to the e of semeste asse
e nd- - r ssed task in whic students
h
were to give a short fi -
ve minute individual poste presentation on one of the grade reade the
r d rs y
had read ( diff nt re r to the one the had discussed in the mid-
a ere ade y semester assessed task).
Students were provide a handout and were asked to matc prese
d h ntation phrases to their
functions ( e fi
Se gure 3 .1 . In le
.3 ) sson eight, students listened to an M P3 recording of a presenta-
tion I create based on my reading of a grade reade that was not part of the ER c
d d r lass library
se tion.This mate
lec rial provide the stude with an e
d nts xample of a presentation with a four-
part
structure in whic the pre nter talke about the characters,the story
h se d ,the ending,and whyhe had
liked the story.Whilst listening,students completed a gapped handout and answere compre n-
d he
sion questions ( e fi
Se gure 3 .2 . At the e of the le
.3 ) nd sson, I then uploaded the M P3 fi to the
le
course lecture folde f students to download and liste to on their M P3 play outside of the
r or n ers
class. Finally in lessons nine to twe , stude
, lve nts we provided with class time to prepare and
re
practic the pre ntations and were given advice on designing posters that would act as both a
e ir se
visual support f the audie e and as a crib she t f the prese rs during their 5 minute talks.
or nc e or nte -
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6 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
,
Look at the following f tions f giving presentations and match phrases to
unc or
each different number:
1 We ome introduce y
. lc , ourse and outline y
lf our presentation
2 Introduc the fi subj c of y
. e rst et our presentation
3 Start othe subj ts of y
. r ec our presentation
4 Give example
. s
5 Summarize and c lude
. onc
6 Thank y
. our audience
7 Invite que
. stions from the audience
a］ To c lude.. / In c lusion.. / To sum up..
onc .. onc .. ..
b］ For e ../
xample .. A good example of this is..
..
c Do y have any questions?/Now I ll try to answe any que
］ ou r stions y may
ou
have.
d］ Now I ll move on to.. / Now, le s turn to.. / Let s look now at..
.. t .. ..
］
e To start with, I ll.. The I ll.. Af that, I ll..Finally I ll..
.. n, .. ter .. , ..
f Good Af rnoon.M y name is Andy Boon and today I m going to talk about/
］ te
discuss..
..
g］ Many thanks f y
or our attention.
h］ Ok, I d like to start by.. / Ok, fi of all, let s look at..
.. rst ..
Figure 3 .1 Exce
.3 : rpt from lesson seven handout
4 The e
. nd
4.1 The end- se ste asse d task
of- me r sse
In the fi lesson of the se ste ( sson 1 ) I arrive to class early in orde to rearrange
nal me r le 3, d r
the furniture. All the desks we pushed to one side and the chairs were grouped into twos or
re
three in f
s ront of the large chalkboard and small whiteboard in the ER classroom. As students
arrived,I aske the to submit the fi book re
d m ir nal ports ( e 2. .Stude were the divided into
Se 4) nts n
presente ( chose around 6 7 stude
rs I - nts to give the fi pre
rst sentations)or audience membe (
rs the
remainder of the class) provide each prese r with a designated spac and number f his or
.I d nte e or
her pre ntation and blu- k to stick his or her poster to the c
se tac halkboard or whiteboard.Audie e
nc
members were then assigne se
d ats by presentation number. Presente we instructe to start
rs re d
presenting to the audie
ir nce of two or thre students and encourage to invite questions f
e d rom
them at the e of the talks.Af r fi minutes had e
nd ir te ve lapsed,the presentations we stopped and
re
audienc members were aske to move to the next pre
e d sentation ( e audie e me
i. . nc mbers of
presentation #1 move to pre ntation #2 and so on) The fi pre
d se . rst sente then repeated their
rs
presentations three more times with audie e members be
nc ing rotate on each diff nt occasion.
d ere
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Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
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6
A］ Liste to part 1 of the pre ntation and fi in the blanks.
n se ll
Okay Go Morning. My na
. od me is and today I m going to talk
about . To s rt w
ta ith, I ll talk about
The I ll ta a o
n, lk b ut , af r that, I ll ta abo
te lk ut
and fi lly I ll ta a o
na , lk b ut .
B］ Liste to part 2 of the prese
n ntation and answer the questions.
Okay I d lik to s rt b ta
. e ta y lking a ut
bo .
The a
re re main c ra te
ha c rs.
Who are the characte and what do y he about the
rs ou ar m?
Character 1
Character 2
Character 3
C］ Liste to part 3 of the pre ntation and answer the que
n se stions.
Now le s turn to
t .
］
1 What doe Andre want Sally to we
s w ar?
］
2 What doe Sally buy
s ?
］
3 Whe doe she go ne
re s xt?
］
4 What happens in the coff e shop?
e
D］ Liste to part 4 of the pre ntation and answer the que
n se stions.
］
1 What happens whe Andre calls Sally
n w ?
］
2 What happens whe Pauls Mum calls Paul?
n
］
3 What do Paul and Sally decide to do?
E］ Liste to part 5 of the prese
n ntation and answer the questions.
Okay No I d lik to turn to
. w e .
］
1 Whe do Paul and Sally mee
re t?
］
2 What do they realize?
］
3 What happens whe Andre calls Sally
n w ?
］
4 What happens at the end?
F］ Liste to part 6 of the pre ntation and answer the que
n se stions.
To c nc
o lude my p s nta
re e tion, I ll talk about
］
1 Why doe Andy like the book?
s
Tha y u v ry muc f r lis ning. Do y u have a que tio ?
nk o e h o te o ny s ns
Figure 3 .2 Exce
.3 : rpt from lesson eight handout
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7 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
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The rationale of having students pre nt f
se our times in total was three old.Firstly allowe me
f ,it d
enough time to walk around, observe and assess e
, ach individual presentation. Se ondly it gave
c ,
students the opportunity to gain in c de e through repeate perf
onfi nc d ormanc of the same prese
e n-
tation material. Finally stude
, nts we able to learn f
re rom each othe by see
r ing and listening to
a selection of the pre ntations.Once fi
se nishe the fi set of pre
d, rst sente took down their posters
rs
and switched roles with membe of the audie e ( or seven of the re
rs nc six maining students y t to
e
present).The proce was the repe d until all members of the c
ss n ate lass had delivered the poste
ir r
presentations.
4.2 Course evaluation: A note on proc dure
e
In lesson 1 , I aske stude
2 d nts to comple a c
te ourse feedbac f
k orm in order to obtain their
evaluation of the fi se ste ER c
rst me r ourse and to determine what modifi ations we ne
c re eded for
the second semester.To ensure longe and more insightf answe
r ul rs,I asked students to complete
the form in Japane and then had the response translated later into English. I was able to
se ir s
collect information from 1 out of the 2 students who had registere f the course as f
6 0 d or our
students were absent on the day.
4.3 Course evaluation: Stude re
nt sponses
Students state that the c
d ourse had off red the eithe their fi experie
e m r rst nce or rene d
we
opportunities to read books in English.The f
y ound the class to be enj able and we pleased that
oy re
it off d them the c
ere hanc to work on other areas of English study suc as speaking, grammar,
e h
listening, and writing as well as reading. Several students indicate that as the c
d lass was quiet
when reading, it promoted a positive and comfortable learning environment.
Half of the stude re
nts sponde to this question with the answe nothing. However,several
d r,
students remarke on the difficulty of writing the book re
d ports, the require amount of reading,
d
and difficulties proc ssing unknown le al ite in some of the grade readers as being problem-
e xic ms d
atic aspe of the course One stude indicate being uncomf
cts . nt d ortable with speaking in the class
whereas anothe stude wished group membe had contribute more to class disc
r nt rs d ussions rather
than being retic nt. Another student wrote that she wanted the teac r to use more of the L1 in
e he
the class.
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Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
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7
Students gave the book swap sy m an ave
ste rage score of 4. M ost students commented that
they liked the book swap as it provide the with easy ac e to many diff
d m c ss erent books at a low
price and facilitated the ac ve
ir hie ment of the class goal of reading 2 grade readers.One student
0 d
mentioned that it made him f e c
e l ompetitive and that without it, he may not have re as many
ad
books as he did.Anothe student e oy fi
r nj ed nding out who e in the ER class had re the books
lse ad
by reading the name of stude
s nts in the inside front c r of e h particular grade re
ove ac d ader ( e
Se
2. )bef
3 ore adding he own name to the list.Howe r,one stude stated that the sy m did not
r ve nt ste
work f he as she ne d to suppleme her reading by borrowing books f
or r ede nt rom the library.
Another stude only sc
nt ored the book swap with a 2 as he wishe f a better se tion of books
d or lec
in the ER class library.
Sustained sile reading as a wee
nt kly class activity sc d an average of 4 3 Nearly all
ore ..
students stated that the advantage of SSR was the quie c
t lassroom environment whic helpe
h d
them to f us wholly on the task of re
oc ading. One student commented that as SSR became an
establishe part of the ER c
d lass routine that re
, ading became a conditioned response f he
or r.
Normally easily distrac d in class, once the instruction was given to start SSR, the student
te
opened her book and just got on with the task at hand. Finally one student who score silent
, d
reading with a relative low sc
ly ore of 3 , may have at least take away f
n rom the class an
understanding of the pedagogic importance of SSR as he took the opportunity in the f
al eedback
form to write an apology to the te he f having of n talke to other classmates during the
ac r or te d
SSR periods.
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7 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
,
The book report assessme task scored an average of 3 9. Although most students
nt .
acknowle d the diffic
dge ulty of writing 2 book re
0 ports in English, some students state that the
d
reports were fun to write good prac e f improving writing skills, and gave the the
, tic or m
opportunity to expre the opinions about the books they had read.One student mentioned that
ss ir
it was difficult f he at fi to be able to c
or r rst onstruct sente es to summarize and provide opinions,
nc
but the task got easie f he throughout the semeste Finally one stude suggeste re ing
r or r r. , nt d duc
the workload from 2 to 1 books.
0 5
Students gave the mid- rm oral te and e of seme r poster se
te st nd- - ste ssions an average score of
3. .Most stude state that spe
2 nts d aking in English about the books was difficult and that they had
been nervous during the tests. In fact, se ral students wrote that the had not prepare f the
ve y d or
fi oral test but the late re tte this. On the other hand, 5 students believe that the tests
rst n r gre d d
were a good ide and had given the the opportunityto tryto output to the pe the knowledge
a m ir ers
they had acquire through re
d ading.
Students evaluated the te hing of the ER class with an average score of 4.
ac 6.Students stated
that lessons we intere
re sting and e oy
nj able The also commented that the teacher had shown a
. y
great de of e
al nthusiasm throughout the course and had provided information and explanations
that were easy to understand.
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Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
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7
Students evaluated the own pe ormance during the ER course with an average sc
ir rf ore of 2.
9.Several stude indicated a pe ive lack of voc
nts rce d abulary as having created difficulty f them
or
during the various reading,writing,and speaking activities.One student scored herself a 2 as she
had bee c
n onsistently late f c
or lass.
/
13 students answered that the re
ir ading skills had improved having notic an increase in
ed
their overall reading fl nc and voc
ue y abulary knowle .One student was undecided but f d to
dge aile
provide a reason. Two students state that the had be no noticeable change to their reading
d re en
ability.
/
14 students answered that the weekly progress reports had encouraged them to read more
books. Several students comme d that progress reports had motivate them to maintain the
nte d
same pace of reading. Another stude argue that the f
nt d act he had achie d the goal of reading
ve
20 books in one se ster was evide e that the progress reports had had a positive e ec on him.
me nc ff t
Two students answered that the reports had not influence their rate of reading.Ironic
d ally,these
two students were of n late f the c
te or lass and misse the progress report warm- activity ne
d up arly
every week.
/
Five students answere that the inte
d y nded to continue reading English books af r the fi
te rst
se ster course:
me
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7 Setting up an Extensive Reading Course:The Beginning, the M iddle and the End.
,
Ye , b c e I w re b k on the train.
s e aus ill ad oo s
Ye . I w uld lik to c ntinue to re d to imp ve my s ills
s o e o a ro k .
Ye . I w uld lik to re d diff re k
s o e a e nt inds of boo in the f
ks uture.
Ye , b c e I w nt to try ha r ne t time
s e aus a rde x
Ye . If I hav c nc , I w try it.
s e ha e ill
Four stude state that the might be inte
nts d y reste in re
d ading English books in their free time
but were unsure whe r the would. Two stude
the y nts replied that without being part of the ER
course the would defi
, y nitely not continue reading English books. Unfortunately fi students
, ve
misunderstood the question and answered about past tasks they had completed as homework for
the ER course.
15 out of 1 stude
6 nts provided additional comments on the course f dback f
ee orm taking the
opportunity to thank the te he ( apologize f having bee late f or le
ac r or or n or thargic in lessons)and
to re ect positive on the le
fl ly ir arning e rience during the ER course. For example:
xpe
I think Englis is a diffic thing b I ha c
h ult ut ve hange my o
d pinion. I f e re
e l ading boo s
k
is fun.
I thought Englis c s w s more f tha be o . The te he w
h la s a un n f re ac r orke hard and e p
d x lained
a lo I c
t. ould f e motiv te
el a d.
I got go s
od trate s b atte
gie y nding this c urs .
o e
5. Conclusion
M y aim with the se ond y ar unive
c e rsity elective ER course was to create a pleasant,
supportive,and productive learning environme in which students c
nt ould f l encouraged to re
ee ad
a large amount of comprehensible texts at a level within their particular comf zone (
ort Waring,
2006, p. 4 in orde to build the reading fl nc , inc
6) r ir ue y rease their experie es of suc
nc cess with
reading in English, engage in post- ading activitie to help improve othe skill areas such as
re s r
speaking, listening, and, writing and ultimately to increase the motivation f continue L2
, ir or d
learning. To advanc claims that the ER course positive aff
e ly ected students motivation is
somewhat premature without furthe rese h. This article de
r arc scribes how the course evolved
ove its 13 wee pe
r - k riod in respe t of its design, conte
c nt, methodology and assessme only
, nt .
However,from the stude re
nt sponses in the course f dback f
ee orm (See 4.2)and my own observa-
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