pene ne Rit anna), mm [A Self Access Extensive Reading Project using Graded Readers (with particular reference to students of English for academic purposes) Carolyn Walker aglish Language Cente, University of Exeter Week te ne Engin open cm ns ea fos peceted w bes See pt wt seg rom tinh nea ted oe ie iver er Te INTRODUCTION Inte vniversity English language cene where T work we run two baie types of fil ine cour: general English course and an Engle for academic purposes (EAP) course. Our students are aged 18 and over, ae graduate and undergradates, tnd come ros varity of counties and ules incloding Esropes, Far Easter tnd Arabic. Many of our students ae peparng fr tertiary level sty through English and therefore have to develop thei reading ality toa point where they tne ale Co read linge quentie of dificl ext, Some time ago we fl ha the Progress which students were making in reading eppeared minimal and this, if ton was clei serous probe, ne obvious reason for any lack of progress sugested itl: the students were simply noteaing enough. Mes people ative thatthe repeated doingof something leads ots provement, hat practice of kill improves nthe ese of reading this is expressed a "you Team to ead by reading’ fg. Grabe 1991, 396) But, iMhough there were dedicated reading classes two of thee times per week, roth hardly noedseterting thet reading clssos by themselves ar insuffi fr be development of am aqua L2reaing aby, Natal 982, Wiams cr ot Ser once i ae or ge hhMost reading clases eve in communica lassroms, will not provide adequ fportnity for the development of reading for virus reasons Some, ino al the following features are likely to apply (al bu the most exceptional of ca + students donot actully read moc in reading clases texts and time ary neces, short the conlitions (ie, how, when, wher, how long, what for) of reading controled bythe teacher, not the readers: + themodel implied by most pedagogic procedures for dealing with 2 text the transmission meds? referred toby Zamel in which reading is reduced 4 mater of demifng and reivngo tt of ideas that reside in anda Ironomitd by ater iet of ea hat el readers cam are on (Zam! 199% 465) ‘As Hirvela (1996) points out, tis primacy of the text inthe “earner interaction’ is as te in communicative classrooms as in more tai ‘ones. An ‘emphasis onthe learner as reader" which takes account of readers experience ofthe original tex together withthe meaning embe in he text = the leame's “story of reading’ = iid p129) has veto fn ‘ray im mainstream classrooms + Reading isonty apart of wha done: for example exis may also be used ‘eels fr information bout language, os stu for aserieso inte ‘il actives or the production of spoken or writen discoure + There may bean over concentration on skills and strategies deriving f iop down views of reading (e: predicting, skimming, seaming, eves ‘word from content - se Grae 1997-377) without reference to tational processes (Paran 1996). + Reading veney, sch as LI learner readers develop (t schoo, for exam through reading schemes, quiet reading pesods, reading aloud one vith teacher) is mot usually a sated aim of reading classes Classes by themselves, then, do ao offer enough practice inthe business ofr reading. One measure which can make up for defeieaces in classroom readin ‘pportniis i forthe students to rad extensively Ax Krashen nots Fre voluntary ein i theming igrsientin interment second and orsign language marco (1995: Soe decided set up an Extensive Reaing Project whose purpose was to estab ‘systematic, selr-accest reading resource using graded readers. We hoped th etn Pc ing rade Rear. ms tly and 0 employ all the strates Go improve thee ably to ead Nuctly and to emp ted with god rebders iipread a bt ((vred outside clas hours independety (i) find eaing i Engh an enjoyable experene (i Mave hough diferent levels of txt dificulty and see for themselves {heir ovn progres ne Paject was nso concemed with developing effective systems for the Tarpon of extensive reading i or particular cone, to evaluate these and to ape ecommendaton for he fre inbrgh Universi’ rject. cating source wa dveloed witb fp of ait eee Reading (PER), wich has acomprchensive dibs of graded readers Src 1) We planed to moni the progress of ut Prot eves one . rdemic year Cie three ten week terms), as we were advised by EPER that there tee bnet cringe ver shore pers ta hx Homes ae ii tog ean mont th tht sense jon our cores Fee eto eck erm and are a he en ach rm, Te joy of a ay one term ony. ith sal amber coming fr ems soothe fe renaming fer tla yar (0 wees). Nels hoes ma bezun in Oster 1983 wth 26 tents tne some ofthe tefredscrbing he rot neti sou pts rey ot Betsey ante eafng hee sexed the appt proach 0 out i lee and sv my we eid wave rade readers he e200 ceURE tr pun may ned some justification fer howe of br ets ‘hey Eng or academe ores ‘THE RENEEITS OF EXTENSIVE READING Extensive reading clearly provides practice reading Tn Natal s‘virwous cle {Fig 1), practice ithe implied hey to improvement enjoys re faster understand Fee mmtc e mta mie Tn other wor: by reading more and faster, comprebension skills improve, ‘comprehension i more successful 0 motivation encourages more reading Th is some suppor from psyeholingsai studes forthe nation thes comprehen improves through reading tre. Oakhill (1995) has reported research incall ‘hat imitations of working memory may he responsible for poor comprehen and she has suggested that perhaps reading with understanding improwes wo ‘A numberof other writes have enumerated the benefits of exensive reading general (eg, Pits ct al 1989. Grabe 1991, 19952 & b, Wiley 1991, acy 199 ‘Kran 1993, Paran 1996) and of extensive reading of mae a an appeope level in paticulr (Bamford 1984, Wiliams 1986, ill and Reid Thomas 19 ati and Todor 1989, Rob and Susser 1989, Kio etal. 199, Day eta 19 Summarising the principal claims, it seems that extensive reading can prov ‘opportunities for practice andr inywovement inte following res 1 Ianguage improvement a building vocabulary building structural awareness calving exposure to language ‘comprehensible inpt) 2 speed: improving auomrsicityreading faster 3 background knowledge: enhancing knowledge 4 comprehension: improving comprehensionnext atk sills 5 autitude promoting eanidence bb promoding motivation 6 quantity reading more, eacing whole texts ord atiack sil: roving oppo employ “goed “nod aa ' typesofreading technique: improving eb ofeaing rate depend ‘on porpose, eg. skimming. senning sty reading 9 renng practice: lesrng ta read by reading” 10 transfer to other skills: improving speling, writing, sping, itening 11 learning resource: becoming independent of others, teacher rem clely many vaunlelangge and other heeft to be gine fom Te crea. i he sao he eee, howetr, wee nein oa atthe exetimen in ceding fives, A econdry but plc si was langage se smen scan fe inetd from the notion of te rors which slows imtyate move rough diferent level of txt dis not: consideration was the fype of extensive reading, We chose to impleme iActope which comes under the heading of el accors ‘ree Voluntary reading” (EVR), eacussed by Krashen (1993). Within his eatgory unlike the classroom (eating discussed above, stadens Pea whole tents: 1 rea soften, wherever ead what they wane 1 Me not “ested? on ther compechenson hough we did have available work ‘ards for some books) ‘Thistye of extensive reading seemed to have the potential o makeup for some of the limitations ofthe eading done in less. ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY OF TEXT Many of our stents ae probably spending mst of thir ime reading dificult texts Tis situation has aisen, in my opinion. partly as result of the view in ‘ect yeas in ELT that lamers should ead there tatrial whatever thet Teel and that he text i ess moran than what etme are asked odo wii! ‘The various angurents for and agains! using auhentic texts are well documented clsenhere (eg. Hudson 1991, Alderson & Unguhat 1988), and donot wish to 20 inthe au here, encept to make he point tha there are varios consequences of clove reading of texts which ae to dffeult Some af hese ee as follows + Stems get locked into the vieious tee described by Null 1982: 167) in ‘vich reading isto eificul tobe pleasurable experience, and 30 not much readings doe curse class Decoding dificult tex is slow, arduous business requiring translation into ‘he LI (Upton 1995, Coen 1995), and other techniques involving LI sch as ‘reading a sentence backwards Gapancse, Korean siden) * Leaner have por elf conceps as euders Hosen‘, 1988, 233) and they have fw expectations of comprehension, (Compare this with Ll readers who expect to nderstand avery lage pat of what they ead i.e. 99-1004 - see Clay 1988, Carver 199), [2 writen ents ae soet mainly as soures of information about language - "ingusti objets Johns & Davis 1933) - suing. some barely 0 complaint is text isto easy case reading i slaw, not mac wx s ead, nd so exposure to language input and appt to meet new words ae limited (Parry 1991) 1d for however log they want+ Applcstion of leamerseader strategies sch as guessing meanings ‘comtext (Para 1996, 23) will Gepend on level of ically ofthe tex “annot guess the meaning of word unless You understand context sith (Natal 1982, Pay 1991). As Hudson pats tis unclear how the ler a reader cam comprehend the messae wl same learner os largage argue deifies and masters unknown vocab fronmar ond Yea sacar. Thre [a apparent niga rearing jst how Evctnap comprehension can tate plac the coed language leartr df ferent fee symcnc and dcoure lle ecesar for compres thecoment of thet" 1991 83) + Ifa texts aia, ging » general idea may be possible but reading ‘ote understanding nay be beyond astdens capability Tis pe "specs of compreherson, such a text-levelnfering, maY no ake Pac ‘To conchide, the lx usd in class se olen “autbenc™ Because, among of reason, these are thought o Be mosvaing. Very often these ets ae news ‘ormagazine articles, since they have topical elevance se, fr exemple, Wong fn. 1995), Bat the most dificult Kinds of texte appear lo be newspaper ane many stadent reported to usin interview that they found eading the news ‘more dificult than reading acidemie texts in thee subject area. Furthermore. EAP sade, n parla red authentic, general intrest texts in cls, and out «tas pendtheitime om asthenc sjeettelaed ext, they a ey te read texts which mos ofthe time are to eiticult The ‘sor circuit ypothess Clatke 1980, Alderson 1984) argues that reading skills ad srategies acquire the LI ae ot tanfersed to the L2 until a eran thesbod evel of sly in Lie reached. However, [woul like to suggest that ts not ory the evel abi ere, but the eificltyof the text which at east as crucial e that toents wl 5 lw level of knowledge ofthe L2 ea be relatively ‘go readers’ - whatever ‘means iho text is atthe right level Wor ts restive oF icotry? Ini ifcalt to be very precise abou ical levels but hee are some sources information. Forexampls, Clay 1985) recommends thatthe lamer eaer shoul be 90-94% conect in hither rsognition and understanding of words on instructional ext and 9S - 100% cones on av eay text. A cfficl text ie 8S oes. Carver (1994) gives the flloing Figures fr naive speaker an eaty ‘cntains OF unknown swords «dificult ext contains 2% unknown words, Whi ‘material "which it matched othe ability of Urea" contin around IS unk ‘word na longitudinal study by ary (1991.4 ESL students, who were instruc to lit word that “caused them difculy' in an ntoduetoy anthropology a ‘recorded a estimated 1,64 1 0.12% of the wal words i the ext. Null (1 26) recommends 1% unfamiliar wows for txtsused in extensive reading. and 2 ser ne Reade Prec en Gre Rees ra foritesive reading texts, Finaly, Laufer (1987) describes a study which found {fas telow the lve of 95% undersanding of words in aex, comprehension Was ‘4.95% minimum level of compretension fr extensive reading is gure which ‘Ronsto be generally acepted (eg. White 1994, Gabe 1998), lkoagh sez ‘Steet ato wth Carver, Noval and Pary. But prkaps te two measures = ferret Fecogniion and comprehension of wor’ and “unaniliat wows’ (e ‘nds never sen before) -are nol he same hing. It cealy posible to recognise {Non without having «comet understanding off and it's possible to have a {arect understanding of «werd bat sil inappropriily ierpet piece of writen {Bscoune fr syatactc o othe reasons. ‘A any re, the minimum 95% comprehension figure was the guide which we ‘Moped in our Reading Project. Clearly, in order ro achieve ths level of omprehension,sudens whose language proiiency is below a cea level wll teed readsimpliied texts. For this reason, graded readers were an obvious cei. DESCRIPTION OF THE READING PROJECT Serane vr re Prosser The proces involved in seting up the projet was as follows: + During the summer erm af 1993, we cared out a pt est with eur current up tents o gauge the approximate ditrtuton of a Sudent eros. EPER's nine levels (ee Append, and therefore the numer of books pet Jove we would equi, + Durngshe summer vacation, with the help of EPER, we selected and ordered sulfiefent books forthe project. From the results ofthe nates. EPER sent tea suggested number of books per level and Ist of recommended tes ‘rom the diahce, After weeding ost fw quality tes from cur exiting stock and ordering selection of new books from the recommended Hs, We ‘rrved a he following dition of books across seven levels tthe tart ofthe project: PER LEVEL NUMBER OF BOOKS. 0 2 n a 20+ tthe beginning of the Autumn erm, sents were tested informed a ‘eating levels, and wore istod with et of instruction forthe projet + The notion of extensive eading was explained stressing the importance Tange quantity of ent reading, fe reading at reasonable spec constantly having stop to uke ditonaries. It was made clea i ‘hat the books acti evel should be rlatvely easy: they should be a ‘understand 95% of what they read + Once students had complied 10 books at one level then afer cons with thet eading utr they could move upto the net lve +The projet wa setup as an open selFavcess system, usable fom 8.30 {00'pm on weekdays, and 90K was up wo students whether and how they fea. Homever inte fit term weasked students tty to readan a ‘of one book «week (9 in tenn, ain the econd term we ted wen Sudents to read two a week, Mosaromine ao Evasion ‘The Reading Project was primarily conceived and implemented in terms leering potential fo the sadens who would hes subjects. Inacio, we wt to be able o make sensible recommendations to dents n future years a 0 ‘esto go aout the business of improving tee ability to readin English. There twas impor o bl! n systems for formative evalation of the projet rom ‘dent point of view, aswell systems or data gathering onthe students ‘ading process, attudes and habits. These ame were achieved through eg testing torial, quesionaies and interviews, as fllows + EPER supplied ws with io parallel laze tet, each consisting of sbout ites ina romber of short passages gradually increasing in difcul. Te was given to students starting onthe project, The results this tes determi the reading level they would begin on. Test B was given atthe end of term in order to mesure any progress made over the 10 weeks + Bach student was issued with a reading record took. For each book they were asked o recor les and how many pages were read, give aqua rating of 1-5 (L-temble, Smexcellen) and write any comments they wis to make, These record books were collected ina the end ofeach term, + Individual tutorials were held every to oF thee wecks in which sti ‘were asked about thir general aitudes and approaches 10 reading int First language and in English. The number of books they bad read was check nd encouragementgvenby te utr ocontinae reading as much as posi Ienpese EB Pang ke ben 19 ‘Questionnsires were issued a the end ofeach term as further formative ‘aiuto ofthe project, and alot act a confirmation of sadentsatitades freiling wbich bad Been discussed in tatrials ring the tesm ily, sivctred and recorded interviews wee cared out with number of ftadens athe end of terms 2 and 3. ere ess of ent quetnmsr we dacvered ht here was a retrece etre icin song sme ofthe dens many the pale Sens and 8 tegrwe ordered a are $5 gon-fcton books ‘Av inportant ole ofthe tutorials was o maintain student interest snd moncr the Mount they were reading. In Weweck tim we found tht inal entuslsmn fepan to ap. aound week 5, so the second er we organised a Book Afteroon ere stents got together in an informal amenphere over tea and cakes and Ggenssed the books they had read and offered recommendations to cher. TS Ses wll tended and asa result we published it ofthe recommended books (eee Arpendix 4), IRPSULIS AND EVALUATION ‘Me il consider answers othe questions belo, using dt from the fliowing sources a) dserpive stasis (test scores (c)questinnaies, anda) econded |. Did studens perceive any benefits fom seading ‘easy material simplified Iolo seas 95 comprehension)? Iso, what were they? Using sources (a) (e)and Dig reading alot of his kind of material lp students improve ther reading bility? so, wha specs ofthe reading ability were affected? Using sources (0), () and (a, Would EAP students be beter equipped to read unsimpifid mateil in their subject areas? Unig sources} ond. Sour Basie Stance Appeonimately 26 20 students tok part in the projet cach erm, wit 17 students ‘wtiuing ave wo erms and 8 over tre terms. Ase inthe inoduction, this ater fice periods of student registration on courses: dos not ply 4 op arate from the project a uch. I ttl 60 tents took par in the programme ‘rte year, bu at from es scores and numberof books read ae compte for ly Si, Ou ofthe 60 students, 4 sdens whose Test A results indicated that they ‘Should read praded readers didnot ead any books,Some figures forthe Autuma and Spring ters ae (n=$3) 1. Number otbooks per term: Stents ead on average betveen 75-8 witha range of 0 26 ie on average one book per week as instructed) Time per book: They scemd io spend between 2 and 6 hours per some (4 spending less thin 2 hours and 3 few spending more that 7 ime spent reading: They seemed to end on average about 3 to 4 per week reading the reine project hooks (ranging from 0 10 10.5 ba This represened approximately 10-20% of ime spent working oatsie ch (Over 7 days. it worked out al abou ha an hour per day. (Compare Hai Tudor 1989, who report that in another projet a school in UK, pupil ted readers frome supervised hor per day = eS hous pet week) 4. Frequeney: Mest people read the books 2 3 times per week Howe Some stents gave up reading the Reading Projet books afer cert ai inthe term weeks 57). mainly dueto pressure of work (unfortunately rogues on ti) Purposes: Few stents read the Reading Project books for pleasure slighly more than 40% read for language improvement only. while ne haelaimed o read the books Fr pleasure aswell as language improve 6. Time & place in general the books were read manly in students rooms hight ori the evening. and often in ho or efove leping shown in table below FAP rs Gra stoners ior which might have affected how much was read was whether students oer. FAP or General. An important question for EAP siden in whether iis Nery spending time on this kind of materia, given thls ifferem in gene from Joes they are eguted wo read for ty in their subject aca (se Below). ‘ne ft pssagss and ranges of guaniy of text for BAP and General students for one term eas tllows ‘Average quantity of text rad in 000s of words (over one term) Mean 199.67 101.32 Range raid 217 EAP Goraral (0223) Ascanbe seem in Table 2, the average amouns of text ead ae no ery diferent It anything, EAP studens appa ohave readme, bathe mean may be nated sight) by the exceptionally large figure forone EAP suden (he read 35 hooks) Terex highest EAP students are closer to the tp figure for General stadents Given hat EAP students had tough assignment o compete for thee couse (2000 ‘orders nthe), and tat extent parcation in the Projet depended ‘a inivcualvotion, seems from these Sghes (hal EAP studems considers reading these kinds of texts wort Hocer ano rower anes ‘Thee was also no connection between a stud eel and the quantity rea 38 ean he see Tram the colons, shown in Tale 3, berween the amount of txt real and scores on Test A. This means hat W28not posse Tom the es OF Test Ato predict how mich sente would tea nother words, stdent at lowce When and where di you read the books? Nets % atnighbefoe seepinginbed 64.2% st hometn my rom 52% ‘her fee time 119% a English Language Centre 11% teaveling 24% (el) ‘Ascan be see, comfort and privacy are important in reading the books, x hey ae Leisure rating. The books appear have been teed orm of weal aati Howe Moc Tax Dip Srumenrs Reso? In order to extmate approximately how much text each student ha red, Fg based on nimber of words was called by using the stent eading tec together with data on word length ofeach hook recone Correlations between test A (Gs est) and amount read (Pearson Conelation Coefcens) “ota Words Over | Team/Score On Test A 0.0960 “otal Words Over 2And 3 TermsfScore On Tet Am 0.0549, Netlevels id not appear to read more ex than students a higher level, and Process Inowr ose wether rang grad eters a any feo tae bi perorm betes onthe clze ta the sof pees Scores Were mad aktning the ifeences betwee Tet scores es ard Tes sc otter ea ort fe ome gr sco = Tes A Tet I, Po store 7 = Tet A= B2 et) Thee ogres sos were he corel {ermiy ea The creates te oven abe Ascin be ecthe conel ‘Now increing evidence of poptess vera perie of ume seating o language sequiston rater than ke effec weadingon al aspects of Beailiy read guests EVALUATIONS OF Tak READING Progect ngssras be maoriy of students were favourable inher opinions ofthe Reading Teeter regarding ia enable. ose and beneficial for their English, Some Frere evtemelyenthusesie and posively devoured the hooks. na very few sides found it hard to wead the types of books conned inthe Reading FRojct or were unentusiastic about eating in English n general Figure 2 shows the tents’ opinions onthe wsefulness ofthe project and Row puch they engayed reading the hooks. ‘Correlations between progress score and amount read (Pearson Correlation Coetint) ‘otal Words Read Over I TermiProgress Score |= 0.2308 iN=50) ‘Total Words Read Over 2Terms/Progress Score? r= 05901" 16) Total Words Reod Over? TesmProgress Some 3 re O.9UAS** (Wess * Conlation i significant atthe 0.0 level (world) ** Comelaton is significant atthe 0.01 Level wotiled) (Obviously the numbers ar low, especialy inthe Inst ease, However, teen a series together with the Figures in Tale 3 these corelasons give an encour Indication that. firstly. the amount stodens rend hs a beneficial eect ot ability to perform onthe cans ts. ad secondly, ove ime the effect fneeas The resus accord with those of others investigating in the sane Fle. Ha Tad (1989), Wiley (1991), 11s perhaps iil to know what these igure might mean a far a reading cnet is coacemed. One problem with clove ess hat whi they are a et ‘verl language ability, it as been arc that they are ony party est of hil teder reading skills, suchas inferencing. (Se Tor example, Alderson 19845 ‘Wiliams 4 Dallas 1984:202). Ths here we may relly be looking at the effet Dp you enoy eating easy books’ Hows sei his te RP Ben toy? nee Wi cxjoy easy books? (154) Wise RP (a any a As canbe sen, the responses ae quite positive and encouraging. On exarinine dirences betwcen EAP and General students (no shown) we found tha: 796 of EAP students ated the Project as useful or very ufo compared wath 917 of {ener stents. The atu towards cary hooks is interesting: 24% of peeral odenis and 435 of EAP stgents were les than positive towards “easy” books, king them nota all roy a lea2 conti aie sng Pt wing Grab Rl ser Thus sems tha: (iyAlthoug3 General suerte were ite more postive than EAP stadens ‘he Project. susan numberof FAP stdems found i sel, {Gi ie Tooks as ithe books were more wsefl tha enjoyable, although this much a generalisation as opinions varied substantially hetween ued eneis of extensive reading of graded readers in order of importance ‘analysis interview) 2 oceurences (eno. of of individuals Ne inliviaals mentoning) mentioning Sometimes in interviews withthe students, thee did appear to be prob a 3 ws associated withthe materials ea I. dangrage improve ikl vocebaa 9 1. At lover levels especialy few sttents appeared to fee “positioned, | tit vocabulary ven by some of the ext, ld structural awareness A higher levels (eg evel B upward), one oF two students claimed able 10 cope well with unsimpiied materi -theve salen more tad litraure n thei own counie. One student in particular was acl pereepive in er dislike Fr simpli material she The to read exit ‘o appreciate wite's language and wo grapple with eas: She mina this was not possible wih iplifed mater, fe expen to language 5 2. see: 2 si improve automaticity s ca ead the Books fast 8 On the ter hand, many sens came to appait the opporniy to impel | + nereenson reaing sil, as the comment below 4 improve compychensionskilstext 3 ue. reading.at first when H reading RP books itis easiex I hink so, but ¥ think as the en times tek vertu |e moe ea reall | can vier tans easly 8 feat demented bcon camara |" Muienundtosenly 9 a9 ata cdg enon rnc Revi Or Tis Rises Poser ; 2 rome confidence Comments lig tthe hereis of etn reang wing raed readers : ext from 29 resoded cred mteriews wih EAP and Genel seg | prone dain s Thecormensweretencaegonsedusing etn poemtal ettvcroxenatll |6 nciremane eeuedio 8 ns ading discussed in section 2 above. Table 5 shows these benefit srtangd in reading Order scoring how ie ny were meno eee ee eee di fe he sale newieed wor exe ing on wists poly a alte atk te : tr eo css nya, lone neg ngage Miao mera | : i ‘that - with the exception of item 10 - all the comments could be relatively eas 6. quanniy: can read more. read whole 5 cstgoited ino mos of tees inte shee shone Intwo arcs hoger |e i wa zt em sda comnts er ag ae ll | geno ined mad 3 ma Srething mcd tothe ime thing a Ingroving im a nce Spe ae a ‘ete he ath they cul ea the books lst understand then caf | bckgrn owledgesenance 2 ‘meant that they felt that thei comprehension and reading speet ha actual 4. technique: can skim read 1 a improved. Ths the est goston in ct 2 sow epic a ‘here ace two categories under speed and comprehension If however, we acathat te repeated practice oa skill eu in improvement, should fellow hing able tread faster and cing able to comprehend caily will tq improvement in these sess Language improvement scemsto bean important caepory fo amos al he su ‘ther significant reas being spec, comprehension and tite. Mes ater Coincaenaly ae Key elements of Nua vious ice [Table 6 below, the opinions of EAP an Gener sien ate compare Interview rexponse: EAP and General siden opinions om benefits sraded readers flee od Language 10 Competension rgrosment Speed 5s 2 Ramguage « @ ‘proven Comprehension 283 Spe a sade » on Reading Pacee 28 Reaingrace 6 uantty 2 6 iaty of nu @ asides Word Auick Skil) 177 WondAtack sills 18 Background M8 Quanity ° Diet of M actground o 8 rieet Krowsege RealingTecbnque 6 == 1DS‘Reding Technique Although the numbers re quits, some interesting similarities an iferenel are indicated, Fry, for both soups the fist ive eatgorcs ae the same be 2 diferent rank order and for both eronps, reading technic i not especial important, Gener students appears bea ite essteerant of unsimplifsd att Inthe guewtionnaies the open-ended question "What benefit do youthink you get fom codingessy books?” proce broadly similar answers, Iwas clear that Key Feta also language improvement, speed, comprehension. Inthe quesoanaies, tordatlack sil received more importance than in interviews thn rank ord), WPakd background Knowledge (6th in eank cud) Attude was ranked Sth and ‘pething, wing and speling ae suggested inthe cuestionnnre responses a Rein the interieus Thus, | tink we are used in concluding that inthe view of students, reading traded readers provides them with a numberof rexding Benois, and most fnpotnty an opportunity to practise reading fs, to understand easily and (0 inrove thei kreiedge of langage T may als be possible that imply by reding faster aad understanding more easily, the ability to proces writen text improves. Trassten To Onn Lanctnce Seite ‘Teri lo the notion that ther ares of language, besides those associated with fescing, might he affected by roading graced readers. For example, Wiley (1991) ‘nd Hate Tudor (1989) fund transfer effects to other language sills. Krashen (1985) goes so far as to say that writing is lamed through reading, rather than tvoagh writing and tha spelling i mow effectively Isrned though reading han spelnginstreton. Tale T below gives the sults of questionnaire responses 10 2 slot question: “Do you think you hve improved in any ofthese areas as 2 est sf the eadng projec? ‘lb soon aamediatel ht a substantial properton ofthe students (75%) were thle tobe faily specific aout the linguistic heres accruing fro the reading they did Also, significantly, improvement applies to other areas of language, nok 18s thoe associated with eading Some individuals were also very cithusiasic abot the benefits in these areas, for "example, J from Hing Kong, who was alow intermediate student athe sa of te project. She read 26 books inthe fist erm and 4 nthe Second and progressed tom hooks at Level E when she started to Level B at the end ef the sping tem abhoueh her ela test results shawed mo ieprovement inher secon ttt. AS ‘ome cupport or the elles of reading on wring i's worth locking at 180 fs ‘rien texts (se Appendix 3): the fist was writen in Decenber the end of her“Do you think you have improved in any ofthese areas asa result of reading project?” (N=4S, response rate 78%) umber reading spec 2» os vocabulary 20 a4 reading comprehension 0 ans pecking Muenly " was amma 0 222 pecking accurately 9 20 weiing uey 5 8 listening comprehension 6 na wring accurately 5 nt spelling frst erm - an the second during the felting March. Even though he texts been coerced, the degre of syntctic sophistication evident i the second ted ‘compared wih th it sil marked. J herself ecrbed her improvement in ‘ering ability to her reading inthe Reading Project she wae adsmant that "ily tows reltvecluses, fr example, wis a direct esa of her reading. Assertion sees plausible given that Grae (981, 38 ropows research which a that "reading experiences improved srting mow than gamma insicton orf ‘wring exerier Taassrnaantiy Or Reanive Skits: Parnynicios For Ussnirunen Mare Utuimatly of couse, stadents wil peed tmove cn from sitnphied texts to real tunsimplifed materia: i reading graded waders a wawthwhile ay to prepare f ‘nsimpiied mater? Wiring on EAP, Hudson cls tha hf imeroting with modified or ined et. th sudo ma deslop sates "hic wrk welt tee tec bt ee ot amoral omar et of te ip they nl needa F989), ta therefore sudan should work with unsrpifod mst itheir subject, a lowore, 8 we hve seen above, Hudson has previuslymeioned the ect aethi he langvage level ie neuficient, the Teornr will have problem with Cesnpiied ex. In ower to ascertain lore” views om the subject we asked stents both in Un dries andin a questionnaire whether reading the books nthe Reading Projet ARS good preparation or reading unspliied materi ‘uu questionnaire, opinions ifeedto some extent depending wheter the student ite Ganerl or EAD. Genera stents (3) were very postive, though 2 did't iow EAP students (n-23) semed less unanimous than General stoden a lage froportion 785) agreed that the Reading Project books were a useful reparation {vunsinpliied moter, while small number disagreed 4) and one didn't kno, gue 3 gives an analysis ofiecervew responses tthe same question by 20 EAP tnd 12 General stadets. gin, as canbe seer with the exception of ene student (General sadents are favourable i hi response to this question, BULEAP students INTERVIEW RESPONSES, cog cto pee ei“This apparent dtference in opinion hewcen EAP and general students is insuring. Mos paged eaders are naratves. rahe than expository tee resus ina face validity problem forEAP students. According to sere cr the reading which they had todo Tor hee subject sti was ens ei etme vocabulary, and techniques rom that inthe graded eels ‘hese insights ate not without endorsment in the literature. Hci Auge Thomas (1984), fr example. desenhe saris pattems of reading depen ‘he purpose, and note tha sty reading Is very diferce in approach ems ‘ypesof reading. requiring frequent pausing Yorretection and ve fein. cual ‘the conten, checking that comprehension Is acct, note-taking. In readers, which are mainly Fictoa, the reading pater is one of starting a bezining and moving smoothly without stoping tows the end, ae ig (Ove stdent even menoned th fact that she Could skim’ This kind of ‘eating isnot that rquied for study weading. ensoussan (1987) found thu een ex types were associated with if sous ol ifcaly-the aspects naratveten which caused cy ost ‘sere not the same athe features of expository text which exased diffu. Py 1991) notes that vocabulary diiculies for ESL aeademi sues Were a caused tems typical ofthe reistero oral expository pros outs chau aly. rudimentary circuitous, supplant, lurid, pero vb Thus for EAP student the stution is ite complex. Graded reser can of reading eapetienee which is rat hike the lore readin done the LL. with possibility of speed of realing, eas of comprehension f enjoyment, endo {quantity of exposure to comprehensible input’ and there ate concomitant ay Indevelopment and uvarenes of structure and vocthulry As Bamford pote Eventv rading..maybe one ofthe oe wo to ineraseiprar exiles of lanenage efor te purposes oftangue acquit, tango and cong language earned nthe lsironm, (984,213) woul mana herefre, ting ysemat exesv reins ithe EAP lingua pgm. as hive dein wil go pat toads contoning Hudson's engi ang mer as nfm expherson wil ep sets oimgrove th sv and ee ool 2 vi ergs fer dealing isu Bu entice stone whieh the ange of fc exon atl in re ee om sen limited rads esderscun probly hese characterised asan inet prepare for edy acing Jc be ray ae Be -sion Feersaden can develop reading ftvency. and indepeadence and muionomy with sty more like Ll reading and loss a pedagogic means 10 an end. T would alge that the self access model for extensive reading provides this alternative for as ah Inthe case of EAP students, it would scem wit to approach the development of the reding ability with a5 many ieols a one's disposal as posible, and the use of _pules reeds pial at wer levels bili I woe arg, indspensbl, ‘Attbe same time, these studons will clay eed the opportunity to practise the fy wating techniques asccated with academic text A reading programine feeds fo be devised in which practice in study reading takes place alongside a fency reading programme where hooks ean be Weald as “utelcelanation soetibuting to confidence bllding and tivation, Whit iso emerged ftom the peoject stat many students benefit rom one-to-one tural which deal exchnvely wilh her reading programme. Trough ara we wer able to ascerin wha tents dd with thee writen texts, what methods ey used to decipher them, The project had swesed the need to practise reading Ahem and in tutorials we were able to determine ia studem was doing something, ‘hich Secied ulimately detent to this rl o recommend according, As a el of the Reading Project. the extensive reading programme now in place In he ELC operates as fllows 1. Students are tested atthe bepining and en f each erm and ave wld shel rain level 2. They receive information shou the “Reading programme” and recommen Anton for rang mated (se Appendix 2) and are asked o keep records ‘of wha they read 3. Class teachers checkin Contnighty oneo-onetwrils whether, how much and what students ae reading outside es, 4 In Sty Review Tul once a term with a couse director, each student scusses his reading progremmeook apt in Reaing Room, wich ao te FL Acces Ce Nae ca fehl oa ea REFERENCES, Alderson. €. (1984) Reading in orsign language: reading problem oa problem? In (Eds) Alderson C. and Liga, A Aerio, C. and Urquhart, AH. (Eis) (1984) Reading in a Roreign Lany ‘London: Langman Bamford, J (1984) "Extensive reading by means of graced reader”, Jou Reading in Foreign Language 2.2.218-260, Bensousan,M. (1987) “Reading Difficulties revealed by Transtation and Di ‘Analysis: Narative and Expositony Texted) Late, C. and Non M. Carol, PL, Devine, and Eskey.D.E. 1888) Interactive Approaces to Se Language Reading. Cambridge: Cmbriige University Press Carver 1994 “Percentage of unknown vocabulary words in ext a8 3 fuctio the relative dificult ofthe text: implications for instruction”, Journ Recing Beboviur 264 415-81 Clarke, M. (1980) “The Shoet Circuit Hypothesis of ESL. Reading — or wh language competence interferes with reading performance” Maden Long Journal $.2203-208. Also in Carol PL« Devine J, and Estey, DE hy M1885) Te Eat etc of Reading Dieser 3a nM ‘Zealand: Heinemann a : Cohen, (1995) “Under what circumstanes could mental translation ito the Support the sucessul comprehension of FL eadng texts?” Colloquia Research in Reading ina Second Language, 5th TESOL Annual Convent Davis, (1995) “Extensive wading: an expensive extavagince?” ELT ou 494,329-335 = Day. R.D.. Omura, C. and Hiramatsu, M, (1991) “Tnctdntal EFL. Vocbul ‘Leaning and Reading” Jursal of Reading ina Foreign Language 2.94.9 Eley. W.B. (1991) "Acquiting Literacy in a Second Language: The Effect Book-hused Programs" Language Leaming 813375411 |v. (1991)*Curent Developments in Second Language Reading Research Gab SOL Quarterly 253,378-406 -.}V.(1995a) Presentation 1 Cloguium on Research n Rending in a Second GaP Snque, 91H TESOL Anml Convention, Lang Beach, Ca ‘Gone. W.(1995b) "Dilemmas for Second language Reading Development [resentation ta AAAL Conference. Lang Beach C3 suf, FM. and Tudor, (1989) “Extensive Reading andthe Development of language Stille” EL Journal 43,1413 far-Auguei, S. and Thoms, 1. (1984) “Conertiona Investigations of Maer cading! the Self ‘Organised Leamer and the Text” in (Rds.) Alderson & Ugo Wiel. (1956) "Reade expense ther 198) "Survey Review: Graded ener (Ps and ELT” ELT Journal 0.2.127-134 Hil DLR. and Reid Thomas, HL LT sewer 82,144-52 Hosenfol, C. (1988) “Case Staies of Ninth Grade Readers” in (Ed) Alderson ‘nd Urgubart Hudson, T (1991) “A Content Approsch to Reading English for Seience and Technology” PESOL Quarery 25,1.7-108 Johns, and Davies, F. (1983) “Text as Vehicle fr Information: the Classroom ‘Ue of Writen Text in Teaching Reading na Foreign Language” Journal of Reading ina Fereige Language 1-13 ‘Kan, K.. Yamamoto, M., Kio, SK, and Shimaten, H. (1990) “Todependont Reading m English ~ Use of Graded Readers inthe Library English a8 8 Second Language Corner Journal of Realng ina Foreign Language 6.2383 rath, $, (1993) The Power of Reading. Englewood, NJ Liars Unlimited Ihe Laue, C. and Nordmann, M (1987) Special Language: From Husnans Thinking to Thinking Machines, Avon Multlingual Mares avi, 2 (1987) “What Percentage of Text-Lexis is Essential or Compreenston (Eds) Len, C. and Nordann, M Nuva, ©. 1982) Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. London HeinemannOakhill. (1995) “On Comprehension Theory” Unpublished pre IATERL Reseaeh Spectl Interest CCambraige, UK sentation roup Conference on Reading S Param A. (1996) "Reading in EFL: Fats and tons” ELT Jowrnal $0,1.25-34 Parry, K. (1991) “Building a Vocabulary 070 Bag y though Academic Reading” Pics M. White, Hand KrashenS.(1989)“Acquirng Second Language Weal hough Reading: A Replication ofthe Cloke Orange Sty Ua Language Acquirers” Journal of Reading in a Frgn Language 52:9 Robb N. and Suse, B. (1580) “Extensive Reading vs Skills Buin in an Context” Journal of Reading in Fasign Language 82239-251 pion, T: (1995) “Using Retrospective Interviews with Think alo in Real Resear Paper pesened at 28h TESOL Annual Convention, Lone Beal ca Usa, White, E. (1994) Oxford ook worms Teche Press side. Oxford: Oxford Unive Willams. R. (1946) 40,142.85 Williams, Rand Dallas, D. 1984) "Ag Alderson & Urquhart ‘Wong. V. Kwok P and Choi N. (1995) The Use of Authene Materials at Ter Level” ELT Journal 48,418 322 amet. ¥. (1992 Top Ten’ Pineples for Teching Reading” ELT Jou pets of Vocabulary in Readability” in (Ed ) “Writing one's way imo teading” TESOL Quarterly, 26.3 env Retin, Ps ed an a5 ie ren simplified reader series. Each book is asessed for is level of difficulty iirc area. quality and pndership ago {odalt:scondaryhk. secondary. TH sepsiay levels are based mainly on the vocabulary level, but also taken into sere degre of oxpsinens Hl a. 1968} The 9 level OF ian test EPER Average Nook Prolcency Newt Vor pages level iprecnomive rene) Besiner G in ie Eerrenary ' 0 2 : so i usmetine > iam at e tan 6 Leading to 5 ism Fret Cee A aan ‘voce x So 96 ‘Te quality ain is based ona six point eae as follows Se evcelent 4 very good verge 2-2 mot very interesting, usable only in special circumstances otto be sed unde any evcomslances, ot suitable for nelusion in programme of extensive reading Iowa recommended tous that only bocks with a rating of 3 and above should be included in the HoaryAPPENDIX 2 EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAMME INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS, GENERAL ENGLISH COURSE. ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES COURSE 1. INTRODUCTION 4n the English Language Centre we teach classes in reading comprehen However ina class we usually lok at short pieces often intensely, see studying the vocabulary grammar and discussing the meaning, Bac ie an ia lo rate eading Muemly and extensively, ust at You da wth pening weting ‘Extensive rating” means reading longer teas ~ whole books for please ‘nformation, without spending time hucking at dal of mesonng What is “Muent wading”? Reading Muerly means reidng aa resonable y and understanding a east 95% of what you read. Keping upareernnn means not sopping to lok up words in ictonary ‘he key to rea improvement in reading is the quantity of fue, extensive read that students do, and this means the reading dane uti clas Ready beefs forthe oer langusge skis to, Thetelore we atk al saint ‘ourses 10 takepart ina Reading Prossumine 2. READING PROGRAMME ‘The Reating Programme requires you to Read uiside clas for atleast one hour every day (in addition to othe homework you may he given), + Plan carefully the typeof reading you do Keep a record of what you have read in 3 notebook ‘aw You seeding recon! w our Langunge Developmen ache nya [Language Developrent atrial 3. WHAT SHOULD You READ? Fist if Jou are to read lucy, the text must not be oo dificl. You mus lo be meres in wh you read. ely te teat should be so easy and teen al You sometimes forget that you ate reading in English, So, we wilgiveee carey find your eating level, From the resus of th test, we can alvne jou ona "ype of material you should ead serene two main yes reaing tera suitable or your eading programe: Simp ting books the GRADED READERS nam 9 } Unimltes att (i Dak and ale in ger prior alone ‘i Neways and magne sid mati may be vey inereing yo. Hone foul of Pau i fow you wil ead wey slowly (essne 3a ay Ra oe oe uy feel): ad sec. het Jou wl ht eae es ey frrh en. Rement that you nad trem tof te make 4 dfeence t por eading in Enis Newapares ate good reading macrial - but they ae the most felt type of reads atrial. You may fee frstated if ou ead only newspapers ‘The most important hing is hat you enjoy reading and that you read a ot of tex. To conclude + Choose reading materi hat interests you + Mate sie you read material of which you can understand at east 5 Keep records of your reading in your Study Notebook + Ojganise your ime so hat you read epuaty every day GUIDE TO READING LEVELS AND SUITABLE READING MATERIALS + Ifyourlevelis U. you should ead ony unsimplifed material ep nemspapers, magazines, novels, academic utc! miter). (yee ee io A. shu ad many anil mate newspapers, magazines, sovels academe sje! materia), We recommen that you sso try some ofthe Grae Reales t your evel * your eve or you shoud ea np mera abe) and simplified mateal le the Grae Renders al your eve in eel propo * Hye eet Doe Ko scl ead min nied mail ee Graded Readers your ive) Ofcourse, yo can also ty reali material if you wishAPPENDIX 3 Srooeer J Decenben 1993, {semember my childhood. liked to make models, such a aeroplanes, cae {Ps La ied to raw plans of a bing surounded by texs, Towa ston ph an to feed my hicks with the neihbouscilren By mata ‘used 1 play on the siden the garden, From 51 11 1 weno primary schol. as aways plying balls. en sports day at my schoo Tofen sed ogo swing play ble ean an ingen ike kt onthe roo my house Sometimes Ie ny eg inthe eaden, Stave J Manca 1994 A Treasured Possession 0% ms ising up hing nn oom. When iced up aver ani Farts. | renenbred it conned eso valuable dang. Ales pening box. my eyes taredat only nein. i wat a beautldamend one Tree ring, which was made of {eo ia a Christmas present fum my fiend two years ago, It was ¢ memento {it endship bose my fiend was going o stay in Ameren twas sey of he o help to improve my Engishin Hong Kong and we alvaye shar problems nd our opinions on eveything. We were very. very close hese ‘ery hard to use any words to describe our findsp, Wan I aww ne ag Santina her suis there, we were very dopesed: Iwas bovaure we cea aul be abl to keepin touch wih each other anyone Three, we oan rete to each oe, 01 Bu this dhmond ring. which sof peal Iiponsece "ne. Now, we sll keepin ouch with ac athe xpreNDIX 4 OOKS RECOMMENDED BY STUDENTS AT A BOOK AFTERNOON, 708 tev D Sewer in lack ‘The Brome Story Level ‘The Mooa is Down Don't Link Now Leet B ‘The Dal’s House Forevell My Lovely ‘Watering Heights Level A Reteoce ‘A Chrismas Carol Frankenstein Robinson Crisoe Perasion| Sherock Holmes Shetey| The Big Sleep Samia In Fatrngs fom Feankturt Che Chaplin Kis Firs Case The Lady inthe Lake A Taste of Murder Bleak House Te Afrean Qusen The Inspector Cais