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A dynamic look at L2
phonological learning: Seeking processing explanations for implicational
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S027226310707026X
Extensive Reading Quizzes and Reading Attitudes
TIM STOECKEL
Miyazaki International College
Miyazaki, Japan
NEVITT REAGAN AND FERGUS HANN
Kansai Gaidai University
Hirakata, Japan
doi: 10.1002/tesq.10
&
Extensive reading (ER) has become a common feature of many
English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) programs. There is
evidence that reading large amounts of easy, interesting material may
improve foreign language skills, most notably in vocabulary, reading
rates, and overall prociency. However, teacher evaluation of extensive
reading has often been discouraged by ER experts because of its possi-
ble negative effect on students attitudes toward reading. Little investi-
gation has been done to verify this view, and with a substantial increase
of available ER assessment materials as well as teachers using them, a
gap has grown between expert opinion and current classroom practice.
DEFINITION OF EXTENSIVE READING
Bamford and Day (2004) describe extensive reading as an approach
to language teaching in which learners read a lot of easy material in
the new language. They choose their own reading material and read it
independently of the teacher. They read for general, overall meaning,
and they read for information and enjoyment (p. 1). Its purpose is
to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary
and structure, and to encourage a liking for reading (Richards &
Schmidt, 2002, pp. 193194). Typically, students select short readers
specically written at a certain prociency level or abridged, simplied
versions of well-known works of literature. Day (2003) suggests that
BRIEF REPORTS AND SUMMARIES 187
beginners read a minimum of one book per week, with no upper
limit.
BENEFITS OF EXTENSIVE READING
In a review of the research, Krashen (2004) sees extensive reading
as key in the development of L2 reading uency, writing style, gram-
matical competence, and spelling. ER has been found to improve
TOEFL scores in both rst language (L1) and second language (L2)
environments (Constantino, Lee, Cho, & Krashen, 1997) and among
poorly motivated students, especially those at lower prociency levels
(Williams, 2009). ER is also associated with increased TOEIC scores
(Storey, Gibson, & Williamson, 2006) and overall prociency gains
among nonacademic learners (Yang, 2001).
There is also evidence that ER fosters vocabulary growth and devel-
opment (Lao & Krashen, 2000; Rott, 1999). For example, Rott states
that as little as two exposures to a new word may allow for retention,
thus allowing for expansion of vocabulary breadth and size. Although
Waring and Takaki (2003) claim that only a massive amount of
graded reading will actually build new vocabulary, they acknowledge
that ER may help develop and enrich already known vocabulary
(p. 130). Additionally, by rening background or cultural knowledge,
ER may enable learners to better guess unknown words from context
(Hayashi, 1999) and undertake more difcult reading in the L2 (Nash
& Yun-Pi, 1992/1993). Finally, ER can also improve L2 reading rates
(Lao & Krashen, 2000).
Extensive reading may also benet the affective domain. Day and
Bamford (1998) claim that ER can be enjoyable for several reasons:
students may choose from numerous genres, they can read at levels
that are easy for them, and the reading is often followed by interesting
extension activities (e.g., reading fair, group discussion, wall display).
Robb and Susser (1989) found that students preferred ER homework
to assignments focused solely on reading skills. ER can also build read-
ing motivation (Mason & Krashen, 1997), increased participation
(Yang, 2001), and positive attitudes toward reading (Yamashita, 2004).
READING ATTITUDE
Most contemporary researchers agree that reading attitude consists
of three components: cognitive, affective, and conative (Yamashita,
2007). The cognitive component refers to personal, evaluative beliefs
about the nature and value of reading; affective, to feelings or
TESOL QUARTERLY 188
emotions about reading; and conative, to action readiness and behav-
ioral intentions. All three are affected by an individuals past experi-
ence with reading and may lead to an intention to read or to continue
reading (Mathewson, 2004). Additionally, as McKenna (2001) notes,
reading attitudes also exist in relation to the attitudes we have toward
potentially competing activities (p. 137), such as playing video games
or watching television. Positive attitudes toward reading are associated
with more frequent reading (Mori, 2004), higher reading achievement,
and sustained reading throughout life (Logan & Johnston, 2009).
ER EVALUATION
Extensive reading experts imply that teacher evaluation of ER can
negatively affect students L2 reading attitudes. Waring (1997) says
that testing suggests to students that the purpose of ER is simply to
prepare for a test. Day and Bamford (1998) claim that comprehension
questions may retard students progress toward becoming indepen-
dent, self-motivated readers. Further, Krashen (2004) feels that stu-
dents should read because they want to; there should be no book
reports, no questions at the end of the chapter. Following Krashens
Input Hypothesis, many researchers feel there should be no assess-
ment of ER.
Day and Bamford (1998), however, recognize that teachers may
need to nd out whether the reading was done and what students got
from it. Additionally, educational institutions generally require teach-
ers to assess each course requirement.
The use of comprehension questions has some support in conjunc-
tion with postreading activities (Nash & Yun-Pi, 1992/1993). Reed and
Goldberg (2008) make the case for short quizzes over other forms of
assessment, arguing that quizzes are quicker (allowing more time for
reading), require actual reading of the material, and cannot be plagia-
rized (as can written or oral reports).
Although experts state that evaluation of ER may have undesirable
consequences, it has become common classroom practice, and materi-
als for assessment (e.g., quizzes) are widely available. For example,
some publishers of English language teaching books provide supple-
mentary ER evaluation materials on textbook companion websites.
Graded readers often include comprehension questions. In addition,
at least two websites offer quizzes for hundreds of graded readers: The
Extensive Reading Project (www.xreading.com) and The Moodle Reader
Module (http://moodlereader.org).
Researchers and teachers tend to understand the benets of
extensive reading, but students may not. Kitao, Yamamoto, Kitao, and
BRIEF REPORTS AND SUMMARIES 189
Shimatani (1990) found that although few students engaged in ER
based on teacher suggestion or for extra credit, nearly all did when it
was required. Thus, although many experts feel that evaluation can
detract from the affective benets of ER, most students will not read
voluntarily, and teachers must provide them with external motivation
and verify that they are reading.
Although a number of studies have investigated the relationship
between ER and affective gains, almost none have focused specically
on ER evaluation. One that did, conducted by Reed and Goldberg
(2008), found that L2 reading attitudes of 130 Japanese university stu-
dents who took weekly ER quizzes for one semester did not differ from
those of 127 students in a control group. However, their analysis
lacked a pre-study survey of initial between-group differences, and
their operationalization of reading attitudes was based on only three
survey items not adequately reecting the research literature. The pur-
pose of the present study was to address this gap in research as well as
the shortcomings of Reed and Goldbergs study.
RESEARCH QUESTION
The research question for the current study was: Do the L2 reading
attitudes of Japanese university students who are quizzed on extensive
reading for one semester differ from those of students who do not
take quizzes?
METHOD
Participants
The participants were 177 rst-year Japanese university students
enrolled in eight sections of a required EFL reading and writing
course that we taught (convenience sample). All were International
Communication majors, taking a minimum of 7.5 hours of English
coursework each week. They were placed into ve levels according to
scores on the Global Test of English Communication (GTEC) and
then randomly assigned to class sections within each level. We taught
two high-intermediate (GTEC score range 241307), two intermediate
(212226), and four low-level sections (117203). One section from
the high-intermediate level, one from the intermediate level, and two
from the low level formed the treatment group (23 male, 67 female),
and an equal number of sections from each level formed the control
group (39 male, 48 female).
TESOL QUARTERLY 190
Materials
Reading attitudes survey. A slightly modied version of a survey
developed by Yamashita (2007) was used to estimate attitudes toward
reading in English (see Appendix A). This instrument was selected
because it is rmly grounded in theory and was designed for use in a
context similar to our own. The survey was written and administered
in Japanese.
Graded readers. Multiple copies of approximately 275 titles were
available to students. Most students read at Levels 1 (rated at 300 to 400
headwords) and 2 (600 to 800 headwords); a few read at Level 3 (1,000 to
1,300 headwords).
Extensive reading quizzes. Quizzes from the Extensive Reading Pro-
ject were administered weekly in class in a paper-and-pencil format.
They each contained ve multiple-choice questions covering the main
points of the text and took approximately 2 to 3 minutes to complete.
(See Appendix B for a sample quiz.)
Procedure
During the rst week, all participants were introduced to the goals
and procedures of ER and completed the reading attitudes survey.
Students in the treatment classes were shown how to use the Extensive
Reading Project website. Students in all classes were then asked to
read 10 extensive readers, 1 per week for 10 weeks. Students in all class-
es engaged in typical ER postreading activities (Day & Bamford, 1998).
Short written responses were required for eight readers; short oral
reports were required for the other two. Students in the treatment clas-
ses took weekly quizzes on each of the ten readers, whereas those in
the control group did not. At the end of the semester, all students com-
pleted the reading attitudes survey again.
RESULTS
Response sheets for all 177 participants were physically checked and
inputted. Unanswered survey items were inputted using the Norm soft-
ware (Version 2; Schafer, 1999). The data were then subjected to a
Winsteps analysis to explore person t, item t, and construct dimen-
sionality. In terms of person t, 22 respondents were agged as
BRIEF REPORTS AND SUMMARIES 191
mistting the model. Their response sheets were physically checked
and then deleted from the study. The remaining N-size was 155. Win-
steps was run again to examine item t, and all 26 items of the survey
were found to be well within acceptable parameters.
Construct Dimensionality
Winsteps was then used to assess construct dimensionality. Six sepa-
rate constructs were identied, with ve items loading onto what we
tentatively called linguistic value; four items each onto intellectual value,
anxiety, comfort, and practical value; and three items onto discomfort. Item
1 (I can become more sophisticated if I read English.) and Item 8 (I can
acquire broad knowledge if I read English.) were deleted because they did
not load onto any construct. The dimensionality statistics are summa-
rized in Table 1. Person reliability for each factor was somewhat low,
varying from 0.47 to 0.72, indicating little variation in the students
responses, which is not uncommon for groups streamed by prociency
level.
ANOVA
Winsteps person-ability scores were used as the basis of comparison
between the treatment and control groups. Six separate stacked
ANOVAs were conducted, and no signicant differences were found
(see Table 2). However, discomfort, F (2,155) 3.26, p .073, and
intellectual value, F (2,152) 3.50, p .063, approached signi-
cance, though the eta squared value for each was weak, at .021 and
.022, respectively. Thus, the results showed no meaningful differences
between the two groups in any of the six constructs.
TABLE 1
Construct Dimensionality of Attitudes Toward Reading in English
Constructs
(Loading Items)
% Variance
explained
Person
separation
Person
reliability
Item
separation
Item
reliability
Discomfort (3, 15, 18) 77.10 1.55 0.71 9.25 0.99
Anxiety (5, 10, 14, 19) 66.20 1.18 0.58 6.45 0.98
Comfort (9, 20, 23, 25) 74.10 0.95 0.47 13.41 0.99
Practical value
(4, 12, 13, 21)
72.60 1.11 0.55 9.96 0.99
Intellectual value
(2, 16, 22, 26)
55.90 1.04 0.52 5.69 0.97
Linguistic value
(6, 7, 11, 17, 24)
60.20 1.60 0.72 1.43 0.67
TESOL QUARTERLY 192
DISCUSSION
The analyses suggest that extensive reading quizzes do not impact
reading attitudes. This provides evidence contrary to the view that
assessment of ER may negatively inuence affect (Day & Bamford,
1998; Krashen, 2004; Waring, 1997). Indeed, four factors identied in
the present study (anxiety, comfort, linguistic value, and practical value)
were clearly unaffected by the use of quizzes, and of the two factors
approaching signicance, one (intellectual value) was positively inu-
enced. Students who took quizzes may have felt slightly greater intel-
lectual benet from the reading task.
A long-held view is that although assessment may provide a tempo-
rary incentive to read, students may also interpret it as a form of coer-
cion and become less interested in reading over the long term.
Mathewson (2004), however, offers an alternative perspective: Read-
ing behavior initiated by external incentives would have a chance to
become functionally autonomous and personally rewarding with the
passage of time (p. 1437).
It is important to note that our ndings pertain to the use of short,
2- to 3-minute quizzes and not to longer, in-depth forms of assessment.
Tests whose scope goes beyond basic comprehension of the main story
line of a graded reader may or may not lead to negative attitudes
toward reading.
Though not a primary focus of our research, the results also par-
tially conrm variables identied by Yamashitas (2007) use of a nearly
identical reading attitudes survey. Both studies identied anxiety, intel-
lectual value, practical value, and linguistic value as factors underlying the
broader construct of reading attitudes. Item loading on these four fac-
tors, though not identical, was similar in the two studies. Four items
(13, 14, 22, and 24), which did not load onto any factor in Yamashitas
study, loaded onto these four factors in the present study. Just one
item (7: Reading books is useful to get a good grade in class) loaded
TABLE 2
Analysis of Variance for Effects of Extensive Reading Quizzes on Attitudes Toward Reading
in English
Construct df F Sig. Eta squared
Discomfort (2, 155) 3.26 0.073 0.021
Anxiety (2, 152) 0.03 0.869 0.000
Comfort (2, 152) 0.06 0.808 0.000
Practical value (2, 152) 1.36 0.245 0.010
Intellectual value (2, 152) 3.50 0.063 0.022
Linguistic value (2, 155) 1.08 0.300 0.007
BRIEF REPORTS AND SUMMARIES 193
differently; it loaded with practical value in Yamashitas study but with
linguistic value in the present work.
Also, whereas Yamashita (2007) identied a single factor, comfort, we
were able to isolate two distinct factors, comfort and discomfort, from
nearly the same set of items. This, too, provides support for Yamashit-
as work, but suggests that comfort consists of two discrete facets.
Although there are minor differences between the two models, the
broader pattern of similarities supports Yamashitas work and contrib-
utes to our understanding of reading attitudes among Japanese univer-
sity students.
These ndings should be taken tentatively, for two reasons. First,
our results have limited generalizability. The study was conducted in
an EFL setting, where students have little need for English and fewer
opportunities to use it than students in bilingual or ESL settings.
Moreover, the 10-week time frame of our study may have been too
short for measurable differences in the dependent variables to occur.
Logan and Johnston (2009) suggest that reading attitudes develop as a
result of constant and consistent feedback from an individuals read-
ing experiences over time. Perhaps ER quizzes would inuence read-
ing attitudes over a longer period of time.
The results of this study have implications for future research. First,
weaknesses of the present study should be addressed. Specically, the
generalizability of our results should be explored with research in a
variety of settings and populations. Perhaps students in ESL settings or
those with different academic interests would respond differently. Also,
the relation between ER quizzes and reading attitudes should be stud-
ied over a longer period of time. Second, the impact of longer forms
of assessment should be investigated. The Moodle Reader Project, for
instance, offers quizzes with 10 or more questions. Third, possible
positive effects of ER quizzes should be explored. Might they, for
example, lead to increased reading? Finally, the relation between ER
quizzes and other areas of affect, such as motivation, should be
researched.
CONCLUSION
To summarize, we found no differences in reading attitudes of
Japanese university students who took weekly ER quizzes compared to
students who did not. These results suggest that for teachers who feel
their students need more external motivation for extensive reading
than mere encouragement or supplementary classroom activities, the
use of extensive reading quizzes is appropriate.
TESOL QUARTERLY 194
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank Junko Yamashita for sharing materials and ideas regarding
her reading attitudes survey. We are also grateful to Alan Hunt for his comments
on an earlier draft of this article.
THE AUTHORS
Tim Stoeckel is at the School of International Liberal Arts, Miyazaki International
College, Japan.
Nevitt Reagan and Fergus Hann are at the Department of International Communi-
cation, Kansai Gaidai University, Nakamiya, Japan. The authors contributed
equally to this study.
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APPENDIX A
READING ATTITUDES SURVEY
Below is an English translation of the items on the reading attitudes
survey (adapted from Yamashita, 2007). Likert responses are not
shown.
1. I can become more sophisticated if I read English.
2. I can get various forms of information if I read English.
TESOL QUARTERLY 196
3. Reading English is troublesome.
4. Reading English is useful for my future career.
5. I feel anxious if I dont know all the words.
6. I can acquire vocabulary if I read English.
7. Reading English is useful to get a good grade in class.
8. I can acquire broad knowledge if I read English.
9. I feel relaxed if I read English.
10. When I read English, I sometimes feel anxious that I may not
understand it.
11. I can develop my reading ability if I read English.
12. Reading English is useful to get credit for class.
13. When I read English, it satises my intellectual curiosity.
14. I feel pressure when I read English.
15. Reading English is dull.
16. I get to know about new ways of thinking if I read English.
17. I can improve my sensitivity to the English language if I read
English.
18. I feel tired if I read English.
19. I feel anxious when Im not sure whether I understood the book
content.
20. I feel refreshed and rested if I read English.
21. Reading English is useful for getting a job.
22. I can learn to express myself better when I read English.
23. I dont mind even if I cannot understand the book content
entirely.
24. Encountering unfamiliar expressions in English improves my
English.
25. Reading English is enjoyable.
26. I get to know about different values if I read English.
BRIEF REPORTS AND SUMMARIES 197
APPENDIX B
SAMPLE EXTENSIVE READING QUIZ PRINTED FROM
THE EXTENSIVE READING PROJECT
TESOL QUARTERLY 198