Extensive Reading in Korea: 10 Years Going From Strength to Strength

Dr. Rob Waringwww.robwaring.org/presentations

Recent history

Traditionally ER not practiced in Korean EFLStrong adherence to the traditional Confucian role of the teacherStudents are taught to overanalyze texts and read only a few

lines each lessonFocus on intensive difficult texts as exam preparation

A few isolated schools (mostly small scale focusing on kids with L1 materials) started ER a few years back

Opinion articles are coming out almost weeklyKorea Association of English Reading Education in 2008

Increase in awareness

Increased awareness among educators but ER has not really filtered into schools, especially High Schools (Hye 2009)

However, intrinsic motivation of English is low amid intense stress and competition.

There are several sources of this raising of awareness

Changes in publishing in Korea!0 years ago Nowadays

Almost no home-grown graded readers

All major Korean publisher have or are making series

Most ER materials were imports Most K publishers have 1-2 series

Some foreign publishers didn't bring their readers to display!

Everyone has them now

No ER Guides or dedicated Readers brochures

Many 'Readers' brochures

Only shelf-space at major bookstores

Some stores have ER displays

No readers in publisher's bags A few, brochureMany sales staff didn't even know what ER was

Sadly still too many don't, or don't understand it

KOTESOL SIG

Started in 2007 by Scott Miles and Aaron JollyRegular ER meetings at Chapters around KoreaHold an annual Colloquium (this afternoon 3:30 to 5:20 in C601)An affiliate of the Extensive Reading Foundationhttp://koreatesol.org/content/extensive-reading-0

The Korean English Extensive Reading Association

Started at KOTESOL October 2010Website www.keera.or.krWill host the Second World Congress on Extensive Reading, Sept 2013Published a Guide to Extensive Reading Supported (but not funded by publishers)KEERA Graded Reader review competitionYahoogroups discussion listFacebook page

Extensive Reading Foundation and KEERA Second

World Congress in Extensive Reading

Recent ER research in Korea

Kweon, Kim (2008) found that 12 Korean learners gained in vocabulary after ER and retained most of their gains over time

Jeon (2008) -> 17 Korean Airforce subjects who did ER showed an increase in interest in ER, and growth in reading confidence over 22 controls who didn't. Suggested formal evaluation was important.

Cha (2009) compared 10 Ss with ER and 10 without. ER group improved significantly in speed and attitude, but not vocab. Reaffirmed reading at the right level and the need for explicit and incidental vocab instruction

Recent ER papers in Korea II

Hye (2009) suggests ER be strongly integrated into the curriculum to complement IR and provide the missing massive language input

Yang (2010) showed improvements in grammar, vocab, reading speed and attitude for 3 groups doing ER (120 Korean subjects)

O (2011) showed ER was helpful for developing reading skills and ER can be implemented in formal Korean settings

What actually is Extensive Reading?

Read at +1 (or i-minus 1) ?Reading short texts to discuss?Read only for pleasure?Start with simple stories?Reading followed by comprehension questions?Speed reading?Pleasure reading only?Reading L1 materials??????

Day and Bamford's 10 “necessary for success” principles of ER

1. The reading material is easy2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics3. Learners choose what they want to read4. Learners read as much as possible5. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure,

information and general understanding6. Reading is its own reward7. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower8. Reading is individual and silent9. Teachers orient and guide their students10. The teacher is a role model of a reader.

What about …..?

Assessment and evaluationBuddy readingReading while listeningFollow-up exercisesReading speed focusLimited timeLimited resourcesLow motivationNecessity to read things you

don't want to

The teacher doesn't read muchAsian values and normsTeacher selected materialsDesire to read something

difficultDesire for having one's

performance monitoredDesire to share their readingExtensive listeningReading Circles?

A uni-dimensional 'necessity for success' view of ER

From Day and Bamford's viewpoint to be doing ER, students must:

… choose their own texts… read for pleasure not as part of a course… read without assessment… experience ER as a solo activity

Graded vs Extensive reading

Graded Reading Extensive Reading

Material at one's level Yes Yes

Comprehensible Yes Yes

Read a lot Yes Yes

Read quickly Yes Yes

Enjoyable Preferable Preferable

Easy Yes Yes

Simplified materials Yes Not essential if high level

'Big Tent ' ER

We need to accept that many Asian students are not brought up to be responsible for their learning

Encouragement to self-directed learning are often ignored in favour of clubs, social life, part-time jobs or pleasure time.

Students can't start with a home-run book, therefore we have to require reading so they can find it.

Finding an hour of pleasure reading is hard for many studentsMassive choice can overwhelmClass reading is a valid form of ERER is more than just graded readers

When reading extensively, students should READ

It is CRUCIAL that learners read at the RIGHT levelRead something quickly andEnjoyably with Adequate comprehension so theyDon’t need a dictionary

If they need a dictionary, it’s too hard and they will read slowly, get tired and stop

Their aim is fluency and speed, not learning new languageTypically students read at home or out of class- it doesn’t take

much class time for HUGE benefitsWe add the reading to our existing program, we don’t replace it.

Aspects of ER

The definition should considera) the process of reading at the right level

ER is a way of processing texts and isn’t just the reading of graded readers – magazines, emails, webpages all are part of ER if they are READ

b) the pedagogy of ER – the selection of materials, follow-up activities, library management

How do Intensive and Extensive Reading fit together?

SlowReading speed

High

Low % of known vocabulary100%

LowComprehension

High

90% 98%

ReadingPain

(too hard, poor comprehension,

high effort,de-motivating)

Intensive reading

(Instructional level, can learn new words and grammar)

Speed reading practice

(very fast, fluent, high

comprehension, natural reading,

enjoyable)

Extensive reading

(fast, fluent, adequate

comprehension, enjoyable)

ER Program types

Purist ER programLots of self-selected reading at home with no / little assessment

or follow up. Often is a stand-alone class.Integrated ER program

Lots of self-selected reading at home and in class. Follow up exercises / reports which aim to build the 4 skills.

Class reading - studyStudents read the same book and work through it slowly. Lots of

follow up / comprehension work and exercises. ER as 'literature'

Students read the same book and discuss it as if it were a work of literature.

ER / EL program types overviewPurist ER Integrated ER Class Reading ER as literature

Style Individual Individual Lock-step Lock-stepAmount of reading

Lots Lots Little Little

Speed Fast Fast Slow SlowControl Student Student Teacher TeacherLanguage focus No No Yes NoFollow up assessment

Little Little Lots Lots

Materials Library Library Class sets Class setsSkill work Reading 3-4 skills 3-4 skills /

language1-3 skills

Class time needed

Little Little Lots Lots

ER program types - summary

Many different types of ER programDifferent aimsDifferent levels of involvement for teachers / studentsSome programs may adopt two or more types at the same timeSome programs can start more easily than othersEach type is scalable – from a single class to a whole schoolNo 'best' type for all programs

Moving forward – promoting ER

Several stages of adoption

No knowledge Lack of awareness of the need for ER

Initial resistance Have heard of ER, but resist claiming curriculum, time, resources, exams as excuses

Early adopters A few leading lights shine the way, others take notice

Initial acceptance Most educators have heard of it but still not doing it

Acceptance Most programs are doing ER

Integrated adoption National, State level programs built into curriculums

Moving forward – promoting ER

Meet the teachers and students where they areWe need to lessen their fear of change and newness

We can promote ER in several ways-peer experience-mathematically-emotionally-logically-with research data-showing how it fits

Korean EFL teachers' perspectives about their participation in an ER program

Byun (2010) Interviewed 100 Korean school teachers on their participation in an ER program (1000 graded readers).

a) teachers' attitude to ER changed after they tried it despite initial skepticism

b) teachers recommended gradual introduction of extra-curricular reading to supplement the test-focused Korean curriculum

c) Main problems to implementing ER include evaluation issues, motivating students, reluctant and struggling students and teachers' conflicting role in ER class

d) Teachers did not display foreign language anxiety either before or after the program

Ways to promote ER - MathematicalLearners need 8-9000 words to read native texts at 98%

coverage (i.e. with high levels of comprehension)Learners need about 2000 words to be intermediate levelIt takes 20-30 meetings with a word to learn it receptively (even

more for production)Graded readers recycle the vocabulary systematically by

frequency and usefulness to aid DEPTH of knowledge and allow learners to meet collocations, phrases and so on they won't meet in course books

Ways to promote ER - EmotionalReading makes you smart

learn about the human conditionlearn about other cultures / places / people etc.

Reading is enjoyableit enriches your life and can open worlds

Reading is good language practice it's the only realistic language skill most students may need

allows them to read web pages, magazines etc.

Ways to promote ER - LogicalCourse books only can introduce language elementsCourse books can't teach everything – too much to learn / doVocabulary selection in courses tends to be topical and not

systematically selectedCourse books are mostly linear in design Typically, course books repeat the average word only 2-3 times in

the whole seriesCourse books don't teach more than a few collocations, sentence

patterns and multi-word phrases

Promoting ER – the data

Furukawa (2009) 2 years of ER gives 2nd grade JH students an equivalent

reading level of 3rd grade HS students (even taking into account time on task and extra time studying English)

Mogi (2008) “from the view point of neuroscience, the best way to make

progress in learning English is … to read as many English sentences as possible.”

Promoting ER – Showing how ER fitsCourse books and graded readers are two sides of the same coin

– they help each otherCourse books introduce languageGraded readers help deepen / strengthen this knowledge

Graded reading should be integrated into our courses. It should not be an option

Choose books at the right level for your students (so they can read fluently with high levels of understanding and without a dictionary)

Students need to learn to listen fluently too

Dealing with objections“The books are too easy and childish. They are not learning

anything.”-> easy is good - so they can build reading speed. Choose

books are at the student's fluent reading level-> Native materials are too hard, demotivating, inappropriate-> 'intermediate' learners can't read intermediate graded

readers“I'm not teaching so they aren't learning”

-> our job is not to 'teach' but to help people learn, build independence, reading speed, fluency etc. etc.

“I don't know how to do it, or where to get information”-> I'll help

Dealing with objections II“Nice idea but I have no time in my course”

-> If you don't have graded reading where will your students get the massive exposure they need?

-> How else will they get the 'sense of language' they need?“We don't have the money for this”

-> Ask your schools to reallocate funds so this reading is done; ask for donations; get some free samples etc.

“We have to go through our set curriculum”-> Speak with your course designers to build in graded reading.

Re-allocate resources and re-set class hours“We have to prepare the students for tests”

-> Research shows students perform better on tests if they have a general sense of language, not a deconstructed 'bitty' one.

Why do ER programs fail?ER is optional. If it's optional:

…students will opt out…the message is 'do the reading if you have time, it's not as

important as other things'…the administrators don't see it as valuable…it becomes a target to be cut out completely

Thus ER should be REQUIRED. Requiring ER means:…the teachers value this reading, so we want you to do it.…it's part of the full course work – and you'll be graded on

it.…the students see it as 'natural' and 'normal' not an 'option'

Why do ER programs fail II?Curriculum changes

Change to 'test' / speaking / CLT ….. focusER enthusiast leaves the school

Inappropriate materials Reading is too difficultAge inappropriateBooks don't get replaced when lost

Starting badly Too fast, Too high, Too much to read too soonStudents don't understand why they need ER

Promoting / adopting ERWork within the system – don't expect miraclesUnderstand where teachers / institutions are coming from – find

out their aimsWhat is at stake for them / what would prevent them from

adopting ER? Solve those problems first.If they mistake the meaning of ER, then used the term 'graded

reading'

Introducing ER to newbiesDemonstrate with an intensive reading book to show the differences

between ER and IRLeave publisher catalogs and ER booklets with themOffer to speak to their staff and students – set up workshopsShow them what you do, your library, your methods etc.Be a contact point for their questionsDirect them to websites

http://www.er-central.comhttp://www.extensivereading.net http://www.robwaring.org/er/http://www.erfoundation.orghttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExtensiveReading/http://www.seg.co.jp/sss/ (Japanese and English)

Things to recommend to newbies

Start small – their own class and then expand laterGo slowly at first – new things take timeLook for potential problems when expanding and think what

they can do about them. Help them with ideasExperiment with different styles of ER to see what suits them

and their learnersSet aims for the students, the program and themselvesBe aware that things don't always go well – so they need your

supportWe should not give the impression ER should replace current

instruction, rather enhance it.

About…Extensive Reading Central is:• a brand new website developed for the ER

community • completely free• still building the site, so bear with us as we

add content.

Site features• Hundreds of articles and links to info on ER• Blogs and comments• Online Discussions (coming soon) • Online Graded Text Editor• Information for researchers, authors• ER and EL Videos• Publisher's Corner• ER/EL Calendar • Student materials on the way

How can you help? • Tell us about ER events• Share your resources and knowledge• Advise others about research• Get students to write book reviews• Start a section for your region • Tell us about your ER program• Join us on Facebook or Twitter• Post on the blogs or in chat rooms• Tell us about ER links and articles• Submit your handouts and worksheets• Translate pages into Korean

Thanks for your time

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