Defining Extensive Reading

Rob WaringStuart McLean

Potted History of Extensive Reading

1970's John Milne suggested vocabulary control was not enough.- Good clear writing- Relevant content- Careful explanation- High redundancy- Good control over information- Intuitive grading and structure controlThis led to the modern Graded ReaderThus the ERF has the John Milne Innovation Award

Day and Bamford's 10 principles of ER “necessary for success” (1998, 2002)

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

The present influence of the Top Ten on ER

• Often cited to define ER (e.g. Asraf & Ahmad, 2003; Burrows, 2013; Hitosugi & Day, 2004; Soliman, 2012; Yamashita, 2008).

• Default definition of ER despite these principles only being a “description of the characteristics that are found in successful extensive reading programs” (1998: 7).

• “we purposely avoided using ‘extensive reading’ terminology to describe our participants’ reading behavior. This was because we did not investigate whether the participants followed any of the top ten principles for ER provided by Day and Bamford (1998, 2002); rather, we only looked at their pleasure reading habits” (Ro and Chen 2014; 16).

The Top Ten questions these forms of ER

Assessment and evaluationBuddy / collaborative readingReading while listeningFollow-up exercisesReading speed focusLimited timeLimited resourcesLowly motivated learnersNecessity to read things you

don't want to

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

difficult (as in Beglar and Hunt, 2014).

Desire to have one's performance monitored

Desire to share their readingExtensive listeningReading Circles?

Core cognitive and variable pedagogical aspects of ER.

a) ER is a way of processing texts of an appropriate level– Magazines– Emails – Webpages

b) The cognitive processing of reading or Rauding, through which cognitive reading processes are automatized,

is how ER should be defined. c) The viable pedagogical aspects of ER –– The selection of materials– Follow-up activities– Assessment

'Big Tent ' ERWe need to accept that many Asian students are not brought up

to be responsible for their learningEncouragement to self-directed learning are often ignored in

favour of clubs, social life, part-time jobs or pleasure time (Robb, 2002)

Students often won’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 studentsMotivating disinterested students can be close to impossibleMassive choice can overwhelmClass reading is a valid form of ERER is more than just graded readers

ER types Classical (Top ten) ER

Integrated ER – part of a 4 skills course

Class Reading

ER as literature Easy ER – to build fluency

Style Individual Individual Lock-step Lock-step Individual

Amount Lots Lots Little Little Lots

Speed Fast Fast Slow Slow Fast

Control Student Student Teacher Teacher Student

Language focus

No No Yes No No

Assessment Little Little Lots Lots Viable

Materials Library Library Class sets Class sets Library

Skill work Reading 3-4 skills 3-4 skills / language

1-3 skills Reading

Class time needed

Little Little Lots Lots Little

Core elements of an ER program(necessary to retain the label ‘ER’)

• Fluent, sustained comprehension of text as meaning-focused input

• Large volume of material• Reading over extended periods of time• Texts are longer, requiring comprehension at the

discourse level

Reading graded readers which are far too difficult for readers or reading 12,000 words a term is NOT extensive reading. This presentation and associated publication we hope will help a line be drawn regarding difficultly and amount.

Variable pedagogical dimensions of an ER program

• ER is conducted in class or at home, or a combination thereof• ER is required, or optional• The reading is enjoyable, for pleasure, or not• The reading is monitored (self declared, by the teacher), or not• The reading is assessed, or not• The presence or absence of follow-up activities (comprehension

or language focus) • The teacher reads or doesn’t read with students in the

classroom • Graded or non-graded materials (provided they can be

comprehended fluently)• Longer or shorter texts• The degree of freedom to select texts• Requiring students to start with the simplest material available

ConclusionWhat actually is Extensive Reading?

Large amounts of reading of an appropriate level and therefore facilities the automatization of the following reading processes

• word and phrase recognition • semantic proposition formation• syntactic parsing

In a word Rauding (Carver, 1995).

Large amounts equals ............