Reading for life - Matsumoto JALT PAN-SIG Conference Presentation

READING FOR LIFE: THE MAKING OF LIFELONG READERS

Joseph Dias and Gregory Strong

Aoyama Gakuin University – English Department

INTEGRATED ENGLISH PROGRAM

• Core/combined skills, additional Writing, and Listening classes

• Linked by theme• Tasks for each level

• Classes held 3 different days each week

• Each course taught over 1 semester

• 38 teachers: Japanese and Native speakers

• Annual orientation and pre-service orientations

• 575 students• ITP test to sort students• 3 different levels

language ability • 6 hours weekly

instruction Freshmen and

Sophomore students

Teaching Personne

l

Curriculum: Theme and Task-based

Schedule

IE III

Relationships

Cross-cultural values

Environment, Media

IE II

Changing Times, Working,

Geography, Biography

IE I

Childhood

Urban Life,

Food, Travel

• Core/combined skills (reading strategies, extensive reading, learning about genres such as news articles)

• Writing• Listening

• Core• Writing• Listening

• Core• Writing• Listening

vocbulary

THEMES

EXAMPLE: IE I Themes:

Childhood, Urban Life

Food and Health

IE CORE TASKS

• Small group

discussions

(reading and

discussing news

articles)

• E.R. book reports

• Journal

IE ACTIVE LISTENING

TASKS

• Listening Genres:

News, Interviews,

Documentaries

• Interaction

• Presentation

IE WRITING TASKS

(3 Paragraphs)• Topic sentences• Transitions and sentence craft• Detail, examples, • Writing genres

TASKS

THE PROJECT:REVISING READING I & II1) To improve the reading of our college students and set

lifelong habits of mind

2) To better coordinate the classes of Reading teachers in terms of texts, activities, tasks, and grading

3) To differentiate two courses, Reading I (freshmen) from Reading II (sophomores)

4) To incorporate a broader view of reading instruction, including new pedagogical approaches, reading strategies, and vocabulary instruction

5) To capitalize on the abilities and the expertise of the Japanese teachers of the class in translation and contrasts between L1 and L2.

5) To introduce new ways of teaching reading through translation

6) To utilize new media for the teaching of reading

7) To encourage students of different abilities and strengths, including returnees, to work cooperatively on several tasks

8) To include input from teachers, faculty, and students to better meet the needs, interests and desires of students

PART 1: A NEEDS ANALYSIS

Note existing texts and syllabuses

Meetings with Reading teachers

Review of European Common

Framework

Survey of freshmen and sophomores

Survey of English Dept Faculty　

Present the survey results:

• Tokubetsu meeting• Teacher orientation

Review the literature on reading pedagogy

Survey of Reading I and

II teachers

1• Prepare key readings in the

discipline for reading teachers

2• Review publishers’ booklists for

a potential textbook

3• Outline draft curricula and

classroom tasks to teachers

PART 2: THE DRAFT CURRICULUM

4

• Pilot sample reading tasks with teacher volunteers in 2011, 2012

5

• Feedback from teachers presented to faculty and reading teachers

6• Curriculum Revision and

implementation

7

• Presentation of results of the piloted tasks to faculty for feedback

8• Draft curriculum presented

9• Revision of curricula and

piloted classroom tasks

READING I & II All but one of the 18 reading classes are taught by

15 PT Japanese instructors and 1 FT faculty.

Student perceptions that the class is too passive and involves too much translation.

The course goals seem vaguely defined and there are very different assignments and expectations for each teacher’s class.

Large classes of some 45 students representing a wide range of ability; including returnees who high English abilities but are weak in reading Japanese.

SURVEYS DESIGNED FOR TS & SS

• STUDENTS: December 2010/ January 2011 -- detailed survey focusing on reading habits and their reading courses

• P/T TEACHERS: January 2011 – focus on teacher perceptions of students’ reading habits and preferences/ Ts’ take on purpose of the course

• FULL-TIME TEACHERS: January 2011 – focus on what they felt students’ reading skills should be by junior and senior years

PART OF THE STUDENT SURVEY

STUDENT READING SURVEY: SOME RESULTS 396 students participated:

* 70% freshmen / 30% sophomores * 75% female / 25% male * 15% have spent more than 3 years abroad

STUDENT READING SURVEY: SOME RESULTS

A Houshiki

Shiteiko Suisen

B Houshiki

Naibu Suisen

Kikoku Shijo

Center Exam

Zengakubu Nittei

Transfer Students

A & B Houshiki

UNHCR Nanmin Suisen

0 50 100 150 200 250

204

76

63

17

11

4

4

2

2

1

Method of entering the university (of the 354 students who answered the question).


Self-assessment of ability according to the Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages

* 90% of students (N=340) considered themselves to be, at least, at the B1 level—roughly equivalent to 550 - 785 points on the TOEIC.

They agreed with the statement:

If it's an easy text in my field, on a theme that I'm interested in, I can understand fairly well.

* Nearly 40% of students (N=148) felt that they were, at least, at the B2 level—roughly equivalent to 785 - 945 points on the TOEIC.


I can read various genres well for my own pleasure. Although I haven't mastered low frequency idioms, I have some confidence in my knowledge of vocabulary.


Self-assessment of ability according to the Common European Framework of

Reference for Languages * About 5% of students (N=18) assessed their level to

be, at least, at the C1 level—roughly equivalent to 945+ points on the TOEIC


I can understand texts that are outside of my area of specialty in detail, even if they're long and complex.

* About 5% of students (N=21) thought that they were at the highest level, C2, which is native-like ability.


I can understand a wide range of readings, even if they're long and complex, appreciating nuances of meaning and style.


Percentages of time spent reading ONLINE – in English and Japanese. Over half of the students are doing more than 35% of their reading online—both in English and in Japanese.

under 15%

15 - 35%

35 - 55%

55 - 75%

75 - 95%

nearly 100%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

36

17

15

15

11

6

34

11

14

17

14

10

in Japanesein English


newspapers/ magazines

literature (novels, poetry, etc.)

non-fiction

comics/ manga

brochures (travel)/ catalogs

instructions (e.g., manuals)

academic articles

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

60

66

60

75

56

28

30

50

50

44

36

23

27

41

...want to use in Reading courses?

...enjoy reading?

Data showing percentages of students who enjoy reading certain genres vs. wanting to use those genres in their reading class (out of N=376 responding).What students enjoy reading, is not necessarily what they want to study in their reading course, and vice versa.


Wikipedia, email, blogs, social networking sites, and online news were themost popular aspects of the Web/ Internet for our students. Onlinenews was the only one that was accessed (marginally) more in English.

Wikipedia

social networking sites

email

blogs

online news

e-books

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

67

39

42

30

62

15

76

66

75

68

58

28

in Japanese?in English?

What are students reading ONLINE….

Data in percentages,out of 379 respondents


392 respondents

Do you use some type of MOBILE DEVICE (e.g., iPad, iPhone, e-book reader, etc.) for reading e-books, long documents, or PDFs?

SOME WRITING ON THE WALL

NPR’s “All things considered” reported this morning that sales of e-books have just overtaken sales of conventional books on Amazon—at a rate of 105 to 100.

Percentages of all respondents who say they use some type of MOBILE DEVICE (e.g., iPad, e-book reader, etc.) for reading e-books, long documents, or PDFs.

PT teachers Full-time Ts Students0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0.00%

21.10%

31.90%

41.70%

31.60%

43.40%

58.30%

47.40%

23.50%

No, and I don't want to use one.No, but I would like to get one.Yes


121 respondents

How much time do you spend each week reading e-books (or other long documents) on your mobile device?

NEARLY 8% SPENDING 2 TO MORE THAN 4 HRS.


375 respondents

What sorts of activities and tasks have you done in your Reading class?

Two respondents said: •a variety of activity, like IE core•dictation with a partner


371 respondents

Materials that students are using in class and percentages of students who would like to use those items in class.

non-simplified book

graded reader

reading anthology

academic journal articles

newspaper articles

web pages

poems

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

29

31

56

33

49

27

25

26

23

31

28

35

28

28

desired materialsmaterials teacher uses in class


Some general findings: Although reading is often regarded as our

students’ strongest skill, 80% were either not at all confident about their reading ability or only a bit confident.

53% like reading in English and 72% in Japanese; 39% like reading in both languages, and 15% don’t like reading in either language.

When reading in Japanese, 57% spend less than an hour per week on pleasure reading, with about 42% of those students spending less than 30 minutes.

When reading in English, more than 75% spend less than an hour per week on pleasure reading, with about 52% of them spending less than 30 minutes.


When asked about the greatest difficulties they have when reading,students brought up the following…

•Vocabulary (79 out of 170 respondents mentioned this)

•Grammar

•Long sentences

•Slang and idioms

•Slow reading speed

•Lack of sufficient background knowledge (e.g., “Historical or scientific articles I'm not familiar with.”

SURVEY OF READING INSTRUCTORS : SOME RESULTS

The Use of English in the Reading Courses


Average ratings for time spent doing various activities in the reading classes (out of 6; with 6 being the most time spent and 1 the least).

teacher-led explanation/discussion about the meaning of the text

having students read a translation aloud to the class

teacher-led explanation/discussion of the grammar in a text

discussion of a text in small groups

oral question & answer

(students) giving presentations

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

4.83

4.27

4

3.11

3.1

3

SURVEY OF READING INSTRUCTORS

IDENTIFYING AND SHARING CURRENT GOOD PRACTICE

What techniques do you introduce to students in your reading course to help them read more easily?

• Explain, in English, special or difficult words in the text (using information from the internet and reference books).

• Create a family tree of the characters in a story.

• Show the passage of time in a story using a flow chart.

• Use study guides in English and giving brief information about the background of reading texts.

• Demonstrate how to use dictionaries—English-Japanese and English-English, including O.E.D.

• Have students read other works by the same authors; teacher gives hints about the meaning and students try to paraphrase.

SURVEY OF READING INSTRUCTORS: VOCABULARY

TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AGREE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT. SOME TEACHERS ARE ALREADY DOING THE FOLLOWING…

• Giving vocabulary quizzes in each class (3).

• Utilizing English-English dictionaries as often as possible.

• Encouraging the students to read more and more.

• Having students guess the meaning of words from the context.

• Relating new words to familiar ones (telling them the origin and structure of new words).

SURVEY OF READING INSTRUCTORS: PERCEPTIONS

IMPRESSIONS THAT TEACHERS HAVE ABOUT WHAT STUDENTS ENJOY ABOUT THE READING CLASS

• Discussion of a text in small groups• Reading newspaper articles which deal with popular or hot topics (2)• Hardly ever doing English-Japanese translation• Reading about how society works and what human nature is really like• When they find materials which are interesting or when presentations are good, they seem to be enjoying themselves.

• English grammar• Listening to English songs and translating them

STUDENT READING SURVEY: DREAMING

What students said they would do if THEY were teaching the reading course:

• Make students feel fun!• Reading class is too boring, so I try to make the class interesting.• Use some stories which students like.

Make it more enjoyable, interesting, or appealing

Change methodology

• I would teach it to read stories deeply. (Bring in critical reading skills?) • Give the students interesting books and make them read a lot.• read→translate→discuss• I would set a theme at the start of the class and use materials that are

related to the selected theme. Not random. (Perhaps influenced by the IE Program.)

Idiosyncratic

• I would teach it like a German course• Teach by using manga



“Instead of having a passive learning style, I would have a discussion-based class where students could exchange opinions and go deeper into the text. I would at least make the classes a little more creative.”

TEACHING STYLE

TEACHING CONTENT

“Since we already have other classes that use English-American literature, the reading class should use academic materials, newspapers or news magazines. In this way, students can learn more technical terms. Also students will show more interest in what happens in the world.”


How ONE student said (s)he would teach the course…

I would not spend more than half the class translating text books to Japanese because English terms and sentences cannot be accurately translated and doing that changes the meaning slightly. It might be better for students whose English level is not top notch, but they have to be pressured more to keep up rather than the course itself being soft for them. As for exams, all my teachers in the 1st and 2nd grade has given us questions that we cannot do unless we memorize the passages from the textbook we use in class. I think this is the most ridiculous part of the course. Memorizing an English passage does not improve your English, and it should be done more like a iBT TOEFL exam where we are given a long difficult passage that we've never read in class and answer questions about that passage in a certain amount of time. The level of vocal used in that passage and the skills to take tests should be covered in class. At least that's how a TOEFL preparation school teaches a Reading class. (182 words)

Demonstrates the strong interest some students have in making improve-ments to the course and their willingness to offer constructive criticism.

DRAFT TASKS: TRANSLATION, GENRE

2) Individual

Task

3) Group

PresentationTask

1)Introductory

Collaborative Task

DRAFT READING CURRICULA: TRANSLATION, GENRE

Translation Process

Small groups comment

Mistranslations

IntroductoryCollaborative

TaskTeacher circulates a• recipe• brochure• comic strip

A UNIT ON READING TEACHING THROUGH TRANSLATION: READING I

Machine mistranslations

Individual Translation

Task1st Draft

DOCsDOCs

Online news

Online news

2nd draft and

teacher evaluatio

n

2nd draft and

teacher evaluatio

n

Group Translation and

Presentation Task

Academic articles

Communications

Collaborative Community Responses

• teacher introduces genre and presents

one of each type

A UNIT ON READING TEACHING UNDERSTANDING GENRES: READING II

Literature

Individual Commentary on an article

DOCsDOCs

Online article

database

Online article

database

Group Task of Presenting an

academic article

Linguistics

1) COLLABORATIVE TASK

The teacher circulates a document (a comic strip, recipe, or brochure) suitable for the interests and abilities of the class. Students work in groups of 5- 8 members. Each student translates a phrase or sentence and passes it on with a comment. The final product is shared with the class.

Concept 1:Translation is a process of revision.

Concept 2: Academic articles build upon the workof others in a particular discipline.

2) INDIVIDUAL TRANSLATION/ RESPONSE TASK

TRANSLATION: Students choose from a variety of online texts identified by the

teacher. Each student prepares a translation for class as well as questions about certain parts of the translation. In a small group, the student explains the translation, shows the English version and reads the Japanese and solicits comments. This is repeated with several groups. Afterwards, the student uses the comments to revise the translation. The 2nd draft is handed in.

COMMENTARY:Students choose from a variety of academic articles in different genres. Each student prepares a summary and commentary, then presents these in class to a small group along with questions. The commentary is revised and handed in to the teacher.

3) GROUP PRESENTATION OF A TRANSLATION OR COMMENTARY

In small groups, student prepare a translation or commentary on an academic article. The presentation is organized like an academic seminar with an emcee, Introductions of group members, visuals, and questions for the class.

STUDYING VOCABULARY

• Teachers select vocabulary words from their textbooks then refer to the Academic Word list to determine the relative usefulness of the words

• 5 – 8 words are given to students weekly; they download an application for their cell phones and prepare a flashcard set of the words

• The teacher gives weekly quizzes, varying the types of questions (including matching, sentence completion, true-false, modified cloze, vocabulary depth tests).

References:

Colina, S. (2003). Translation Teaching: From Research to the Classroom. McGraw-Hill: New York.

Grabe, W. (2008). Ten Good Ideas for Teaching L2 Reading.

Retrieved May 4, 2008 from http://www.cal.nau.edu/english/faculty/grade.asp

Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Willis, J, and Willis, D. (2007). Doing Task-based Teaching. Oxford University Press: New York.


How do you feel about the level of difficulty of the materials?

371 respondents

READING SURVEY: COMPARING TS & SS

How do you feel about the level of difficulty of the materials?

very easy

easy

neither difficult nor easy

difficult

very difficult

1.60%

7.50%

53.60%

30.20%

7.00%

0%

0%

75%

17%

8%

Reading TsStudents


Do you feel that your reading class helps you to be a better reader?

371 respondents

62% of students feel thattheir reading class eitherhelps them or “helps greatly.”


Comments offered by students when asked about how much the course helped them:

Positive or neutral comments

Negative comments

I can change my way of reading.

It taught me how to read newspaper articles.

I could read "real" English.

It maintains my English at a certain level.

We can know answers of others.

The class is too quiet.

Translates into Japanese every time for everything.

The teacher's voice is not clear so that I cannot understand what (s)he said.

We just translate the texts which is boring and not helpful.


Numbers of respondents teaching each of the courses

Between Jan. 13th and 25th 2011, 12 of the 15 reading instructors responded to an online survey that we asked them to fill out.

SURVEY OF READING INSTRUCTORS : READING MATERIAL

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

5

1

6

1

3

2

0

2

7

1

5

6

3

1

...have you used in the past?

...currently use in your reading class?

SURVEY OF READING INSTRUCTORS : READING MATERIAL

a b

ook t

hat

has

NO

T b

een ...

a g

raded r

eader

(i.e

., s

imp...

a r

eadin

g a

nth

olo

gy...

art

icle

s fr

om

aca

dem

ic j...

new

spaper

art

icle

s

web p

ages

poem

s

pla

ys

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

11

2

108

6 6 5 6

13

1

613

68

55

...do you currently use?

...have you used in the past?

What full-timers are using in their classes


371 respondents

Materials that students are using in class and percentages of students who would like to use those items in class.

non-simplified book

graded reader

reading anthology

academic journal articles

newspaper articles

web pages

poems

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

29

31

56

33

49

27

25

26

23

31

28

35

28

28

desired materialsmaterials teacher uses in class



• I wouldn't let students do what can be done out of class during class. Students should search meaning of words and phrases before class.• I'd try to use more than one author. I wouldn't use a collection of stories by one author, in case students didn't like that author.• I would give the students an interesting book and make them read a lot.• If I were to teach a reading course, I would not assign students to translate from English into Japanese.• I would rather use set a theme at the start of the class and use materials that are related to the selected theme. Not random.• I would teach skills that help students when they read books. (like skimming, scanning, and so on).• I would use a projector.

READING I & II All but one of the 18 reading classes are taught by 15 PT Japanese

instructors and 1 FT faculty.

Nearly half of the Reading teachers are veterans, having taught these courses for 8 years or more.

Student perceptions that the class is too passive and involves too much translation.

A wide range of texts are used from those on newspaper articles, short stories, and cultural information about America or Britain.

The course goals seem vaguely defined and there are very different assignments and expectations for each teacher’s class.

Large classes of some 45 students representing a wide range of ability; including returnees who high English abilities but are weak in reading Japanese.

Reading for life - Matsumoto JALT PAN-SIG Conference Presentation

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Transcript of Reading for life - Matsumoto JALT PAN-SIG Conference Presentation