Extensive Reading - Reading Process

Partner Reading Observation

• How often do they move their eyes?
• How would you describe their eye movements - smooth, jumpy, flowing, other?
• What else did you observe?

Reading Processes

People have a visual field of about 120 degrees in front of them, which contains three regions for viewing information:   the foveal, the parafoveal, and the peripheral. The foveal region is the area in which we think of as being in focus, providing us the greatest visual acuity. The foveal region is only 2 degrees of what we are looking at; in terms of reading, that would be about 6 to 8 letters. Beyond the foveal is the parafoveal, which extends to 15 to 20 letters. Everything else is considered to be in the peripheral region.

We do NOT read letter by letter but rather by recognizing whole words by sight. To illustrate the point we use this 'fi yuo cna raed tihs' handout. This is why comics are often harder to read for second language learners of English because they are in capital letters giving no tall/tail letter patterns that the mind uses to recognize words.

There are three basic eye movement processes involved in reading

• fixations
• saccadic jumps
• regressions

Slower readers have longer fixations, shorter saccades and more regressions. Hence fluency activities aim to decrease the time of fixations, increase the length of saccades to an appropriate level and reduce the number of regressions. Good readers therefore read at 250-300 words per minute. If people are reading faster it is termed 'expeditious reading' which is like skimming or scanning.

Videos

• Eye Movements in Skilled Readers
• Eye Tracker
• Reading, Eye Movement, and the Brain
• What Eye Movements During Reading Reveal About Processing Speed
• Science of Word Recognition

---

The original General Service List of 2000 words was created in 1953 by Michael West and this is used by most graded readers in the development of their level system.
This list includes the list of 300 sight words which cover 50~70% of most texts.
(Dolch Sight Words About   Word Lists)

The New General Service List is an updated version that includes 2818 words. It is a "list of the most important high-frequency words useful for second language learners of English, ones which gives the highest possible coverage of English texts with the fewest words possible."Newgeneralservicelist.org

NGSL Quizlets
50 word blocks here
100 word blocks here
560 word blocks here

TestYourVocab.com

Findings: 

• Most adult native test-takers range from 20,000–35,000 words
• Average native test-takers of age 8 already know 10,000 words
• Average native test-takers of age 4 already know 5,000 words
• Adult native test-takers learn almost 1 new word a day until middle age
• Adult test-taker vocabulary growth basically stops at middle age

• The most common vocabulary size for foreign test-takers is 4,500 words
• Foreign test-takers tend to reach over 10,000 words by living abroad
• Foreign test-takers learn 2.5 new words a day while living in an English-speaking country

• Native adult vocabulary size appears to be principally determined by
  reading habits between ages 4 and 15
• For native vocabulary growth, reading fiction specifically is just as important as reading in general
• Native test-taker children who read "lots" learn 4 new words a day
• Native test-taker children who read "somewhat" learn 2.5 new words a day
• Native test-taker children who read "not much" learn 1.5 new words a day

Extensive Reading Overview

What is Extensive Reading? 

From ER-Central.com

Extensive Reading (ER) is an approach to second language reading.  When learners read extensively, they read very easy, enjoyable books to build their reading speed and fluency. Another way to say this is students learn to read by actually reading rather than examining texts by studying the vocabulary, grammar and phrases. It is instructive to compare Intensive Reading (IR) with Extensive Reading.

Intensive Reading
For many teachers, there is only one way to teach reading which involves the teacher walking the whole class through a reading passage. The passage is usually short and the instruction is focused on carefully checking comprehension, studying the grammar and/or vocabulary, or developing a reading skill.

The benefits of Extensive Reading
Extensive Reading gives students chances to read longer pieces of reading, which they choose, which they can read at their own speed and at their own ability level. This can be done with Graded readers.

---

Characteristics of an Extensive Reading program:

1. The Reading Materials is easy.
      Easy books build speed > Speed builds fluency. >  Fluency builds understanding.
2. There’s a wide variety of material on a wide variety of topics. 
     We read different things in different ways, or different reasons.
3. Learners choose what they want to read. 
   Interest leads to understanding… and to more reading
4. Learners read as much as possible. 
   Probably in class.  Definitely outside of class.
5. The purpose is usually pleasure, information, and general understanding 
   (Just like in real life)
6. Reading is its own reward. 
   We are teaching the ‘joy of reading’.  It's not about the test.
7. Reading speed is fast.  The need for speed = fluency
8. Reading is individual and silent. 
   Most reading, in and out of class, is on one’s own and silent
9. Teachers guide their students. 
   ER is different from what learners have experienced before. We need to show them how and why.
10. The teacher is a role model.  “Reading is caught, not taught”.

10 Principles of Extensive Reading

 강좌의 운영방법 : 다독(Extensive Reading)은 많은 양의 독서와 외국어 학습자의 언어능력을 향상시키는 또 다른 활동을 통하여 외국어를 배우는 방법이다.

이 수업의 특징.

 1. 학생들은 수업시간에서 뿐만 아니라, 특히 수업시간 이외에 가능한 많은 책을 읽어야 한다.

 2. 여러 가지 다양한 방법을 사용함으로써 학생들이 책 읽는 것에 흥미를 가지도록 한다.

 3. 학생들은 자기가 읽고 싶은 책을 읽고, 재 미가 없는 책은  읽지 않아도 된다.

 4. 이 강좌의 목적은 책읽기를 통하여 즐거워야 하며, 책을 통해서 많은 지식을 얻고, 이해력을 기르는 것이다.

 5. 책을 많이 읽는 것만으로 충분하다.

 6. 학생들의 문법이나 단어수준을 넘어서는 책이 없기 때문에 책 읽는 동안 사전은 거의 필요가 없을 것이다.

 7. 책읽기는 개인적인 활동이다. 언제나 어디서나 학생들이 원할 때 책을 읽을 수가 있다.

 8. 이해하기 쉬운 책을 읽을 때 책 읽는 속도는 빨라진다.

 9. 선생님들 은 이 강좌의 목적과 수업방법에 대해 설명하고, 학생들이 무슨 책을 읽는지 알아야 하며, 학생들이 수업에 잘 참여하도록 이끌어 간다.

 10. 선생님 은 책읽는 학생의 본보기이기 때문에, 진정한 책읽는 것이 무엇인지 설명해줘야 한다.

---

Choosing your books
We will be primarily using to kinds of books for Extensive Reading -

Graded Readers & Young Adult Fiction.
These will be available in the TTP Lounge.  BYO is welcome.  You can bring your own books to read and/or share.

What are Graded Readers?

Graded Readers are books of various genres that are specially created for learners of foreign languages. They may be simplified versions of existing works, original stories or books that are factual in nature. They are ‘graded’ in the sense that the syntax and lexis are controlled in order to make the content accessible to learners of the language. Publishers normally issue reader series with 4-6 different reading levels to suit a range of skill levels and allow progress over time.

When selecting a graded reader, you want to choose books that are enjoyable to read. This includes interesting content and written at an appropriate level. There are a variety of assessment tools for determining someone's reading level Below are some online tools for determining reading levels.

• Macmillan Level Test
• Cambridge Placement Test
• Oxford Level Tests

This can also be accomplished pretty well using a page-flipping previewing activity described below.  It is important for students to be able to assess a book quickly so they can choose a book they want to read. The previewing exercise is done as follows:

The teacher selects a pile of graded readers (more than he has students in the class).

• The teacher models doing a preview focusing on; 
• looking at the books cover 
• looking at the chapter index 
• flicking through the book noticing any pictures 
• checking for a glossary 
• noticing the genre of the book 
• teacher must stress the most important thing is to decide if you would want to read the book or not. 
• Students then receive a book from the teacher to preview.

Young Adult Fiction

Young adult fiction or young adult literature is fiction published for readers from 12 to 18. However, authors and readers of "young teen novels" often define it as written for those aged 15 to the early 20s. The subject matter and story lines of young adult literature are typically consistent with the age and experience of the main character, but this literature spans the spectrum of fiction genres. There are several dozen Young Adult books available in the TTP lounge. You can also order one book that you’d like to read. After reading that book, it will be contributed to the TTP library.  Below are some lists of books you might be interested in reading.

•  GoodReads.com: Young Adult Book Lists     Best Young Adult Fiction 

• Time's 100 Best Young Adult Books

• Summer Reading for non-native English speakers

Whatever you read, make sure to record it in your Personal Reading Log (in your TTP Journals Folder).   Extensive Reading Log here