(英語悅讀) 2003 A Report on a Reading Project

February, 2003  發表於 http://www.hsenglish.com.tw/teach/hint/h.asp?page=2&count=56

1. Introduction

This report has the following objectives: A. To probe into effects of outside reading on students in one Taiwanese high school; B. this practice’s implications on local teaching environment; C. To form a better teaching module.

This report is then divided into three parts.  The first section lists some theories of extensive reading.  The second part describes how this reading project was conducted.  An analysis of students’ responses and the use of one Internet message board follows.  The third section presents reflections on this project, including an improved model and some suggestions from fellow teachers.

 2. Theories

    Intensive reading, as has been defined by Harold Palmer, is the careful reading of selected foreign texts.  It is often conducted with the aim of complete understanding of the key components, grammar as opposed to extensive reading, which is often translated into “pleasure reading.”

This practice of reading on one’s own, of reading in large quantity and in different realms may provide a haven for students and teachers here in Taiwan.  Here school hours often last from 7:30 in the morning to 5:00 in the afternoon, not to mention test-oriented readings, and time spent in cram school, which is a phenomenon characteristic of a Chinese society.  Due to the whole education system here that demands excellence in only taking exams, students are rather reluctant to go out on their own; instead, they are used to being spoon-fed by teachers, drifting in the sea of knowledge without knowing why, or sometimes, what they are doing.  Learning should never be this way.  Only with self-motivated study, can learners discover the pleasure in learning.

These students were physically, mentally sound and had abundant supply of resources. What could I ever bring to them to better their learning process?  In my mind, motivation was exactly what these students needed.     

 Nation says in his report that success in reading may increase motivation for further study and reading.  Day and Bamford (1998: 28) list four influential factors in the process deciding to read in a second language.  They are 1) attractiveness, linguistic level, availability of the materials; 2) students’ reading ability in the second language; 3) attitude toward reading foreign text; 4) influences from the environment, teachers, and friends. 

    The selection of readers plays an important role in the success of a reading program.  John Green and Rebecca Oxford said that if reading in foreign text is a smooth one, not having to look up words all the time, the reading process could contribute to overall language proficiency. (1995TESOL Quarterly 29:261-97; Quoted by Brown: 301) 

    Since I was in the position where I could bring students that thrust towards independent reading, that independent leaning, I should not let that ‘normalcy’ continue. 

3. A reading program during the winter vacation 

Students were in four classes, 45-46 students each, in 10^th grade, mixed class.  Before this project, they had been learning English for at least 4 years.  Most students had been exposed to curriculums and pedagogy that use intensive reading and grammar approach as means to achieve reading comprehension.  Very little self-motivated reading was observed among these students.  In order to lead the class out of the doldrums, initiated this reading project. 

During the semester, there was little room for extra reading, so implemented this project during the winter break, when students were free from schoolwork for about three weeks.  Many movie titles were chosen because these books had been great movie hits here in local movie theaters; by pleading to students’ interests, hoped to better motivate students.  Designated titles were: 

 They were selected from New Penguin Readers’ graded readers (Pearson Education∕ Longman Group, Ltd.).  These books were chosen because they had been graded according to the formality of vocabulary, sentence length into five coherent levels.  Students were required to select a book, read it during winter break and hand in a reading note afterwards.  The minimum length of this report was 60 words.  The following table below shows how this reading program was conducted. 

4. Findings through this reading program

        From the notes collected after winter break, sorted out some things noticed during the process.  The following three entries will focus on the analysis of students’ responses and this program’s effects on students.

1.       Outside reading can either stimulate students’ appetite fore more, or dowse that enthusiasm; one key element for successful extensive reading programs is a well-matched pair of graded readers and the reader.  One advanced student, who asked to have his own choice, reported that he was humbled by the challenges presented in Harry Potter- the Secret Chamber. 

His choice of the reader was beyond his ability to comprehend and frustration ensued;
nevertheless, for those whose choices were within their grasp, the picture was different.  Many students, who read simplified readers from current movies, said that they wanted to go to rental stores and pick up that movie title, which was a significant step towards independent learning.

2.       A large amount of archaic, ceremonial words that popped up in Ss’ reading notes may indicate the use of electronic dictionaries that can easily provide quick translation between Chinese and English and related synonyms, antonyms.  Such devices could have provide these words:…….The book's protagonist is a pig.  …. very valorous…  he had own the heavy military power to made Roman bloom….  Babe’s valiant behavior….  

Yet, quick solutions usually bring out more problems.  The synonym function in an electronic dictionary may find many words that “generally match” students’ request, but these synonyms each has their own particular implication and goes along with particular styles, such as in journalism, history, literature, etc. Students were unaware that these words “belong to” certain styles (Joos, 1961, quoted by Robinett), and as a result, created a piece of writing that mixed words from different levels of formality.

3.       The Internet accelerates the sharing process.  Compared to the conventional way of peer sharing, that is, swapping of classmate’s notes, sharing through the Internet, especially the message board, allows students to see more peers’ responses, at a leisurely pace.  Here at this stage, I selected some notes to correct and present for they represent some typical errors repeatedly appeared in students writing.  One example follows:

3. Reflections

   First, the greatest reward for initiating this reading project comes from students’ rekindled interests in learning.  Many students expressed a strong desire to find more related materials, which was an important step that I wanted to achieve. 

Also, could have enhanced students’ enthusiasm with some pre-reading activities suggested in Sue Leather’s article – Three ways to help your elementary students enjoy extensive reading.  One useful tip by Leather follows:

If I have an assortment of readers, I often use 'choose and tell'. This involves the students coming to a desk at the side of the room and choosing a reader that they like the look of. Then they go back to their seats and look at the front cover, the blurb on the back, the pictures inside and the first page. Then they tell their partner why they chose it.

Table 2 presents a modified model of a reading program:

 One fellow teacher suggested that before starting outside reading project like this, it would be better to bring to students the skills of dealing with unknown vocabulary.  This suggestion makes a lot of sense since constant looking up words in the dictionary would interrupt reading and the fun. Students would gain much pleasure from this reading activity if they could figure out an ‘educated guess’ when they encounter an unknown word.  

4. Conclusion
   What has been presented so far is quite unlike any scientific breakthrough that would change the world; the writer here carried off a workable model and found several places to improve along with other researchers’ findings.  This project helped a teacher to combine theories and practices to make learning English both fun and informative, and the process will continue, in order to best facilitate students’ learning.

Bibliography

Brown H. Dougalous. 2000. Chapter 18 Teaching Reading: Teaching by Principles.  New
York: Longman.

 Day, R. and Bamford J. 1998  Affect: the secret garden of reading. Extensive Reading in the
Second language Classroom.  Cambridge University Press.

Leather, Sue. 2001 ‘Three Ways to Help Your Elementary Students Enjoy Extensive Reading.’
Cambridge University Press.  Available: http://uk.cambridge.org/elt/readers/articles/ sleather1.htm

Nation, Paul. The Language Learning Benefits of Extensive Reading.  Victoria University of
Wellington.  Available: http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/97/may/benefits.html

Robinett, Wallace, Betty. (1978) Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages –
Substance and Technique.  Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.