Dr. Rob Waring Notre Dame Seishin University

What is ER/EL? Aims to practice and deepen knowledge of already met grammar and vocabulary Aims to build reading speed / fluency Aims to build confidence and enjoyment It’s reading practice, not reading study

What is ER/EL? II Minimum requirements for ER/ EL Easy - no dictionary needed Fast - at a good speed and with minimum pauses High comprehension - almost everything is understood Fun – so they continue reading

What is ER? III Extensive ReadingIntensive reading easy difficult student–selected teacher selected lots of reading very little out of class reading in class reading no assessment test / reports / exercises no follow up lots of follow up (discussion / language work)

ER Program types Purist ER program Lots of self-selected reading at home with no / little assessment or follow up. Often is a stand-alone class. Class reading - study Students 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. Integrated ER program Lots of self-selected reading at home and in class. Follow up exercises / reports which aim to build the 4 skills.

ER / EL program types overview Purist ERIntegrated ERClass Reading ER as literature StyleIndividual Lock-step Amount of reading Lots Little SpeedFast Slow ControlStudent Teacher Language focus No YesNo Follow up assessment Little Lots MaterialsLibrary Class sets Skill workReading3-4 skills3-4 skills / language 1-3 skills Class time needed Little Lots

ER program types - summary Many different types of ER program Different aims / needs for each program Different levels of involvement for teachers / students Some programs may adopt two or more types at the same time Some programs can start more easily than others Each type is scalable – from a single class to a whole school No ‘best’ type for all programs

Language learning (focus on learning new things) new vocab and grammar, pronunciation, phonics work, skills work etc. Language use (focus on communication) reading / listening and understanding texts for content speaking and writing to convey your thoughts and ideas What does a curriculum need?

A Balanced Curriculum Focus on the language (language study) Focus on using language for communication Receptive input Reading and listening Productive output Speaking and writing New grammar and vocabulary Phonics Learning new reading / listening etc skills Pronunciation Tests Gap fill exercises, Multiple choice language questions Pronunciation Memorized drills / dialogs Graded reading and listening Watching movies Surfing the internet Listening to music Chatting with friends Essays, letters, poems Debate, discussion Giving speeches

A Balanced Curriculum Focus on the language Focus on using language for communication Receptive input Reading and listening Productive output Speaking and writing ADFADF C B E G(a) G(b)

A linear structure to our syllabuses Each unit has something new Little focus on the recycling of vocab, grammar and so on The theory is “We’ve done that, they have learnt it, so we can move on.” i.e. teaching causes learning Unit 1 Be verb Simple adjectives Unit 2 Simple present Daily routines Unit 3 Present continuous Sporting activities Unit 4 can Abilities Unit 5 …. …..

What happens to things we learn? We forget them over time unless they are recycled and memories of them strengthened Our brains are designed to forget most of what we meet - not to remember it Time Knowledge The Forgetting Curve

What will naturally happen to the learning? Unit 1 Be verb Simple adjectives Unit 2 Simple present Daily routines Unit 3 Present continuous Sporting activities Unit 4 can Abilities Unit 5 …. …..

What does this all imply? A linear course structure is focused on introducing new words and grammatical features does not fight against the forgetting curve by its very design cannot provide enough repetitions of words and grammar features for long-term acquisition to take place is not focused on deepening and consolidating older knowledge because the focus is always on new things

Course work and Graded Readers work together Level 1 books Level 2 books Level 3 books … Unit 1 Be verb Simple adjectives Unit 2 Simple present Daily routines Unit 3 Present continuous Sporting activities Unit 4 can Abilities Unit 5 …. …..

Does this mean course books are bad? This is NOT a criticism of course books. There’s too much to actually teach. Thousands of words plus their collocations, multiple meaning senses etc. Thousands of lexical phrases The grammar systems The pronunciation, reading skills, listening skills etc. etc. etc. No course or course book can teach all this. Course books are designed to introduce new language and give minimal practice with it not to deepen that knowledge.

So what needs to happen? We have to ensure our curriculums and courses: build in recycling and repetition of words and grammar structures give students chances to see how the grammar and vocabulary are used together in real discourse give students chances to deepen and consolidate the language they learn in their course books (or they forget it) allow students to develop their own ‘sense’ of how the language works give students chances to use language rather than just study it

ER Types and the Balanced Curriculum Focus on the language (language study) Focus on using language for communication Receptive input Reading and listening Productive output Speaking and writing Purist ER

ER Types and the Balanced Curriculum Focus on the language (language study) Focus on using language for communication Receptive input Reading and listening Productive output Speaking and writing Class reading ER

ER Types and the Balanced Curriculum Focus on the language (language study) Focus on using language for communication Receptive input Reading and listening Productive output Speaking and writing ER as literature

ER Types and the Balanced Curriculum Focus on the language (language study) Focus on using language for communication Receptive input Reading and listening Productive output Speaking and writing Integrated ER

What’s the balance? Language focus activities- learning the grammar and vocabulary, reading skills, pronunciation etc. (i.e coursework) PLUS Massive amounts of easy fluent reading with graded readers Massive amounts of fluent listening The focus should be on deepening and consolidating knowledge of things they learnt in their course books

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