Abstract 1: Despite ER being on the ELT menu for almost a century, it is still considered an infant in relation to other ELT methods and approaches. Sadly, fluency practice still struggles to make headway and the lack of familiarity with, or understanding of, ER in some circles has lead to it being seen as a threat to the still dominant teacher-led language and exam-focused paradigm. Even the teachers who do know about ER, are faced with a daunting array of decisions to make when setting up a program – which materials, assessment, funding, how much reading to be done, how to integrate it, which follow up activities, and so on - often leading to paralysis. Combined with misunderstandings about ER, many ER programs never even start, despite good intentions. To combat this, there is then an urgent need to create a simple easy to understand message about ER. An obvious place to start is with a clear definition. We would think that given the work of Day and Bamford and the legions of ER practitioners around the world, we would have a fairly good idea about what ER is. But as ER matures, this is becoming increasingly uncertain. For example, not all researchers refer to the same thing. Some say the reading of graded readers makes it ER; others say a book a week is fine, others two books a semester; yet others allow dictionaries; some insist on assessment, while others frown. Given this diversity of opinion with our field, the time has come to set our sights on a common understanding of what ER is. Without a clear definition of ER, we will find it hard to promote ER/EL beyond its current borders.
Our current guiding light for a definition of ER has always been Day and Bamford’s “ten principles of successful ER programs.” This talk will re-examine these principles to see how relevant they still are, and how we might update and bring clarity to our shared passion.
Abstract 2: Doing extensive reading online means much more than students being able to read graded readers on their computers or smartphones. It can put powerful tools like an interactive dictionary, character lists, audio-on-demand, and book ratings, right at their fingertips. Another, benefit is students can read whenever and wherever they want, not just while at school or at the library. Additionally, online extensive reading also provides benefits to educators. It allows teachers to monitor and track their students’ reading progress with greater accuracy. Teachers can know which books their students have selected, how many words they read, and even their reading speed which is useful since reading fluency is a key aspect of extensive reading. Finally, because of all of the rich reading data that can be collected, online extensive reading is ideal for academics interested in doing research on extensive reading. In this presentation, the speaker, who developed the extensive reading website, Xreading, will explain how teachers can get the most out of using online extensive reading with their classes, and give a demonstration of the Xreading system.
Generously sponsored by Xreading
