Speakers
Description
This presentation will review how a graded reader program was established and conducted
at a private Japanese junior high school in the Kansai area. It will show the effect extensive reading (ER) had on learner’s rate of vocabulary acquisition with regards to the first and second thousand high frequency words as reflected in the New General Service Words list. This study was conducted with first year junior high school students. The students read graded readers from the Oxford Graded Reading Tree. Students took a pre, mid, and post-test using a computer-generated test from the vocabulary levels test website. The results were then analysed by two different raters. Results showed that after eleven weeks of reading, the students' performances reflected findings found at the university level. This study not only suggests beneficial results in the implementation of extensive reading at the junior high school level, it also provides insight for teachers regarding the challenges of establishing and conducting an ER program in a Japanese EFL context.
Bio:
Christopher Mack is a full time junior high school English teacher at a private school in south Kyoto. He is currently finishing his master's degree in TESOL from Temple University. His SLA interests include anxiety, teacher motivation, input enhancement, and research replication.
Aquanna Ishii is a part-time instructor at a university in Kyoto. She is currently completing her M.S.Ed. degree in TESOL at Temple University, Japan. She is interested in the effects of extensive reading in Japanese learning contexts as well as team teaching dynamics in EFL classrooms in Japan.
