This session will introduce the exciting new and upcoming World Heritage series of graded readers. The series taps into a wide-spread interest in world heritage sites and assets around the world. The series will be written as several levels from late beginner to early intermediate for both high school and university populations. These readers will be perfect for content based teaching and will raise the students' awareness of the world and their global competencies in order to become global citizens. The presentation will provide the details about the series, the number of titles and launch date, and so on.

This presentation reports the positive impacts made by online extensive reading on 14 adult learners of English. The participants who were advanced learners conducted extensive reading on Xreading for one year. The participants’ transformation from unconfident L2 readers to avid, engaged L2 readers is demonstrated by various data: their journal entries, comments given during five individual interviews, records kept on Xreading, and pre-/post-project metaphors that reflected their perceptions towards L2 reading. Specifically, seven participants read more than one million words and all of their metaphors shifted from negative to positive orientation. Furthermore, the participants made statistically significant gains in reading rates (p < .005) and vocabulary sizes (p < .0005). This presentation reports in detail, the factors that created such positive outcomes. They include the support given by the researcher, the successful routinization of L2 reading, and the Xreading factor such as the easy access to abundant intriguing graded readers.

In this study, the presenter used three research questions to investigate how learners incrementally increase their TOEIC test scores through extensive reading. The first question concerns the number of English words that must be read to reach the intermediate level. MReader and the TOEIC online test scores were used to estimate the words that is necessary to reach the CEFR B1. As a result, it was estimated that reading about 500,000 words was required. The second question is about identifying which factors most affect the final TOEIC scores. What had a greater effect on the TOEIC scores, the learner's initial academic ability or their reading volume? This looks like the classic chicken and egg problem, but multiple regression analysis of the data showed that the amount of reading affected their test scores more than their initial ability. The third question is about the students’ motivation. What psychological factors affect the amount of reading? The presenter used multiple regression analysis and found that the students’ positive attitudes toward reading were influencing the total amount of reading being done. The details of the classroom setting and analysis will be shared during the presentation.

Managing an ER program by myself for 105 students, without Graded Readers, I needed help developing my small book collection (100 titles), and therefore designed a few classroom activities to encourage reading, discussion and positive interdependence, while supporting the growth of the program at the same time. In this short presentation, I will introduce two interaction-rich group activities (“book recommendation” and “designing quizzes”) and one individual writing activity (“book review”), while presenting some examples and feedback from my students. By picking new books, designing quizzes and reviewing books for their schoolmates, many became more confident, as they saw themselves as members of a lively reading community.

I teach French as a foreign language in a Japanese university, to beginner to low-intermediate level students, but am confident that these activities will be useful in many contexts, and even with Graded Readers.

This study analyzed the impact of extensive reading (ER) on the TOEIC score among Japanese high school students. ER was administered for three academic years to three grades each with 250 students respectively. The individual reading amount and their TOEIC scores were recorded by the English teacher. The students were encouraged to read 200,000 words per year mainly outside of the classroom. Students read 5,000 words per week, which is 10 minutes per day for students who read 100 wpm, for five days a week, during 35 weeks of school, plus 25,000 words during the long vacations. The study showed that these students scored 650 or higher on the TOEIC test. The study also explains how to implement ER in a regular Japanese high school without eroding the fixed curriculum, and how the involvement of the school library supported ER and student motivation.

This presentation is on how one teacher taught a reading course online using Zoom during COVID-19 for nine second- and third- year EFL undergraduate students in Japan in three phases: (1) getting to know the students, (2) staying attuned to the students’ wants and needs, and (3) getting students to become autonomous learners. Challenges as a result of COVID-19 and a move from classroom teaching to online teaching included difficulties in having students borrow and purchase books and having students conduct extensive reading throughout the course. Implications for teachers teaching reading online and face-to-face in EFL contexts not limited to Japan are also provided.

This mixed-method single case study aims to unveil the plausible effects of extensive reading (ER) on an EFL learner’s writing competence and to elucidate the viable factors stimulating his willingness to write (WTW) after reading. The writing competence indicated by complexity, accuracy, and fluency was measured by eight measures under the CAF triad (Skehan, 1989). Narrative inquiry was then employed to probe students’ perception of how ER propelled his writing growth and leveraged his WTW based on two semi-structured interviews, excerpts from frequent contact via Facebook Messenger, and 51 reading logs composed during the 9-week course. Results showed observable progress in his writing accuracy and fluency, which was reaffirmed by the interview data. Meanwhile, his WTW was found to be attributable to five palpable determinants, namely (1) habit of L1 reading, (2) intrinsic motivation, (3) perceived writing growth, (4) reading materials, and (5) subconscious writer identity.

Some books make you happy while others make you sad. This study investigated how different emotional traits of graded readers are related with different degrees of student engagement of extensive reading (ER), and what mediating role learner emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) could have. Sixteen different types of basic and epistemic emotions were selected for categorization: happy, sad, fearful, disgusted, angry, surprised, curious, confused, anxious, excited, frustrated, bored, enjoying, relaxing, moved, and nonemotional. First, students were familiarized with emotional tagging of ER materials, resulting in identifying books with their emotional profiles rated by students. Second, an online self-reported questionnaire was conducted. It was shown that different emotions in ER materials result in significantly diverse degrees of student engagement. Moreover, EQs turned out to correlate positively with engagement of ER materials with positive emotions while negatively with several negative emotions and nonemotionality. The rationale and pedagogical implications are discussed and exemplified.

This presentation describes how to assess students’ performances in Japanese extensive reading. The presenter has been conducting standalone Japanese ER courses in a U.S. university since 2014. Unlike traditional-style language classes, the main activities in ER are individual readings; therefore, assessment has been challenging for the instructor.

Takase (2010) listed various ways to assess students’ performances in English ER, such as reading quantity, comprehension tests, and presentations. The presenter uses self-evaluations, where students reflect on their own reading and set their next goals. Students have other assignments such as reading journals, book reviews, and semester-final projects. The instructor does not evaluate students’ language skills in this course, and assessment is conducted only based on their attendance/participation and their submission of assignments on time. Because of these assessment criteria, students work hard, regardless of their typical grades. The presenter will discuss how ER is effective for cultivating autonomous learning.

This research project was conducted with two cohorts of 2nd year students enrolled in an elective Business English program at a university in Japan, one in 2020 and another in 2022, who also had had experience with Extensive Reading in their first-year classes, typically with paper-based graded readers and the Mreader tracking system. The research aimed to explore the following questions: 1. What do these Business English students like and dislike about doing online extensive reading via Xreading? 2. How do these Business English students feel that online extensive reading via Xreading compares to other methods of extensive reading experienced in their first-year classes? 3. Are there any correlations between amounts of reading done, types of reading done, and learners' self-reported perceptions of online reading? Participants were surveyed using a combination of Likert-scale and open-ended items, and responses correlated with actual reading data from the Xreading LMS.

Extensive Listening (EL) is a teaching approach that emphasizes the provision of authentic, comprehensible, and fun aural input for an extended time period in order to improve language proficiency, especially the listening ability, of L2 learners. This presentation provides 5 compelling reasons why EL should be implemented in L2 classrooms: no conclusive evidence regarding the benefits of listening strategy teaching has been found; some studies have found no significant effects of listening strategy teaching on listening ability improvement; my own experience as an EFL learner; EL is regarded as a fun and theoretically sound way to learn L2; and in-class EL should help create more autonomous learners. The presentation will also show how in-class English audio-visual watching (e.g., movies or TV series) with subtitles and/or captions can be implemented and how it can help improve learners’ listening ability as well as increase learners’ confidence, motivation, and self-esteem in their own English language learning outside the classrooms.

The emphasis in EFL Reading classes is often put on the production of comprehension rather than the processing skills. It makes the reading activities unpleasant and most of the times have to deal with the low reading comprehension. The present study attempts to maximize the students’ participation by actively involved in extensive reading activities, to find out the strategies they use in the reading process, and to see the students’ perceptions on Extensive Reading in order to enhance their reading comprehension. The participants of the study are 20 students of the English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teachers Training and Educational Sciences, Pakuan University, who were chosen purposively. This study applied qualitative approach with case study method. The data of this study were taken from documentation in the form of the students’ book report and book talk writing and presentation, questionnaire which were distributed to 20 participants, and interview which were conducted to 20 participants. The findings show the factors that maximize the students’ active participation in Extensive Reading activities are reading habit, motivation, and environment. The students use cognitive and metacognitive strategies in the reading process, and they have positive perceptions on Extensive Reading.

Extensive reading (ER) helps readers develop robust language knowledge (Hu & Nation, 2000) and build key connections with disciplines such as the sciences, goals that numerous international students hope to achieve in intensive English programs (IEPs). However, despite these benefits and instructors’ good intentions, IEP instructors often disagree on the specific approaches to integrating ER into reading and writing (RW) courses (Bentahar & Cranker, 2021). While many language instructors consider ER an underused technique (Watkins, 2018), some quiz students on their reading; other instructors “impose” one book on their students, while still others assign weekly reports, approaches which seem to contradict the essence of ER. The integrated-skill approach (ISA), where language skills and sub-skills are interwoven during instruction (Oxford, 2001), can solve this quandary. The presenter will share three effective ISA-based ER activities and demonstrate their benefits for learning, using student feedback. Implications for RW instructors will be discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether a difference exists in TOEIC Bridge Institutional Program scores between Japanese EFL students at a technical college who engaged in ER for one year and those who did ER for two years. Furthermore, by dividing the students who experienced ER for two years into two subgroups according to their level of English achievement at the end of ER, their reading tendencies were statistically analyzed in terms of the number of words and books they had read. The results suggest that two-year-long ER may be more effective in improving TOEIC Bridge reading scores than a year-long ER program, and that students may be able to reach a high level of English proficiency without reading too many books as long as they are suited to the students’ levels. Additionally, students with high English proficiency made greater progress through ER.

Flow is a mental state in which an individual becomes immersed in an activity as a result of an optimum balance of interest, control, and challenge. Such a flow state overlaps with descriptions of ideal extensive reading experiences eg. becoming engrossed in a story and losing track of time. At the same time, teachers often assign reading targets using a variety of methods including book counts, word counts, and reading time in order to encourage students to read more. These different measurements of reading quantity may influence students' choice of reading materials as well as their reading experiences. This presentation compares student book choice behavior and experiences of flow while reading under the differing conditions of reading assignments given in terms of weekly word count goals with those of weekly reading time goals. Student reading records from the online reading library Xreading are used to compare differences in book choice behavior, such as book length and difficulty level, while experiences of flow are compared using mean flow scores from weekly questionnaires and independent measures t-test between the word count and reading time groups.

This session will introduce e-future’s exciting new phonics readers series Smart Phonics Readers. This series is specially designed for young EFL learners who are taking their first steps into the wonderful journey of reading. With imaginative stories, colorful illustrations, and systematic phonics practice with fun activities, young learners will build confidence and enjoy reading! Join the session to explore Smart Phonics Readers, the 2022 LLL award finalists!

Despite growing attention to the use of extensive reading (ER) in ESL teaching, little focus has been placed on adult community learners and their instructors. This presentation reports on the findings of a small qualitative case study conducted at an adult ESL community outreach program linked to the TESOL MA practicum course. The study examines student teachers’ (STs’) (N=13) perceived experiences of using ER in instruction and community members’ (N=16) perceived usefulness of engaging in ER. Responses to selected questions in an end-of-the-program reflection and survey for STs and community members, respectively, were coded and analyzed for common topics. Most of the STs were able to integrate ER into instruction, but their perceptions of the experience were impacted by the learners’ responses to the reading. Most of the learners engaged in reading outside the class and they reported that ER helped them improve their English language abilities, specifically vocabulary.

This study will report how an extensive reading (ER) website (https://lchineseer.sites.pomona.edu) was designed and constructed for learners of Chinese as a foreign language. A complete review of existing ER websites was first conducted to draw insights on website features and functions. A needs-analysis was conducted among a group of L2 Chinese learners to examine their reading needs. Based on the reading needs, over 300 reading passages on different aspects of Chinese culture were adapted or adopted. The reading passages were categorized based on number of words, readability levels, and topics. How to use the website to improve intercultural communication abilities will also be discussed.

Research into the effects of extensive reading (ER) has surged over the past few decades. However, many of these studies are limited by their lack of control over how the ER treatment is conducted. Furthermore, experimental and quantitative studies that investigate the possible effects of ER on the reading skills of learners of Japanese have yet to be fully explored. The goal of this study was to investigate the possible effects of ER on the reading rate development and comprehension abilities of learners of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL). Using a quantitative single-case study method, eight intermediate learners of Japanese were monitored while they engaged in ER and strictly adhered to ER principles over 2.5 to 4 months. Results showed that participants’ reading rates increased significantly following the monitored ER treatment and that comprehension abilities were not hampered by an increase in reading rate. Pedagogical implications will be discussed.

This action research study, conducted with 13 eleventh grade students from a public school in Piedecuesta, Colombia, was focused on establishing how the implementation of an Extensive Reading technique in the EFL learning school context contributed to the development of critical reading skills in L2. Diagnostic tests, video recordings, teacher’s journal and students’ diaries, and posttests were used as instruments to gather information to determine any improvement. The results revealed the positive impact ER had in the classroom to foster students’ reading process. In such a way, the participants demonstrated the use of different reading strategies to deal with texts, and the teacher-researcher reflection upon her pedagogical praxis during pandemic collected valuable information of the remote educational processes and its difficulties.

Previous Extensive Reading (ER) studies almost exclusively focus on English language learners and tend to be limited by their lack of control over how the ER treatment is conducted and assessed. Furthermore, studies that investigate the possible effects of different styles of ER, including Extensive Listening (EL) and Audio-assisted Extensive Reading (AER), are few. The goal of this study was to investigate the possible effects of monitored ER, EL, and AER on the general proficiency development of learners of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL). Using an experimental design, data collection for the first year of this three-year project (currently including data from 92 elementary and intermediate JFL learners) has been completed. First-year results indicate that all treatment groups outperformed the control group, and the AER and ER groups had higher gain scores than the EL group. Pedagogical implications, future directions, and the current impact will be discussed.

Given the importance of learning L2 vocabulary in context (Webb, 2008), the use of academic texts would seem to be one of the most useful ways to support the learning of academic vocabulary. However, authentic academic materials rarely have sufficient academic vocabulary range and frequency to provide for the learning of the academic vocabulary. In addition, authentic materials tend to be too difficult for all but advanced level students. Against this background, the presenter wrote a fictional graded reader series (‘The AWL Readers’) in an attempt to make the learning of English academic vocabulary in context more effective, more comprehensible, and more stimulating for the students.

The AWL Readers follow the adventures (and misadventures) of a fictional university student and her unusual friend. They include all 570 AWL words, most recycled multiple times. This presentation will discuss: (1) how and why the AWL Readers were created; (2) how they will be used at the presenter’s institution; and (3) their possible usefulness in other teaching and learning contexts.

The aim of the study was to investigate a group of Thai university students’ perceptions of reading and English language learning. Twenty-eight students participated in two sessions of online discussions. The first was their responses to the question on the best way to learn English and the second was on their favorite language skill. The data collection was done in January 2022 and it was the online learning context. It was found that reading was not found to be the best way to learn English. As for their favorite skill, reading was the favorite skill of eight students (29%). About one-third of the students said their favorite skill was reading, but the majority of them did not see reading as the best way to learn English. The findings suggest the need to promote and cultivate reading habits among adult learners, especially university students to embrace both intensive and extensive reading.

This presentation will look at how teachers and educators can create high-quality extensive reading materials that can also work for extensive listening. Attendees will learn how to create graded readers by recording natural speech in the form of narrations, stories, and interviews. The presentation will then show how to use various free tools, such as Canva, PowerPoint and Google slides to transform audio into engaging and even interactive audio books and lessons. In addition, teachers will learn how students can create works of art to share with other students around the world. Lastly, the presentation will briefly show how educators can crowd source creation by recording audio and video of people (friends, family, coworkers, etc.) around the world and then transforming it into extensive reading and listening materials, particularly graded readers.

Drawing on the benefits of Krashen’s comprehension hypothesis (2003) and compelling input hypothesis (2018), Ellis’ “implicit learning without conscious awareness” (2008) and Grabe’s “long-term and large volumes of input” (2009), extensive reading (ER) has been found beneficial to develop the learners' comprehension. This study investigated the impact of extensive reading of two reading sites, BBC English learning and British Council Learning English on high school EFL learners. This study examined if ER facilitated target learners’ lexical and cultural knowledge to develop reading comprehension. Learners of the treatment group (n = 35) and control group (n = 35) received instruction with ER and without ER, respectively, for six months by adopting two International English Language Testing System (IELTS) tests. The mixed-method paradigm triangulated the data to gauge changes in them. The result showed that treatment group learners outperformed the control group, which is statistically significant and implied incorporating the extensive reading as an extra-curricular.

The ability to guess meaning from context is a valuable skill for developing vocabulary knowledge. Although during extensive reading, dictionaries are typically not used, the new integrated dictionary in Xreading allows learners to immediately access definitions as they read. This research is investigating the effect that this online integrated dictionary usage has on the learner's ability to guess from context.

When teachers read extensively in a second language, we can gain insight and an appreciation of the task we ask our students to perform. After briefly describing his own reading program, the presenter provides an overview and recommendations of graded readers published in German language. To broaden the discussion, the audience is welcome to share its experience of reading in a second language. Through sharing our experience, we can consider how it can inform our pedagogy.

Remote lessons prompted the shift of extensive reading (ER) assignments from paper books to digital libraries making audio readings of books easily available. Any student with an Xreading account now has access to reading-while-listening (RWL). Providing second-language learners with access to vast amounts of reading and listening is undeniably beneficial; however, will learners choose RWL over reading only? 158 students with prior experience using Xreading were tasked with using RWL for their reading assignments. Questionnaires about the RWL experience indicate a broad belief (78%) that RWL is a beneficial way to learn English. 8 students agreed to follow-up interviews, and the majority of interviewees found audio enhanced the reading experience; improving their concentration and enjoyment. Yet some found it distracting and exhausting. Although a majority of students understood the benefits of RWL, it can be said that it may not suit the learner profiles of all students.

The Extensive Reading Foundation defines graded readers as texts that utilize “syntax and lexis that are controlled in order to make the content accessible to learners of the language” (Extensive Reading Foundation, 2022). It is true that many beginning and intermediate level students find the comprehensible input provided by graded readers useful for reading fluency and vocabulary development. However, advanced learners often find that they have difficulty employing effective reading strategies when transitioning from the controlled texts in graded readers to college level readings assigned in first year courses. Advanced students are faced with the reality that many of the texts used in English medium universities are not written taking the needs of L2 English learners into account. This presentation will explore transitional reading strategies that have been utilized in a college foundation program in Qatar. Strategies that will be explored include vocabulary development, reading fluency, and text comprehension strategies.

Bibliobattle refers to a social book review game where presenters introduce their favorite book to the audience in a group, and the participants decide the champion book by votes (Taniguchi, 2013). Mini-Bibliobattle is a variation of it with a shorter presentation and discussion period (see Oda, 2018, for the procedure). The study aims to examine the students’ perceptions toward Mini-Bibliobattle and analyze the changes of their scripts throughout the presentations. Approximately 40 university students participated in an 8-week online ER class holding two Mini-Bibliobattles in the L2. Consequently, similar to the previous study by the presenter, participants showed generally positive reactions toward Mini-Bibliobattles and shared interesting books with others. Also, improvements in the presentation were found regarding use of devices such as asking questions. Thus, Mini-Bibliobattle can facilitate learners to read more books and present a favorite book in an attracting manner to the audience.

The Extensive Reading Foundation (ERF) has created a wide array of resources, and houses and publicizes resources created by others. This presentation reports on one of these ERF resources: the ER-MOOC (https://er-mooc.org). The MOOC is a course that engages educators in thinking about major aspects of Extensive Reading Approach. Those who register and complete the course receive an official certificate of completion from the Extensive Reading Foundation. The course was facilitated by Helene Demirci and Tom Robb, with help from many other contributors. It consists of 13 modules on topics such as “getting started with extensive reading,” tracking and assessing students’ reading,” and “introduction to websites for extensive reading and listening.” To help educators complete the course, 13 weekly 50-minute sessions are held online, one for each module in the MOOC. Five people from five different countries who participated in these sessions will share about the MOOC and the sessions.

In February 2022, the Thailand Extensive Reading Association (TERA) in collaboration with Sakdibhornssup Foundation launched a project called “Building a Nation of Readers”. The project provides an opportunity for secondary school students across Thailand to have hands-on experience of extensive reading outside of class through a reading marathon event. 200 students participated in the project and were divided into 20 teams with one teacher supervising each team. Xreading.com was used as the platform for the participants to read graded readers of their own choice and to assist the organizing team to keep records of their reading. A webinar on tips for improving reading skills and vocabulary through reading graded readers and a workshop on online extensive reading via Xreading were conducted to prepare the participants for the marathon. This presentation will reveal participants’ opinions and experience of online extensive reading and highlight what needs to be done to keep their love of reading growing.

The speakers tried to improve students’ English knowledge by using the ER approach. Therefore, they implemented an Extensive Reading Project involving 72 students of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology with the help of the XReading.com platform. This project lasted for two months from March to May. The presenters have raised the hypotheses whether the extensive reading approach has improved the students' English speaking skills and enriched their vocabulary or not. The participants have been asked to read the suggested books so that it was easy to maintain understanding during the discussion. The most essential part of this project was a club held once a week by the lecturers with the purpose of discussing and debating what the participants read. Pre- and post- tests were variables used to identify the effects of the ER method. Finally, the data taken from the tests was processed with SPSS program. Outcomes of the study will be indicated in details using authentic source materials.

Peer reading has been widely practiced for fluency improvement and has implications for the language learners of all ages. It often involves reading loudly in a low-pressure context. In India, schools are present with a wide amount of cultural diversity. Culture exchange through extensive reading is found to be rarely practiced in Indian schools and requires a serious and immediate attention from the teacher community. This study sets out with the belief that there are linguistic and motivational benefits for Indian learners through peer reading activities. The method of this study is designed to have an experimental and control group. The study follows the theoretical framework of the socio-cultural approach to learning and cognitive development and compares the level and quality of interaction and motivation among the learners of two groups.

Xreading is digital library that gives students access to over a thousand graded readers from major publishers such as CUP, Cengage, and Macmillan. Students have unlimited access to all books as well as audio narrations, ratings, and quizzes. In addition, the system tracks students' reading progress (books read, words read, reading speed, quiz scores, etc.) so it makes management and assessment much easier for teachers. The system is constantly evolving and growing in terms of the number of books and features. In this presentation, the founder of Xreading will explain the new functionality that has been added over the past year, including the speed-reading and journal components, and what is planned for the future. Current users of the system are encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions based on their experience.

Inspired by the book flood studies, the project aimed at providing more input to a group of high school French learners in the U. S. since they rarely have the opportunity to read a coherent text or to see language used in context. Twenty-one high school students in the U. S., having studied French for two years in middle school, participated in an experiment where they were guided to read stories in French for twenty minutes each day, twice a week, for three months. Materials used included simplified stories as well as children’s stories for native French speakers. Pre- and post-study questionnaires were used to see if the experiment had an impact. The results showed that although there was no significant improvement in terms of reading rate or vocabulary size, students showed improvement in pronunciation, and they reported being more confident in their reading ability, and more motivated to read.

Extensive reading (ER) has been widely practiced in teaching English as a foreign or second language contexts. However, reports on how ER has been practiced in Chinese as a foreign or second language contexts are not commonly seen. This study reports how an ER program was established in a liberal arts college in the U.S.A, and how ER affected the L2 Chinese readers’ reading attitudes. The study also examined L2 Chinese learners’ perceptions of language abilities improved through ER, and their enjoyment of ER activities. Data were collected over thirteen weeks through pre-and post- reading attitude surveys, weekly ER activities, and the end of the semester reflections. The findings suggested ER significantly improved L2 Chinese readers’ confidence in reading Chinese and devotion to learning Chinese. ER was perceived to improve reading fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, character recognition, character recognition, writing, speaking, and listening skills. The study also revealed that students enjoyed ER activities because they solidified their comprehension and provided opportunities to interact with co-participants.

Although the benefits of extensive reading in L2 English are well documented, many university students still elect to do little or even no reading. This may be the case even at institutions where English is emphasized or where ER comprises a substantial part of a course grade. Students at one large university program in Japan took part in a survey aiming to better understand the behaviors and attitudes of students toward ER. Out of 248 students, roughly 35% of students identified as reluctant (achieving only about half or less of ER word count assignments). Overall attitudes toward the ER program were surveyed, and the answers of reluctant and compliant readers were compared in areas such as time management, future-self image, cost-benefit attitudes, reading and system experience, etc. The results can help better address the concerns of reluctant readers and help future cohorts achieve better results.

Studies indicate that extensive reading has given considerable benefits for language learners (Nation, 1997; Yamashita, 2013; Suk, 2017; Wang & Ho, 2019). However, the major challenge to do extensive reading in an EFL setting is book availability (Renandya et al., 2020). In addition to that, students in the digital age nowadays are strongly dependent on activity-related technology, causing reading to lose its attraction. In the effort of proposing an alternative solution to this challenge, extensive reading needs to be simultaneously implemented with technology. One encouraging way is using Interactive Virtual Library (IVL), which is a contextually-designed free reading resource created by a teacher to support students’ ER practice interactively. In this presentation, we would like to share an Indonesian teacher’s best practice in encouraging students’ ER using IVL. Specifically, we would like to describe how the IVL is created, how it looks like, and how it is implemented in the classrooms. In addition, we will also discuss some opportunities that the IVL offers, including how it can be adopted and/ or adapted in other EFL contexts, and how it solves the issue of limited book availability at schools. Furthermore, we will describe some potential challenges from creating and implementing the IVL, and what we can reflect in order to better implement it in the future.

Community sharing and empowering on extensive reading can be supported and done through various means. Starting from early 2020, free online workshops and webinars on extensive reading have flourished to help the community to stay updated, enriched, and connected due to COVID-19. Indonesian Extensive Reading Association (IERA) took this opportunity to create an online platform for ER community in the form of a podcast. A podcast is an open source that provides varied series of discussions on certain topics. The podcast that we are going to share is “satERdate with” podcast which focuses on extensive reading and literacy. “satERdate with” invited ER experts, practitioners, and enthusiasts to share theories, insights, and their best practices. This presentation emphasizes the possibility of using a podcast as an online community sharing and empowering on ER. In addition, we will also highlight how the podcast can be used as a free authentic extensive reading online resource for academic purposes.

This presentation will outline the goals of the Global Foreign Language Reading Survey 2022 (GFLRS 2022). GFLRS will survey teachers from all over the world to examine their perceptions of how foreign language reading should be taught in kindergarten, formal schooling, university and in adult education. GFLRS will illuminate the teachers' perceptions of the place of extensive reading in the foreign language curriculum and how it is practiced by those teachers who are doing ER and will find out why many teachers and institutions are reluctant to do ER, the barriers they face before adoption and what we can do to persuade them to adopt ER. Attendees will first hear a brief summary of the project and will be encouraged to highlight areas in the survey that might need to be modified for certain regions to account for local conditions. Finally, participants can sign up to be part of the survey either as subjects or recruiters who will find subjects. All non-personally or institutionally identifying data will be made available to the public.

This preliminary study seeks to understand why some readers were at first reluctant to do Extensive Reading (ER) on XReading but later became avid readers and what caused this shift. As part of a university writing class for English majors in Taiwan, ER was introduced as a class component to help improve student writing. In the fall semester, many students failed to do the assigned reading but became motivated in the spring semester; embracing ER and surpassing the semester goal of 60,000 words within 6 weeks. Using a questionnaire and group interviews to investigate this change, this researcher expects that externally motivated factors, such as test exemption, better grades, and a grand prize, may play a large role in their motivation. It is hoped that educators can use this study to better motivate current Reluctant Readers (RR) or reduce the future number of RRs in their classes.

For Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) teachers and researchers interested in Japanese ER, knowing what reading goals for learners are feasible, or whether learners do develop an awareness of and ability to evaluate whether a text is at their comprehension level can be difficult. Only a handful of studies address aspects of the first question, and none appear to explore the second. This presentation discusses the reading habits of nine JFL learners recruited for an exploratory project conducted in New Zealand. Nine readers read graded readers, children’s books, and websites written in easy Japanese for one to two semesters, recording what they read in weekly reading logs. Data collected contributes to clarifying whether learners display an awareness of appropriate difficulty levels and develop an ability to evaluate which reading materials are at their comprehension level, and also what volume of reading might count as “extensive” for Japanese learners.

It’s not surprising that student engagement in compulsory English eduction is often very low. This Exploratory Action Research study investigated student engagement with the XReading program over a full academic year in a compulsory general English class at a Japanese university. Early investigations found huge gaps in students’ basic skill levels and many students were not able to articulate how or why they could study English effectively. This research shows how addressing students' language awareness of several key concepts resulted in improved engagement levels with extensive reading tasks and the impact on their general English test scores.

Each of the ERF's affiliates and forming affiliates will present their activities in the past year in a 2-3 minute presentation to the ERF Board. This might include officer changes, events held, constitutional changes and so forth. Each affiliate and forming affiliate should also present on their upcoming plans. The ER public encouraged to attend to see how these ER associations work behind the scenes and potentially use this information to start their own ERF Affiliate.

After 5 years of living in a Chinese speaking country and over 100 hours of class lessons, I failed to get a grasp of this language and communicate in my daily life. After discovering ER and the Mandarin Companion series, I began a serious quest into extensive reading for myself. Within weeks, my comprehension grew as did my “feel” for the language and for how to correct troublesome grammar points. In this talk, I describe the experiences of first getting into graded readers, where my reading was slow initially and how it improved quickly, how this helped my grades, and the difficulties that arose. Additionally, I found ER is beneficial for those at advanced language level. This talk is to help teachers better understand their students’ extensive reading experiences and encourage teachers to write graded readers in their own languages.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an increasingly hot topic across various fields and levels of education, and it is not unusual to see them used as a framework or a reference for curricula that engage with social change as early as elementary school. Yet for many students, the SDGs are often just abstract concepts whose issues are perceived to be only related to communities and/or countries rather than ones that impacts their own lives. We discuss how SDG-based extensive reading programs can promote both local and global engagement by educating students with a passion for reading, and through that platform learning about the significance of the SDGs not only on a global scale, but also on a national level. Furthermore, we demonstrate how extensive reading can be a stepping stone to critical thinking about the SDGs and issues they can see in their everyday lives. In addition, the readers encourage students to make connections between the goals and encourage students to see social issues in that way as well. In conclusion, we introduce the process of creating locally engaged SDG-inspired extensive reading programs, student reactions to these materials, and conclude with a discussion of feedback from our students to reveal how your students can benefit from them.

This presentation describes a project that involved senior high school students in Malaysia in an English class where they did extensive reading in preparation for educating younger students about actions everyone could take to reduce climate change. In groups of 4-5, guided by cooperative learning principles, students chose their own environmental topics, researched them (mostly online), and prepared posters and other materials. The technique Gallery Tour was used in which the groups of older students stationed themselves and their materials around the classroom, and the younger students visiting from another class circulated among the various host groups who explained their ideas and fielded questions and comments. Extensive reading was involved in the initial preparation of the materials, in their refinement, and in responding to the questions and other feedback from the visiting class.

This paper reports an on-going study of an introductory extensive reading program for 62 undergraduate students of Thai Language Teaching and Physical Education Teaching majors who rate their English language proficiency low. The participants were assigned to six weeks 30-minute and another six weeks 40-minute online weekly reading assignments. Weeks thirteenth to fifteenth were voluntary. Besides data collected weekly from both close and open-ended questions, the participants were asked to express their impression towards extensive reading after six weeks. After twelve weeks, they were asked to decide whether to continue reading. Motivating techniques trialed along the twelve-week extensive reading program, and the motives behind the choices to continue and discontinue reading after the twelve weeks will be presented and discussed. The findings are hoped to serve as a stepping-stone to develop an effective extensive reading program for other undergraduate students with low English proficiency in Thailand

“If you want to make the most positive change that you can to your language course, set up an extensive reading program” (Nation & Waring, 2020, p. 182). In 2018, the Foreign Language Division (FLD) was established at Wayo Women’s University in Japan and tasked with managing a multi-departmental English program for 700 first-year students. The above advice was heeded and the process of creating an ER program for the university began. After a small-scale trial in 2019, the ER program started in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. This presentation will report on the development and implementation of the ER program through Xreading. It will detail how it is managed, the challenges posed by the pandemic, students' achievements, the perceptions of students and teachers in the program, and how it helped create cohesiveness between colleagues and foster a positive change in the FLD’s English program at the university.

The purpose of this study was to examine how EFL university students in Japan would be motivated in an e-book extensive reading (ER) program with an element of competition. By the frequent distribution of an anonymous progress chart of the class on the number of the words read, 74 participants were encouraged to engage in ER on a virtual library website approximately for 30 minutes in class and 30 minutes outside class per week for one semester. The attached comprehension quizzes on the website were not required. They also spent half of the class time working on the textbooks designed for developing four skills of English language. Standardized online proficiency tests were given at the beginning and the end of the program. The results showed that the average reading score improved by 27.96 with statistical significance, which was equivalent to the increase of 22.57 in the estimated TOEIC reading score.

In the busyness of life. Extensive Reading sounds boring for some Students. A lot of Secondary students Minh Duc Secondary School in District1, in Hochiminh City Vietnam are not happy when they are asked about reading and especially when they are mandated to read. There are three purposes of this paper. The first is to elucidate the theory and principle of Vietnamese Teachers underlying their extensive reading beliefs. The deep-rooted principles will be discussed in light of practical classroom and contextual consideration in the parts of the students of Minh Duc Secondary School. Secondly, a critical summary of current research on extensive reading that has been conducted in English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language contexts and has been tested for this school year 2021-2022. By giving importance to the immeasurable benefits of extensive reading in improving many aspects of L2 learners’ language proficiency, I hope to encourage great implementation of extensive reading in educational institutions in District 1,Hochiminh City. Vietnamese Teachers will also be acquainted with future directions in the practice of implementing extensive reading programs such as how to make use of the online resources, and available books at the library and be potentially equipped on making use of the internet to assess students 'potential And progress in reading extensively. Thirdly, the paper provides directions for steps that can be used for future Public Schools teachers on how-to conduct an extensive reading with Vietnamese students which I believe might fill in the gap in knowledge for Extensive Reading. The conducted research was conducted using goggle forms and goggle classroom to evaluate the difficulties met in expensive Reading .thus, it gives light to the joyfulness of extensive reading on the parts of the students and leads to the analysis of the importance of Extensive Reading.

When we let students choose stories on topics they like and choose, and can read easily, then we have so many opportunities to get them speaking. They can discuss characters and narratives, but they can also respond with opinions and feelings about messages, ideas and conflict in narratives. They can use illustrations as prompts for mini-presentations or storytelling activities. They can compare them with film versions, re-enact scenes for drama and do many different role plays. And above all, they can interact together with the books in a meaningful way on their own terms, in a supportive and creative language learning environment. This workshop presents lots of ideas for using readers to get young learners speaking, and to see that reading is so much more than a series of texts for teaching language.

Reading literacy is significant for learners’ academic success, and high levels of reading literacy can be established through strong engagement in extensive reading. It is seems that the advancement of competing media, such as television and computer games and the fluctuating socio-cultural contexts have made a significant influence on learners’ extensive reading habits. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate lower secondary school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ extensive reading habits using descriptive survey design. The data were collected from 377 randomly selected EFL learners in North Wollo Zone, Ethiopia, using a survey questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential (independent samples t-test) statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study indicated that majority of the learners’ habits toward extensive reading was poor. The findings of the study also showed that the EFL learners’ mostly read for academic purposes. It was also found that there was no significant difference (p > .05) between gender and age of learners regarding their extensive reading habits. Lack of reading materials, low English ability, and lack interest in reading are the major factors that affect EFL learners’ extensive reading habits. Based on the results, it can be suggested that integrating extensive reading programme in the EFL curricula, being accessible to a wide range of books (based on the learners’ level and interest) in the school libraries, and establishing school reading clubs in input-poor English as a Foreign Language contexts like Ethiopia is essential to promote learners’ extensive reading habits.