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.

Join the breakout room for a discussion on XReading.

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.

Students will tell you that they don’t like reading, but this is simply not true. On social media and through instant messaging students are reading (and writing) all the time – more than any other generation before them. They do not think of this as reading. Moreover, they are following engaging narratives about people, and responding to what they read on various important cognitive, emotional and social levels. Our classroom practices must and can be adapted now to connect with this very positive reality. So, if we introduce reading which is easy, in contexts learners understand and enjoy, they will be more motivated and will develop essential 21st century life skills alongside natural, meaningful language development. This session looks at ways to implement this with young adults, encouraging them to see how reading leads defining and redefining our values by exploring the lives and cultures of others.

This discussion is centered about the process of extensive reading (ER) program implementation in schools from a functional perspective. There are many factors that may have hindered the spread of ER into the public school systems of many countries such as the need for and expense of graded readers, the means to handle the lending and return of books, the general mindset geared to intensive study in order to pass examinations, and the already heavy demands placed on public school teachers. It makes an argument for a top-down approach being required for wide-spread implementation as well as the need for materials other than graded readers, which while being the gold standard for ER, cannot realistically be purchased by and managed in a large school system. The impact on student choice of what to read is also discussed. We will then proceed to a discussion with the participants concerning a way forward.

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.

Join the 19th Language Learner Literature Awards ceremony to hear about the best books published in 2021, and later join a breakout room to meet the winners and finalists.

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.

Join the breakout room for a discussion on Young Learners.

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.