This action research was an ER programme, which was conducted over three months (12 weeks), from the beginning of September till the beginning of December 2014, in a language and training centre in Amman, the capital of Jordan (see 4.4). This section will be divided into two parts. The first part provides a step-by-step account of the ER library, how the EFL centre was approached, and how the students were
97 orientated to the ER programme. The second part explains in detail the tools
employed for collecting data.
4.5.1. ER library and materials
All the reading materials in this study were graded readers (see 3.4.2.1.1). I chose graded readers as the reading materials used in this research because of the extensive literature on their benefits for language learners. Hill (1997a; 2008) greatly supports the use of graded readers in language learning because they provide a model of English language, and enable learners to improve their language proficiency and reading speed. Therefore, the research is credited as the reason for using graded readers as the main and only reading materials for the ER programme.
The reading materials provided for the programme were graded readers from three different publishers: Cambridge, Oxford and Penguin. All the graded readers used in the study were sponsored by the centre. Approximately 250 books, with 57 different titles, were made available as reading materials for the students. All graded readers used were level 3 and level 4 and of various genres. Most books were level 3 (low-intermediate), in accordance with the students’ level, ranging from 1000 to 1300 headwords. However, some intermediate books (level 4) were also provided for the more effective students and for those who wanted some challenge in reading. One merit was that all three publishers used the same levelling system for their graded readers, ranging from level 1 to level 6. This, in turn, made it easier to organise the small library in this study and to avoid confusing the students with different levels.
Before the programme started, the students were provided with a full list of all level 3 book titles, from Cambridge, Oxford, and Penguin. Every student was asked individually to prepare a list of ten titles arranged from the most to least interesting. Since the students based their choice only on the title, I enriched their lists with a list of book proposals. Each book proposal was supplemented with a short summary of a book, to provide them with a chance to know what the books were about. Then, the students were divided into three groups; two groups of three and one of four, where each group was asked to create a list of 15 titles. A final list of all book titles (see Appendix B) was obtained chosen entirely by the students.
After gaining a final list of graded readers, another list of class readers was made. Class readers, for this programme, meant that all students were encouraged to
98 read the same three books each month apart from other books of their own individual choice (i.e., nine class readers in total for the whole programme). Firstly, class readers served as models of ER and language learning, as classroom activities, language and vocabulary exercises, oral and written presentations, and group/peer discussions about different issues raised by the class readers, were all based on class readers. Secondly, and for the purpose of data collection, all vocabulary tests and reading speed tests were made and selected from class readers. In addition, students were asked to write book reports (see 4.6.3) of class readers. All class readers, and the other books, were of low-intermediate level, which means level 3 for the
publishers chosen for this study, in accordance with the participants’ level. Table 4.2 lists the class readers used in the ER programme.
Table 4.2. List of class readers
Book title Author Genre Publisher
Chemical Secret Tim Vicary Thriller & Adventure
Oxford
How I Met Myself David Hill Ghost Story Cambridge Martin Luther King Alan McLean Fact-files Oxford Playing with Fire:
stories from the Pacific Rim
Jennifer Bassett World Stories Oxford
Rabbit-proof Fence Doris Garimara True Stories Oxford Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen.
Retold by Cherry Gilchrist
Romance Penguin
Stories of Survival Fiona Beddall True Stories Penguin The Last Sherlock
Holmes Story
Michael Dibdin Crime & Mystery Oxford
Two Lives Helen Naylor Romance Cambridge
The centre also helped in the creation of a small library of the books. They offered a place and enough bookshelves. When the books were delivered to the
99 centre, I arranged them according to the publisher, genre, level and whether they were class readers or graded readers. The books were displayed systematically and attractively. Some of the books with different genres, publishers, and titles were placed on desks with their covers or title pages facing the ceiling. The reason for a display like this is that students would be more attracted to reach for a book whose cover is prominently displayed than they would for a book displayed vertically on a traditional bookshelf.
A check-in and checkout system (see Appendix C) was created at the beginning of the programme. This system created two opportunities: knowing who borrowed and returned the books, and identifying the total number of the books each
participant read. The participants had to tick the book (s) they borrowed on a list including all the books available in the library, and then had to tick again when they returned the book (s). In this way, I had a full list of the books each participant read at the end of the programme, which helped me, along with book reports, to know precisely how many books each student read.
4.5.2. Orientating students to the ER programme and its procedures
After constructing a library, choosing graded readers, creating a check-in and checkout system, the ER programme started with two orientation lessons. The first two lessons were used to orientate students to ER by enlightening them about the benefits of ER and instructing them how to read extensively, choose books, write diaries and fill in book report forms. I wrote a diary and filled in a book report on the first lesson and showed them what was written in the second lesson as an example. I also explained the purpose of carrying out this research, conducting interviews, collecting book reports and sitting tests. In addition, they were accompanied to take a look at the ER library and see how the books were arranged. Moreover, the mechanism of the check-in and checkout system was explained.
Students had three lessons a week: on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for three months; each lesson lasted for 90 minutes. Sometimes and for different reasons, students asked for some changes between days, and this happened after general agreement between the students and me. In each lesson, students did various language and vocabulary activities based on class readers, they gave oral and written presentations about books they had read, shared experiences and feelings in groups,
100 conducted peer/group discussions about different issues and topics relating to the books they had read, along with other in-class activities.
Students did scaffolded silent reading from self-selected graded readers (i.e., class readers) independently for 10-20 minutes. Scaffolded silent reading usually happened at the beginning or end of each lesson, very rarely in the middle. The idea of this activity was developed from Reutzel, Fawson and Smith (2008). During this activity, I monitored the students’ reading and provided them with assistance when needed. The main purpose of this activity was to increase the students’ reading time and develop their reading habits and abilities. After this silent reading, some students either volunteered to share what they read with the class, or were asked to discuss and share their reading experience with their peers.
Another interesting activity for the students was the book blurbs activity. The activity involved students in matching book blurbs, taken from the back covers of graded readers and typed on a worksheet. The idea of this activity was developed from Day and Bamford (2004). This activity was carried out to introduce students to interesting and different books and help them to self-select books that they wanted to read. The book blurb activity was integrated into classroom instruction twice during the study. For more challenge, the activity included more book titles than book blurbs to be matched the second time the activity was done. Students did this activity in groups of three. They were asked to find which displayed books matched the blurbs given on a worksheet and to predict what the books are about and whether they are interesting.
Also, PowerPoint presentations were given twice a week by two different students during the programme. Each participant was asked to deliver two individual presentations about books they had read during the programme, one at the beginning and one by the end. The main purpose of these presentations was to assess their speaking proficiency level in English, share reading experiences among the students, build confidence, improve their speaking and fluency abilities and bring more fun and action to the classroom.
In addition, students were asked to do out-of-class tasks. These tasks included: every day reading practice for 30 minutes at least, writing their own diaries about what they felt or experienced during the programme, preparing oral and written presentations and filling in book reports. As for dictionary use, students were encouraged to try to predict meaning from context rather than looking up words in
101 dictionaries. It was explained to the students how using a dictionary all the time could prevent them from pleasure reading, as the reading flow would be interrupted by constant use of dictionary (see 3.4.1). However, to use dictionaries or not was a decision left to the students themselves, taking into account that they had always used dictionaries in the past while learning new words. Most importantly, students were encouraged to read as much as possible in and out of class. However, they had a reading minimum target of five graded readers a month (i.e., 15 graded readers during the ER programme). Most of the students thought this was an unachievable task, but that feeling changed after reading one or two books (see 5.5).