【Teaching Practice Report】

Toward a Blueprint for Online Reading Classes: Reflections on
Flipping the Classroom, Collaboration, and Fluency
Alex Blumenstock
Abstract
The challenges of teaching online Reading classes to Japanese university students were met with a consideration of
how to best maximize the online context. To this end, a flipped classroom seemed to be a natural fit, as homework
allowed students to complete learning at their own pace outside of the classroom which could be assessed to ensure
concepts were correctly understood. Synchronous class time was then used to apply knowledge and skills
collaboratively in small groups. Establishing and maintaining a participatory classroom culture maximized thesuccess of such activities. In addition, although the online context presented challenges related to improving
reading fluency, in-class timed reading, extensive reading logs, and book reports were moderately successful
despite issues related to accountability. Furthermore, the wealth of communication and instructional tools available
to facilitate online learning needed to be pared down and carefully considered in order to maintain a focus onlearning language rather than learning technology.
Keywords: online classes, flipped learning, collaborative learning, reading

Introduction
Rikkyo University in Tokyo requires all freshmen to take a Reading course in the springsemester (followed by a closely related Writing course in the fall semester). Each semester isfourteen weeks, with classes meeting once per week and class sizes capped at 25 students. The goalsof the Reading course are to improve reading fluency and comprehension, improve vocabularyknowledge, and develop strategic reading skills (such as previewing, skimming, scanning, inferring,and recognizing organization patterns). In addition, students are required to write summaries andshort responses of reading texts (Reading and Writing Committee, 2020).
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reading courses were conducted online for the spring 2021
semester. I taught two such classes, one with students whose TOEIC scores ranged between 280 and
479 and the other with students whose TOEIC scores ranged between 480 and 699. Furthermore,course goals were supported in my classes by Rikkyo’s in-house Reading textbook, Reading the
Future (Garside, et al., 2019), as well as a commercial textbook, Select Readings: Pre-Intermediate(Lee & Gunderson, 2011b) for the lower-proficiency group and Select Readings: Intermediate (Lee &Gunderson, 2011a) for the higher- proficiency group.
Online classes pose difficulties that face-to-face classes do not, such as connectivity issues,learning how to use various communication and instructional tools, and the lack of physicality, which
can make students more hesitant to communicate. Given the unique challenges of teaching online
reading classes, I cast my lessons into a principled blueprint I hoped would motivate student
engagement and achievement of course objectives while minimizing the challenges of the online
context for both student and instructor.

1多言語教育実践ジャーナル

第2巻 （ JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY AND PR ACTICE, VOL. 2）

Discussion
Maximizing the Online Context and Flipping the Classroom
Learning and using a variety of communication and instructional tools can be difficult for
students. Thus, as much as possible, I minimized the need to switch between different applications.
Zoom was the sole real-time communication tool, and email was the sole asynchronous communication
tool. I used Blackboard as the learning management system (LMS) for distributing course materials,
including posting homework assignments which students completed in Google Forms. Meanwhile,
Google Drive acted as the repository of regular student assignment submissions, with each student
given their own folder. However, as of this writing, there exist other, even more unified, LMSs (suchas Google Classroom) that can further reduce the number of tools students need to use. In general,I have found that the number of required communication and instructional tools should be minimized
as much as possible; students enrolled in language courses may view requirements to use technology
as a barrier rather than an aid to language studies, so it is important to consider the best ways to use
such tools.
In addition, students can become fatigued from sitting in front of their screens for long periods,
which could negatively influence engagement or even health. I mitigated these negative effects by
shortening class times, as university guidelines permitted assigning additional homework in lieu ofusing all the allotted time. As a result, a flipped classroom was a natural fit. As described by Bergmann(2012), the flipped classroom “allows the direct instruction to be asynchronous” so that “the pace ofthe class is appropriate for each student” (p. 62). The classroom then becomes a place in which topractice the skills and concepts that students learned outside of the classroom.
Following the flipped classroom model, each lesson’s homework provided an introduction of andpractice with skills and concepts later practiced in-class via collaborative activities. Each lesson’s
homework had two components: (1) a reading text accompanied by comprehension questions and(2) an explanation of a reading skill accompanied by comprehension questions about the skill itself
and a practice activity. Although flipped classrooms are typically accomplished with video recordings,
this is not always the case; in this course, Google Forms were used to guide students throughrelevant textbook activities. Furthermore, I prepared these Forms to give feedback on student
answers; if students answered a question incorrectly, they received an explanation of the correct
answer and/or were notified of where to find relevant information that could have helped themanswer correctly. For example, after reading information about the skill of skimming, students wereasked to answer a true/false question: “When skimming, you should read everything slowly andcarefully.” If students answered the question incorrectly, they would receive this feedback: “Whenskimming, you should NOT read everything. You want to QUICKLY learn basic information about
the reading, such as the main ideas. Read the title, the first paragraph, the first sentences of someparagraphs, and the last paragraph.” Likewise, if a student answered a comprehension question
about the reading text incorrectly, they received feedback that instructed them to review specificlines in the text to locate the answer. This kind of assessment-centered feedback encourages students
to reevaluate their misunderstandings of course materials. In sum, this homework provided students
with foundational knowledge that could be acquired at their own pace and applied later in class,without requiring a substantial amount of class time to introduce a reading text or reading skill.

2

TOWARD A BLUEPRINT FOR ONLINE READING CLASSES:
REFLECTIONS ON FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM, COLLABORATION, AND FLUENCY

Encouraging Participation and Collaborative Learning
Online communication can feel impersonal when one cannot see who is speaking or who islistening, so it is important to avoid this situation in a communicative classroom. In addition, Japanesepeople, especially Japanese learners of English, have often been regarded as shy or unwilling to
speak (Doyon, 2000; Osterman, 2014). When cameras are off, students might be even more hesitantto communicate than usual. Furthermore, students are more likely to remain motivated if they startwith motivation than they are if they do not begin with it (Ushioda 2013). Because of these factors, it
was important to establish a classroom culture which supported communication from the first lesson;
one key focus was setting the expectation that students turn on their cameras when in small groups.
This was accomplished in the first lesson by having students turn on their cameras in small groups(in some cases, with some coaxing from me), introduce themselves to a few classmates, and discuss
their general reading experiences using guided discussion questions. In addition, at the end of class,they again entered small groups with their cameras on and confirmed their understanding of thecontents of the first lesson together, including where to find homework and what to do for homework.
In order to maintain clear expectations of a participatory, collaborative classroom culture, eachlesson began with a brief reminder for students to be prepared to turn on their cameras andmicrophones and have their textbooks ready. As Hrastinski (2009) argues, “If we want to enhance
online learning, we need to enhance online learner participation” (p. 78). In addition, every lesson
had a consistent structure that made it easier for students to focus on the content of lessons rather
than the structure of lessons. First, I provided a very brief review of the reading skill from their
homework to ensure that students understood the skill they were about to practice, and this review
also provided enough information that students could complete the practice activity even if they had
neglected to do the homework. Then students completed a collaborative practice activity to apply thereading skill in small groups. Given the burdens of taking online classes in a foreign language, it isimportant to maximize the outcomes of students’ cognitive processing when practicing and mastering
L2 skills. Flipping the classroom can achieve this by giving students opportunities to apply, rather
than learn, skills in class. For example, students completed homework which introduced them to andgave them practice paraphrasing. In class, each group was given a short paragraph to paraphrase.
After a few minutes, each group was responsible for presenting their paraphrase to the rest of theclass. Rather than working to understand the skill and how to apply it during class time, they wereable to focus largely on the application of the skill.
In the next stage of the lesson, students collaborated to improve their understanding of thereading text they had answered comprehension questions about for homework. First, students
connected the topic to their prior knowledge using general discussion questions. For example, in one
lesson, students had completed a reading text about a man who predicts that technology will allow
him to live forever (Lee & Gunderson, 2011b, p. 73-74). Using a textbook activity, students firstconnected their experiences to the topic by discussing things they do to be healthy (p. 72). After that,they used a collaborative comprehension activity that stimulated critical thinking about the reading;they agreed or disagreed with the man’s predictions about the future and then discussed their own
opinions about the future (p. 76). In most cases, textbook activities fulfilled these criteria of helping
students to connect to the topic and promoting critical analysis of the text, but I occasionally madesubstitutions when the textbook’s activities did not meet these criteria.
Having been introduced to reading skills at a pace of one per week during lessons two throughtwelve, students completed homework to review reading skills before lesson thirteen, the penultimate3

多言語教育実践ジャーナル

第2巻 （ JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY AND PR ACTICE, VOL. 2）

lesson. Using the results of this homework to target feedback, I then provided a brief review of all theskills before students participated in a collaborative review activity where they applied the skills tocomplete a practice final exam. Afterward, I was able to use this assessment to provide feedback onareas for improvement before the end of class. Before lesson fourteen, the final lesson, students
again completed homework to review reading skills. Then, in the final lesson, I used the results of thehomework to provide a final brief review before students individually completed a final exam that
required using all the reading skills. The frequent and instantaneous assessment provided by thissystem, as well as peer collaboration and teacher feedback, ensured that students had a clear
understanding of the reading skills before their final assessment.
Overall, these strategies of flipping learning and encouraging participation resulted in a highlevel of student participation. While students were collaborating on completing their tasks (in their
Zoom breakout rooms), I would check in on each group, and I rarely found students disengaged. My
formal and informal course assessments support what other studies have found—that collaborative
learning in online courses benefits learning outcomes (Fredericksen et al., 2000; Hiltz et al., 2000).
Working together in groups with clear task-oriented goals meant that learners had many opportunities
to apply skills, synthesize knowledge, and think critically. Furthermore, given the amount ofsynchronous collaboration, students had opportunities to develop learner communities. Despite thecourse’s lack of physicality, I noticed that students often held one another socially accountable for
their learning; they asked each other for help when needed and checked that everyone in their group
had achieved the same level of understanding when completing a task.

Promoting Reading Fluency
Another aim of the course was to improve reading fluency. Timed reading was one activity used
for this purpose. Having had many opportunities to understand the lesson’s reading text, bothindividually before the lesson and collaboratively during the lesson, a timed reading exercise
concluded each lesson. During this phase of the lesson, students were encouraged to re-read the text
as quickly as possible to improve reading speed. Nation (2005) suggests that effective speed reading
texts should have easy content but that repeated reading “can be used with material that has somedifficulties for the reader” (p. 28). As the reading texts in our textbooks sometimes included difficultcontent, the before-class and during-class comprehension activities attempted to compensate forthese difficulties. By the time students completed the timed reading activity, they had read the text
at least twice for meaning. Nation (2005) also notes that a focus on meaning is important in fluency
activities, and he suggests having students answer comprehension questions afterward to ensure
this focus. However, as this exercise was implemented, the activities preceding the timed readingwere meaning-focused, but there were no additional comprehension tests after the timed reading;this may be a weakness of this exercise’s implementation. In addition, Nation (2005) further suggests
noting reading times on a chart to track reading speed and develop goals of reading faster each time.
In our course, times were tracked on a chart for each text, but each text was only timed once. Thus,
after students inputted their reading time into a spreadsheet, a graph was automatically updated thatshowed their progression of reading speed across texts. A weakness of this approach was thatstudents could not see a clear increase in reading speed for each text despite typically seeing a clear
increase in reading speed across texts. Finally, I reviewed these charts regularly so that when
students had very low reading speeds or were not improving their reading speeds, I had theopportunity to intervene.
4

TOWARD A BLUEPRINT FOR ONLINE READING CLASSES:
REFLECTIONS ON FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM, COLLABORATION, AND FLUENCY

Another fluency aspect of the course was extensive reading, which helps students improve theirreading speed and “gain meaning-focused input,” such as new vocabulary items from context(Nation, 2005, p. 31). It might also help students find enjoyment in learning English and improvetheir cultural knowledge of English-speaking countries and literature. The approach I took towardextensive reading was based on Day and Bamford’s (2002) ten principles for teaching extensive
reading. In sum, learners should choose from various easy and enjoyable reading materials and try
to read as much as possible as quickly as possible. Day and Bamford also note that it is important toorient students to the concept of extensive reading by showing students how to access appropriatelyleveled reading materials, encouraging them to choose materials they are interested in, andemphasizing that they read quickly without using a dictionary, even if they achieve less than 100%
understanding. Thus, in the first lesson, I explained the concepts of extensive reading, instructed
students to complete an online test to determine which level of graded reader they should choose,and guided students through the process of checking out appropriate books from the University’s
online e-book library.
These extensive reading concepts were then reiterated throughout the semester throughregular check-ins on extensive reading progress. To ensure that students were on track withextensive reading goals and to encourage accountability, students were required to track theirapproximate word count in a reading log and write very short (a minimum of 60 words for the lowerproficiency group and 80 words for the higher-proficiency group) weekly entries about theirextensive reading experiences. When students lacked entries, I initiated an email exchange to ensure
they understood what to do and where to find reading materials. In some cases, students found theirchosen books to be too difficult, and I encouraged them to seek easier graded readers. In othercases, students were uncertain whether they should continue reading a book that they foundunenjoyable, and I assured them that they should discontinue reading it and find another book—one
that was enjoyable. These journal entries were intended to be easy writing assignments thatencouraged both reading and reflecting on the experience of reading. However, journal entries did
not guarantee that students did the required reading; it was possible to write entries after merely
skimming or reading a summary elsewhere. In addition, in course evaluations, some students
commented that they did not enjoy writing these journal entries, thus putting accountability at odds
with enjoyability and undermining the purpose of extensive reading. It might be possible to betterbalance the benefits of the reading journal with the work it requires by reducing the required lengthof each entry.
Another method of ensuring accountability was also employed in the form of regular written
book reports in which students summarized their extensive reading experiences and gave opinions
about what they had read. After completing each book report, students had small group discussions
in class to share their opinions about the books they had read and make recommendations to eachother based on their experiences. Book reports alone might be enough to extrinsically motivate
students to complete extensive reading, and additionally, book reports and subsequent in-classdiscussions may also help students perceive extensive reading “as its own reward” (Day & Bamford,
2002, p. 138) because they can fully complete an experience of reading a book before writing about
it, rather than being concerned with pressures of writing weekly journal entries.
Ensuring that students complete extensive reading assignments is always a challenge. Without
a way to accurately track whether students completed the required amount of reading, it is impossible
to know for certain whether students actually completed the reading. In a face-to-face course,
students could be monitored during a designated period of in-class extensive reading, but such
5

多言語教育実践ジャーナル

第2巻 （ JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY AND PR ACTICE, VOL. 2）

monitoring would be difficult online. Despite issues with accountability, extensive reading is avaluable activity for students, so instructors should strive to minimize any barriers which prevent
students from doing it.

Conclusion
Overall, I believe this lesson style to be conducive to achieving the intended goals of the course.
Based on my experience evaluating their homework and in-class interactions, students were engaged
in the course. In terms of the reading skills and texts, the time they spent preparing for class clearlycomplemented the time they spent working together in class. Outside of class, assessments provided
automatic feedback to help students reevaluate most misunderstandings at their own pace. In
addition, I was able to use the wealth of assessment data to judge when and how to make effective
interventions.
Although my online Reading course was based on principled approaches, there remains room
for improvement. One downside of this style is that students needed to be somewhat autonomouswith goal setting, homework task completion, and time management. There were instances ofstudents who failed to complete preparation tasks or who failed to adequately manage their time
when completing long-term extensive reading tasks. In addition, although I integrated as manyaccountability checks as I could reasonably conceive of without overburdening students, accountability
remained an issue in some cases, such as with extensive reading. However, many of these difficulties
are not unique to online contexts.
In terms of the online context specifically, if I were to teach this course again in a similar way, I
would make a few alterations. First, as educational technology continues to improve, I would attempt
to reduce the number of communication tools, instructional tools, and LMSs used, with the intentionof reducing students’ burden of learning how to use these tools instead of learning the language
itself. For instance, I would replace Blackboard and Google Drive with Google Classroom, as itlargely combines the features of these two tools into a single LMS. Second, in terms of promoting
reading speed, it might be worth having students read the same texts multiple times across longer
spans of time, such as in a subsequent class. This would have the additional benefit of allowing better
progress tracking for intervention purposes. In terms of extensive reading, I would attempt toimprove accountability methods to make them both more reliable and less cumbersome for students;
given the online context, one especially suitable option would be to use an LMS designed specificallyfor extensive reading, such as XReading. Finally, I would attempt to foster a greater sense ofcommunity and metacognitive reflection by providing students with more time for open-ended
discussion questions about their overall course progress and goals during small group warm-up or
closing discussions.
Given the increase in the number of online classes due to COVID-19, as well as a general trendof technology increasingly being used in education, it is important to consider how to best design
courses to maximize student learning outcomes without burdening students with the technology
itself. Online classes will likely continue to play an important role in education, and by carefully
considering how they are structured and how technology is implemented, I believe that they caneffectively motivate students to learn for themselves and to learn collaboratively.

6

TOWARD A BLUEPRINT FOR ONLINE READING CLASSES:
REFLECTIONS ON FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM, COLLABORATION, AND FLUENCY

References
Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day.
International Society for Technology in Education.
Day, R., & Bamford, J. Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading (2002). Reading in a Foreign
Language, 14(2). https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/66761/1/14_2_101
25_66761_day.pdf
Doyon, P. (2000). Shyness in the Japanese EFL class: Why it is a problem, what it is, what causes it,
and what to do about it. The Language Teacher, 24(1), 11-16. https://jalt-publications.org/
articles/24571-shyness-japanese-efl-class-why-it-problem-what-it-iswhat-causes-it-and-what-doabout
Fredericksen, E., Picket, A., Shea, P., Pelz, W., & Swan, K. (2000). Student satisfaction and perceived
learning with on-line courses: Principles and examples from the SUNY learning network.
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 4(2), 7–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.
v4i2.1899
Garside, P. Beck, D. Hammond, C., Shrosbree, M., Truxal, D., & Wakasugi, L (2019). Reading thefuture (4th ed.). Rikkyo University.
Hiltz, S. R., Coppola, N., Rotter, N., Turoff, M., & Benbunan-Fich, R. (2000). Measuring theimportance of collaborative learning for the effectiveness of ALN: A multi-measure, multimethod approach. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 4(2), 103–125. http://dx.doi.
org/10.24059/olj.v4i2.1904
Hrastinski, S. (2009). A theory of online learning as online participation. Computers & Education,
52(1), 78–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2008.06.009
Lee, L., & Gundersen, E. (2011a). Select readings: Intermediate (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Lee, L., & Gundersen, E. (2011b). Select readings: Pre-intermediate (2nd ed.). Oxford University
Press.
Nation, P. (2005). Reading faster. PASAA, 36, 21-37. https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/resources/paulnations-resources/paul-nations-publications/publications/documents/2005-Reading-faster.pdf
Osterman, G. L. (2014). Experiences of Japanese university students’ willingness to speak English inclass: A multiple case study. SAGE Open, 4(3), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014543779
Reading and Writing Committee. (2020). 2020 reading & writing guidelines. Center for Foreign
Language Education & Research, Rikkyo University.
Ushioda, E. (2013). Foreign language motivation research in Japan: An ‘insider’ perspective fromoutside Japan. In Apple, M.T., Da Silva, D., Fellner, T (Eds.), Language Learning Motivation in
Japan (pp. 1-14). Bristol, U.K.: Multilingual Matters. http://dx.doi.org/10.21832/9781783090518003

7

多言語教育実践ジャーナル

第2巻 （ JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY AND PR ACTICE, VOL. 2）

Appendix 1: Over view of Online Reading Course Classroom Procedures
Lesson 1• Establish Participatory Classroom Culture• Small Groups: Discuss General Reading Experiences• How to Use Online Instructional Tools• How to Do Extensive Reading• Small Groups: Confirm Understanding of Online Instructional Tools and Homework
Lessons 2-12
• Reminder to Maintain Participatory Classroom Culture• Check-in about Classroom Matters (As Needed–Extensive Reading, etc.)• Brief Homework Feedback: Reading Skills• Brief Reading Skill Introduction• Small Groups: Reading Skill Practice• Wrap-up & Feedback• Small Groups: Connect Prior Knowledge to the Reading Text
• Wrap-up & Feedback• Small Groups: Analysis and Discussion of the Reading Text
• Wrap-up & Feedback• Individual: Timed Reading of the Reading Text
Lesson 13• Reminder to Maintain Participatory Classroom Culture• Homework Feedback: Reading Skills• Reading Skills Review• Small Groups: Reading Skills Review• Feedback
Lesson 14• Homework Feedback: Reading Skills• Final Exam

8