T H E E U R O P E A N J O U R N A L OF A P P L I E D L I N G U I S T I C S A N D T E F L

7THE IMPACT OF EXTENSIVE READINGON RELUCTANT JAPANESE EFL LEARNERS
Atsuko Takase, Kinki University, Japan

1. INTRODUCTION
A heated discussion has been taking place in Japan concerning how to retain or raise theacademic standard of university students. The subject of English taught as a foreign language is no exception, as students’ English ability has deteriorated in the last decade. Not
only has aural-oral communication ability suffered, but also reading and writing skills aswell as grammar. Previously, grammar had been the one skill considered to be the strongest compared to other skills. As a result of such low standards in my department, approximately 5-10% of the students out of 1,600 freshmen and sophomores must repeat English
courses every year (Takase & Otsuki, 2012). There are several possible reasons for thisunfortunate situation.
First of all, the EFL learners’ environment lacks enough English input. Japanese learners have very limited exposure to English outside of the classroom. The use of English is
not necessarily required since, for example, movies, TV news and games are quickly translated into Japanese. In addition, the amazingly swift improvements in technology such astranslation software on almost all computers, and easy access to translation websites haveaccelerated this trend.
A change which has taken place in the education system has caused a more serious
problem. Yutori education is a type of education which was meant to be less stressful. It
was established by the Ministry of Education in primary and secondary schools and lasted
from 1992 to 2010. As a result, the traditional cramming style of education was abolished,
Saturday became a day off and class time for a number of subjects was reduced, with English lessons being reduced from four hours to three hours per week in junior high school.
Students who were brought up in the yutori education system in the 1990s are entering
universities without the adequate preparation needed for studying at colleges or universities.
In Japan, the main goal of secondary school English education is to have students succeed in the entrance examinations to colleges and universities. In order to pursue this goal,
the traditional grammar-translation method is employed in mainstream classrooms (Soda& Kazawa, 1994). In most English lessons, translation practice with the analysis of sentence structure using grammar is emphasized, while aural-oral communication practice andfluency development are neglected. Students are required to read difficult English texts
while translating word for word, reordering the translated words to fit into Japanese word
order (Hino, 1988). Students are encouraged to make good Japanese translations rather
than to appreciate the contents of a text. Consequently, comprehension of any text isthrough Japanese, and exposure to English at secondary school level becomes insufficient(Chujo, Hasegawa & Nishigaki, 2008). There are question sentences in the grammar prac97

tice following every reading text which are often taken out of context. This means that thegrammar exercises do not directly serve as a basis for actual reading or writing in the target
language. The result is that many students are unmotivated, find it difficult to follow thelessons and become disinterested in studying English. They do not enjoy learning the language and have already become reluctant students before they even enter a college or university (Takase, 2008a).
Another problem is the decrease in the number of children in the country, enabling
those with a relatively lower level of ability to enter colleges or universities (Takase &Otsuki, 2012). Some students are admitted on their high school principal’s recommendation without having to take any examination at all. Many of those recommended students
are likely to stop studying at an earlier period as soon as they are accepted into a university,
while their counterparts are still making the final attempts to pass the official entrance examinations. By the time those who were accepted on this type of system start attending
university classes, they often find themselves behind their peers and become candidates fora repeater course.
2. IMPLEMENTING EXTENSIVE READING
Students in repeater courses are reluctant, lack motivation and suffer from low self-esteem.
In order to motivate these students to read English, the researcher implemented extensive
reading (ER).
ER has been gaining popularity across Japan (Takase, 2010a), as well as throughout theworld. It is one of the most effective methods for motivating learners to read, thus improving reading fluency and English proficiency. As ER allows learners to choose reading materials which match their ability, ER is supposed to cope with learners of any level. Following the process of first language acquisition, ER aims to provide learners with an opportunity to receive a substantial amount of input in the target language. Such input means
exposing the students to a vast amount of English in context. Through ER, learners read a
lot of easy materials (Bamford & Day, 2004) “to develop good reading habits, to build up
knowledge and structure, and to encourage a liking for reading” (Richards, Platt & Platt,
1992: 133).
To date, numerous studies have been conducted, and the positive effects of ER on
learners’ motivation to read English and learners’ English ability have been reported asgains in: reading proficiency (e.g. Elley & Mangubhai, 1981; Robb & Susser, 1989; Mason& Krashen, 1997; Takase, 2004; Cirocki, 2009), vocabulary (Waring & Takagi, 2003;
Horst, 2005; Cirocki, 2009), reading rate and fluency (Taguchi, Takayasu-Maass & Gorsuch, 2004; Iwahori, 2008; Beglar, Hunt & Kite, 2011), positive affect (Elley & Mangubhai, 1981; Mason & Krashen, 1997; Asraf & Ahmad, 2003; Takase, 2004), writing ability(Janopoulos, 1986; Irvine, 2011), spelling (Polak & Krashen, 1988), self-confidence (Nishizawa, Yoshioka & Fukada, 2010b; Takase, 2007, 2008b), TOEIC scores and other proficiency tests (Furukawa, 2010; Nishizawa, Yoshioka & Fukada, 2010a, 2010b), the reading enjoyment experience (Takase, 2008a) and reading proficiency (Takase, 2007; 2009a).
From these various studies, it can be said that ER improves many aspects of English proficiency for any level of learners, at all ages. However, concerning the effects of ER on
98

grammatical competence, reliable studies are rare. One exception is Maruhashi (2011),
who investigated the improvement in receptive grammatical competence of 137 Japanese
university students after approximately three months (one academic semester) of ER practice. Also, Takase (2008b) found that 42.1% of the participants from repeater courses responded positively when these participants read an abundance of books which matched
their proficiency level. On the other hand, only 6.3% of their counterparts in advanced
classes who read books beyond their proficiency level felt they had recognized a grammar
improvement.
2.1. TWO CRITICAL FACTORS FOR SUCCESSFUL ER PROGRAMMES: SSS & SSR
Most of the students in repeater courses have a poor academic record and dislike studying
English (Takase, 2008a). According to Takase (2008a), ER, if implemented effectively, is
one of the best strategies to motivate learners to read in English. She has found that two
key factors are required to successfully practise ER with high school and university students. These factors are likely to encourage reluctant learners to read and keep them motivated to read during the ER course.
First of all, it is necessary to provide learners with books written in easily comprehensible English, which is the main element of the Start with Simple Stories (SSS) method (Furukawa, 2010; Takase, 2010a). By reading many relatively simple stories written in easy
English in the early stages of ER, learners gradually learn to read English as it is. These
learners then break the habit of translating English into Japanese for comprehension (Takase, 2010a). What is more, being able to finish a whole book in English brings the students a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.
Secondly, it is crucial to secure a certain amount of time for reading in class. Sustained
Silent Reading (SSR) refers to any in-school programme where students are provided ashort time for reading without any after-reading requirement (Krashen, 2004). The effectiveness of SSR on the development of learners’ reading proficiency has been reported bymany teachers and practitioners in the students’ first language (L1) (e.g. Henry, 1995; Pilgreen, 2000) as well as in the learners’ second or foreign language (Sakai & Kanda, 2005;
Takase, 2008b, 2009b, 2010a, 2010b; Takase & Nishizawa, 2010). Allocating time not only
makes it possible for learners to concentrate on ER (Takase, 2009b), but also enables
teachers to observe how learners read books. Teachers are then able to give appropriate
advice on the spot, demonstrating the importance of reading (Day & Bamford, 1998;
Krashen, 2004).
Considering the effects of ER reported so far, this article is meant to investigate the impact of ER on unmotivated students in repeater courses. This article examines the ability of
ER to motivate reluctant learners to read English books and how much students’ English
proficiency and attitudes towards ER are affected. Thus, the following research questions
are investigated:
1. Does the use of SSS and SSR methods in ER motivate reluctant learners of different
proficiency levels in repeater courses to read?
2. Do reluctant learners of different proficiency levels in repeater courses make progress on their post-test? This is a test which measures grammar learnt in context as99

well as general English proficiency after three months of extensive reading.
3. What are the reluctant learners’ impressions and attitudes towards ER, and what istheir self-perception of their own English proficiency improvement?
3. METHOD
3.1. PARTICIPANTS
There were 94 participants (77 male and 17 female participants) in this study. The participants were 2nd-4th year EFL university students of law, aged 19-23. They had failed topass the former compulsory English course and were enrolled in the researcher’s class.
These students participated in ER for one academic semester, approximately three months,
as repeater students. Since they had attended several streamed classes with different teachers over previous years, these students had various levels of English proficiency. Theirlevel of English varied widely from very low beginners to high intermediate. The participants were divided into three groups depending on the results of the pre-test scores foranalysis: the Upper Group (n = 29; 18 male and 11 female), the Middle Group (n = 35; 32
male and 3 female) and the Lower Group (n = 30; 27 male and 3 female). Approximately
two-thirds of the participating 1st and 2nd year students were enrolled in their compulsory
English course as well as the current repeater course. The remaining one-third of the participants, who were in the 3rd-4th years, received only the repeater course.
3.2. INSTRUMENTATION
3.2.1. PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGLISH STUDIES
Based on the author`s previous research and extensive experience with both the repeaterclass and students from regular classes, a questionnaire survey was constructed. The questionnaire survey pertained to the causes of the participants’ failures and their attitudes towards English studies. The survey was administered at the beginning of the class. According to the questionnaire survey, 64 participants (68.1%) stated lack of attendance as one of
their major reasons for failure, and 42 participants (44.7%) identified low academic performance as a reason for failing the course. 22 students (23.4%) chose both of these items,
many commenting that they had been intimidated by the difficult lessons and had gradually
become reluctant to attend class. According to the responses of 56 participants (59.6%)
who reported that they were poor learners of English, the most difficult lessons were
Grammar (n = 27; 48.2%), Listening (n = 24; 42.9%), Intensive Reading (n = 20; 35.7%),
Writing (n = 15; 26.8%), Vocabulary (n = 11; 19.6%) and Speaking (n = 9; 16.1%). The
reason that speaking lessons were not chosen as one of the most difficult subjects could be
due to the character of the EFL classes in Japan, where speaking English in class is minimal. Students who attributed their failure to a lack of attendance rather than low proficiency admitted that they did not attend classes because they simply did not get up earlyenough for the 1st period or had busy lifestyles which included part-time jobs and othersocial activities.
It should also be noted that more than half of the repeaters (n = 51) had been suffering100from low performance and poor academic grades in English since junior high school when
they were 13 to 15 (34.9%) years old or senior high school when they were 16 to 18(51.2%) years old. They had not been able to follow the difficult lessons which were targeted at higher education entrance examinations. In other words, those students were already unprepared for the rigors of English education by secondary school where test-taking
skills to prepare for entrance examinations were emphasized.
3.2.2. EPER PLACEMENT TESTThe EPER Placement Test is a cloze test developed by the Edinburgh Project on Extensive
Reading. Among several versions, version A is most commonly used for investigating theeffectiveness of ER on learners’ general proficiency in English. Although this test is a
fixed-ratio cloze, it also contains blanks in every 5th to 7th word for adjustment. It consistsof twelve paragraphs (963 words) arranged in an ascending order of difficulty with 141
words removed; the participants are asked to replace the missing words. In order to identify the correct words or type of words that belong in the detected passages of a text,
grammatical knowledge in context as well as the ability to understand context and vocabulary is required. Most of the missing words are related to grammar (i.e. what part of speech
is necessary to complete the sentence or text).
EPER raw scores are converted into standard scores from 0 to 100, which are classified
from X to H (EPER level), with X being the highest and H being the lowest (see Appendix
1). Appropriate levels of graded readers are recommended for each EPER level by the
EPER group. However, those levels are too high for Japanese EFL learners due to the students’ rigid translation habits and the students’ inexperience in reading English as it is.
Generally, their comfortable reading levels at the beginning of ER are two or more below
the recommended EPER group level.
3.2.3. POST-QUESTIONNAIRE ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS ER
New items on self-perception concerning the effectiveness of ER on the participants’ English improvement were included in the questionnaire. Based on the new items and thequestionnaire used for the purpose of investigating participants’ improvement and attitudes
towards ER (Yamazaki, 2008), a five-point Likert scale questionnaire was constructed andadministered at the end of the course. The questionnaire items included participants’ reaction and attitudes towards ER, self-perceived effects of ER on improvement of English
proficiency, factors that motivated them to read extensively and demotivating factors
which discouraged them from reading.
3.3. PROCEDURE
At the onset of the course, the EPER Placement Test was administered to diagnose thelearners’ current level of reading proficiency. Then, the questionnaire pertaining to theparticipants’ attitudes towards and motivation for studying English as well as the students’reasons for failure was administered. After that, ER was introduced in order to raise stu101

dent awareness of the necessity and effectiveness of reading English books extensively.
The emphasis was placed on choosing easily comprehensible books for an efficient ER
strategy so that students would experience the joy of reading.
All the students participated in ER for one academic semester, which is approximately
three months. The classes met once a week for 90 minutes, totalling 14 sessions. A room inthe university library was designated for the classes. The first and the last sessions wereused for the pre- and the post-EPER tests. The remaining 12 SSR sessions were made up of
approximately 80 minutes for reading and 10 minutes for keeping reading logs. The logs
were to include date, title, series, level, word count, reading time, interest level and a shortcomment. The participants, except for some students who were placed in B, C and D EPER
levels, were required to read at least 100 easily comprehensible books during the course,
following the SSS method, which meant starting with very simple stories. Although they
started reading very easy books, they were soon encouraged and chose higher levels ofbooks after some ER practice, surpassing the minimum requirement of 100 books. Students
could choose books on their own from among the suggested levels and series from thelibrary shelves. Some examples were Oxford Reading Tree, Oxford Fireflies, Longman
Literacy Land, Step Into Reading, and Usborne First Reading. Once the participants became used to reading without translating every phrase, they were encouraged to graduallyraise their level and attempt longer books to acquire reading stamina. While the students
were engaging in reading, the researcher observed the participants’ reading style. The researcher read their reading logs and provided suggestions concerning the choice of books,
and read their reading logs.
At the end of the course, the post-EPER test was administered to investigate the participants’ improvement. After that, the post-questionnaire was administered to investigate theparticipants’ reaction and attitudes towards ER, self-perception of the effects of ER on
different aspects of English proficiency, and motivating and demotivating factors for andagainst ER.
3. 4. MATERIALS
3.4.1. READING MATERIALS FOR ER
Two kinds of reading materials were used: 1) levelled readers (LR), picture books for L1children to learn to read published by Oxford (ORT – Oxford Reading Tree), Longman(LLSS – Literacy Land Story Street), Random House, Scholastic, Usborne and other major
publishers; and 2) graded readers (GR) containing vocabulary ranging from 200 to 1700
headwords. They were mainly Foundations Reading Library (FRL1-7) by Cengage, Cambridge English Readers (CER0-3) by Cambridge, Macmillan Readers (MMR1-5) by Macmillan, Oxford Bookworms (OBW0-3) by Oxford and Penguin Readers (PGR0-4) byPearson Longman. All books were from the library bookshelves.

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3.4.2. YL (Yomiyasusa LEVEL) READABILITY
For levelling, the researcher used YL, which stands for Yomiyasusa Level in Japanese,referring to a readability standard measurement for Japanese learners. It was established by
Akio Furukawa from the SSS (Start with Simple Stories) Study Group in cooperation withJapan Extensive Reading Association (JERA) members. This way of levelling books is asubjective assessment of readability for both graded and ungraded readers. Such factors asword count, difficulty of words, illustrations, the size of fonts, different text styles, genres,Japanese learners’ background knowledge and familiarity with the content were considered.
This scale fills the gap of readability differences among graded readers (GR) of various
publishers where the publishers use their own readability scale and headwords. All the
books are graded into 100 levels from 0.0 to 10.0. The former are picture books with nowords except for their titles, whereas the latter are authentic texts, inappropriate for ER.
For more details on YL see Takase (2009c).
3.5. DATA ANALYSISAs the proficiency level of the participants varied significantly, it was important to examine what differences each group of participants would show, if any.
In order to investigate the differences in reading quantity and reading style between thethree groups, the reading volume of the participants was calculated in terms of the numberof books and words read and the average word count per book which each group of students read during the semester.
The descriptive statistics of the pre- and the post-EPER cloze test scores (Version A) for
upper, middle and lower groups were also calculated. Standard scores were also used, andthose scores were converted into EPER levels for each group.
Lastly, the effects of ER on general reading proficiency were examined using a one-way
repeated-measures ANOVA, which is a statistical test used to compare the means of threeor more research groups employing a correlated-groups arrangement (Jackson, 2009).
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. PARTICIPANTS’ READING PERFORMANCE
Question 1 was: Does ER, using the SSS and SSR methods, motivate reluctant learners ofdifferent proficiency levels in repeater courses to read? In order to answer this question,
the participants’ reading logs were collected and calculated for interpretation. Table 1
shows the amount of reading by the participants in terms of the number of books and thenumber of words read, as well as the average word count per book.

103

Table 1. Participants’ reading performance
Group
Upper

Middle

Lower

Item
Books
Words
W/B
Books
Words
W/B
Books
Words
W/B

N
29
29
29
35
35
35
30
30
30

M
69.3
72962.1
1947.0102.445231.2471.7
104.7
46536.5
458.4

SD
Min
44.08
13
32784.30 18096
2221.00
187
23.04
46
26253.29 13017
326.2
136
36.14
52
33389.36 13122
270.19127

Max
1971320509485
176
124901
1600
238
1660101075

As shown in Table 1, the Upper Group read the largest number of words, on average,
and the smallest number of books, resulting in 1947.0 words per book. On the other hand,both the Middle and the Lower Groups read a relatively large number of books (102.4 and104.7) which had a smaller number of words (45,231.2 and 46,536.5). The Middle and theLower Groups, thus, had a relatively smaller word count per book. The average number ofbooks in different levels in each group is detailed in Table 2.
Table 2. Average number of books read in different levels
L1 (0.0<YL≦0.9)
L2 (1.0<YL≦1.9)
L3-5 (2.0<YL≦4.9)
Group
N
M
Min–Max
M
Min–Max
M
Min–Max
(SD)
(n)*
(SD)
(n)*
(SD)
(n)*
Upper
29
49.0
1–179
16.6
0–49
2.6
0–14
(47.30)(29)(14.33)(26)(3.65)(13)
Middle35
90.8
15–123
8.7
0–50
0.2
0–3
(24.62)(35)(12.37)(22)(0.58)
(5)
Lower
30
91.7
29–198
8.9
0–50
1.3
0–31
(37.25)(30)( 9.93)(22)(5.67)(4)*Note: (n)= number of participants who read books of that particular level

As seen in Tables 1 and 2, participants in both the Middle and the Lower Groups readmore than the required number (100) of books. Approximately 90% of the books werechosen from Level 1 books, and 8.7 (8.8%) and 8.9 (8.8%) books were read from Level 2
by 22 (62.9%) and 21 (70.0%) participants, respectively. Over 85% of the participants ofeach group stayed around Levels 1 and 2. Only a small number of the students: 5 (14.3%)
and 4 (13.3%) from the Middle and the Lower Groups, respectively, advanced to Level 3.
They read English books extensively, which they had never done in their former classes.
Completing over 100 books in only three months promoted a great sense of achievement
and became a source of higher self-esteem.
On the other hand, although all the participants in the Upper Group read 49.0 books(71.9%) from the lowest level at the beginning of the ER practice, 26 (89.7%) participantschose books from Level 2 at the same time. Then, 13 (44.8%) participants advanced tobooks at Levels 3, 4 and 5 with a word count of almost 10,000, as their ER practice pro104

ceeded. The quick advancement of these students in such a short period suggests that reading an abundance of easy books at the beginning of ER practice seems to have promoted
the efficacy of ER for high level learners in the repeater classes.
In conclusion, reluctant students with both higher and lower level English proficiency
in repeater classes were motivated to read books appropriate to their levels and according
to their interest. Thus, ER was effective in motivating reluctant learners of repeater courses
to read in quantity.
4.2. THE EPER TEST RESULTS
4.2.1. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR THE EPER TESTSIn order to answer research question 2 (Do learners of different proficiency levels in repeater courses make progress in their general English proficiency after three months ofextensive reading?), pre- and post-EPER tests scores were calculated. Table 3 illustrates
the descriptive statistics of the pre- and the post-EPER tests, which were administered at
the beginning and at the end of the course.
Table 3. Descriptive statistics for the pre- and the post-EPER tests
Group
Upper pre-test
Upper post-test
Middle pre-test
Middle post-test
Lower pre-test
Lower post-test

N
29
29
35
35
30
30

Mean
22.14
26.14
14.77
19.89
8.07
13.33

SD
4.88
6.17
1.52
3.64
2.60
4.64

SE
.91
1.15
.26
.62
.47
.85

Min
18
15
13
13
3
3

Max
40
43
17
29
12
23

The gains of the mean standard scores on the post-EPER test were, from the Upper
Group to the Lower Group: 4.00 (26.14-11.14), 5.12 (19.89-14.77) and 5.26 (13.33-8.07),
respectively. There was a significant variance of scores between the three groups. The results illustrate that each group showed significant improvement on the post-test.
4.2.2. DISTRIBUTION OF THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE EPER LEVEL
Table 4 illustrates the distribution of the participants in the groups who were placed in each
EPER level based on the pre-EPER test scores (see Appendix 1 & Table 3). As shown in
Table 4, the Upper Group consists of EPER levels E and over, while the Middle Groupconsists of most of the F EPER level, leaving four F participants to the Lower Group. Including these four Fs, G and H were placed in the Lower Group. There were no participants who scored high enough to be placed in A or B.

105

Table 4. EPER Levels in the pre- and the post-EPER tests
Level

UG preUG postMG preMG postLG preLG post

H
G
F
E
D
C
Tot

0
0
0
23
5
1
29

0
0
2
10
15
2
29

0
0
35
0
0
0
35

0
0
9
23
3
0
35

14
12
4
0
0
0
30

3
7
15
5
0
0
30

As seen in Tables 3 and 4, the participants in all three groups gained significantly on the
post-test. As a result, all the students moved up to higher EPER levels with the exceptionof two participants who fell from E to F. In order to examine the statistics in more detail, a
repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted on the EPER pre- and the post-test scores.
4.2.3. REPEATED-MEASURES ANOVA ON THE EPER PRE- AND POST-TESTSThe effects of extensive reading on overall reading proficiency were examined using a
two-way repeated-measures factorial ANOVA. This test was used for the purpose of investigating the differences among the groups in their improvement differences on the post-test.
Table 5 summarizes the repeated-measures ANOVA on the EPER pre- and post-test scores.
Table 5. Repeated-Measures ANOVA on the pre- and the post-EPER tests
SS

df

MS

F

p

η2

Observed Power

Between Subjects
Group
Error
Total

5325.55
2464.447789.992
91

2662.7727.08
2689.8598.32.000**

.684

1.000

Within Subjects
EPER Test
EPER x Group
Error
Total
TOTAL

1072.8114.26
630.711717.789505.771
2
91

1072.81
7.13
6.93

154.791.03.000** .630
.362
.022

1.000
.225

Source**p < .0001

As seen in Table 5, the results of the analysis indicated a significant main effect for eachgroup (F = 98.32, df = 2, p = .000), a significant main effect for the EPER test (F = 154.79,
df = 1, p = .000) and an insignificant interaction effect between the EPER test x group (F =1.03, df = 2, p < .362). The results revealed significant changes between the pre- and thepost-EPER tests, although the EPER test factor and group factor showed no interaction.
As Tables 3, 4, and 5 illustrate, the results revealed that each group showed a significant
improvement in English proficiency, moving into higher EPER levels with the exception of106

two participants. The improvements took place after only three months of ER, utilizing the
SSS and SSR methods. Students used a designated room in the school library. Such progress took place even though student proficiency levels were quite varied. The participantschose books according to their English ability with the help of the instructor. All levels of
the repeaters showed improvement on the post-EPER test, which indicates that ER was
effective. The test measured grammar learnt in context as well as the general English proficiency of students using SSR for 80 minutes a week. Thus, research question 2 (Do reluctant learners of different proficiency levels in repeater courses make progress on their posttest, which includes the measurement of grammar learnt in context as well as general proficiency in English after three months of extensive reading?) was answered positively.
4.3. POST-QUESTIONNAIRE
A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was administered (5 = strongly agree, 4 = agree, 3 =cannot decide, 2 = do not agree, 1 = strongly disagree). Differences among the threegroups were examined in the four categories: (1) attitudes towards ER, (2) self-perceived
effects of ER on English proficiency, (3) motivating factors for reading extensively and (4)demotivating factors that discouraged participants from reading extensively. Table 6 illustrates the mean scores of each item for the three groups.
Table 6. Attitudes towards ER
Group

Upper

Middle

Lower

Item
1.
2.
3.
4.

M (SD)
4.33 (0.49)
4.21 (0.69)
4.00 (1.17)

M (SD)
4.24 (0.78)
4.04 (0.92)
3.80 (0.80)

M (SD)
4.80 (0.56)
3.90 (0.83)
4.30 (0.74)

3.74 (1.21)

3.32 (0.91)

4.10 (0.99)

3.58 (1.28)
3.50 (1.28)

3.50 (0.89)
3.24 (1.12)

3.70 (1.08)
3.80 (0.78)

Reading LRs & GRs was good for me.
I have read a lot of books.
I have enjoyed reading English books.
I want to continue reading English
books.
5. I have come to like English through ER.
6. I have come to enjoy reading English.

As seen in Table 6, all three groups responded favourably on all the items pertaining toattitudes towards ER. In particular, items 1, 2 and 3 received high scores. These participants found ER effective and enjoyable; as a result, they are willing to continue to readextensively. The responses to their attitudes towards ER were mostly very favourable.

107Table 7. Self-perceived effects of ER on English proficiency
Group

Upper

MiddleLower

Item
7. My reading speed has increased.
8. My reading proficiency has improved.
9. My overall English proficiency has improved.
10. My listening proficiency has improved.

M (SD)
3.83 (1.06)
3.46 (1.11)

M (SD)
3.60 (0.67)
3.33 (1.08)

M (SD)
4.10 (0.81)
4.20 (0.76)

3.33 (1.07)

3.29 (0.69)

3.60 (0.70)

3.33 (1.20)

2.70 (0.84)

2.90 (0.76)

11. My writing proficiency has improved.
12. I have learned many new words.
13. My grammar knowledge has increased.
14. My speaking proficiency has improved.

3.25 (1.07)
3.17 (1.05)
3.08 (1.09)
3.08 (1.06)

2.88 (0.82)
3.04 (0.85)
2.83 (0.66)
2.79 (0.79)

3.40 (0.72)
3.11 (0.94)
3.30 (0.88)
3.20 (0.86)

Table 7 shows the students’ self-perceived effects of ER on the various aspects of overall English proficiency: reading speed, reading skills, listening skills, writing skills, speaking skills, grammar knowledge and vocabulary acquisition. As seen in Table 7, the items
that received the highest scores from all the three groups, were items 7 and 8 related toreading speed and proficiency. All the other values ranged from 2.70 to 3.60. As far as
grammar knowledge is concerned, interestingly, the Lower Group reacted more positively
than the other two groups.
Table 8. Motivating factors for reading extensively
Group

Upper

MiddleLower

Item
I read English books, because
15. I felt a sense of accomplishment.
16. ER was a course requirement.
17. I had fun reading English extensively.
18. I enjoyed seeing the increase of thenumber of words read.
19. I wanted to improve my English proficiency.
20. I like reading.
21. I like English.

M (SD)

M (SD)

M (SD)

3.92 (1.42)
3.50 (0.87)
3.46 (0.94)

3.67 (0.71)
3.46 (0.99)
3.17 (1.01)

4.30 (1.06)
3.30 (0.94
3.70 (0.75)

3.38 (1.30)

3.33 (0.91)

3.70 (1.08)

3.33 (1.01)

3.25 (1.01)

3.70 (0.79)

3.21 (1.00)
3.04 (1.12)

3.25 (1.00)
2.92 (0.85)

3.60 (0.99)
3.30 (1.05)

Table 8 shows the results of the questionnaire pertaining to motivating factors for reading English books extensively. As seen in Table 8, item 15 was revealed as the strongest
factor for motivating participants from all the groups. Item 16 was the second factor for theUpper and Middle groups, whereas it was the lowest for the Lower Group. For the participants from the Lower Group, items 17, 18 and 19 worked better for motivating them toread. Reading itself was perceived as fun. In addition, seeing the reading amount increasein terms of the number of words read also motivated the students to continue reading.
108

Table 9. Demotivating factors that discouraged students from reading extensively
Group

Upper

MiddleLower

Item
I could not read much because…

M (SD)

M (SD)

M (SD)

2.92 (1.01)

3.00 (0.86)

2.90 (1.02)

2.88 (1.18)
2.75 (0.99)
2.71 (1.01)
2.50 (1.06)
2.46 (1.28)

2.38 (1.01)
2.42.(0.94)
2.46 (0.94)
2.54 (1.09)
2.29 (1.15)

1.60 (1.14)
1.60 (1.10)
1.40 (1.15)
1.90 (1.35)
2.20 (1.32)

22. I was busy with courses in my major.
23. I am poor at English.
24. I could not find interesting books.
25. I do not like English.
26. I could not concentrate on reading.
27. I wanted to read books in Japanese.

Table 9 shows demotivating factors that discouraged the students from reading extensively. As the data show, the majority of the participants did not think they were demotivated by any of the factors. It should be noted that, among the three groups, the smallest
numbers were received by the Lower Group on all the items. This suggests that the participants in the Lower Group felt least demotivated from reading extensively. They experienced the joy of reading English books extensively, which they admitted had benefitedthem (see Table 6).
To answer research question 3 (What are the impressions and attitudes towards ER, andlearners’ self-perception of their English proficiency improvement?), the results of thequestionnaire were examined. The participants showed positive attitudes towards ER. As
illustrated in Table 6, all the groups responded favourably to reading ER books of over
4.00 by a high percentage and enjoyed reading an abundance of English books. In addition,
the lowest group showed a desire to continue reading even after the course was over. Someof them actually did continue reading voluntarily for another year. The participants also
perceived the effects of ER to have benefited various aspects of their English proficiency,
including reading speed and reading proficiency in particular (see Table 7). It is important
to note that an average of over 60% (3.07) of the participants, approximately half (48.2%)
of who claimed that grammar was the most difficult, perceived an improvement in theirgrammar. This point of view was put forward even though they had received no grammar
instruction. Among several motivating factors, the strongest factor was a sense of accomplishment. This factor can be attributed to the abundance of books they completed, however easy they were. Only a small percentage responded to each demotivating factor, whichsuggests that the participants were motivated to read with enjoyment.
5. CONCLUSION
This study focused on the effects of extensive reading on reluctant repeater students’ motivation, attitudes and achievements via a post-test. From the results of this study, it can beconcluded that a range of students from reluctant repeaters with low English ability tohigher level students who had failed their previous classes for reasons other than English
109

proficiency, benefited from ER, using the SSS and SSR methods. Although the length ofthe programme was only three months, almost all the participants improved their motivation to read English books. The participants from the Middle and the Lower groups succeeded in reading over 100 English books, and the Upper Group members read approximately 73,000 words, on average, in three months. The effects of reading in quantity on theparticipants’ sentence level grammar as well as their general English proficiency were illustrated as gains on the post-EPER test scores in all the three groups. Each group showedsignificant gains, which was attributed to the ample time for SSR provided under the guidance of an instructor.
In conclusion, extensive reading appears to be one of the most effective approaches tomotivate reluctant learners to read in quantity. This approach proved particularly valid for
those enrolled in repeater courses where there were students with various proficiency levels. Motivated by reading materials, the reading method and the environment, the learners
enjoyed the experience of reading many easily comprehensible books. They improved theirgeneral English proficiency while gaining favourable attitudes towards English. If ER were
employed earlier in English education, such as in elementary school or secondary school,
there might be a lower number of reluctant repeaters.
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Atsuko Takase, Ed.D, is an assistant professor at Kinki University. She has taught at highschool and university for over ten years, employing extensive reading in any of her readingclass. Her research interests include extensive reading, extensive listening, motivation, shadowing, vocabulary acquisition, and CALL. She has published a book on Extensive Reading/Listening teaching manual. She is currently serving as President of Japan Extensive Reading
Association and a board member of Extensive Reading Foundation.

APPENDIX 1
EPER standard scores and EPER level conversion table, and summarized recommended approximate level of GR
Stand. Score

100-66

69-65

64-55 54-45 44-35 34-25

EPER Level

*

X

A

B

Rec. Approx. Unsimplified PGR6 PGR5 PGR4
GR levelC

D

PGR3 PGR2

24-18 17-12
E

11-8

7-0

G

H

F

PGR1 PGR1* PGR0 PYR1

OBW6 OBW5 OBW4 OBW3 OBR2 OBW1 PYR4 OBW0 PYR2
CER6 CER5 CER4

CER3

CER2 CER1

PYR3 PYR3*

MMR5 MMR4 MMR3 MMR2L MMR2 MMR1
*Note: Originally, individual books are recommended for each EPER level. Therefore, books in thesame series and level appear in different recommended EPER levels. (EPER, 2003)113

114