〔報告〕

英語読解能力と英文作成能力を向上させるための多読
Using Extensive Reading to Improve Studentsʼ English Reading andWriting: A Preliminary Report
べゴール・ベッティーナ
BEGOLE Bettina

鳥取環境大学紀要
第９号・第10号合併号

2012．３抜刷

Reprinted ftom
BULLETIN OF TOTTORI UNIVERSITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Volumes 9 & 10

Mar. 2012

鳥取環境大学紀要
第９号・第10号合併号（2012. ３）pp.105‑111〔報

告〕英語読解能力と英文作成能力を向上させるための多読
Using Extensive Reading to Improve Studentsʼ English Reading andWriting: A Preliminary Report
べゴール・ベッティーナ
BEGOLE Bettina
和文要旨：本稿は、鳥取環境大学のインテンシブ・イングリッシュという集中英語教育プログラムの実
践英語科目の項目として新たに確立された、多読に関する中間報告書である。インテンシブ・イングリッ
シュの実践英語 B の多読の今日までの影響、問題、将来に向けた改善案を考察したものである。結果は試験的なものではあるが、いくつかの結論は、学生の英文作成能力向上を長期目標とした、学習初期段階の学生の読解能力向上への効果を示唆するものである。
【キーワード】多読、インテンシブ・イングリッシュ
Abstract：This paper oﬀers a preliminary report on a newly established extensive reading component within a university intensive English program at Tottori University of Environmental Studies, asmall private university in Tottori, Japan. This paper will consider the eﬀects of the program to date,problems that have arisen, and possible improvements to the program in the future. Although theresults are highly tentative, some conclusions can be drawn concerning the eﬀectiveness of extensive
reading to improve students reading as a ﬁrst step, with a long term goal of improving studentsʼ
writing in English.
【Keywords】
extensive reading, intensive English
This report is a summary of the extensive reading

The students were ﬁrst divided into groups by de-component of the Intensive English Practical English

partment, and then into class groups based on their

B（Reading and Writing）course for ﬁrst year students

scores on a placement test. Eiken（Society for theat a private university in western Japan. Although theTesting of English Proficiency, STEP）provides along-term goal of the reading program is to increase

choice of four diﬀerent placement tests, from A to D.

studentsʼ ability to express themselves ﬂuently in writ-

Test A is the most diﬃcult, and D the least diﬃcult.

ten English, this report focuses on the ﬁrst step, read-

Eiken level B was chosen for the incoming ﬁrst year

ing

students. Using the scores from this test a total of six
classes were created, with an average class size of 25
students.

１．The Students
One hundred forty-nine students were admitted as

Scores on the placement test reflect the studentsʼ

ﬁrst year students in the 2010 academic year. Students

lack of expertise in English. The maximum score pos-enter one of four departments; Environmental Manage-

sible on Eiken B is 680; it is designed for students inment, Information Systems, Architecture and Design,

the range of Eiken Level Four through Pre-ﬁrst Level.

or Environmental Policy and Management and English

The average score of the incoming ﬁrst year students

is a required course for all ﬁrst year students.

was 318.6（a score of 47%）, with a mean score of 309.0.

― 105 ―

鳥取環境大学紀要

第９号・第10号合併号

Even taking into account the reported standard error

instruction is the translation and substitution of eachof measurement（SEM）of ±25（Nakamura, 2010 ）, it

word from English to Japanese. If a student can onlyis obvious that the majority of students did not achieve

process English at the word level, the constraints ofscores at the high end of the scale on this test.

short term memory limit that student to sentences ofbetween ﬁve and nine words in length. When confronted with a sentence longer than this, the student is

２．The Intensive English Program
The university Intensive English program was re-forced to use regression（re-reading the beginning ofvamped in 2010, and these students are part of this re-

the passage）to finally comprehend the sentence. A

vamped program. Students take three classes a week:course of instruction in how to read English, without

Practical English A（Speaking and Listening）, Practi-

the word-by-word translation, would thus be useful tocal English B（Reading and Writing）, and Academic

students.

English. In Practical English A and B, the language of

Why is it important or useful for students to readthe classroom is primarily English. Academic English

English, as opposed to translating it? First, it is subjec-

is taught entirely in Japanese.

tively more pleasant to do something smoothly, without having to struggle. Perhaps more importantly,
from the studentsʼ point of view, reading at or beyond

３．Extensive Reading: Rationale
Although it seems that most Japanese students ofthe threshold for comprehension should improve

English, if asked, would say that they read English

scores on tests such as TOEIC, which have a reading

well even if they canʼt speak it. This idea has enteredcomponent and require near-native reading speed forthe realm of perceived wisdom in English language

successful completion.

teaching in Japan, and is considered axiomatic. Howev-

This then became the goal of the extensive reading

er, when the reading ability and habits of Japanesecomponent of Practical English B; to bring students tostudents at the tertiary level are examined empirically,

the threshold level. What is the threshold level for

it is found that this “axiom” is in fact a fallacy（Kitao,

comprehension? According to one reading site（Cous-

1990 ）. According to one study（Yoshida & Kitao,in, 2000 ）, the average native English reader reads

1986）, when Japanese students were instructed to readaround 240 words per minute, with a comprehension

quickly, the average student could only read 105

rate of 60%. Another study（Hunziker, 2006 ）showedwords per minute, with a 54% comprehension rate.

that the average 18 year old read their native lan-

Reading is a task that uses short term memory

guage（English, French or German）in a range from（STM）to process the language. While the informa-

170 to 250 words per minute. Although the thresholdtion contained in the reading may be stored in longlevel seems to be a range, rather than one number, it

term memory, the actual initial decoding of the mean-

is safe to say that the average reading speed of 104

ing is handled by short term memory（Fang, 2008）.

words per minute of ﬁrst year students at this univer-

Short term memory is, as the name implies, limited bysity is below the threshold of comprehensibility（Fig-time, and also by the amount of data that can be held.

ure １）. However this number（104）does seem to fol-

According to research（Fang, 2008; Reynolds, 2007）

low the pattern of the other 25,000 students surveyed

the average person can only hold 7±2 “chunks” ofby Kitao et al.（Kitao, 1990）, whose average score wasdata in short term memory. Thus, university studentsʼ

105 words per minute.

slow reading pace is a problem not only of time, but
the method students use to decode the meaning. Ac-

４．Curriculum and Methodology

cording to several researchers（Porcaro, 2005; Lavin,

As mentioned before, students take three English

2004; Kitao, 1990）and the authorʼs personal experi-

classes each week; Practical English A（Speaking andence, most first year Japanese university students

Listening）, Academic English, and Practical English B

have spent six years in yakudoku, often translated as（Reading and Writing）. This report focuses on thegrammar-translation, classes. A hallmark of yakudoku

extensive reading component of Practical English B― 106 ―

BEGOLE

Using Extensive Reading to Improve Studentsʼ English Reading and Writing: A Preliminary Reporttion in short term memory, by making one chunk con-（PB）.
PB meets for one koma（90-minute lesson）each

tain more information. Since as mentioned before, shortweek for 15 weeks. It is a practical English class, andterm memory is limited to ﬁve to nine “chunks” of in-grades are thus based on studentsʼ use of English,

formation this skill should improve studentsʼ speed andrather than a paper test. On the ﬁrst day of class incomprehension, and minimize the need for regression.

ﬁrst semester, in addition to the usual orientation, stu-

Students also viewed excerpts of a television show on

dents were taken to the university library to choose

improving reading skills（Gatten, Wednesday, April 7,

their first reading book. The university library con-2010, NHK）.

tains 2,292 graded readers by a variety of publishers,

In the eighth week, students had a reading speed

and ranging from starter level（16 pages）to near-na-

and comprehension test. The students read a simple

tive level. There are also around 200 other books writ-text, Mouse Soup（Lobel, 1977）, complete with illustra-ten for native speaking children available.

tions（text and illustrations used with permission of

While it is important to consider the diﬃculty when

HarperCollins Publishing）. Mouse Soup contains words

choosing a reading text, and there are indexes andthat can be expected to be unknown to the students

headword counts available（Nation, 1997）, PB is a（“weasel”）, but that should be clear from context. It

practical English class, with most instruction in Eng-

contains six short, independent chapters, with a total

lish. Rather than trying to explain these concepts inword count of 1341 words. On the reverse of each test

English, students were simply instructed to ﬁnd ﬁve

page were four simple, multiple choice comprehension

books that looked interesting to them, open each bookquestions. Although the answers were checked for ac-

to a random page and read. If there were more thancuracy, students had been told that the accuracy

five words on that random page that the student

would not aﬀect their score; that this was simply a test

didnʼt know, and couldnʼt guess from context, the stu-

to get used to this style of test, and to establish an in-dent was instructed to discard that book, and move on

dividual baseline reading speed. As stated before, theto the next. The students repeated this process until

average speed of students on the first test was 104

they had a book that they thought they could readwords per minute.

without recourse to a dictionary and that, more impor-

From the eighth week, students began to do theirtantly, they had selected because it appealed to themreading at home. They were to read for 30 minutes atfor some reason.

one sitting, once a week. The time of 30 minutes was

For the ﬁrst seven weeks of the semester students

selected for no other reason than because it seemed toread for 30 minutes in class, rather than as homework.

be the maximum possible while maintaining some sortThis allowed the teacher to monitor their reading andof homework parity with the other Intensive English

the level of the book they had chosen.

classes. Students are required to write one A ４ page

There was also weekly instruction in how to read.

in their journals each week, which takes about 30 min-This instruction began with a survey of studentsʼ read-utes. In Academic English, students are supposed toing habits in Japanese on page 67 of their textbook

read between three and six paragraphs from their AE（Begole, 2010 ）（Appendix A）. Since the survey is a

textbook and summarize them in Japanese. Students

page in the textbook, the results were not collected,

ﬁlled out a chart each week on page ten of their PB

but used as a springboard for discussion. In the classes

textbook documenting their homework reading.

which the author personally observed, many students

In second semester, after the summer break, stu-

had beliefs about reading, even in Japanese, that ham-dents began reading again. The amount was increased

per both their speed and comprehension.

slightly; students read together in class for 15 minutes

On other class days students tried their hand ateach class period in addition to the standard home-

simple skimming and scanning exercises, as well aswork assignment of 30 minutes. In second semester

practice in “seeing” two or three words at once. This

students again kept a homework reading log on pageskill, “chunking,” allows a reader to keep more informa-

65 of their textbook. Students were informed in both

― 107 ―

鳥取環境大学紀要

第９号・第10号合併号（Figure 1） Average Reading Test Scores in WPMEnglish and Japanese that in second semester theirreading speed and comprehension would again bechecked, and that their progress would comprise ten
percent of their score for the class.
At the time, it was hoped that most students would
make signiﬁcant gains in their reading speed, but as
the reader can see from Figure 1, this did not come topass. As in first semester, students took a reading
speed and comprehension test on the eighth lesson.
The text in second semester was an original retellingof a traditional Japanese story, Momotaro, Peach Boy of
Okayama. This text was slightly shorter than Mouse
Soup, at 1320 words. Although prior knowledge of thestory was expected to help studentsʼ comprehension,

more progress next year. It has been anecdotally re-there were no illustrations to help this time, and theported that gains accelerate in the second year.

tale was a contemporary retelling and thus slightly dif-

There were also a number of variables that may haveferent than the version that students had grown up

aﬀected the test results. Not all students did the home-

with! There were ﬁve multiple choice comprehension

work, and a number of students refused to move up toquestions on the back of each page, and students were

the next level of graded readers. One student read the

instructed to read at a pace that would allow them tosame small childrenʼs book every week for two semes-

answer three of the ﬁve questions accurately.

ters.

５．Results

religiously is also going to result in slower progress

Reading for a mere 30 minutes a week, even if done
Test results were not precisely disappointing; after

than a truly intensive program, such as that done byall, 92 students of the 120 students present for both

Mason and Krashen（Mason & Krashen, 1997）. In thattests did make gains in their reading speed（Table 1）.

study, students were required to read 2000 pages（about 400,000 to 500,000 words）over two semesters,
and students made significant gains, often doubling

Table 1.

# of students # of students
whose scores whose scores
increased
decreased

their reading speed, over the course of the year. At
this university it is not possible to implement such an
intense program, but continuing on at a slow but
steady pace can only beneﬁt students.

Group A（n=18）153Group B（n=18）

135Group C（n=16）133Students were given a mid-semester enquête during

Group D（n=27）

16

11

first semester. Although the purpose of the enquête

Group E（n=21）192Group F（n=20）

16

4

６．Student Feedback

was not directly related to extensive reading, but tothe class requirements and teaching, several students
chose to write comments about reading in the comments section. One student wrote, “I am able to read

However, the gains in general were less than teach-English books, and I had a very relaxing experience inthis class”（英語の本も読むことができ、とてもリラッ

ers had hoped for（Figure 1.）.
It has been noted in other research（Krashen, 2001）

ク ス し て 授 業 を う け る こ と が で き た）
, while anotherthat gains are most apparent in longer-running pro-wrote, “By reading a book at my own level I felt like I

grams, and it is hoped that students will make still

was able to make a bit more contact with English”（自― 108 ―

BEGOLE

Using Extensive Reading to Improve Studentsʼ English Reading and Writing: A Preliminary Report

分のレベルに合った本を読むことで少しでも多くの時間

to the next level using the following scale:

英語に触れることができること）, and yet another, “I
Table 2.

have become able to read books in English,”（英語の本が読めるようになってきた）［translations by author］.

Graded Reader Level

Value per Page

1

0.5

2

0.75

3

1.0

4,5,6

1.25

In addition, one question on the ﬁrst reading speed
and comprehension test was open-ended, asking students for their opinion of the book they had just read.
Again, students wrote positive comments, although
there was also a lot of sympathy expressed for thepoor weasel（who had been tricked by the book-reading mouse）.

Thus, a student who reads 100 pages of a Level １
text would be credited with reading 50 pages; a stu-

７．Conclusion

dent who reads 100 pages at Level ４ would receive

While it seems that the extensive reading compo-

credit for 125 pages. This system will increase the re-nent of the class has had some positive eﬀect on stu-

cordkeeping burden on the teachers, but should en-

dentsʼ reading, there are still problems to be addressedcourage students to challenge themselves. Using theand improvements to be made.

average reading rate for each group of students, theteacher can calculate approximately how many words

７‑１．Students who fail to do the homework reading

students in that class can read in 30 minutes, and set a

While it might be tempting to encourage students torealistic page number that encourages students todo the homework by making the number of pages

move up for each separate group.

read a component of the grade for the semester, forthis particular group of students it seems that is only

７‑３．Students are uncomfortable with the idea ofperceived as a “stick,” rather than a “carrot.” That is,less than 100 percent comprehension on a test

students feel they are being penalized for not doing

Students who may read fluently at home seem tothe homework, rather than rewarded for doing it. To

panic when faced with a test. In speaking to a number

circumvent this problem, yet still increase compliance,of students after the second, scored test, the author

adding a classroom discussion session at the beginning

was told by students that they had purposely slowedof each lesson may prove eﬀective. Students can thendown so that “they could answer all the questions cor-discuss what they read at home during the week withrectly.” To solve this problem, more time needs to beother students. Another option is to detach the home-spent on what reading is, and how to do it. Although it

work report sheet from the textbook, and have a sepa-

is explained to students that even native-speakers dorate page that teachers can collect and write feedback

not read with 100 percent comprehension, most stu-on.

dents when faced with a test, are unable to undo yearsof yakudoku training, which requires word-by-word un-

７‑２．Students fail to move up to more diﬃcult texts

derstanding（translation）.

Some students who have become comfortable at a

In summary, the extensive reading component ofparticular level in the graded readers seem reluctant

the program needs more attention from the teacher toto move up. The essence of extensive reading is thatboth monitor and encourage students, and more overt

the texts are selected by the students, so assigning a

instruction in how to read. When these goals havelevel or text would defeat the purpose of the extensive

been accomplished, then students will begin to be able

reading activity. However, by weighting the reading,

to apply their new knowledge of English norms tofor example in the manner of Jarrell（Jarrell, 2003）,

their writing.

students can then choose whether to read more pages（and spend more time）at a lower level, or move up― 109 ―

鳥取環境大学紀要

第９号・第10号合併号

Kitao, K., Yoshida, S., & Yoshida, H.（1986）大学生の英Acknowledgements
ers, and especially to Yuu Ando for the gift of time to

語読解力の問題点―誤答類型と原因（ Japanese college
students problems in reading English）. 中部地区英語教育

write this!

学会紀要 , 15, 8‑13.

Thank you to all the ﬁrst year students, their teach-

Krashen, S.（2004）Why Support a Delayed-GratiﬁcaReferencestion Approach to Language Education? The Language

Begole, B.（2010）Tottori University of Environmental Stud-

Teacher Online, 28‑07.

ies Intensive English Practical English B; Reading and――.（2007）Pleasure Reading. JALT Young Learners Spe-

Writing. In-house textbook.

cial Interest Group Spring Issue, 2‑4.

Carrell, P.L.（1998）Can Reading Strategies Be Suc-――.（2009）81 Generalizations about Free Voluntary

cessfully Taught? The Language Teacher Online, 22‑03.

Reading. IATEFL Young Learner and Teenager Special In-

Cousin, C. & Vinckenbosch, M. C.（ 2000 ）ReadingSoft.
http://www.readingsoft.com/

terest Group Publication, 2009‑1, 1‑6.
――.（2001）More Smoke and Mirrors: A critique ofFang, X.（2008）Short-term Memory in EFL Listening
Comprehension. Asian Social Science, 4‑4, 103‑107.

the National Reading Panel report on fluency. Phi
Delta Kappan, 83, 119‑123,

Helgesen, M.（1997）What One Extensive Reading Pro-

Lavin, R. S.（ 2004 ）Extensive Reading: Reﬂections ongram Looks Like. The Language Teacher Online, 21‑05.

Fostering Speed and Vocabulary Growth. JALT 2004

Holden, W. R.（2007）A Case for Extensive Reading asa Component of English Language Education in Japan. Journal of the Faculty of Humanities, University of
Toyama, 47, 155‑169.

Conference Proceedings, 1073‑1083.
Lobel, A.（ 1977 ）Mouse Soup. Pittsburgh, PA: HarperCollins Publishers.
Mason, B. & Krashen, S.（1997）Extensive Reading in

Hunziker, H-W.（2006）Im Auge des Lesers- foveale undEnglish as a Foreign Language. System, 25, 91‑102.

periphere Wahrnehmung: vom Buchstabieren zure Lese-

Nakamura, H.（2010）Personal correspondence（email）.

freude, Transmedia Verlag Zurich.

Nation, P.（1997）The Language Learning Beneﬁts ofJarrell, D. S.（2003）Extensive Reading for Weak Read-

Extensive Reading. The Language Teacher Online, 21‑05.

ers. 名古屋女子大学紀要 , 49, 199‑205.
Jones, B. A.（2004）Fostering Constructive EFL Read-

Porcaro, J. W.（2005）Extensive Reading in College

ing Habits and Attitudes. JALT2004 Conference Pro-EFL Programs. Journal of Toyama University of Interna-

ceedings, 1030‑1040.

tional Studies, 2005.
Shen, M.（2008）EFL Learnersʼ Responses to Extensive

Kitao, K. & Kitao, S. K. Diﬃculties Japanese Have in
Reading English, 同志社大学 Online Library Resources.

Reading: Survey and Pedagogical Applications. The

http://www.cis.doshisha.ac.jp/kkitao/library/

Reading Matrix, 8‑2, 111‑123.
Reynolds, C. R. & Fletcher-Janzen, E.（2007）Encyclope-reading.htm
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dia of Special Education: A Reference for the Education of（1990）Independent Reading in English: Use of Grad-

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― 110 ―

BEGOLE

Using Extensive Reading to Improve Studentsʼ English Reading and Writing: A Preliminary Report

Appendix 1 Reading Habits When Reading Japanese

10．段落に新しい単語がいくつか混じっていると、その段落の内容が理解できない。

今日は初めに日本語の読み方について話し合ってみましょう。その前に、まず皆さんが日本語で読む時に

11．私は日本語の読み物（漫画・インターネット・教科書・小説など）をすべて同じ様に読んでいる。

ついて、アンケートにお答えください。下記の文章にEnglish translation:

ついて、×または○を記入してください。
Today we are going to talk about reading in Japanese first. Before we do that, please fill in the en-

１．I always read every character（kanji, okurigana,etc.）
２．I read out loud to improve my reading.

quete below with an × or an ○ .）１．私は必ず、一つ一つすべての文字（漢字・送り仮名

３．I say all the words when I read.
４．I can understand Japanese better when I read itなど）を読んでいる。
２．声に出して読むことで、私の日本語の読解力が上がvery slowly.
５．If I donʼt know the kanji, I always stop and look it

る。

up in the dictionary.

３．読む時は、声に出して読んでいる。
４．日本語をよく理解する為には、ゆっくりと読むほう

６．I should study Japanese grammar more.
７．I should memorize more kanji.

が良いと思う。
５．知らない文字が出てきた時は、私はいつも辞書をひ

８．When I read in Japanese, I canʼt understand themeaning if there is one kanji that I donʼt know.

く。
６．日本語をより速く読むためには、文法を勉強するの

９．When I read in Japanese, I canʼt understand wellwhen I donʼt know the yomi-kata of a kanji.

が一番良い。
７．日本語の読解力を上げるためには、語彙を増やすの

10．If there are several unknown words in a paragraph, I canʼt understand the meaning of the para-が一番良い。
８．日本語を読んでいて、知らない文字があると、内容graph.
11．Anything I read, whether manga, the internet, aが理解できない。
９．文字の読み方が分からないと、その意味も理解でき

textbook or a novel, I read in the same way.
（受付日2010年11月24日

ない。

― 111 ―

受理日2010年12月22日）