Recent developments in AI chat are sending shockwaves through the language teaching community, both with short-term challenges of instructing students when and how to use this technology and as a longer-term existential threat to the teaching vocation. On the other hand, this same technology presents an opportunity for the automatic production of compelling input, not only in English but potentially for many other languages. Critical to providing suitable input is determining the level of readability, for example measured in YL (Yomiyasusa Level), which is based on impressions of difficulty by readers in Japan. This presentation reports on research into machine learning techniques used to estimate YL using the Coh-metrix analysis tool, Lasso linear regression and grid search cross-validation. The model predicted YL with a strong correlation of .91, significantly better than the Flesch Reading index. The results suggest that the developed model is a promising tool for predicting YL.

Reports and arguments supporting positive effects of ER tend to highlight gains in reading speed, but the research base on how reading speed improves among L2 readers, both in general and among those that undergo ER activities, is still limited. This presentation reports on an explorative efforts to identify reader variables associated with reading speed gains among participants in an EFL reading course at a Japanese university (n=24). The two-semester course aimed to improve the students’ reading speed and other skills, and utilised an online ER platform, which recorded student access and activity logs and, among other things, produced reading speed estimates for each e-book they completed reading. Employing a data-mining approach, the presenter compared the students’ reading speeds at the outset and end of the course, and looked for variables linked to speed gains. Findings and their implications are shared at the presentation.

This case study explores the affordances of a digital reading platform, XReading, in helping Jasmine excel in reading. Jasmine is a freshman at a state university in Malang. The department where she studies, offered Extensive Reading (ER) course as a compulsory part of the curriculum in the first semester. During the 16-week ER course, Jasmine read more than 1,000,000,- words from the website. The initial target for the 2022 cohorts was 120,000 words in a semester. Thus, it is important to understand why Jasmine read more than the expected target words and what had her kept going. A semi-structured interview was done with Jasmine after the class ended. The findings of the present study help teachers of Extensive Reading (ER) programs to shape their classes in such a way that encourage learner autonomy. This presentation also shows how reading in an electronic age affects students’ motivation in a positive manner.

Extensive Reading (ER) is considered one of the more effective ways to develop reading skills among students as they are exposed to large amounts of meaningful input that is selected by them. The purpose of this study was to investigate students' learning experience, interest, and preference relating to the implementation of a virtual library (VL) within an academic English program. The implementation of the VL was primarily to promote and monitor the ER habits of students. The study involved first-year (N = 137) female students from a university in Japan with an average CEFR scale range of B1 – B2. Participants completed an online survey in the final quarter of the 2022 academic year after actively using the VL for a period of two quarters (14 weeks). The implications of this study’s preliminary findings and the related dynamics regarding the implementation of a VL, more specifically X-Reading (www.xreading.com) will be discussed.

With the development of Gutenberg's printing technology, the number of publications increased in large numbers, and the purpose of reading and the way of reading diversified. Then, with the advent and development of digital technology such as computers, not only paper books but also digital books have increased. In the meantime, the way of reading has become more diverse. Among several reading methods, extensive reading (ER) is still a useful method, but in some cases, it needs to be used properly with other reading methods in the era of big data. Among other types of reading, there is distant reading (DR). DR is a term coined by Franco Moretti, an Italian literary scholar, to describe a methodology of literary analysis that involves the quantitative analysis of large amounts of literary texts. In this presentation, we would like to introduce a teaching method that can properly combine ER and DR for literary texts. For DR, beginner-level computer coding activities are covered in this presentation. The programming language for DR is R. R is well-liked and widely used among professionals who work with data, particularly those who specialize in data science. In this presentation, we also introduce a checklist and materials for the ER-DR classes.

Reading skills textbooks are often inadequate in catering to the needs for students with various reading ability levels, content-related suitability, the and aims of the course. This research context involves 3rd year Japanese university English majors undertaking a 15 week Rapid Reading course. In order to address the related issues and course goals, an online reading system using the Xreading website was implemented as the core reading material, and included supplementary activities. Course evaluation was conducted by administering a Likert scale questionnaire and indicated positive results in terms of reading skills, vocabulary, satisfaction of reading materials in terms of genre, reading level and speed, and advantages in using features of the website. The presenter aims to highlight key features of the course, evaluation methods, questionnaire results, suitability, and practicality of the Xreading website from both the student’s and teacher’s perspective.

Reading strategies, particularly the ability to guess meaning from context, are valuable tools for developing vocabulary knowledge. The current research project, supported by a Japanese federal grant, is investigating how access to an integrated dictionary during ER affects learners’ usage of these reading strategies. First-year English majors use the ER application Xreading which now offers instructors the option of allowing learners to access glossary definitions while they read. At the start of the year, learners completed a survey of how often they use particular reading strategies. Using contextual clues and guessing meaning were among the strategies learners used most regularly. Pre- and post-tests were also given to determine how accurately they were able to guess meaning. Interestingly, results indicated that the experimental groups with access to the integrated dictionary showed greater gains in this ability. Later stages of this research will include replication, the addition of follow-up interviews, and the inclusion of non-English majors.

Xreading is digital library that gives students access to over a thousand graded readers from major publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Macmillan, and National Geographic/Cengage Learning. Students have unlimited access to all books as well as audio narrations, ratings, and quizzes. In addition, the system tracks students' reading progress (books read, words read, reading speed, quiz scores, etc.) so it makes management and assessment much easier for teachers. Since it’s launch is 2014, the system has been continuously evolving and growing in terms of the number of books and features. In this presentation, the founder of Xreading will explain the new functionality that has been added over the past year, and what is planned for the future. Current users of the system are encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions based on their experience.

This presentation will introduce and demonstrate the Online Graded Text Editor (OGTE), a free, web-based tool developed by Dr. Charles Browne and Dr. Rob Waring to assist teachers doing extensive reading with turning ungraded webpages and content into student-friendly texts at just the right level. OGTE takes inspiration from previous well known tools made for researchers such as VocabProfile by Tom Cobb and AntWord Profiler by Laurence Anthony, but with an eye towards making the tool more user-friendly for practicing teachers and content developers. OGTE allows users to analyze and write texts utilizing a wide range of popular corpus-based vocabulary lists including the many lists from the NGSL Project, CEFR wordlists, Cambridge wordlists, the Oxford 3000 and the 20 levels used both at ER-Central.com, the free extensive reading site developed by Dr. Browne and Dr. Waring as well as the Extensive Reader Foundation Graded Reader Level Scale.

Listen to a debate about ebooks and paper books. You can help decide the winner.

English has become one of the most popular languages worldwide. However, many students, especially those who are not English majors, face significant challenges when it comes to reading and comprehension. These challenges may include limited vocabulary, grammatical difficulties, and ineffective learning strategies. As a result, the motivation to improve reading skills among students is often low. Nevertheless, the importance of reading skills cannot be overstated, as they are essential for future career success and personal growth. To address this issue, the researcher plans to use Facebook as an extensive reading tool to increase the reading motivation of non-English major college students. This innovative approach takes advantage of the unprecedented development of social networking applications. The study will employ method triangulation to collect data, including interviews and document analysis of portfolios from 40 to 45 students in two English classes next semester. The findings of this research are expected to gradually facilitate students' reading learning in classes and serve as a reference for other ESL or EFL lecturers to conduct further in-depth research.

Bring any questions about setting up or maintaining an ER program, or using ER in your classes. Share ideas and experience with others.

Bring any questions about setting up or maintaining an ER program, or using ER in your classes. Share ideas and experience with others.