This workshop session will introduce the participants to the world of graded readers. We will see and experience graded readers at various levels of difficulty from those which use less to 100 unique words to tell their story to ones with over 3000 unique words ('headwords'). We will discuss both paper-based and digitally-based material. While fictional graded readers are the most common, there is now an abundance of non-fiction readers on topics such as biographies, science and technology, the environment, and geography. Mention will also be made concerning "youth readers" -- books written with native-speaking children as their target audience, but which can be prudently used.

The goal of most extensive reading programs is to increase each student’s volume of reading. However, getting students to read and assessing each student's participation can be a daunting task. This presentation will look at various ways to assess student participation and ways to vary tasks according to different motivational types. The presentation will look at easy solutions to getting students to read and record their activity, and examine how varying attitudes about reading amongst students can greatly influence their engagement. The presentation will look at four types of students – the player, the pupil, the participant, and the prisoner. Attendees will learn how to identify students with different motivations, and how to create tasks that cater to their interests. The presenter will share various activities that have worked successfully, and not, over a ten-year span teaching ER classes at universities in Japan.

This talk will discuss the value of extensive reading for language learning. It will begin with a discussion of the four strands of language learning: meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development. The talk will then move into a discussion of what extensive reading is, best practices, and how it helps learners master their language skills by improving reading, listening, speaking, vocabulary, and grammar. Resources for extensive reading will also be introduced.

The aim of this workshop is to equip EFL teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to write branching narratives for extensive reading activities using artificial intelligence (AI). The workshop will begin by providing an overview of what branching narratives are and how they can enhance the reading experience of EFL learners. Participants will then learn about the principles behind an AI-trained language model and how it can be used to generate coherent and engaging storylines. The workshop will guide participants through the process of creating their own branching narratives using an AI-trained language model, providing step-by-step instructions and practical tips. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a greater understanding of how to use an AI-trained language model to create immersive and engaging reading experiences for their students.

Research has demonstrated the importance of extensive reading for supporting students’ development as proficient and engaged readers. Among the ten principles listed by Day & Bamford (2002), the presence of interesting texts, the importance of choice, reading for pleasure and reading as much as possible are key elements to encourage students’ independent reading. Given worldwide concern about students’ seeming decline in reading, it is important to consider ways to revitalise practices of extensive reading in schools for both children and adolescents. This panel proposes to extend ways to encourage extensive reading through the use of children’s literature, book clubs, e-resources, and school libraries. In this panel, the presenters will share about how to motivate students’ extensive reading through (1) selective curation of quality children’s literature, (2) conducting online book clubs, and (3) stocking the school library with quality resources for adolescent readers.

This workshop aims to demonstrate particular ways children can learn English through extensive reading and listening. As Dr. David Hill mentioned in the first ERWC, language cannot be effectively learned without going through ER and EL. The learning process can be expedited by using a variety of techniques in both ER and EL. These techniques are especially important for young beginner learners with shorter attention spans. This workshop shows how making story-maps, and, collaterally, illustrating flashcards, playing word games and solving word puzzles, with accompanying reading-aloud presentations, make the learning process easier for the learners because it involves the use of senses, physical actions, and play. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to create story-maps with Dr. Park, and flash cards and related items with Dr. Takase, and practice how to use them effectively.

Are you interested in writing stories for your students? This workshop will take you through the first steps in writing your very own story. The aim of this workshop will be to address questions such as, how do you get the inspiration for a story? How should a story be structured? What do I have to do to make the story interesting for my students and other readers? How do I maintain a certain language level? At the end of the session each participant will come out with a plan for their story.

The presenters will discuss the process of writing narratives based on real-world issues. The focus will be on how the stories come into being, how they are mined, refined, and then redefined into graded readers. We will briefly describe the collaborative process from story development and editing, working with the authors and publisher, and some of the challenges in getting the readers into print. In the second half of the workshop, we will take a look at a new series in development focusing on content that we would like to share with our learners, stories that matter such as unsung heroines, marginalized groups, and people improving the lives of others. While the aim has always been to provide broader perspectives on global topics, we also want to create engaging, light-hearted content that does not compromise our efforts to leave our readers with the sense of humanity we crave in society.

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.

A common understanding of the term 'fluency' is the ability to use speak a language you have been given or chosen to learn without thinking about it, to do just what needs to be done with language in any situation. For most people, this means accurate and appropriate use of language, which whether they realize it or not, includes many aspects of linguistic knowledge: syntax, morphology, phonology, phonetics, semantics, and socio-pragmatics. Fluency, however, is just one component of the construct of language proficiency, which also includes complexity, accuracy, and lexis (Skehan, 1998). More precisely, fluency is the component of proficiency which reflects the learners' ability to spontaneously access implicit knowledge to express their ideas and exchange information quickly and continuously (Lennon, 1990; Olkonnen & Mutta, 2020; Segalowitz, 2003, 2010; Skehan, 2009). Nation (2000) claims that fluency building activity should make up 25% of a balanced language curriculum since no matter what you know, you should be able to produce it fluently. Unlike accuracy, complexity, and lexis, however, fluency has been largely ignored as a focus of classroom-based language learning, of language teacher training, of published instructional materials, and of curricular design. In this workshop, after a brief review of the research-based rationale for including fluency development activity in the ESL curriculum, participants will engage in a variety of fluency-building activities for reading and listening that will support ER, EL, and language learning, in general. Principles for choosing and designing tasks for fluency development will be used to evaluate the activities as well as help participants design practical ways in which they can include fluency development activity in their current course or curricula.

In this workshop, the presenters introduce Mini-Bibliobattle, a simplified variation of Bibliobattle. Bibliobattle refers to a social book presentation game where presenters introduce their favorite book for five minutes, followed by a three-minute Q&A session, and votes select the Champion Book from participants. This game has been spreading in Japan since it was developed in 2007, and teachers started using it in a language classroom. We will demonstrate the game at the site and provide some tips to instruct in combination with extensive reading. Students' perceptions of the game from our practices will also be provided.