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.

Studies found that multimodal texts are more attractive to students and have been helpful in engaging reluctant readers (Serafini, 2012; Thompson & McIlnay, 2019). For regular texts to receive similar reactions from less engaged readers, multimodal responses as during- or post-reading activities may need to be introduced. This presentation reports the experience of a group of English department students in adapting some self-made reading materials like poems and short stories produced by other students into other modes such as short movies, audiobooks, and video books. The adaptation process took place in four months under a project called EDAP ( English Department Adaptation Project). Data was collected using ethnographic data collection methods such as observation, in-depth interviews, and students' self-reflection on reading and adapting the texts. The multidimensionality of their experiences was reflected in the level of engagement and in the depth of their comprehension of the reading materials.

In this talk, the presenters will discuss Xreading News. This is an exciting feature of Xreading launched in April 2022. Xreading News offers real news stories each week achieving two main goals; 1- to expose students to current affairs, and 2- to expose students to more English. Five news stories from around the world, from a wide range of fields, such as Science, Technology, the Environment, and World News, are produced in graded language and uploaded to Xreading every Sunday. But how do writers select their stories? Why are some stories more suitable for Xreading News than others? Why are Ukraine and chatty mushrooms suitable and Roe Vs Wade is not? The presenters will talk about their experiences choosing, writing, and leveling real news stories. We will also look at the changes made from an original submission to a published entry and discuss why the editing decisions were made.

There are two major kinds of paths to learn English in China: acquisition and learning for exams. The students who learn English through acquisition normally start before they are three years old and follow similar paths with US kids, using leveled readers, bedtime stories, and songs. By the age of eight, many of them are able to read authentic teenage-level books, but it doesn't necessarily mean they can get a high score on English exams at school. So, we might ask what should they do? Other students follow the school textbook system and can pass the exams, but they can't read the books, and don't enjoy reading. Thus, we might wonder if there are any materials for them to start reading. From beginners to higher intermediate levels, we divide the reading level into 5 stages based on headwords level of the ERF form. This presentation will give some suggestions about books for each stage for these two kinds of students.

Limited availability of graded readers in Japanese highlights the urgent need for the development of reading materials to promote extensive reading in Japanese language education. To address this issue, we have developed new graded readers specifically designed for beginner-level learners. Through this process, we gained valuable insights into what it takes to create effective reading materials. In order to make the content easier to understand and more engaging for learners, we took into account the following factors: control of vocabulary and grammar, story content, number of characters, story flow and structure, background knowledge, and illustrations. In addition, we also considered obtaining permission from relevant individuals for the content of the stories, as well as the needs of readers with disabilities. Our findings will be useful for future development of graded readers.

In terms of implementing extensive reading (ER), instructors often let students choose what they want to read. Thus, instructors do not exercise any control over the difficulty level of students’ reading materials. The present study is a four-year investigation of ER with restriction, which attempts to address this issue by setting restrictions on students’ choice of reading materials. 206 third-year Japanese university students participated in this study. The first group (free-reading group) was permitted to read books of any length, whereas the second group (restricted-reading group) had to choose books of at least 1,000 words in length. The findings revealed that both groups read a similar number of books over the same period of time. However, the restricted-reading group read more words than the free-reading group because the restricted-reading group had to choose books of at least 1,000 words in length. Requiring students to read longer books might encourage them to read more and thus reach their reading goal more easily.

This presentation focuses on the current findings of an ongoing case study conducted with an in-service teacher in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, concerning the challenges of developing bilingual digital reading materials with a local context theme for young learners. This study closely observed a teacher as she went through intensive training for developing digital reading materials. Afterward, a series of in-depth interviews were conducted to investigate the difficulties encountered by the teacher during the materials development process. The findings revealed that the teacher found it difficult to choose a digital platform that was simple to use while also providing adequate interactivity to facilitate the intended reading activities. The other difficulty was finding a topic that was both interesting and relevant to the curriculum in the local context. These findings highlight the importance of proper training in the development of digital reading materials and how to use them in ER contexts.

Literacy Cloud is a free digital storybook that can be used by teachers to engage learners in developing skills and habits of reading. This presentation examines the implementation of extensive reading (ER) using Literacy Cloud as mobile English learning and their perceptions of this implementation. Forty-five EFL students in 3rd-grade vocational high schools participated in this study. They had no experience in ER and did not have experience using Literacy Cloud before, so Literacy Cloud was introduced to support the ER program. Then, questionnaires and interviews were given to find out their experiences using Literacy Cloud in the ER class. The results showed that they have positive attitudes and perceptions about Literacy Cloud, and they revealed that it was very useful for supporting their English skills, especially reading skills. This study suggests that English teachers should consider ER to be implemented in language learning, it is advisable to integrate it with technologies such as Literacy Cloud because it provides many benefits for the development of students' reading skills.

This study investigated the multidimensional effects of extensive listening (EL) on learners’ language gains, selection of study materials, practice styles, and their perceived effectiveness of EL. Fifty-five university students took part in a four-month EL experiment. Each week students kept a listening log recording what materials they selected, how they practiced, and how much time they practiced. Students also reported the content they practiced to their instructor at the weekly meeting. Language gains were measured through a pre-test and a post-test on students’ aural vocabulary test (Listening Vocabulary Levels Test, LVLT) and general listening comprehension (TOEIC). The perceived effectiveness of EL was collected through a 32-item questionnaire. Overall, students made significant improvements on their aural vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension, which were consistent with their perceived effectiveness of EL. The questionnaire results revealed that most students liked and were able to select their study materials that suited their language levels and interests. In addition, EL was found to be a very individual activity because many students were reluctant to share or discuss with their friends about what they had practiced. Their practice style was mainly a combination listening plus viewing. Some issues encountered in the implementation of EL were discussed and suggestions were made.

"Links" is a new four skills textbook with a built-in ER component through Xreading. This presentation compares the experience of students and teacher in the implementation of Links in two classroom settings: An intact class of mainstream students and a class of so-called ‘retaker’ students who have failed the course at least once before. Classes of retakers often require special considerations because of their previous negative learning experiences in English classes in particular and or anxieties in educational settings in general. Thus, retaker and mainstream classes will be compared qualitatively on affective and motivational measures, such as willingness to complete extensive reading and attitudes toward extensive reading, as well as quantitatively on performance measures, such as amount of reading and reading speed. Finally, I will present observations, successes, and challenges of adapting Links to each of the classes from an instructor’s perspective.

Pick up some graded readers from the collection donated to the conference.

The article investigates the experiences and perspectives of students in relation to extensive listening, a technique used to enhance listening skills. The study is based on qualitative research methods, including interviews and focus group discussions with a diverse group of students from higher education institutions. The study aims to understand the effectiveness of extensive listening in improving students' listening skills, and how students perceive and approach extensive listening activities. The article explores the factors that influence students' attitudes towards extensive listening, such as their motivation, prior listening experiences, and the relevance of the listening material. The findings of the study reveal the benefits of extensive listening, including its impact on students' listening skills, motivation, and overall language proficiency. The study also highlights some of the challenges that students face in implementing extensive listening activities, such as finding appropriate listening material and managing time. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of taking into account students' perspectives and experiences in designing extensive listening activities and promoting this technique as an effective method for improving listening skills in higher education institutions.

This session will show how materials for EL can supplement and even substitute as materials for ER, and how the two approaches work well together. The main aim of ER is to provide engaging reading materials that increase student exposure to comprehensible input. Left out of the equation is the importance of EL and how it can work just as effectively as ER because most naturally spoken language is simple in terms of both grammar and vocabulary, making it suitable as graded content that is easy to read. This presentation will look at the power of extemporaneous speech and how naturally spoken transcripts can lead to engaging content that is mobile friendly, multimodal, interesting, free to access and in abundance. The presentation will also look at how technological limitations in the past led to EL being overlooked, and how those limitations no longer exist.

Many language teachers want to make Extensive Reading a part of their classes with the knowledge that it will benefit their students’ language development. However, due to the curricular and textbook requirements of some institutions, it can be difficult to implement extensive reading into a general English course. This presentation describes the development of a four-skills, oral communication coursebook seamlessly integrating an ER program through Xreading.com. The book is designed with a task-based approach and features engaging and relevant topics for learners.