Sunday, January 19, 2014

Complex ER Problem (for CEP 812)

I have a problem in my EFL Reading courses at a university in Japan in getting my students to self-select level-appropriate reading material for extensive reading (ER). What I have done to date is give them a general introduction to the concepts in ER, general guidance as to where I think they should start to find the right level of reading materials (including both bringing materials into the classroom and taking them to the library to explore materials), and then monitoring their choices and doing individual consultations until they get zeroed in. However, since the time for checking with them is really limited, this can take several weeks to get all students on track. Also, they may sort out that Level 1 for a specific publisher's graded reader series suits them, but then another publisher's level 1 may be quite a bit more difficult. What I have found, the Extensive Reading Foundation's Online Placement Test, looks to improve and shorten the process of getting my students aware of their own levels and how their individual level corresponds to several graded reader series. Have a look at this screencast for some more information about it. (If video does not display properly, follow this link.)

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2 comments:

  1. This looks like a great solution. Have you tried testing in on a few of your current students? Would that help you double check the accuracy of the program?

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  2. Hello! I can see how this program would help improve many aspects of your extensive reading problem. Did you find this program through your own research or was this listed in one of the options from our course? Also, were you able to select the native language? I feel that some of my colleagues would find this program very useful with our ELLs. Thanks for sharing!
    Allison Birbal

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