Using Extensive Reading to Develop Oral Language Skills
Tracy Cramer (Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka, Japan)
tcramer@kansaigaidai.ac.jp
2004 TESOL (Long Beach, CA) Conference Handout
The purpose of extensive reading is to help learners develop their L2 reading proficiency.
The content of what students are reading about can also serve as the basis for a number of
oral communication activities. The following list of activity procedures contains only a few
of the many activities teachers can have their learners engage in. Most are simply variations
on an activity I did not directly address, as it is the most obvious: the book discussion
group. (Most of the activities listed here are from other teachers, and can be found, along
with a lot of other activities and information, at: www.extensivereading.net).
Oral Activities:
1.
“Instant Book Report” (From Helgesen, M. Miyagi Gakuin, Sendai, Japan) can serve
as the support for a number of oral activities.
Instant Book Report
I read a book called ______________________.
It's ______________________________story.
(Genre)
It's about______________________________.
The main characters are __________________.
(Names, jobs, personalities).
In the story there was a problem. ____________.
I liked it because _______________________.
I didn’t like it because ____________________.
2. “Content Prediction”: (from Williams, G. (2003). JALT Conference. Shizuoka, Japan).
a. All students (Ss) select a book, read the title and look at cover picture.
b. Ss use dictionary to look up any unknown words from title.
c. Ss write a short description of what they think the book is about.
d. S A tells partner (reads, looks up and says) what he/she thinks the book is
about.
e. S B listens and writes down what S A has written.
f. Switch.
g. Teacher (T) circulates, then can collect, read and grade prediction for
completeness.
3. “Titles and Genres”: (From Schmidt, K Extensive Reading in English Communication
Courses. Extensivereading.net).
a. Ss are introduced to English vocabulary for a variety of genres in literature.
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b. Pairs then scan through five books, looking at titles, illustrations, chapter
headings, and blurbs to determine their genres.
c. Ss return books, then form new groups of three and take turns describing
the books they just examined (no titles!) while their partners try to locate
the books in question.
d. Finally, several Ss introduce books they have found to the rest of the class.
4. “Blurb & Title Match": (From Schmidt, K Extensive Reading in English Communication
Courses. Extensivereading.net).
a. Ss work in pairs. Partner A and partner B each receive a different set of
blurbs taken from books in the class library, along with identical title lists.
b. While A reads aloud a blurb from his list, B searches for a likely title.
c. After agreeing on a title, B reads another blurb to A, and so on.
d. Through this listening activity students have the opportunity to identify
interesting books, and, since blurbs are written at the same language level as
the books, to further gauge their appropriate reading levels.
5. "Favorite Book Round Robin”: (From Schmidt, K Extensive Reading in English
Communication Courses. Extensivereading.net).
a. Ss work with partners, and using their completed Instant Book Reports for
support, discuss their favorite books so far (e.g., "What's it about? What
did you like best about it? How did it end?").
b. After an appropriate time interval, new pairs are formed, and the activity is
repeated, but this time with no access to written reports.
c. Ss will be pleased to find that they are able to function without support and
many will be able to interact more freely when not tied to the written page.
d. After repeating this process for a third time, several students share
interesting books they had learned of with the class.
6.
“Book Q & A” or “Book Review” (Similar to “Favorite Book Round Robin”). (Adapted
from Schmidt, K http://www.geocities.com/kennethjschmidt/ER/).
a. As homework, Ss fill out review forms (at above web site) and use them in class to
support speech-like book reviews, or one-to-one conversations, as shown below.
b. Answer your partner's questions about the book you've reviewed. You can
use your Q & A/Book Review Form to help.
c. Then ask your partner about her/his book. Take some brief notes to aid your
memory.
d. Change partners and repeat the process. This time, you can't use your form
to tell about the book. You can use it to ask questions, however.
e. Change partners again and repeat the activity. This time, neither partner can
use the Form.
7. “Draw a Picture” (Helgesen, M)
a. Variation 1:
 Pair a student with a classmate who is reading the same book.
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For HW, ask students to draw a picture from the story that represents a main idea
from the story.
 In class, partners explain their drawings and reactions.
b. Variation 2:
 In class, the students think of any book they've read.
 Give them five minutes to draw a picture of a scene from the story.
 In pairs or small groups they show the picture and explain it. (It's interesting to
notice that pictures often get students to go beyond the level of literal
comprehension to make responses at higher emotional and affective levels).
 Hint: If your students are good at drawing, they may take too long to draw. Forbid
erasers. This forces the artists to work faster.
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8. “How Many Questions?” is an activity based on the illustrations in the books.
a. In class, learners select a picture from a book they have finished reading.
b. Give them 5 minutes to write down a description of the picture, and their reactions
to that scene.
c. Put learners in groups of three. One person shows the chosen picture and explains it.
d. Partners listen and ask as many questions as possible (What's this person's name?
Where is she? Why did she go there? etc.).
e. The goal is to ask as many questions as possible in a given period of time (usually
about three minutes per book).
f. To do this as a game or to introduce competition to encourage reluctant speakers,
students get one point for each question they ask.
Variation 2 of “Draw a Picture” and “How Many Questions” are from Helgesen, M. (1997).
Bringing Those Books Back to the Classroom: Tasks for Extensive Reading. The Language
Teacher 21(5).
9. Book Interview Questions for Teacher (Assessment)
At the end of the semester you will each speak individually with me for about five minutes.
Here are some example questions:
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What's the book about?
What happens in the end? / How does it end?
How did you feel when you finished the book?
Who was your favorite character? Why?
What was the most interesting thing about this book?
What did you learn from this book?
What did you think about when you read the book?
What did you think of the book? / How did you like it?
If you could change anything about this book, what would it be?
Do you recommend it? Why/Why not?
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10. Book Report Oral Presentation: (Handout)
Purpose:
 To practice your oral presentation skills.
 To share your pleasure and interest in your favorite book with your classmates so
that they will become interested in and read the book you read; (a speaking skill
that you will always be able to with your English-speaking friends and peers)
General Instructions:
1. Pick the book that you most enjoyed reading.
2. Prepare a ~ 8 minute long oral presentation following the guidelines below.
3. Persuade your classmate to read the book through:
I. Book Report:
A. Book:
1. Genre
2. Level
3. Number of Pages
4. How long it took you to read.
B. Author:
1. A few facts about the life of the author.
2. General comments.
C. Summary:
1. Time and Setting.
2. Main Characters (What are they like?)
3. Main Ideas (Do not give a detailed plot summary. Give just the main ideas. Do not
tell the ending of the story).
4. What is the mood of story?
II. Book Review
A. Your Reaction:
1. Why did you like this story? (What do you like about the story?)
2. What excited, interested, or moved YOU about this story? (Help your classmates
feel some of the thoughts, excitement, or other emotions you had or felt. Hint:
Look up adjectives in the dictionary to describe your impressions and feelings).
3. What attracted you to the book?
4. Were there parts of the story you did not like? Why?
B. Your recommendation:
1. Why do you think your classmates should read this book?
2. What do you think they will enjoy about the story?
3. What do you think they will learn from the story?
4.
ER Handout I give my Ss:
Extensive Reading means reading a LOT of short, easy books that you choose. Why will you
do this? Reading a lot of easy books develops your reading fluency, speed, and confidence.
With increased fluency, speed, and confidence, you will understand more of what you read,
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and you will actually enjoy reading in English. You will then read more, and your command of
the language will grow stronger and stronger.
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What kinds of books will we read? (Yes, we, because I will read too!) We will use
graded readers. Graded readers are books written for adult language learners, like
you, to help them become more fluent readers. These books can help you do this
because they are great stories, and they are written so that you will see the same
grammar and vocabulary again and again.
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How many books will we read? Each of us will read 1 book a week for homework.
“One book a week!” you say. “That’s crazy!” It’s not. The books are very short, and
they will take you less than one hour to read.
Will there be tests and quizzes? No. You will, however, keep “book journal” where
you will write a very short report telling me the main ideas, what you thought and
what you felt. You will also talk with your classmates about your book, and give them
a short oral report.
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Where are the books? The library and I have a lot of them. You will sign it out,
promise to keep it in good condition, and return it one week later.
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Which book level is best? You will take a “test” to check your reading level. Based
on the results of the test, I will show you which level is best for you. When you have
read several books at this level, and your speed has increased, and you have good
comprehension, you can then change levels. In just one semester, you will be a much
better reader in English!
Example Q & A Form from Activity # 5:
Questions
What's the title of your book?
What level is it?
What genre is it?
What's the book about?
Do you recommend this book?
Answers
A Christmas Carol
Level C
A ghost story, I think.
It’s about an old man. He is mean to people.
He is very greedy and does not like
Christmas. But on Christmas Eve 3 spirits
visit him and try to change his heart because
his heart is very cold. He changes, in the
end.
Absolutely/Very much/For sure/If you're
interested in ghost stories, yes. (If you like
ghost stories…)
Only if you're interested in…(Only if you
like…)
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Not, really. No
I really like Christmas, and I always have
happy feelings about it. But in this story the
main character hates it. It was very scary.
The ghosts helped him change. He learned
about love, and I like that.
Why? (Why not?)
Other Possible Questions:
Where is the story set? Where does the
story take place?
What time period is it set in?
What happens after… /to… /in the end?
Did you like the ending?
If you could, how would you change the
book/ending?
Is the ending happy or sad?
How did you feel when you finished the
Answer appropriately.
book?
What was the best (or worst) thing about
the book/story?
Who was your favorite character?
How long did it take you to read?
(Adapted from Schmidt, K. Tohoku Bunka Gakuin University)
Edinburgh Project on ER Level Chart (Does not include Level G. The color-coding is my own).
Level
F
(Green)
E
(Purple)
D
(Blue)
C
(Red)
Publisher/Headwords
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Macmillan (600)
(Beginner)
Penguin 1 (300)
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Cambridge 1 (400)
Oxford 1 (400)
Penguin 1 (300)
(Some)
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Cambridge 2 (800)
Macmillan (1100) (Elementary)
Oxford 2 (700)
Penguin 2 (600)
 Cambridge 3 (1300)
 Macmillan (1600)
(Intermediate – Some)
 Oxford 3 (1000)
 Penguin 3 (1200)
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 Macmillan (1600)
(Intermediate – Some)
 Oxford 4 (1400)
 Penguin 4 (1700)
B
(Orange)
A
(Black)
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Macmillan (2200)
Oxford 5 (1800)
Penguin 5 (2300)
X
(Pink)
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Oxford 6 (2500)
Penguin 6 (3000)
(Upper)
Chart I put on board to explain ER to Ss:
Extensive
READING
General understanding and
enjoyment
PURPOSE
Intensive
Language study and information
(the info can be enjoyed too!)
LEVEL
Easy (graded readers)
A lot
Often more difficult
AMOUNT
Not much
8
Fast and fluent
SPEED
Slower
TEXT
Teacher chooses
Student chooses
Adapted from: Welch, Roberta A. (1997). Introducing Extensive Reading. The Language
Teacher, 21 (5).