Development and Promulgation of Extensive Reading in the English Classroom

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

There has been three main goals for the present research: 1) development of Extensive Reading (ER) in the classroom, 2) promulgation of ER in Japanese schools and universities, and 3) development of Internet technology for ER.Toward the goal of 1), the present researchers have bought ER materials with the aid-in-grant and possess now as many as 3000 books for use in the classroom and for borrowing by students. All the books are labeled according to the ease-of-reading scale developed by the present researchers.Goal 2 has been partially achieved by two activities by the present researchers. First, an ER handbook for teachers of English has been published by the head investigator in cooperation with one other author.( See References below.) Second, the head investigator traveled to more than a dozen schools and universities, meeting and discussing with teacher of English as a foreign language on benefits and problems of ER, giving advice to students who are practicing ER.Goal 3 has also been partially achieved through making software for accessing ER materials database and recording one's progress via the Internet. The software is at the moment a skeleton of what can be a smooth, accessible and informative recording system. The present authors admit that much more work needs to be done on this front.