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Two big questions about reading

Children who engage with reading are three times more likely to have high levels of mental well-being than those who do not - ().

There are two big questions we need to consider to help our students succeed in today’s school environment and to improve their general well-being.

• How can we help our teenagers develop literacy and reading skills to be able to understand 21st century texts and modern communication?
• How can we get reluctant readers to enjoy reading and become lifelong readers?

Research points in one direction: that is reading for pleasure! Here are four tips to help your students read more - and enjoy it.

Tip 1: Give them a choice of great graded reader

Reading can help students escape into new worlds and switch off from the day, helping them cope with stress and worry. The outcomes of reading will occur more often and more strongly if reading is enjoyable in the first instance.

The benefits of reading are more likely to be felt when reading takes place through free choice. Give your students a wide selection of graded readers of different genres and at the right level. Ask them what genres they know and then do a class survey to find out which they like reading most.

ÃÛÌÒapp English Graded Readers offer teenagers a large range of genres at all levels. The series offers world-renowned stories – fiction, non-fiction, biographies, cinematic readers, plays, short stories and classics – rewritten for English learners.

Tip 2: Involve the students in a collaborative group activity

A reading circle is a strategy where the teacher puts students into groups to read a whole book or one or more chapters. At the end of the project, each group creates a presentation to deliver to the class. Reading circles reinforce listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in a supportive and collaborative environment.

What’s more, they encourage students to deepen their understanding of a chosen text, as students are encouraged to talk about the book they are reading with their classmates. They discuss plots, the specific language used, and personal experiences, think about the characters and make connections to the outside world and citizenship.

Students work collaboratively and think about and discuss what they have read. At the same time, they are guided towards deeper comprehension and are encouraged through active learning to take an interest in other students’ ideas.

This type of collaborative project works perfectly in a face-to-face or remote teaching situation. It can be a way of nudging reluctant readers to read. You can help your students deepen discussions about books, create lifelong readers and build a respectful classroom community.

How to lead a reading circle

Create your reading circles by forming groups of four to seven students. Learners should be at the same reading level and also have similar interests, where possible.

The objective of each circle is to read the book and prepare a presentation to share with the whole class. Each group decides collaboratively which reader they would like to read together; however, ask each group to read a different book so you have a variety of presentations.

Reading circles should be fully student led. Students are empowered and supported by their peers as they all have a specific and important role to play. Through the project and preparing the digital responses students learn digital skills and improve their digital literacy and critical thinking.

Suggested reading circle roles:

• Slides Wizard: Creates the slides for the presentation
• Presentation Wizard: Helps with the presentation to the class
• Artistic Wizard: Looks at the illustrations in the book (this could be good for students with dyslexia)
• Film Wizard: Finds information about the film version if there is one
• Word Wizard: Finds new or keywords
• Summary Wizard: Writes/creates a summary/visual summary of the plot
• Sentence Wizard: Finds important quotations, and sentences in the book
• Character Wizard: List/description of characters
• Places in the book Wizard: Finding out about symbolic locations in the book

Students can present their reading circles project in several different ways. For example:

• A PowerPoint presentation
• A poster
• A video
• A Padlet (interactive notice board where they can post comments, files, pictures and audio and video recordings).

While students are watching the presentations, they should give feedback to the groups presenting using a feedback form, giving praise and suggesting areas of improvement.

Tip 3: Introduce your students to a class library

Introduce a class library and engage students in reading during class time or outside the classroom. If you don’t have much space for physical books, eLibraries can also ensure students can read the books remotely and read the same book at the same time! As with the printed versions, there are readers for teenage and adult students who want to supplement standard English course materials and build their English competence.

At the end of the year, students can organize a reading festival (either face-to-face or virtually) where they showcase their responses to reading e.g. videos, posters, lap books, dances…anything they like!

Tip 4: Help struggling readers build their confidence

Offering students a choice of readers at the right or slightly below their level can help boost their confidence. Ideally, guide them towards short stories so they can finish them.

Audiobooks can be an alternative to reading a book for a student with dyslexia (and other SEN students). They can have the same experience and many of the same benefits from listening to the story in English.

If they are reading it is important to scaffold their reading with pre-reading activities as they provide the necessary support before the reading starts and activate their background knowledge. It is also important to pre-teach vocabulary items and encourage them to predict what will happen in the story. Pair students up with a reading buddy so the student with dyslexia has another student who can help them.

From sending emails and participating in conference calls to studying a masters degree or communicating on social media, in today’s globalized world, English is used by more and moreÌýsecond-language English speakers in their daily lives.

For this reason, many schools, institutions and businesses now require their students or employees to have a minimum level of English. That’s why we need quick and efficient ways to test people’s proficiency and make sure they have the skills needed to communicate effectively.

This is where Versant by ÃÛÌÒapp tests come in. Our suite of four exams can be used to test various skills and competencies depending on the organization's needs. What’s more, they can be taken anywhere, at any time and the results are received instantly – making recruitment or enrollment a much smoother process.

This guide will help answer some questions you may have about the tests, and provide some links to useful resources.

What are the Versant tests?

The Versant by ÃÛÌÒapp tests are designed to measure an individual’s abilities in all or some of the four skills; speaking, writing, listening, or reading. They vary in length from between 17 to 50 minutes, and the results are available immediately afterwards.

There are four Versant products available, and they differ depending on which skills are considered most relevant to the candidates, or their places of work and study. It is possible to focus specifically on speaking or writing, for example, instead of a candidate’s entire skill set.

One thing which is consistent across all the tests is that they are fully automated, and can be delivered online or offline around the world at any time. The scores are then available immediately after finishing the test – so there will be no more agonizing waits for results!

In addition, other languages are also available in the testing suite; including Arabic, Dutch, French, Spanish and Aviation English.

Who are they for?

Organizations, institutions and corporations can use Versant by ÃÛÌÒapp tests to establish language proficiency benchmarks.

For businesses, they are a simple, reliable, and efficient tool for Human Resources (HR) departments to make sure their staff have the level required in the given language.

In an educational context, the tests are an excellent way for schools to place students within a certain program, to measure their progress and check their level at the end of a course to see if they are ready to move on.

"What’s the most effective way to learn English?" It’s a question that has perplexed linguists for years. I see room for plenty of innovation in where it all starts - 'Ed'.

The evolution of edtech

In the seventies, reel to reel tape recorders were the latest technology. They enabled us school kids in the north of England to hear French sentences spoken by a first language speaker, rather than by an English teacher.

We looked at pictures projected onto the wall, listened to the sentences and repeated them over and over again.ÌýNot only did the audio-lingual methodology use the latest technology – but the pedagogy was also based on the 'sound' learning science of behaviorism. In a nutshell: if you repeat something often enough, it becomes automatic.

This 'drill and kill' approach to language learning has since been discredited and replaced by the communicative approach. Nevertheless, it lasted long enough to inform all of my secondary school French education.

I was considered a linguist and a grade A student. I went on to study for a French degree. But when I finally landed in France, I was unable to participate in even the most basic conversations. How effective had my language learning been?

A focus on outcomes is needed

So what is the takeaway? Publishers, entrepreneurs and edtech companies must think carefully about their products and courses. What problems are they trying to address? What outcomes are they trying to target?

It’s not enough to be innovative or novel. The shiny new toy will only engage learners for a short time if they don’t feel like they are making progress. We need to measure the impact on actual learning.

However, it is great to see so many exciting things happening in the world of edtech. For the first time, I believe we are on the cusp of delivering truly personalized learning journeys to all students –not just those who can afford individual tuition.

Many of us are developing AI that makes the learning journey adaptive, that monitors learner progress and surfaces that progress to the learner, that offers feedback on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, speaking and writing.

We know that feedback has a significant impact on learning. We also know that it is challenging to give feedback on spontaneous language. But this is where AI is heading and soon the vision of learners interacting with virtual tutors on various topics will be a reality.

The role of teachers in the edtech landscape

Will technology replace teachers? Unlikely. Language is a social construct. We learn languages to communicate with others – and an increasing number of language apps are partnering with online tutors and creating language communities to address this need for human interaction. But technology can supplement what the teacher does – and will be able to do so more meaningfully thanks to AI.

It can extend language learning outside of the classroom, driving faster progress. It is available 24/7.It provides learners with a safe space to practice and fail – a way to build confidence. It does not replace the teacher. Instead, it enables the teacher to be replaced in the classroom, focusing on the communicative elements of language learning that are still a challenge for apps.