Using a Standard Reading Exercise in a Foundational Literacies Course

Abstract

The benefits of a standard exercise, whereby students regularly answer the same set of questions by applying them to a variety of different texts, were first explored by Scott, Carioni, Zanatta, Bayer, and Quintanilha (1984). The Foundational Literacies Advanced Stream curriculum design project at a Japanese university has decided to experiment with such an exercise, as it is felt that introducing students to a range of different texts can be a useful method of learner empowerment. Students were given the opportunity to offer feedback on the activity in the form of a survey. Additionally, three students provided further comment in interviews. This paper attempts to justify the inclusion of such an exercise in the curriculum, explain the text choices, evaluate the relative success and usefulness of the experiment by analysing the results of the survey and interviews, and also to advise of any improvements that might need to be made.Utilisation of a standard reading exercise (SRE) has long been advocated, for example by Scott, Carioni, Zanatta, Bayer, & Quintanilha (1984) and more recently Paltridge (2002). Members of a curriculum design committee decided to implement its use in an Advanced Stream course for freshman students at a university near Tokyo, over the academic year 2013-2014. This paper will first explain the academic context for this decision, and then the design process. It will next justify the selection of texts, and finish by analysing both qualitative and quantitative data to consider the effectiveness of the exercise. The paper concludes that the SRE has been largely successful, and with some modifications will continue to be utilised. This paper is of possible interest to anyone involved in the teaching of reading. It contributes to a holistic understanding of the way learners acquire reading skills, in contrast to those understandings framed only by traditional views of literacy competency. Literature Review BackgroundFreshman students in the English department at a Japanese university take four 90-minute weekly communication skills classes, and two lessons of Foundational Literacies (FL). The course integrates reading and writing in a genre-based curriculum, and hopes to empower students by familiarizing them with a range of different text types. As Hyland (2007) wrote, "genre pedagogies" can help enable "learners to participate effectively in the world outside" of the school or institution (p. 148). A similar "genre-based approach" that pays close attention to both " the context of situation and the context of culture" (Chaisiri, 2010, p. 181) has been