Chapter Three: Project of an Extensive Reading Course for Brazilian Languages and Literature Teachers In-service

Reading is a highly complex activity which requires an interaction among many factors, from which we cite the text, the purpose of reading, and the readers themselves. Besides, when we talk about reading in a foreign language, the challenge can become even more difficult. In this work, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Literature teachers from Brazil are the focus. The idea is sharing with them some ideas about the Extensive Reading (ER) approach. Here is the first draft of an ER course designed for them. This approach was chosen because it helps readers increase their vocabulary, their writing, listening, and speaking abilities, and above all, they start to read more fluently, which can lead them to develop a taste for reading and consequently, the habit of reading. ER can also increase their motivation to study more. In Brazil, there is a problem in the education of foreign language teachers: the majority of them do not get enough knowledge of the target language while pursuing their education. However, they have to teach it after graduating, even if they have only a poor language development. Besides, Portuguese teachers often teach only grammar, and the Literature ones, only literary trends, not being themselves good reading models. The point here is to help these teachers develop a reading taste and habit along with autonomy in their learning as well as in their teaching, with the aid of ER, so in the future they can be good reading models for their students.

Teacher education should be seen as a process, not as something still or finished, since a teacher is a professional who is always evolving personally as well as professionally. According to García (2013), “it is not intended that initial education offers ‘finished products’. It should be faced as the very first phase of a long and differentiated process of professional development ” (p. 55). This is clearly seen concerning foreign language teachers because of the issue of acquisition of the foreign language they teach. In Brazil, the initial education of these teachers at college is commonly basic. They cannot start teaching intermediate or advanced levels. This only happens as time goes by and they build their proficiency in the foreign language. Concerning Portuguese teachers, they often teach only grammar, and the Literature ones, only literary trends, not being themselves good reading models.

On the other hand, for that teacher who is more experienced, continuing education is necessary to instill enthusiasm in their practice. This enthusiasm can be “described as a predisposition to confront work with curiosity, energy, renewal ability and a wish to fight routine” (Dewey, 1989, p. 44).

It is important to mention the aspect of continuing development that reading encompasses for the teacher:

The core of a teacher’s development is, doubtless, the reading. For them, reading constitutes an instrument and/or a practice, a way of existing. Their fundamental compromise, according to the society expectations, is the (re)production of knowledge and the educational preparation of the new generations. Teacher, a subject who reads, and reading, a professional behavior, are undichotomizable terms – a knot that cannot nor must not untie (Theodoro da Silva, 2009, p. 23).

Moreover, reading must be considered as a way of enchanting the soul. Everyday life imposes to the teacher various kinds of literacy, among them is the one of “continuous and unpretentious acquaintanceship with literary texts and arts in general, to feed fantasy and to build other views of reality” (Theodoro da Silva, 2009, p. 25). Reading cannot be considered only as regarding written texts, but in this work, as a need for delimitation, it is going to be considered as that: Reading of written texts (poems, short stories or longer narratives).

According to Theodoro da Silva (2009), the rushed education of teachers in Brazil, along with precarious work conditions, low salaries and tortuous educational policies are factors that corroborate for teachers carrying out their profession without having a strong basis of a reading education. This situation brings disastrous consequences for the classroom, such as un-updateness of the teacher, “restrict repertoire, absence of reading abilities and competence, intellectual stagnation”, among others mentioned by the author.

Celani (2010, p. 61) specifies more clearly this view regarding languages teachers education: She states that one of the reasons for the unsatisfactory initial education of languages teachers in both theoretical and practical, as well as in linguistic aspects, is the double licentiate/Bachelor of Arts, that links up the foreign language studies with Portuguese studies, making the preparation of the future foreign languages teacher weak. Therefore,

(…) the teaching of foreign languages at school, especially in the public school, will be delivered to teachers who do not have even the basic mastery of the foreign language they are supposed to teach. Additionally, they were not exposed to a minimum theoretical reference; a reflexive education on teaching and on teaching a foreign language was not provided, let alone on teaching in adverse situations. Pre-service education is inadequate and unsatisfactory. Perhaps that explains the reason for the common belief that you do not learn a foreign language at school. With unprepared teachers, of course, you do not.

The question is: How to implement continuing education actions that are seen as relevant for the teachers and that can influence positively their classes? The extensive reading approach is considered one of the possible ways to make the continuous education of teachers a personally and professionally meaningful experience, improving their lives and consequently, their way of teaching. According to Day and Bamford (2002), “extensive reading, apart from its impact on language and reading ability, can be a key to unlocking the all important taste for foreign language reading among students.”

The general purpose here is to encourage those teachers to become teachers who read, with the accompanying influence on their students. It aims at building a more autonomous teacher profile since

(…) the good teacher is the one who is able to articulate, in their pedagogical work two basic instances: Theory (elaborate knowledge) and practice (action) so as to overcome a technical thinking of application and to take over an attitude of intelligent and creative reflection (Fávero; Tonieto, 2010, p. 63).

With the aim of clarifying what reading is, it is also important to have in mind the contribution of the literary understanding for the intellectual and human development (Langer, 2005, p. 7): “literary imagination (…) is a productive way of human reasoning which is useful not only at school, but also at work and in the daily life.”

According to Langer, when we read a book, we start a process called “envisionment building”. This process represents “the world of conceptualization a person has in a certain moment [of the reading]” (p. 22). It is different for each person and “includes what the person understands and does not understand, as well as any momentaneous suppositions about how the whole textual world will reveal, and any reactions to this” (p. 23). She states that “while we are reading, the envisionment buildings change; some ideas lose importance, others are added, and some are reinterpreted” (p. 24). Even after the book had been closed, the reader can still change some envisionments through additional thoughts, writings, and other readings or from discussions in the classroom. This process is highly social since it involves the intertextual web of history and experience which Bakhtin (1981) talks about: texts, subtexts, pretexts from past, the answers from the reader in the moment of the reading and the texts that will be generated or met in the future (as cited in Langer, 2005, p. 31). That is why, in this research, extensive reading is going to be faced as the basis for a broader discussion, because besides improving the readers fluency in reading, speaking, writing, in vocabulary acquisition, and even in listening, ER is going to be the fertile soil where the texts can seed ideas in students’ minds, and the teacher can help them harvest a better understanding of the world.

But what is extensive reading, exactly? According to Day (2003), “Extensive reading is based on the well-established premise that we learn to read by reading”. In this approach, reading is not seen as a simple ability or as translation of texts. Readers read having in mind the aim of reaching a general understanding and also to get information and pleasure. Readers can also be challenged to expand their comfort zone and read more demanding materials. This author, along with Bamford (1998, p. 7), cites the 10 basic principles of this approach:

1. Students read as much as possible.
2. A varied of materials on a wide range of topics is available.
3. Students select what they want to read.
4. The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding.
5. Reading is its own reward.
6. Reading materials are well within the linguistic competence of the students.
7. Reading is individual and silent.
8. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower.
9. Teachers orient students to the goals of the program.
10. The teacher is a role model of a reader for students.

All these characteristics are important for developing a program in extensive reading, but due to certain peculiarities on the application of the approach to languages and literature teachers in Brazil, it is believed that some of them must be analyzed more deeply and, if necessary, rethought for a better result of the actions of this research, since ER is considered an approach, not only a method or technique: “The principles are best viewed as guidelines, not as commandments” (Macalister, 2015, p. 123).

Method

This study aims at:

1. Proposing and applying a course of continuous education on ER for teachers of languages and literature from >public and private schools in Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil

1. Investigating the validity of this course for the Brazilian teachers.

The participants of this research are going to be Brazilian teachers of languages (Portuguese, English and Spanish) and literature from elementary and secondary schools, who enroll themselves in the Sensu Latu Specialization course at IFSul Passo Fundo Campus next year (2016). Twenty applicants are going to be selected to take part of the subject called “Extensive Reading: Theory and Practice.”

To achieve the objectives mentioned above, an action research is going to be performed with the teacher-students (The teachers who are students in the course; the author will be identified as the teacher-researcher). This kind of research consists of people in action in a certain social practice and at the same time, investigating this very practice (Moita Lopes, 1996, p. 185). This action research is going to be qualitative and ethnographic, without working with categories previously established. It is going to use instruments such as diaries, questionnaires, interviews, recordings (audio and/or video), and notes from the teacher with the aim of >(…) trying to discover: a) what is happening in this context; b) how these events >are organized; c) what they mean for students and teachers; and d) how these organizations can compare with >organizations in other learning environments (Erickson, 1986).

The recordings are probably going to be made using the software called CLASS, a Windows laptop computer system for the in-class analysis of classroom discourse, by professor Martin Nystrand (2002).

For this research, the first draft of a learning plan (see the appendix) was elaborated having as its base theoretical and practical studies about extensive reading. The subject of ER is going to be allotted 30 hours distributed over four Saturdays. The classes are going to be in the morning and in the afternoon, from 8 am to 12 pm, and from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm, with breaks for coffee (about 20 min) and lunch (1h30min). The ER classes are planned to take place in June, 2016. Previously, a questionnaire is going to be applied for the teacher-students, probably in March, so as to gather information about them, such as reading habits in the mother tongue and/or a foreign language, previous education, professional experience, etc. The main objective of this discipline is to introduce the extensive reading approach for the teacher-students. Also, there are going to be demonstrations, practice and reflections on possible methodologies and techniques to be applied with their students having in mind this approach and the reality of their schools. A post questionnaire is planned to be applied about six months after the classes to measure the impact of the ER approach on the participants.

On the first meeting, after the usual introductions, the teacher-researcher is going to explain the ER approach briefly, and the way the discipline is organized. Then, the results of the previously applied questionnaire are going to be made available for everybody, without mentioning any names of respondents. The materials (books, photocopies, etc) are going to be distributed. After that, the idea is to divide them in small groups of three or four and assign a small article on ER for each group to read, discuss and present to the class. The teacher-researcher thought of the articles by Day on Teacher Talk Journal. Now, the first problem arises: the teacher-students may not have a good fluency in reading texts in English, even the English teachers. It would be counterproductive to oblige them read scientific texts in English, and it would totally go against the objectives of this work. One of the solutions is the teacher to previously translate the articles into Portuguese. Another solution could be to work with more generic texts about reading using texts which are already written in Portuguese. Or maybe, the teacher can find texts about ER written in Portuguese, which would be the ideal solution. Even articles in Spanish would be fine.

After the coffee break, an activity called “From Concrete Poetry to Sonnets and Back to the Future,” made by the teacher-researcher, is going to be performed. This activity comprises some Concrete poetry, some poems by Shel Silverstein, Emily Dickinson, and Robert Frost (in English), and also some digital poetry (in Portuguese). After presenting some information about the writers, we are going to read them together for the meaning, without stopping at each unknown word. The aim is to apprehend the essence of the selected poems and to feel their beauty. This is going to be the first time the teacher-students are going to be building envisionments. Alternatively, according the level of proficiency of the students, the poetry can be presented in Portuguese and/or in Spanish.

After the lunch break, we are going to carry out an activity with the previously read poetry and the use of double-entry journals so the teacher-students can note their thoughts and impressions about the poetry.

In the final part of the class, we are going to read and listen to a reader in English called The Locked Room, by Peter Viney. After that, we are going to play a card game. The reader can also be in Spanish, too. Some minutes are going to be reserved to DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) with texts of their preference (according to their answers to the questionnaire applied previously and the possibilities of the research). Then the homework is going to be explained: They are going to read a chapter or two of the book The Giver. The ones who cannot read in English are going to read it in Spanish or in Portuguese. This reading is going to be needed for the literature circles that are going to start next class, so they are going to get their roles now, too. Besides, some texts on ER are going to be assigned as homework to be read, and presented next class for the group. Again, the problem of the language of the articles is going to be an issue to be solved.

On the second Saturday, we are going to start discussing the articles on ER, which were read for homework. After that, we are going to read a short story (or two) and use graphic organizers, which is a new technique for the majority of Brazilian teachers. After the lunch break, our first literature circle is going to take place. The chapters and the roles for the next literature circle are going to be assigned then. After the coffee break, we are going to the lab to enter and examine some sites on ER. We either can talk about their impressions on the sites on ER so far, and/or the teacher can apply a questionnaire for them or can interview them in private. This still has to be decided.

On the third Saturday, we are going to start with different graphic organizers, this time, for the chapters read of The Giver, with the help of the e-board. Right after that activity, the teacher-students are going to be invited to write a letter or imagine a present to give one of the characters of the book. After the break, the second literature circle is going to take place. After lunch, the teacher-students are going to surf mreader and get to know the advantages it offers as an on-line resource for ER. Again, some time is going to be reserved for Sustained Silent Reading, and an activity which brings their ideas about ER is going to be planned.

On the last Saturday, we are going to start with our last literature circle. After that, an activity in the site Story Bird is going to be proposed. It is also important to give space for creative production, too. They can produce stories in English, Spanish or Portuguese using the resources this site offers. Their last reflections on ER are going to be taken. After the lunch break, their final work is going to be explained: They are going to write a small article to be submitted to a Brazilian journal called Bem Legal. They are going to choose some articles to read (they are in Portuguese) to see their structure. Then, after the second break, we are going to watch the movie The Giver and discuss the differences, comparing it with the book.

Since the research is going to happen only in the future, there are no results or discussions available now.

The participation in this congress was supported by the Extensive Reading Foundation scholarship awarded to Roberta M. Ciocari.

References

Subject: Extensive Reading: Theory and Practice – 30h – Saturdays: mornings and afternoons – first semester of 2016, probably in June

Subject target: Brazilian teachers of Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Literature of elementary and high school, and interested people

Syllabus: Introduction to the Extensive Reading approach. Demonstration, practice and reflection on possible methodologies and techniques to be applied with students having in mind this approach.

Content/activities:

Saturday 1

• 1h: Teacher and students introduction; introduction of the ER approach; explanation about the subject; discussion of the results of the previous applied questionnaire; material distribution

• 1h: Reading and discussion of some articles on ER from English Teacher Talk (Hawaii) / or other material in Portuguese or Spanish

Coffee break

• 1h: Activity: From Concrete Poetry to Sonnets and Back to the Future.

• 1h: Activity: From Concrete Poetry to Sonnets and Back to the Future.

LUNCH BREAK

• 1h: Poetry activity: Double-Entry Journal

• 1h: Poetry activity: Double-Entry Journal

Coffee break

• 1h: Activity: The Locked Room + game

• 1h: Activity: DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) with readers and other books or texts (according to students’ tastes). Homework: literature circles with The Giver / O doador de memórias (Portuguese) / El doador de memorias (Spanish); articles on ER to read for homework and present next class.

Saturday 2

• Presentation and discussion of articles

• Presentation and discussion of articles

Coffee break

• Short stories activity: graphic organizers

• Short stories activity: graphic organizers

LUNCH BREAK

• 1st literature circle

• 1st literature circle; homework

Coffee break

• Sites for ER activities: http://www.er-central.com/library/; http://beeoasis.com/;http:/ learningenglish.voanews.com/; http://www.nlm.nih.gov/

• Reflections on ER

Saturday 3

• Graphic Organizers in the e-board: The Giver

• Drawing a gift for one of the characters, explain why and/or writing a letter

Coffee break

• 2nd literature circle

• 2nd literature circle; homework

LUNCH BREAK

• Moodle Reader / mreader

• Moodle Reader / mreader

Coffee break

• Sustained Silent Reading

• Reflections on ER

Saturday 4

• 3rd literature circle: The Giver

• 3rd literature circle: The Giver

Coffee break

• Site: Storybird

• Reflections on ER

LUNCH BREAK

• Explanation of final work: enter the site of Bem Legal Journal. Choose an article, read it and present it to the group. Write (for homework) an article explaining how you would use the ER approach with your students in your context.

• Continuation of previous activity.

Coffee break

• Movie: The Giver + discussion

• Movie: The Giver + discussion / farewell