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Article published In: National foreign language policies for primary schools: Global perspectives
Edited by Janet Enever
[Language Teaching for Young Learners 2:2] 2020
► pp. 262–301

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Research articles

Improving Chinese students’ English reading through graded readers

Rationale, strategies and effectiveness

 | Beijing Normal University
 | Beijing Normal University
 | Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 8 July 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.19022.wan
Abstract
Primary English in China has been in practice since 2001. Despite the success of widespread provision, there have been concerns regarding the quality of students’ learning. To enhance English literacy in schools, a national English reading project chaired by university teacher educators using graded readers was introduced to accompany mandated coursebooks in 2014 initially among a few schools then quickly expanded to thousands. The participating schools were guided to use English graded readers in primary classrooms in collaborative projects with university teacher educators. This paper reports a case study based on a project school in a suburb of Beijing with a cohort of 290 Grade 4 students and their 8 English teachers. The study investigated changes the reading project has brought to the students and teachers between 2017 to 2019. Data collected include three reading test results (pre-, mid-, and post-), and a post-project student questionnaire. Data collected concerning the 8 teachers included classroom observations, teachers’ lesson plans and post project narrative reports. Analyses were closely linked to how students’ literacy developed, including their reading ability, interests, habits, and creative thinking. Changes in the teachers’ views and their teaching practices were also examined.
Article outline
  • 1.Background
  • 2.Rationale for the project
    • 2.1Graded readers vs. picturebooks
    • 2.2English graded readers in China
    • 2.3The potential benefits of graded readers to EFL teaching
    • 2.4The ERL for basic education in China
  • 3.Main teaching strategies used in the project
    • 3.1Picture Tour
      • 3.1.1Warm-up
      • 3.1.2Developing book concepts
      • 3.1.3Picture Tour
      • 3.1.4Internalising, summarising and evaluating
      • 3.1.5Individual reading
      • 3.1.6Discussion and sharing
    • 3.2Jigsaw Reading
    • 3.3Reading Circles
    • 3.4Sustained Silent Reading (SSR)
  • 4.A case study of a suburban primary school in Beijing
    • 4.1Information about the school
    • 4.2The participants
    • 4.3Project procedures
    • 4.4Data collection
      • 4.4.1The Reading Level Test
      • 4.4.2Student questionnaire
      • 4.4.3The narrative frame
      • 4.4.4Classroom observation videos
      • 4.4.5Lesson plans
    • 4.5Data analysis methods
  • 5.Results and findings
    • 5.1Changes in teachers’ views and practices before and after the project
      • 5.1.1Changes in views
      • 5.1.2Changes in practices
    • 5.2Changes in students’ reading skills before and after the project
      • 5.2.1Students’ reading level growth
      • 5.2.2Students’ changes in reading habits, attitudes and interests
    • 5.3Improvement of students’ language ability and critical thinking
    • 5.4Teacher’s reports of students’ changes in performance
    • 5.5Participating teachers’ gains from the reading project
      • 5.2.1Problem-solving abilities and professional learning abilities
      • 5.5.2Other self-reported gains and awards teachers received
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
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