Tag: Automaticity

  • Developing Automaticity in Reading: A Study of University Students in Japan – Bryan Hahn

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    Happy New Year everyone. I want to kick off the New Year with a report of our last meeting of 2014. On December 14, we had a visit from Bryan Hahn of Akita International University.  He was in Morioka to talk to us about some research he had been involved in recently, and he wanted to go over the results.

    Akita International University has a strong emphasis on English and they have a goal to bring their students’ reading levels up as high as possible.  Hahn worked with students who were enrolled in advanced reading classes at the University and tested whether or not there was progress to be gained by having them read words in “chunks” that allowed them to gradually read more words at a time.  He showed us some of the basic techniques he used to get the students to practice their readings, followed by  a pre-test and then a pIMG_1769ost-test to allow him to determine if any progress had been made. His hypothesis is that substantial progress can be made with this kind of reading practice.

    Hahn stated that by having the students read in more manageable chunks and getting them reading more words at a time helps them improve the number of words-per-minute they can read.   We want to thank Bryan for taking the time out of his busy schedule to join us.

    Our next meeting is coming up on January 25. We hope you’ll join us for it. We’ll be featuring Maggye Foster and she will be talking about Motivation:  “the importance of social influences”, and “Strategies and Resources of Motivated Teachers”.

    Reported by Jason Hill

    All photography ©2014 Jason Hill

  • Upcoming – December 14 – Bryan Hahn – Developing Automaticity in Reading: A Study of University Students in Japan

    Location: AIINA, ROOM 817
    Date December 14, 2014
    Time: From 1:30pm – 4:30pm(13:30-16:30)
    Cost: Free for JALT members. ¥1000 for non-members. ¥500 for full-time students.
    Contact: iwatejalt@hotmail.com phone/fax: 019-663-3132

    Abstract

    Many Japanese students learning English do not develop language skills naturally. This includes reading. Students often focus on too many reading tasks at the same time so they do not comprehend what they read. As a result, it’s important they reach automaticity in order to read at full comprehension. Dubin and Bycina (1991) state that reading at a rate of 200 words per minute is necessary for full comprehension. Not only will students begin to understand what they read, it makes the task of reading much more enjoyable.

    This might explain why the vast majority of my students self admit to never having read a book written in English from cover to cover. The act of reading becomes too laborious making them want to give up. Students can be taught to read faster by reading in “chunks”, or having the ability to see multiple words at the same time. This quantitative study will examine if teaching students to read in “chunks” will significantly improve their reading rate over the course of one semester. Participants are students at Akita International University enrolled in advanced level Reading. Students will be given a pre-test, followed by weekly practice of reading in chunks and timing their reading rate to determine progression, and conclude with a post-test at the end of the term. It is hypothesized students’ reading rates will be significantly higher during post-test results compared to pre-test results. Understanding the concept of automaticity will assist teachers in orchestrating a successful reading class.

    Brief Bio:

    Bryan Hahn

    Lecturer, AIU (Two years), EAP Dept.

    Also taught at unis in Korea and in the public and private sector in Los Angeles.

    B.A. Journalism

    12 years as a Reporter for various news networks

    M.A. TESL

    10 years teaching experience