TOEIC Facts (TOEIC Report on Test Takers, 2004)

• Commonly accepted as the standard English test for business in Japan

• Widely used for recruiting and promotion decisions

• Questions taken from common workplace situations

• Over 1 million TOEIC tests administered in 2004

• Japan represents 67% of worldwide test-takers

• 58% of test-takers are technical specialists – among the lowest mean scores (454) of all job types.

• 99% of Japanese test-takers take TOEIC multiple times.

The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them. – Mark Twain

Course Participants

• 25 participants (23 male, 2 female)

• 3 achievement levels• University-educated prof

essionals(largely engineers)

• Wide age-range(from 22 to 45)

• No English majors

Never judge a book by its movie. – J.W. Eagan

Previous TOEIC Course Features

• Focus on test-taking strategy• Practice with TOEIC-type questions• Analysis of common question types• Focus on each item as a discrete entity• Focus on vocabulary and grammar

development• Focus on linguistic elements rather than

meaning of questions

Outside of a dog a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. – Groucho Marx

Needs AnalysisWhat was wrong with the previous course?

(Interview and Survey Results)

• Lack of fit with the actual TOEIC test (especially for lower level learners)

• Inappropriate test-taking strategies • Generally low tolerance for ambiguity • Inability to read the questions fast

enough

Books are the quietest, most constant friends. – Charles W. Eliot

Looking for a New Approach

How can graded reading help? (Waring, 1997, para.4)

• Increase reading speed • Improve lexical speed access • Improve reading fluency • Change focus from individual words to w

hole ideas

Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier. – Kathleen Norris

Course Outline

• Classes met once per week – 90 minutes

• Main course contents – Business English and TOEIC preparation with discrete item analysis approach

• Graded reading used as supplement.

• Evaluated with pre/post test use of TOEIC

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. – Sir Richard Steele

The Use of Graded Reading

• All class members read the same books at the same time (not an extended reading program)

• Readers chosen by vote from short list of level appropriate titles prepared by teacher

• Reading done outside of class• Comprehension and discussion questions taken up

during class• Vocabulary expansion activities done during class

I’ve never known any problem that an hour’s reading didn’t assuage. - Charles de Secondat

Learner Perceptions of Reading

• Learners both surveyed and interviewed

• Initially learners perceive improvements in English skills but not TOEIC score

• Later results show more connection between English skills and TOEIC score

4.34.1

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Initial 6-monthReading this book helped my TOEIC score.

Reading this book helped my English

I read faster now than I did when I started thisbook.

I understand more of what I read now than Idid when I started this book.

Survey Results

Likert Scal

e

A book burrows into your life in a very profound way. –Erica Jong

Learner Reactions to Reading

• Initially resistant – did not see the value of graded reading for TOEIC“This book is good but is it on TOEIC?”“I don’t want to study English, I want to study TOEIC”

• Later more enthusiastic“I can read as fast as the tape now.”“I could finish all of the reading questions for the first time.”“Reading helped my TOEIC score.”

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Bridging The Gap

• Bilingual course outlines detailing rationale

• Mock TOEIC tests timed to coincide with the end of reading cycles

• Regular counseling and feedback sessions

• Reading speed self-checks

• Self evaluation reading reports at the end of every book

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read. – Mark Twain

TOEIC Results

• Average TOEIC improvements tracked as a function of number of books read

• Correlation good for lower group and fair intermediate group

• Correlation breaks down for higher TOEIC scores

0.8061

0.5762

0.4829

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Class

Group A (TOEIC up to 400)

Group B (TOEIC 400-600)

Group C (TOEIC over 600)

Correlation of TOEIC Score to # of Books Read

Correlation

Coefficient

The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones. – Joseph Joubert

Current Program

• Optional supplement to Business English & TOEIC preparation classes

• Book of the month format

• Learners complete Reading Report for each book

Novel, n. A short story padded. – Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

Directions for Further Research

• Current research seeks to define similarities and differences between learner and teacher beliefs about TOEIC success

• Surveys and interviews currently underway.• Now recruiting teachers (both university an

d commercial) for surveys• To participate contact the author

at chosunaosan@aol.com

There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. – James Joyce