After the first meeting with the students, they learned that they should keep a record of their readings by filling in reading journals. The students were also asked to record the book they read as an evidence that they have actually read. A typical free reading session started with one student carrying all the iPads to the English classroom, which is right across from the sixth graders’ classroom. It was usually the nap time after they finished their lunch. The students took their own iPads and sat with their friends. They had been doing this since the fifth grade, so the process was smooth. After they turned on the tablet, they clicked on Raz-Kids and started reading. Most of the time they chatted with their friends while they were reading. After reading, they would fill out the reading journal.
Table 4.1 shows all of the students’ record throughout the whole semester. The record is divided in to three parts as in each period, the students’ reading journal and recording numbers were calculated and the students who read the most and improved the most were rewarded. Results from the first period were not affected by the calculation of how many books the students read because they were not informed
beforehand of the competition. The students wrote a total of 21 and an average of 1.5 reading journals for the first month. The recording was 65 books in total and 4.64 in average. The figure of the second period, however, was a product resulted from motivation and encouragement of the first reading competition. The numbers were a lot higher than the first period. The students wrote a total of 82 and an average of 5.86 reading journals. They submitted 173 recorded books with an average of 12.36 each student. Since these students were in the sixth grade, they graduated in mid Jun, the last period was shorter than the previous two. In the last period, the students produced 22 reading journals with an average of 1.57 and 57 recordings with an average of 4.07.
Although the students did not read as much as they did in the second period, the results are still better because the numbers are similar to the first period but the students did them in a shorter time.
Table 4-1
Students’ Reading History of Reading Journal and Recording
Students
Jan absent 2 6 6 0 4 18
Linda 3 5 10 20 4 6 48
Wanda 2 9 5 11 1 4 32
Mandy 2 4 6 12 3 5 32
Tammy 3 7 5 6 2 9 32
Sandra lost 6 7 3 5 7 28
Total 21 65 82 173 22 57 420
Average 1.5 4.64 5.86 12.36 1.57 4.07 30
Note. Figures in bold face indicate the top three winners in the reading competition and figures in italic means the student had improved the most from the last period.
While examining individuals, the results show that a couple of students perform obviously differently than others. The following sections describe three students from three proficiency levels: Wayne, Carmen, and Jason.
4.1.1 Special Individual Case: Wayne
Wayne, already the winner in the first period, was even more motivated in reading more books in the second period as his record shows an increase of reading journal from two to five books and his recordings increased from 10 to 42. Understanding Wayne’s motivation and how he sticks to his goal reveals more of this phenomenon. When asked why he is learning English, his response was “Because this is what I should do in school”
(Int1, Ja&W, 0503). He is a diligent student in general and he enjoys competition, winning games, and getting rewards (Int1, Ja&W, 0503). He explained his sudden increase of recordings was due to the monthly reading competition and that he was motivated to win the prize (Int3, W, 0617). However, during one observation, when Wayne was announced to be the winner of the previous day’s best reader, he was so concentrated on his recording that he raised his hand and gestured me to wait until he
finished (Obs, W, 0601). From other observations, he also demonstrated his full attention while reading (Obs, W, 0530, 0531, 0601, 0602). He remained calm and still even though his surrounding was noisy and chaotic with classmates chatting, playing the audio out, and tapping rulers on the desk. He knew how to control his learning by being focused and aiming for a goal, which is one of the characteristics of autonomous learners.
4.1.2 Special Individual Case: Carmen
Carmen’s proficiency level is considered to be the middle group. She improved a lot from the first period to the second period. From the first interview, she told me that she
“likes English at the first place” (Int1, T&C, 0503). Her motivation for English learning is intrinsic. Different from Wayne, she learns English because she wants to travel to United States and Canada, see the world, and make friends. She was the most special case in the whole class because she autonomously looked up words to understand songs from her favorite singer, Justin Bieber (Int1, T&C, 0503). Her motivation and sense of achievement are both for real life purposes. She felt a sense of achievement when she
“sees the teacher (English native teacher) on the hallway, and could communicate with him, which is really fun” (Int1, T&C, 0503). In the same interview, she expressed the reason for reading is to improve communication skills with foreigners. She also realized she read more than her original goal setting and she needed to adjust it and set goals to read more books (Int2, C, 0531). At the last interview, she agreed with the benefit of goal setting, “I can get to a higher level. (If I didn’t set goals,) I will keep staying…keep staying…for example, I am now at level C, and if I didn’t set goals, I will stay at level C” (Int3, C, 0617).
4.1.3 Special Individual Case: Jason
Jason, with a low English proficiency level, has a result of the lowest number of reading journals and recordings. In the class, he is a big, tall brother. He was relatively shy during the interviews as he spoke very little and always answered with “I don’t know.”
He thought he was learning English because the job might require it and he felt that he was forced to read in English (Int1, Ja&W, 0503). He didn’t think reading is important and he didn’t want to read at all (Int1, Ja&W, 0503). Throughout the whole semester, he had only recorded once, which was just under my request. From observation, he seemed to take a lot of time reading and listening to the books but never arrived at the actual recording (Obs, Ja, 0530). This is probably related to his lack of confidence in speaking English. He expressed that his greatest difficulty in learning English is that he doesn’t know how to speak and his biggest wish is to improve speaking skills so he could speak to English teachers (Int1, Ja&W, 0503). However, I saw him once taking the initiative to start a conversation with their native English teacher (Obs, Ja, 0531).
Describing individual cases deepens the understanding of a student’s behaviors which are otherwise at a surface level. In the next section, individual cases will serve as examples for a bigger picture of students’ extensive reading experience.