Reading stations: a transitional activity to extensive reading

READING STATIONS: A TRANSITIONAL ACTIVITY 
TO EXTENSIVE READING 
Nguyen Xuan Quynh* 
University of Foreign Languages, Hue University 
Received: 17/08/2018; Revised: 11/09/2018; Accepted: 20/08/2019 
Abstract: Extensive Reading (ER) is a method that allows students to read widely and easily in various 
topics, primarily for pleasure and general understanding. To introduce ER to the current reading 
curriculum, an experimental, transitional activity called Reading Station was conducted in two Reading 
4 classes in English Department of Hue University, in which students were asked to collect and share 
online English articles with each other during the class time. Questionnaire and focused-group 
discussion’s results based on 7-week practice revealed that students showed great interest in the activity 
and claimed to see certain impacts of this activity on the improvement of knowledge and skills. The 
study’s positive outcome implies the potential of using similar activities to solve various challenges in 
traditional Reading classes. 
Key words: Extensive reading, reading station, transitional activity 
1. Introduction 
Today, a typical ESL reading class still revolves around a mandated, assigned reading textbook or 
single reading texts followed by comprehension questions. The so-called reading classes involve very little 
reading (Stoller, 2015) as students spend most of their time analyzing and memorizing key grammatical 
structures and difficult vocabulary or translating texts from L2 to students’ L1. In other settings, the focus 
may be on answering comprehension questions in different forms, which does not necessarily require the 
reading of the passage if students only apply reading skills and strategies to achieve their goals. 
The drawbacks associated with Intensive Reading (IR) have urged researchers and educators to come 
up with a more meaningful approach to improve students’ reading skill using Extensive Reading (ER) 
which allows students to read easy and interesting materials in the target language to improve reading speed 
and fluency. The vast benefits of Extensive reading have been confirmed through ample research of Day 
and Bamford (1998), Waring (2006) and many others. Students are exposed to the target language in the 
real context, thus understand how the language is used among natives as compared to commercial 
textbooks. Besides, easy materials help students read with ease, hence developing higher interest in the 
activity. 
However, several factors including high cost of library investment, lack of class time, large class 
size, and difficulties in supervising and administrating the study process prevent ER to be present in reading 
curricula worldwide despite the significant benefits it offers. It poses similar challenge to both teachers and 
students alike in adapting to ER should a program of this kind penetrate the traditional reading curriculum 
(Macalister, 2010). The introduction of ER in ESL classrooms, therefore, should be re-examined, and there 
comes the need for a transitional ER activity for both teachers and students to take the advantage of it while 
relieving many other pressures associated with this new approach. 
This study aims at evaluating Reading Station, a lead-in, transitional activity that allows teachers and 
students to become habituated with a more ER-inclined study environment. It also seeks to investigate 
students’ feedback of how Reading Station impacts on their knowledge, skill, and motivation. 
* Email: nxquynh@hueuni.edu.vn 
Accordingly, three research questions include: 
1. What are the results of experimenting Reading Station? 
2. What are the students’ attitude towards Reading Station? 
3. How do students evaluate the impacts of Reading Station on their knowledge, skill, and motivation? 
2. Theoretical framework 
2.1. Extensive reading - opportunities and challenges 
ER refers to reading ample comprehensible input provided to students to read extensively beyond 
the set readings assigned for the reading class. By reading widely and easily primarily for information and 
pleasure, students develop their interest and motivation, thus gradually adopt the habit of reading more 
(Grabe & Stoller, 2002, Pigada & Schmitt, 2006). 
So far, using graded readers to introduce and apply ER in ESL classrooms has been the most common 
way observed in both ESL classrooms and in studies. Graded readers, written in simplified language and 
limited vocabulary, enable learners to read without encountering a large number of unknown words, and 
thus learners are able to read successfully and get pleasure from their reading. Several studies used graded 
readers as the main treatment to investigate the impact of ER to students’ reading improvement and 
acknowledge the benefits of using them as a means to improve reading comprehension (Bell, 2001; Hitosugi 
& Day, 2004; Suk, 2017), reading speed (Bell, 2001; Suk, 2017), vocabulary development (Pigada & 
Schmitt, 2006; Suk, 2017), and positive attitudes towards second language learning (Liem, 2005). 
However, although teachers hold strong belief in the learning benefits of ER, this method has not 
been widely applied in reading programs. Renandya (2007) for example, believed that the benefits of ER 
could not outweigh the challenges for teachers to incorporate it as a core feature of their teaching. The 
application of ER remains a choice, a recommended, extra-curricular activity (Macalister, 2010) conducted 
outside of classroom reading time, rather than a compulsory component. Especially in higher education 
contexts, the application of ER remains particularly rare. The fear of incorporating reading time into the 
course syllabus was shared by many language teachers (Hermann, 2003) since ‘a class of students reading 
silently is not perceived as a class learning, let alone being taught, both by the students themselves and the 
school administration’ (Prowse, 2002). Leaving the students alone to read books outside of class programs 
is another threat as perceived by teachers because ‘without incorporating extensive reading as part of a class 
programme, the students might not read English books on their own’ (Asraf & Admad, 2003). Besides, 
some other prominent problems associated with using graded readers for ER can be identified, including 
but not limited to the lack of graded readers or ER resources, the pressure of time for training IR skills for 
tests and exams, students’ low motivation when asked to adopt a new habit such as reading a foreign 
language material at length. Also, the large size of many ESL classes in developing countries (mostly over 
30 students) may discourage teachers to supervise and guide students’ reading habits with books during a 
long period of time. 
2.2. The principles of Extensive Reading application 
To diversify the options of employing Extensive reading activities, Day and Bamford (2002) listed 
top ten principles as the basic ingredients of an Extensive Reading activity and encouraged teachers to use 
them as a means to devise Extensive Reading activities. 
1. The reading material is easy 
2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available 
3. Learners choose what they want to read 
4. Learners read as much as possible 
5. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding 
6. Reading is its own reward 
7. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower 
8. Reading is individual and silent 
9. Teachers orient and guide their students 
10. The teacher is a role model of a reader 
These criteria grant teachers more freedom to be creative and incorporate various options of 
Extensive Reading activities without heavy reliance on graded readers as the sole source of ER input 
material. 
2.3. The need for a transitional activity 
Most research to date has studied Extensive Reading in total separation to the current dynamic of a 
reading class. This involves bringing in a completely new Extensive Reading program to assess its impact 
on students over a chosen period of time using graded readers, and temporarily halt or abandon regular 
class routines. Little research focuses on the incorporation of ER in the classroom while maintaining the 
current dynamic of a reading class. 
This gap of research paves the way for a transitional ER activity that should not abruptly disrupt the 
traditional way of learning and teaching reading skills but should gradually familiarize students with a new 
habit of reading extensively. Besides enjoyment and pleasure from reading activity, students’ needs and 
wants of learning about test taking skills can still be guaranteed. This transition and improvement in the 
organization of a reading class, therefore, should be investigated and evaluated with the experimentation of 
such an introductory and transitional activity. 
3. Methodology 
3.1. The application of ER through Reading Station 
3.1.1. Research subject and scope 
The study focused on second-year English-majored students of the English Department in two Reading 
4 classes. In a total 30-period semester over 15 weeks, students reserve 7 weeks (14 periods) to practice 
Reading extensively through Reading Station and fulfill all the requirements relating to this activity. 
3.1.2. Building and organizing student-generated Reading Stations 
An in-class ER activity called Reading Station (Reading Station) was devised to apply in these two 
reading classes according to the ten principles set by Day and Bamford (2002). In Reading station, students 
are supposed to bring to class at least two online English articles they found both interesting and easy to 
read in any topics. These articles should always have titles to catch attention from readers and should not 
exceed two pages. During the class time, collected readings will be divided into 3-4 reading stations where 
students come and find any article that suits their taste and level of proficiency, then read for knowledge or 
leisure. After reading, students can draw an emoticon or hashtag on the top of each article to express their 
reaction (like, dislike, love, funny, surprising, etc.) to the content or difficulty level of the article. 
Following the top ten principles of using ER in classroom (Day & Bamford, 2002), Reading Station 
is an ER activity. These principles include: 
The reading material is easy 
Reading Station made use of the large number of students when students selected their own 
comprehensible reading texts online. The student group who had the same level of reading proficiency 
would choose the same grade of difficulty for the chosen articles, so the larger the class, the more diversity 
in the level of reading difficulty. Students of any level could always find some articles that suited their 
reading level. 
A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available 
The large class size brought about another advantage when students could generate almost unlimited 
number of topics online for their Reading Station of any day. The articles’ topics ranged from everyday news 
to business, entertainment, law, history, education, health, technology, short stories, culture, fashion, to sport 
and cinema. Also, with at least two articles per students and the articles being exchanged between the two 
reading classes in the present study, the total number of articles added up to 120 articles per day for each class 
of roughly 30 students. 
Learners choose what they want to read 
Students stood up from their daily seats and moved around to different stations and picked the articles 
they like. Students normally decided their choice based on the article’s general topic, catchy title, length, 
overall intuition of the article’s readability and difficulty, and previous readers’ reaction to the articles. 
Students are advised to immediately change the article they were reading if they found it boring or 
incomprehensible. 
Learners read as much as possible 
There was no limit to the number of articles students could read during a class time. With an average 
length of 500-700 words per article, it is evident that the total number of words students could read over a 
Reading Station class time well exceeded that from a typical short text in traditional reading classroom, 
which typically covered roughly less than 700 words. 
The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information and general understanding 
Students picked their own favorite articles to read for pleasure, information, and general 
understanding. No comprehension questions followed, but students were asked to reflect on the most 
impressive articles they have read during the Reading Station in their reflective diaries. 
Reading is its own reward 
Students could have the opportunities to read about various fields as the reading collections covered 
different topics. Reading was its own reward because students were not “learning to read” anymore; they 
were “reading to learn” about the world and topics that interested them. 
Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower 
The text’s suitable difficulty also helped students become more fluent readers. 
Reading is individual and silent 
Students went around the classroom and moved to different stations to pick their favorite articles. 
After that, they could sit or stand to read individually and silently. 
Teachers orient and guide their students 
At the beginning of every Reading Station, I collected all articles for that day, mixed them with more 
than 60 articles from the other reading class, and started to brief the class about “amazing headlines” from 
the articles. This pre-reading activity excited the whole class as students know what sounds interesting to 
them first just through the articles’ titles. Some most favorite titles collected so far include “Coffee makes 
you live longer”, “Do dogs dream?” “Dolphin language may have grammar” “Sad movies help reduce 
pain” “Why humans have different nose shape?”. 
During Reading Station, I also went around the classroom and participated with students. I discussed 
with a student about what he or she found interesting about the articles. 
The teacher is a role model of a reader 
I personally participated in the Reading Station and discussed with students if they wanted to talk. 
This was also a way for teachers to develop their knowledge in various fields while demonstrating the image 
of an avid reader to students. 
3.1.3. Outcome requirements for reading station 
After each Reading Station, students were asked to write individual reflective diaries showing what 
they thought about the articles they had read by summarizing and reflecting on them. Besides, students 
could express their feelings when they participate in Reading Station: whether they made a progress, what 
they needed to improve and suggested a plan to improve these weaknesses. These diaries were collected to 
assess students’ participation and their feedback on this activity. 
3.2. Questionnaire and focused-group discussion 
A questionnaire was used to investigate students’ level of participation in the activity, their feedback 
on Reading Station, and their own evaluation of Reading Station’ impact on their knowledge, skill, and 
motivation towards Reading. 62 fully-completed responses were collected and analyzed using SPSS 20.0. 
Besides, focused-group discussion was also employed for 12 students to explore further the unknown 
aspects of Extensive Reading’s impact on knowledge, skill, and motivation of learners. 
4. Results 
4.1. Subjects’ characteristics 
Most student participants in the study were female (90.32%). Students categorized by Grade Point 
Average (GPA) also varied (Table 1) 
Table 1. Grade point average of participants (GPA) (n=62) 
Level Total Percentage 
Average 16 25.81 
Fairly Good 30 48.39 
Excellent 16 25.81 
Total 62 100 
Table 1 shows that most participants belong to Fairly Good group, accounting for 48.39% while 
25.81% were students in both Average and Excellent group. 
4.2. Students’ participation and attitude towards Reading Station 
4.2.1. Students’ participation level 
The number of articles taken to class, the average number of articles read per period, and the selected 
article lengths are the indicators reflecting the student's participation in the Reading Station reading activity 
(Table 2). The results show that most students brought an average of 1-3 articles to class in each Reading 
Station reading session. The most striking difference among the GPA student groups was that nearly 19% 
of the GPA-average group of students brought five or more articles to class, while only 3.33% from the 
GPA- fairly good group and none from the GPA-excellent group did so. 
Table 2. Students’ participation level based on GPA (n=62) 
Characteristic Average Fairly good Excellent Overall 
Number of articles brought to class 
1-3 article(s) 81.25 93.33 100 91.94 
3-5 articles 0.00 3.33 0.00 1.61 
>5 articles 18.75 3.33 0.00 6.45 
Number of articles read in class 
1-3 article (s) 6.25 20.00 31.25 19.35 
3-5 articles 62.50 63.33 50.00 59.68 
5-7 articles 31.25 13.33 6.25 16.13 
7-10 articles 0.00 0.00 12.50 3.23 
>10 articles 0.00 3.33 0.00 1.61 
Average length of articles read by students 
1-2 page (s) 56.25 30.00 37.50 38.71 
>2 pages 43.75 70.00 62.50 61.29 
Submitted reflective diaries 100 
The results also show that while most students brought only 1-3 articles to the classroom to build the 
reading stations, they read twice that number during a fixed period of time in the classroom. Fairly good 
and excellent students often read more articles in each Reading Station, with 20% fairly good students 
reading from 5-7 articles, and 12.5% excellent students reading from 7-10 articles per period. 
The average length of the articles shows that students at different levels tend to choose different 
article’s lengths. Fairly good and excellent students often choose to read articles longer than two pages, 
while average students often read shorter articles (from 1-2 pages). 
100% of students submitted their reflective diaries with all the requirements set by the teacher. This 
result reflects serious participation of learners in this Reading Station activity. 
4.2.2. General attitude of learners towards Reading Station 
Learners’ attitude can be explored through their participation and careful attention to teacher’s 
requirements in reading selection, weekly submission of reflective diaries, and so on. Focused-group 
discussion and questionnaire results both reveal a positive attitude towards Reading Station. Further details 
can be found in Figure 1. 
 Figure 1. General attitudes towards reading station (n=62) 
The result of Figure 1 reveals that over 74% students “liked” or “extremely liked” Reading Station, 
and no students chose “dislike” nor “extremely dislike”. Of these students, 87% of averaged GPA, 70% 
fairly-good, and 70% excellent responded with highest interest and motivation. 
Focused-group discussion also revealed interesting themes mentioned by the students: 
Students reported that they had never had any similar reading activity like Reading Station before. 
Example 1: “This is the first time I have participated in a strange activity when we are not required to sit 
and read a boring reading practice” (Student N.T.M.N - Reading class Group 9) 
Example 2: “All of my previous reading classes only focus on doing practice test, which is very boring 
sometimes. Thanks to Ms. Quynh, we were introduced to a new method called Reading Station. I was very 
excited to try it for the first time” (Student N.T.T - Reading class Group 10) 
Besides, students liked the m