graded readers Rob WARING Notre Dame Seishin University JERA Kansai F eb 3 rd 2019 Questions Whats your favourite graded reader Why Which is better to make a story readable or enjoyable ID: 816522
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Slide1
The in’s and out’s of writing graded readers
Rob WARING
Notre Dame Seishin University
JERA Kansai:
F
eb 3
rd
, 2019
Slide2Slide3Slide4Slide5Slide6Slide7Slide8QuestionsWhat’s your favourite graded reader? Why?Which is better, to make a story readable, or enjoyable?
Should authors stick to the wordlists and grammar syllabus?
What factors make a good graded reader?
What kinds of problems do you think face graded reader authors?
Slide9How are graded readers written?: The process Pre-ContractAuthors submit a one-page proposal outlining:
the entire story – it’s not supposed to be a teaser
the
intended levelIf acceptable, authors submit
a 2-3 page detailed synopsis a sample chapter
Hopefully a contract is offered. They usually have 4-6 months to finish the story.
Slide10How are graded readers written?: The process 2Post Contract (development stage)
Author submits a draft of the whole story
The story editor makes comments -> revisions until okay
The text editor ensures the story fits the level’s linguistic guidelines – revisions until acceptable
Production stage The work (including art brief and endmatter) are handed to
the production team Proof reading, designing, commission art etc.Manufacturing and launch The book is printed and launched
Slide11Creating a Graded Reader series syllabusDecisions are needed to about:
-how the syllabus will complement the publisher’s other materials
-the number of levels and headwords at each level
-how the levels will fit standard measures e.g. CEF, ERF Graded Reader Scale, TOEFL, IELTS , Cambridge exams etc.
-which grammatical items are ‘allowed’ at each level -which words and phrases to include at each level
-the types of endmatter - glossary, comp Qs, key etc. -how to find authors / material and compensate
them -target schedule of deliverables
Slide12Making a wordlistDecisions need to be made about: -which words appear at which level
-whether to use a source corpus to decide frequency
-whether words are selected by frequency,
usefulness, range, learnability, L1 similarity, according to a published
wordlist?
-commonly known low frequency words and those with multiple meanings e.g.
apple, pen, book, bank, service
-frequency derivatives (used vs. disused, uselessness;
excuse vs. inexcusable)
-which lexical phrases, phrasal verbs, idioms etc. to use -etc. etc. etc.
Slide13Word frequency: Put these in frequency orderWord
Even
Company
WorldGirlBad
FunStudentSportFundamental
VentureWordCompensateIntervene
ChamberSwimParameter
PropositionPencilHomeworkQuiz
Rank108116182
408 (Boy 487)503 (Good 100)909918169718421922
Rank
2190220122332351294929823067 (pen
1935)40755786
Slide14Families, flemmas, lemmas, derivatives, headwordsUse
Use
s
UsedUsingA useDis
useUsersMis
used
lemma
flemma
family
derivativesinflections
v
erb formnoun form
Headword
?????
Slide15Level 1 lemmatizedA An
ABOUT
AFTER
AGAIN AGAINST ALL
ALWAYS AND ANGRY Angrily
ANY Anybody Anymore Anyone Anything Anyway Anywhere
AS
ASK
Asking
Asks
AT
AWAYBACK backsBAD badlyBE Am Are Aren’t Is Isn’t
Re S
BEAUTIFUL
BECAUSE
BEFORE
BIG
BREAK
Breaking
Breaks
broken
BUILD
Builds
Building
Buildings
BUT
BY
CAFE
cafes
CALL
Calling
Calls
CAN
Cannot
COLD
Colds
COME
Comes
Coming
DAY
Daily
Days
DIFFERENT
Differences
Difference
DIFFICULT
DO
Does
Doesn’t
DOWN
DRINK
Drinking
Drinks
EARLY
EASY
Easily
EAT
Eating
Eats
EVERY
Everybody
Everyday
Everyone
Everything Everywhere
FAMILY
Families
FASTFEEL Feeling Feelings FeelsFINISH Finishes FinishingFORFRIEND FriendsFROMGET Gets GettingGIVE Gives GivingGO
Goes
Going
GOOD
GOODBYE
Bye
GREAT
HAPPY
Unhappy
HAVE
Has
Having
HE
Him
His
Slide16Slide17Slide18EditingHow will you know whether all the words at a given level have been used?How will you ensure sufficient recycling of words at each level?
What will happen to out of
level (illegal)
words?What % of a text can be out of level?What do you do if the grammatical construction is the only one that sounds natural but is out of level?
What balance of natural text vs linguistic grading. How ‘pure’ do you want to be?
Slide19What is OGTE?A FREE editing tool for teachers and authorsIt allows users to analyze the vocabulary in a text by pre-set levels
Allows you to write something to a specific level
You can add your own wordlists (if you ask nicely
)www.er-central.com
/ogte
Slide20Slide21Slide22Slide23www.er-central.com/ogte
Black – in level
Red
out of listRed underline – out of levelGreen
– ignored wordsPink – proper nouns
Slide24Authoring Graded Readers
Slide25What makes a Great Graded Reader?1. A Strong Concept‘
A guy comes home for his father
’
s funeral only to hear he was murdered. He has to discover the truth and ensure justice is done.’ This raises questions and is dramatic. We want to know who the murderer is, what with our hero do about it and how will he get the justice he wants?
Every story should have some kind of message or meaning to it. There has to be a reason for writing it. This question is answered by the end of the story.
Slide26What makes a Great Graded Reader?2. High StakesA story of a family fleeing from a dictator has strong dramatic potential because the stakes are high. They are literally life and death.
A story about a girl who lost her teddy bear isn’t going to hold interest for long.
High stakes stories
make a reader sympathize with the characters. The stakes ought to be of vital importance to the
character.
Slide273. Great Characters and SettingsThere should be a good balance between the archetypical character and the ones you create (originality). Characters should be believable, alive, interesting, have depth and not be wooden.
All characters should be faithful to their characteristics and personality.
Characters emerge from their choices, so it’s good to put them in situations where they must choose what to
do to show this.
Slide283. Great Characters and Settings 2
You shouldn’t
tell
us they are courageous,
show
us by their
actions.
Characters should grow or ‘learn’ over the course of the story. Don’t just create a character to create ‘balance’. All characters and objects should have a reason for being there.Keep the plot within the psychological and linguistic reality of the readers.
Ensure backgrounds are understood.
Slide294. Real ConflictThere should be real conflict – or it will be boring.
Conflicts come from characters not situations and events
.
The conflict does not have to be physical, it can be mental.
The conflict should be inescapable. It must be progressive. It is your duty as an author to make your characters suffer.
Slide305. A Satisfying Believable PayoffAn inaccessible premise will inevitably fail to satisfy.
Every story needs an obligatory scene brings about the climax and resolution of a story.
If
your hero is out to save the world, we need to know whether he or she actually manages to save it.All of your plots need to be resolved in this way.
Emotional resolution is often more difficult to achieve than plot resolution.
Slide31What Distinguishes Graded Reader Writing?With the words you choose, can you portray a convincing world?
Can you capture a character in a few telling details?
Can you write dialogue that sounds real?
Can you envisage exactly and honestly how your characters react in any situation you put them in?
A compelling opening: an opening chapter which really gets the story going, rather than spends too much time on overelaborate scene-setting. The ‘hook’ is key.Avoid throwing too many names or details into the first few paragraphs to get them ‘out of the way’. Bring each character in gently so as not to overload the reader.
Slide32Non-FictionEasier and more difficult to writeLanguage differs from fictionYou need to be familiar with the topic and understand the core concepts wellArtwork can be expensive
Slide33What Distinguishes Graded Reader Writing?Keep the story going – make sure
there is movement
in the story.
Chapter endings: put simply, a hook at the end of a chapterShow, don’t tell: ‘seeing the scene
’ will be easier for readers with limited access to the language. It’s much more satisfying to discover and experience the story through dialogue and action, rather than to be told about it as in a documentary.
Slide34DialogueDialogue : ... should be lively - particularly for lower level readers. Processing large pieces of text in a new language is difficult.
… breaks up the text and helps the reader to engage effectively with the story and
experience
it as it happens like a scene in a movie. … should be natural… should move the action along
Slide35What Distinguishes Graded Reader Writing?Other things to think about:Title: has to be accessible and exciting
Chapter headings: have to be intriguing and not give away the plot
Linear time frame: a linear time frame, particularly at lower levels, will be easier for the reader to follow
A sense of place: being specific about time and place really helps the reader to situate the story and makes for a good read
Slide36Things to avoidLots of explanation and little dramaDeux et machina
: (acts of God) sudden resolutions to move the plot forward.
Inconsistency of setting, time, character – children acting as adults, shy people acting outgoing,
Unclear plot line: Too many flashbacksImplausible events, objects, characters, Unexplained events
Unpublishable events and objects: sex, gratuitous violence. Anything glorifying drugs, alcohol, pre-marital sex, sexual stereotyping,Not ensuring the villain gets his/her comeuppance.Over-expectation of background
knowledge
Slide37How can I come up with a storyline?What is the decision / dilemma? > worry (how to bring up a child)Think of your setting?
>
home, family scene
Who are the main characters? > father and young daughterHow do they conflict / what’s the resolution?
Father is very worried about his daughter’s sense of values Father sees daughter screaming for ice cream
Daughter rejects book as birthday present Daughter screams when dad takes away video game Father puts a iPad, book, money, cake and toy on a table - asks daughter to choose one
Daughter runs to father and hugs him ‘I choose daddy’
Slide38How can I come up with a storyline?What is the decision / dilemma? > stand up for yourself , comeuppance & prideThink of your setting? > High
school English class
Who are the main characters?
macho boy vs. Shy girlHow do they conflict / what’s the resolution? Bully laughs at shy girl who has bad English pronunciation.
Boy’s friends laugh and mock her. Bully says she is hopeless. Bully plays in the park, his bike breaks.
Bully’s friends cannot repair it. Dilemma: panicking he is late for soccer. Shy girl repairs the bike. Bully helps her with English.
Let’s try….Audience: 9-14 year oldsSeries structure: 6 levels from 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 400, 500 Context: International Junior High School in AsiaCharacters: Mixture of characters from various backgrounds and ages some Asian,
s
ome not
What kind of ‘issues’?growing up as teens; cultural misunderstandings; loyalty and rivalry; group mentality; expectations of others; jealousy; cheating; bullying; loss; differently skilled people ; lack of
confidence; unfair treatment / favoritism; …Which ‘contexts’ or ‘settings?Rich vs
poor families; local vs ‘foreign’; town vs city people, skin color; test scores; death of a pet; romantic triangle; Dilemma> Setting> Characters> Conflict> Resolution
Slide40Is the story ok?Bully laughs at shy girl who has bad English pronunciation. Boy’s friends laugh and mock her. Bully says she is hopeless.
Bully
plays in the park, his bike breaks.
Bully’s friends cannot repair it.Dilemma: panicking he is late for soccer.
Shy girl repairs the bike. Bully helps her with English.
Could the readers relate to this situation?Would this really happen? Whose story is this?Where is the emotion? How do you make the reader care?How would the pages look?
Slide41How to get your graded reader published*Independent Authors
Goals:
* Books are actually
distributed
not
published by Xreading
1. To give authors of graded readers an outlet for their work2. To provide a wider range of reading material for students
Xreading for…