Primary ESL Extensive Reading Program

WHAT IS RAZ PLUS? To support their language learning success, every Vinschool Primary ESL Standard student is provided with a RAZ Plus account. RAZ Plus provides learners with access to a wide array of graded reading material. Learners can take quizzes to check their understanding and can record themselves reading aloud and receive feedback from their teacher. Children use RAZ Plus resources in some of their ESL lessons to complement core content. They also participate in reading projects throughout the year where they create a tangible product related to a book they have read, for example, a poster or a podcast review.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING THIS RESOURCE? Primary ESL Standard Heads of Department are responsible for managing the distribution of RAZ Plus access codes for learners to all teachers at the start of the school year. Class teachers are responsible for ensuring that students and parents receive support with platform access at the start of the school year and for monitoring student engagement throughout the school year. Formal reports on RAZ Plus utilization are provided by RAZ Plus twice per term and campus Heads of Department are required to review class reports monthly. Return on investment in this resource is measured in number of books read, reading related project outcomes and increases in learner reading level.

HOW DOES EXTENSIVE READING BENEFIT OUR PRIMARY ESL STANDARD LEARNERS? Extensive reading benefits children across all aspects of their English language proficiency development. Extensive reading for primary in ELT (Cambridge 2018) asserts that ‘There is plenty of research, conducted across a number of countries, which demonstrates the effectiveness of ER as a means of improving second language (L2) learners’ overall reading abilities (not just their reading fluency). There is also evidence that ER leads to vocabulary gains, and this supports the performance of other language skills, as well as reading. ER appears to have a positive impact on grammar, with the most probable explanation for this being that ER is a valuable source of the input necessary for language acquisition. Those learners who engage with ER programmes also commonly report increased motivation and, of course, have the opportunity to increase their knowledge of the world and other cultures in particular.’