2014/02/08

Due to inclement weather, this meeting was canceled.

Title: How to Write a Graded Reader

Speaker: Alastair Lamond

The first part of the presentation will focus on the mechanics of writing a graded reader. Alistair will share how he approached the project to ensure historical accuracy, imagination, and connection with a modern audience. He will take you through his experience step by step, from the text to the fact pages to the artwork, explaining his errors through inexperience and the tools that saved his project. The presentation will also look at how to approach the retelling process at a low level.

The second part of the presentation will look at the socio-cultural benefits of low-level graded reader versions of non-Western classic literature. In the the currently-available graded reader versions of non-Western classic literature, the vast majority are 1,700 headwords or more, which is beyond most readers in Japan. The presenter will explain why he wrote a graded reader version of Natsume Soseki’s Botchan at the 600-headword level to illustrate how low-level versions of non-Western classics can have not only language benefits but also socio-cultural benefits for students. The presentation will also explore how budding writers can identify future titles that will attract both publishers and an audience.

Alastair Lamond has been working in the education field in Japan since 1988. He observed at the 2011 Extensive Reading World Congress in Kyoto that there was a dearth of classic literature in graded reader format for EFL learners at a low level, where most of our students are. Recognizing that even low level readers deserve to read, want to read, and can benefit from reading such literature, he suggested to an Italian publisher that they publish more such literature. Somehow along the way, his message got lost in translation and he ended up writing Botchan at the CEFR A1 600-word level to illustrate his thinking.

Date and time: Saturday, February 8th, 2:00 to 4:30

Location: Gunma Kokusai Academy Elementary School

69-1 Nishihoncho

Ota, Gunma 373-0033

http://www.gka.ed.jp/map_elE.html