The Language Teacher

Part One of this article, a review of the main series available in Japan, is based on data collected by EPER (Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading) over 20 years. The data is available through a unique library of graded readers to which publishers have contributed copies of their titles since 1981. All titles have been read and assessed for level of difficulty and quality, and the initial verdicts have been modified where necessary in the light of feedback from students. Part Two, Selection of Titles, discusses the criteria to be used in selecting titles and is based on EPER's experience of advising on the design, implementation and evaluation of reading programmes, a number of which over the last three years have been in Japanese universities and junior colleges. An important element of our advice is the provision of lists of recommended titles.

Part One: A Review Of The Major Series Available In Japan

The series reviewed are those that target adults and secondary school students. In the past, series were aimed at school students for it was in schools that most English classes took place. Thus a typical series might assume that students would be quite young when they started to learn English and 16 or older when they could read advanced texts. In the last twenty years, series have been devised to take account of the fact that students may not start to learn English or take the learning of English seriously until they are adult. Some series therefore are targeted specifically at adults or secondary school students, while others target both adults and younger learners. Thus nearly all titles in the series reviewed here will suit students in junior colleges. A degree of care is necessary when making a selection for older or younger students.

The series share the following characteristics:

1. A series is usually made up of between four and six stages of difficulty, defined in terms of lexis and syntax. Lexis is selected chiefly on the basis of frequency, but the wordlist may be modified for a particular title to take account of the requirements of the story. Syntax is selected chiefly on the basis of complexity, but attention is also paid to verb forms and verb clusters.

2. Most of the titles are fiction.

3. Individual titles may be simplifications -- simplified versions of original stories written for native-speakers, or simple originals, that is, original stories written especially for the series. It is usual to find that titles written for beginners and elementary level students are simple originals while the longer and more complex titles at the intermediate and upper stages are simplifications.

4. Aids to reading include an introduction with notes about the background and the author, pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading questions and activities, and a glossary.

5. Format is paperback (approximately A5) with a glossy cover indicating the titles, and the back cover giving a description and details of the series (stages and basis for selection).

6. Illustrations are used heavily at the beginning stages, and less as the stages become more difficult.

7. The length varies in words from 1,000 at the beginning levels to 20,000 and more at the upper levels.

The following notes (which are summarised in Table 1) seek to highlight the features that make each series distinctive, and give a verdict on the overall merit of each series. Table 3 compares the reading level of each series.

Harcourt Brace Janowitz New Readers (HBNR)

This is the only series in this review published in the USA, and to an extent is breaking new ground for US ELT publishing. The series is aimed at secondary students, and for the most part the stories are of modest appeal. Text and black and white illustrations appear on alternate pages.

Heinemann Guided Readers (HGR)

The first titles were published in the early 1970s, and new titles continue to be added each year. Some specifically Asian titles are planned for 1997. The format was revised in the early 1990s when pocket book size was changed to normal paperback size. The quality of paper was improved and the Beginner stage was given new illustrations in full colour. While the majority of the 126 titles in this series are suitable for adults, very few are exclusively so, and some are aimed specifically at teenagers. The standard of both simplifications and simple originals is high. The aids to reading go further than other series towards addressing the need for the learner to understand the background of the story and any special vocabulary.

Heinemann New Wave Readers (HNW)

The 30 titles in this series started to appear in the late 1980s. The series was aimed at teenagers in Europe and designed to meet their demand for shorter, modern, and less high-brow stories than were provided by HGR. They come in large page format with full colour illustrations and varied page layout.

Longman Classics (LC)

These began life as Longman New Method Supplementary Readers and were extensively revised and brought out as Longman Classics. Each title has a strong introduction to the background and the author, though this often seems to be targeted more at the teacher than the learner. All illustrations are in colour, of which many are stills from film or TV versions. The original drawings are very attractive and evocative of the period of the story.

Longman Easystarts (LES)

This single stage series was started in the late 1980s to meet the needs of adult beginners. The stories are strong and well supported by the full colour illustrations occupying two thirds of each page.

Longman Fiction (LF)

Up till this year LF was a one-stage series that comprised a reissue of titles originally published in the Longman Simplified English Series (LSES). In 1996 Longman began to publish a new LF series of five stages ranging from lower intermediate to unsimplified, which will incorporate titles not only from LSES but also from Longman Structural Readers (LSR) and the Longman Bridge Series. The first titles arrived in November 1996, and first impressions are that the text has been tidied up but not greatly altered, and that the covers are pleasing but the typeface quite faint. Each title has a new introduction dealing with the author and background of the story in the same manner as LC, but within the same linguistic constraints as the story.

Longman Originals (LO)

This sister series to LC contains a number of original stories that were first issued in LSR, as well as new titles specially written for the series. They use a large format which allows a varied page layout made attractive by full colour illustrations.

Longman Picture Classics (LPC)

Three thousand words provide space only for the bare bones of the story, but judicious selection of material, a terse and succinct style and clear, attractive artwork (on each page) make the bare bones amazingly alive. The danger of using these versions of the classics is that learners tend to be reluctant to read any fuller version, but that reluctance can be overcome.

(Longman) Nelson Readers (NR)

These started life in the early 1970s as Collins English Library. When Nelson took the series over, they designed a new and much improved format and began to republish them as Nelson Readers. When Longman took the series over in their turn, they continued the process, keeping the Nelson name and format to retain the series' separate identity, but limiting the number of titles to 50. By weeding out the failures, they improved the average quality of the remainder.

Oxford Bookworms (OBW) Black and Green

The Black series is targeted exclusively at adults, though many titles will also be enjoyed by secondary school students. The Green series is targeted exclusively at young teenagers and comprise simplifications of favourite children's classics and modern children's fiction. Stage 1 titles are definitely elementary rather than beginner level. The standard of both simplifications and simple originals is uniformly high, with the former displaying sensitivity to the original and the latter a talent for creating good stories. Of the simple originals perhaps the most striking and most successful are the biographies. Bookworm Factfiles deal with a variety of topics with an emphasis on travel and environmental issues. They tend to be worthy but dull.

Oxford Progressive English Readers (OPER)

The Hong Kong branch of Oxford first published this series in the 1970s and brought out a revised edition in the 1990s. They reduced the page size, though it remains longer than standard, commissioned new artwork and substantially revised the text (for the better) with the help of a specially devised software programme. The artwork, line numbers, and page size make these readers feel like textbooks, and the long page makes the solid text of the upper stages daunting to read. The quality of simplification is satisfactory, but the series as a whole suffers from the lack of any introduction or support for the reader who is unlikely to know much about the manners and pre-occupations of Jane Austen's England or Scott Fitzgerald's New England.

Oxford Storylines (OSL)

These titles began life as Oxford Streamline Graded Readers, a series that accompanied the Streamline course and followed the same lexical and structural syllabus. They have been reissued as Storylines, with colour illustrations and a more generous page and print-size. All titles are simple originals and all are comparatively short. Many of the stories are excellent with a nice twist at the end.

Phoenix Bookshelf

Phoenix took over Macmillan Bookshelf and renamed it Bookshelf One. They have now produced their own second series. Both series contain simple originals only, the quality being better in the second than the first, though not uniformly so. Bookshelf One readers have a long and rather daunting page. Bookshelf Two are in a pocket book format. Illustrations in both series are black and white.

Penguin Readers

Many titles in this series have appeared in the last two years -- many being new editions of titles previously published as Penguin Simply Stories (for adults) or Penguin Ready Readers (for secondary or high school). Many more are due in 1997. The format with rather small gray print on rough paper gives the series an adult feel, but the combination of two series into one means that the series includes some titles that have teenage chief characters and are not suitable for adults. The series' strength lies in the modern titles, but the average quality of simplification is poor: plots are often difficult to follow, especially of film-tie-ins unless you have seen the film, with incidents and characters compressed into an indigestible and unsatisfying read.

Table 1: Major Series of Graded (BASAL) Readers

Publisher and Series	Number of stages (headwords)	No of titles (nov. 1996)	Type of content	Target readership	Special features	EPER verdict	EPER favourite titles (stage in brackets)
Harcourt Brace New Readers	1 (500)	15	Simple originals	Secondary	American settings	With one exception not very good stories	Train wreck
Heinemann Guided Readers	5 (300-2200)	126	Simple originals and simplifications (serious / lighter)	Most adult, a few secondary	Stage 1 simplest of all readers Helpful introductions and glossaries at upper levels. Classic and modern titles Full colour stages 1 and 2	Many excellent, only a few weak titles	Alissa (1) The night visitor (2) The pearl (4)
Heinemann New Wave Readers	5 (300-2200)	30	Simple originals (light)	Secondary	Large page format Full colour throughout	Variable: a few excellent, some weak.	Zargon zoo (1) Clara (4) Away match (5)
Longman Classics	4 (500-1800)	65	Simplifications	Primary/ secondary	Tasteful artwork or tv/film stills Full colour Informative introductions	Even quality, upper stages too short to do justice to story	Heidi (1) The secret garden (2) Dracula (3)
Longman Easystarts	1 (200)	20	Simple originals (light)	Adult/ secondary	Gets beginners started on reading	Even quality, some excellent, no failures	The last photo The leopard and the lighthouse
Longman Fiction	5 (1200-full text)	24	Simplifications (serious)	Mostly adult, some secondary	5 stages in new format appearing now (Nov. 1996) Informative introductions	Well tried titles, valuable for length	The citadel (3) Island of the blue dolphins (1)
Longman Originals	4 (500-1500)	32	Simple originals (light)	Secondary	Large page format Full colour throughout	Variable quality, lower stages better than upper	Ask me again (1) Girl against the jungle (2) The ring (3) (superb!)
Longman Picture Classics	1 (500)	20	Simplifications	Primary/ secondary	Accurate outline of story Clear colour illustrations	Useful for weaker students	The call of the wild Moonfleet
Nelson Readers (Longman)	6 (300-2500)	50	Simple originals and simplifications	Mostly adult, some secondary	Clean format Variety of titles	Average quality much better since list was pruned	The Titanic is sinking (2) Wuthering heights (5)
Oxford Bookworms (Black)	6 (400-2500)	83	Simple originals and simplifications (serious)	Aimed at adults but many titles are suitable for secondary	Smart black cover Classic and modern Some biographies	Reliable high quality, very few failures, most excellent	The coldest place on earth (2) Chemical secret (3) Jane Eyre (6)
Oxford Bookworms (Green)	4 (400-1400)	27	Simplifications (serious)	Aimed specifically at ages 10-14	Smart green cover Classic and modern	Reliable high quality, very few failures, most excellent	The railway children (3) Who, Sir? Me, Sir? (3) The eagle of the ninth (4)
Oxford Progressive English Readers	5 (1400-5000)	84	Mostly simplifications	Secondary	Generous page layout School textbook style Full colour stages 1-2 Two colour stage 3-4	Upper levels offer longest versions available with most illustrations, but many titles less lively than rivals	Life without Katy (2) The thirty-nine steps (4) Frankenstein (5)
Oxford Storylines	4 (400-1250)	12	Simple originals (light)	Aimed at secondary but suitable for adults	Short (max. 6,000 words) Full colour Clean pager	Short length encourages reading. All good and some excellent.	The locked room (1) Sunnyvista City (3) A tidy ghost (4)
Phoenix Bookshelf	4 (not stated)	18	Simple originals	Mixed secondary and/or adult	Pocket book format A few non-fiction titles	Very mixed: a few are very good, and some are very dull.	The big match (2) Let's talk about art (4)
Penguin Readers	6 (300-3000)	78	Mixed: simple originals and simplifications, serious and light	Mostly adult, but some secondary	Smart orange penguin cover. Modern thrillers and film tie-ins	Very mixed: many simplifications are lifeless and difficult to follow. Simple originals much better	Surfer! (1) Misery (5) Mrs. Packletide's tiger (6)

Part Two: Selection Of Titles

How do you go about choosing graded readers when there are so many of them and so many of them are good? It is, or course, possible to narrow your search by deciding first which series are suitable for your students. Teachers of adult classes should look in the first place at HGR, LES, LFIC, OBW, and PR. These have an adult paperback format and an adult feel. Teachers of secondary school age students should look in the first place at LO, LC, HNW, OBWG, OPER, and PHBS. That does not mean that adults will not enjoy books from the secondary group or vice versa. Indeed, some of the best PR and HGR titles are aimed at teenagers, and some adults will enjoy the artwork of the teenage series. Teachers at junior colleges should look at all these series.
The process of selection of individual titles has three parts, which I will deal with in turn: (a) classifying levels within a framework, (b) assessing the quality of titles, (c) ensuring variety within your collection.

Classifying levels within a framework

Teachers will want to choose the best titles from different series. Given, however, that each series is based on different linguistic syllabi, it is essential to establish a common scale of difficulty. The simplest way is to build on the stages of the series. Table 2 gives a grid on which each stage of the series reviewed above is fitted against one of 8 EPER levels. Length, format, and the quality and frequency of illustrations are the major factors to take into consideration. It is important to have as much consistency as possible within one level in terms of length and frequency of artwork. If this is not the case then within each level students will pick only the shortest books with the most pictures, and fail to make real progress. It is only after such a broad placing of stages on the levels has been completed that it is useful to fine tune the placement of titles. Here it is necessary to weigh up the administrative convenience of having all titles of one stage at the same level against the pedagogic imperative of ensuring reasonably equivalent reading tasks. I have recently placed two titles one level higher than their stage, the one because it is very long, the other because it has a complex time sequence. All initial placements must be measured against student feedback. If they say one title is too difficult or too easy for the level you have assigned it, then move it.

Table 2: EPER Levels for Language Learner Literature in English

EPER Level	Average Vocabulary	Student Level	Cambridge	TOEFL	TOEIC	Transition To L1 Books
G	300	Starter	--	--	--
F	500	Beginner	--	--	--
E	800	Elementary	--	350	150
D	1200	Low Intermediate	--	400	300	Ages 10-12
C	1600	Intermediate	--	450	450
B	1900	High Intermediate	FCE	480	530	Ages 13-15
A	2200	Advanced	CAE	520	650
X	3000	Bridge	CPE	550	730

Assessing the quality of titles

Three factors contribute to a good reader: language, presentation, and content. It is a tribute to the professionalism of editors that there are very few examples in these series of ungrammatical English, so it is possible to take the accuracy of language for granted. The quality of the style varies, however. Good writing is characterised by smooth flow and clear meaning, which is extremely difficult though not impossible to achieve within severely reduced syntax and lexis. The appearance of the printed page is very important. Publishers take great care over this but often make bad mistakes. The most common failings are small and/or faint font and a long line, which make the process of reading more difficult and so discourage students. Both faults can be alleviated by more generous space between the lines, but that should be standard and not a saving grace. The most important factor is the quality of the story.

Simplifications are usually only undertaken if the original has already proved its popularity. With these it is the skill of simplification that matters. The best are carefully composed to reflect the themes and atmosphere in the original work. The worst are summaries that provide a pale reflection of the original and bewilder the students as each new page is filled with breathless action and countless characters. The success of simple originals depends on the creativity of the writer. Unfortunately, very few established authors have deigned to write for graded reader series, so the best stories are mostly found in the elementary levels, where there is less demand for sustained creativity.

As with level, you must allow student feedback to rule your quality rating. If students say a title is boring, first try it at a higher level. If they still think it is boring, tear it up in front of the class and send the pieces to the publisher, who also needs feedback. That will prove to the students that their opinion counts. As for popular titles, get more copies. To start you off, Table 1, which summarises the description of the series, offers three recommended titles for each series.

Ensuring variety

Other criteria for selection, none of them as significant as quality, are genre, gender of the chief protagonist, setting, and the number of titles you want at each level. Genre and gender need no discussion. You will want variety in both to cater for the interests and gender of your students. Setting and number of titles per level are more complex issues. Very few titles in the series reviewed here are set in Japan or other countries in Asia. The emphasis placed on extensive reading in Hong Kong and Malaysia has resulted in several local publishers producing their own series for secondary schools. These fill a defined gap in the provision, but the stories tend to be quite dull and the books themselves look more like textbooks than paperbacks. Does the lack of a local setting matter? It complements a good story but does not compensate for a poor one. There may even be merit in a foreign setting. After all, one of the purposes of learning English is to be able to communicate with foreigners.

Conclusion

Graded readers are a superb language learning resource, number one in my view, for versatility and motivation. What other resource gives every student language they can understand, content that interests them, in a form they can use in and out of class, in inexhaustible quantity, at so little cost, all with the certain reward of improved proficiency provided that it is exploited systematically and consistently over an extended period of time?

Table 3: Publishers' series by EPER level

		EPER LEVELS
Primary	Series	G	F	E	D	C	B	A	X
	Heinemann Children's Readers	Level 1 Level 2	Level 3 Level 4	Level 5
	Macmillan Carnival Readers	Level 1 Level 2 Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
	Oxford Classic Tales	Level 1 Level 2	Level 3
	OTHER SERIES	Oxford Stepping Into English Levels 1-3 Phoenix Readers Level 1	Longman's Famous Fairy Tales Oxford Graded Readers Junior Level 500-750 Words
Secondary/ Adult	Heinemann Guided Readers	Starter Level	Beginner Level		Elementary Level	Intermediate Level	Upper Level
	Heinemann New Wave Readers	Level 1	Level 2 Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
	Longman Classics				Stage 1	Stage 2 Stage 3	Stage 4
	Longman Originals		Stage 1	Stage 2		Stage 3	Stage 4
	Longman Structural Readers		Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5 Stage 6
	Longman Bible Stories		Stage 1	Stage 2
	Macmillan Rangers		Range 1 Range 2	Range 3	Range 4		Range 5	Range 6 Range 7 Range 8
	Macmillan Stories To Remember							Junior Series	Senior Series
	Nelson Readers (Collins English Library)				Level 1 Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
	Oxford Bookworms Black And Green Series			Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5	Stage 6
	Oxford Delta Readers		Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
	Oxford Progressive English Readers (New Editions)				Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5
	Oxford Storylines (Streamline Graded Readers)		Level 1	Level 2	Level 3 Level 4
	Penguin Readers		Level 1		Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5	Level 6
	Phoenix Bookshelf 1st Series (Macmillan Bookshelf)			Level 1		Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
	Phoenix Bookshelf 2nd Series				Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
	OTHER SERIES	Longman Easystarts	Harcourt- Brace New Readers Oxford Graded Readers Senior Level 500-700 Headwords	Longman Picture Classics Phoenix Readers Level 2	Longman American Background Readers Longman Galaxies Level 1 Longman Movieworld	Longman Famous Lives Longman Galaxies Level 2		Longman Fiction	Longman Bridge Series

Guest Editor's note: The Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading (EPER) has been promoting the use of Extensive Reading for nearly 20 years. EPER maintains a database and library of graded readers, advises institutions and ministries of education on reading programmes, and publishes a wide range of support materials. See EPERís contact information below.

EPER (Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading), IALS (Institute for Applied Language Studies), University of Edinburgh, 21 Hill Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9DP. Scotland. UK. Tel: +44-131-650-8211/6200. Fax: +44-131-667-5927; e-mail: <David.R.Hill@ed.ac.uk>

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