Paul Mathieson
Nara Medical University
About
Paul is the head of the Department of Basic Medical English at Nara Medical University, where all of his first-year medical students and nursing students are given the opportunity to discover the joys of extensive reading as part of their English courses. Paul has also written a series of graded readers that incorporates his love of science-fiction, academic vocabulary, and general weirdness (and which was the subject of his recently-completed PhD research).Sessions
College and University Fictional Graded Readers Boost Academic Word Knowledge: Fact or Fantasy? more
Sat, Sep 6, 14:15-15:00 Asia/Tokyo
Extensive reading is often omitted from EAP programmes because of the lack of suitable materials. In particular, materials used in EAP programmes should include salient academic vocabulary, while being of interest to students. Fortunately, a series of graded readers that addresses both of these requirements has recently been developed. 'My Mysterious Friend Sora' is an engaging, exciting, and often poignant story that follows the life of a university student and her unusual friend, Sora. The story ‒ which spans 10 graded readers ‒ includes the systematic recycling of all 570 items from Coxhead’s (2000) academic word list. In this session, the presenter will discuss the vocabulary gains made by the students who read the series as well as the feedback provided by students. Finally, the potential usefulness of the series (which is available on Xreading) in other teaching and learning contexts will also be discussed.