Rationale
How can one develop the essential vocabulary that underpins language proficiency? Whether in our native language or a second language, most of our vocabulary is acquired through reading (Krashen 1989). This holds true for academic vocabulary as well, where we learn many words not only from specialized texts but also from enjoyable reading materials. According to McQuillian (2020), the globally popular Harry Potter series contains 85% of the words listed in the Academic Word List (AWL). Considering the high efficiency of vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading as demonstrated by Mason (2007), simply reading the Harry Potter series can lead to the acquisition of 20% to 50% of these important words, which is 1.6 to 4 times more efficient than traditional teaching methods (McQuillian 2020). One major advantage of learning academic vocabulary through enjoyable reading is sustainability. Language acquisition should be viewed as a long-term endeavor. By enjoying engaging reading materials, learners can continue their language journey without becoming exhausted or feeling forced.
Problem
Many studies demonstrate the high effectiveness of extensive reading for language acquisition, and its efficacy is widely recognized. While there are many appealing graded readers available for English education, the resources for extensive reading in Japanese education are still insufficient. Additionally, many of the existing reading materials are perceived as being for children, making them less appealing to adult learners.
Towards a solution: The goals of TsukuBOOK
TsukuBOOK aims to create and provide engaging extensive reading content for Japanese language education. Upon launch, we offer 26 original short stories written by our own content creation team. These stories are initially prepared in advanced-level Japanese (around N2) and then rewritten for intermediate (around N4) and beginner (around N5) levels. We also plan to add new titles in the future. By gradually increasing the content, we hope users will enjoy each story and look forward to the "next story."
Works cited
- Krashen, S. (1989). We acquire vocabulary and spelling by reading: Additional evidence for the input hypothesis. The Modern Language Journal, Volume 73(4): 440–463.
- Mason, B. (2007). The efficiency of self-selected reading and hearing stories on adult second language acquisition. In Selected papers from the sixteenth International Symposium on English Teaching (pp. 630–633). Crane Publishing Company.
- McQuillan, J. (2020). Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Vocabulary Instruction: Acquiring academic language at Hogwarts. Reading in a Foreign Language, Volume 32(2): 122–142.
TsukuBOOK Content Creation Team:
Editorial supervisors
- Cade Bushnell (Associate Professor, University of Tsukuba)
- Hironori Sekizaki (Associate Professor, University of Tsukuba)
- Anubuti Chauhan (Assistant Professor, University of Tsukuba)
Content creators
- Haruka Abe
- Svetlana Kimchuk
- Sayaka Kanno
- Lisa Shinke
- Chufan Liu
- Yuna Kawabe
- Huixin Jin
- Eri Sawada
- Sana Takaoka
- Ryotaro Mizuta
Administrative support
- Mariko Ishihara
- Emi Karube
- Noriko Jibiki
- Noriko Hino