Are English as a Foreign Language Reading · and style used in some of the easiest graded readers available to Japanese learners of English: those of Heinle Cengage's Foundations

EFL Reading Materials' Type Size – May, 2016

Are English as a Foreign Language ReadingMaterials Optimally Designed for Type Size?

by

Jose A. Pérez de Camino

May, 2016

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Abstract

This study investigated whether the type size of reading materials for English as a foreign

language (EFL) learners is optimal. The typographical characteristics of two major graded

reader collections were analysed and used as a reference. In a within-subjects design,

legibility measures were taken from eight Japanese participants. Reading speed measures

were recorded in two different tasks in which participants read texts set to the same type size

as in the graded reader collections (12 points), and texts set to a larger size (16 points).

Contrary to the initial hypothesis, the results showed no advantage for either print size. This

suggests that reading materials set to a 12-point size are not suboptimal for this group of

learners.

Keywords: legibility, typography, reading, EFL, critical print size, graded readers

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A claim has been made that the typographic aspects of reading materials designed for ELF

learners, such as type size, interline spacing, line length and margin width, are not optimally

designed for their readers, and that research on this issue is lacking and necessary (Hill,

2013). This is the motivation for the present study, which focuses on the effect of one of those

aspects of typography on learners' reading: size of type.

Research on the most adequate type size for EFL learners might be reduced to Soleimani and

Mohammadi's (2012) study with Iranian teenagers. They examined reading speed for Palatino

and Arial typefaces set to 10-point and 12-point sizes, and found that the larger type was read

faster.

In contrast to EFL research on typography and reading, first language (L1) research on these

issues is not scarce, and its findings, methods and terminology were very useful for this study.

Table 1 below contains definitions of various important terms and parameters used in L1

research:

Table 1.

Definitions of Key Terms.

Term Definition

Letter acuity “the smallest angular size for identifying letters with unconstrained viewing

time” (Legge & Bigelow, 2011, p.6)

Reading acuity “The smallest print size that can be just read” (Mansfield, Legge & Bane, 1996,

p. 1494).

Maximum reading speed “The reading size at which print size is not a limiting factor” (Mansfield et al.

1996, p. 1494).

Critical print size (CPS) “The smallest print size that can be read at maximum speed” (Mansfield et al.

1996, p. 1494).

These notions are useful to understand one of the most relevant findings of L1 research that

concern this study, namely, that type size does indeed affect reading speed, but only so within

the limits of acuity and critical print size (Bailey, Clear & Berman, 1993; Legge & Bigelow,

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2011; Mansfield et al. 1996). It has also been found that the critical print size is at least twice

as large as the acuity limit for normal sighted viewers (Bailey et al. 1993; Legge and

Bigelow, 2011).

A second important finding from L1 research is that different populations may read faster

with different type sizes than others. This is the case of older adults (Bernard, Liao & Mills,

2001), or young children (Hughes & Wilkins, 2000; Wilkins, Cleave, Grayson & Wilson,

2009). Nevertheless, different results have been found in this area: Bernard, Chaparro, Mills

and Halcomb (2002) found no difference in reading speed for children with on-screen texts

set to 12-point or 14-point sizes. Likewise, Woods, Davis and Scharff (2005) found that

although younger children better identified and discriminated letters set to an 18-point size

than to a 12-point size, children in the second, third and fourth grades performed equally with

both type sizes.

Just as young children, EFL learners may constitute a special population with a particular

critical print size. Hill's (2013) claim that the type size used in reading materials is too small

would be supported if texts set to a larger size were read faster. However, if they were read at

a similar speed, it could be concluded that the critical print size is below the type size of those

materials, and that no reading speed gains should be expected from setting them to a larger

size.

With regards to the L1 research methods, it is assumed that reading speed is the best measure

of the legibility of type (Bloodsworth, 1993), and it is generally measured by having the

subjects read a text aloud in one of two ways: either the text is static and the subjects are

timed and their errors recorded, or the text moves across a screen and the speed at which

subjects cannot read any more is measured, as in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (Legge &

Bigelow, 2011). It is not warranted that either of these methods can be used with EFL learners

because ease of pronunciation would become an important confounding factor, and therefore,

silent reading measures have been preferred for the present study. Silent reading measures are

preferred too on ecological grounds, since they resemble much more closely the tasks that

learners would actually carry out in the real world (Carrell & Grabe, 2010). Reading on the

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screen was similarly ruled out because of ecological reasons, and because it significantly

differs from reading in print in terms of speed and accuracy (Dillon, 1992; Dillon, McKnight

& Richardson, 1988).

L1 research has shown that the use of comprehension questions and of tasks where subjects

are asked to identify errors in the text, promote skimming and scanning in reading (Bernard et

al. 2001). Consequently, they have been avoided. The present study does follow the

methodology used in L1 research in that it uses simple text so that vocabulary and syntax do

not become confounding factors (Legge & Bigelow, 2011).

This study was designed as a pilot for a within-subjects experiment on whether the critical

print size for EFL learners is larger than the size type generally used in their reading material,

and therefore, whether or not it would be beneficial for them if these materials were designed

with a larger type size. For this purpose, participants carried out two reading tasks in which

their performance depending on type size was measured.

Methods

Participants

Data were collected from eight participants (4 females, 4 males) with normal or corrected-to-

normal vision. They ranged in age from 17 to 43 years old (M = 26, SD = 8,2 years). All

participants were native speakers of Japanese and spoke English as a foreign language with

different degrees of proficiency. All participants gave their informed and written consent to

participate in the study by means of participant information sheets and informed consent

forms that had been translated into Japanese. Specific information on each participant can be

found in Appendix 1.

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Design and materials

In order to reproduce as closely as possible the typographical characteristics of reading

materials for EFL learners, those found in the lowest level collections of two major publishers

of graded readers were measured and analysed: Escott (2000) was used as an example of the

Oxford Dominoes Quick Starter collection (Bowler & Parminter, 2002-2016), and Johnson

(2010) as an example of the Cambridge English Readers Starter collection (Prowse, 1999-

2016). These texts were found to be set to a 12-point size with a leading or interline spacing

of approximately 1.1 (Cambridge English Readers) or 1.2 (Oxford Dominoes) points. The

typefaces used in these materials share the following characteristics: serifs, variable stroke

width, proportional width, medium x-height and relatively light weight. Minion Pro –a

typeface with all these characteristics and which otherwise closely resembles the ones used in

these reading materials– was chosen for both tasks of this study. An interline spacing of 1.1

points was chosen for both tasks.

Task A. This task measured reaction time and error rates as a function of type size. Two

parallel sets of stimuli (A and B) were used in this task. They contained the same stimuli

presented in the same order, only at different type sizes. This was done to counterbalance the

order of presentation. A list of stimuli can be found in appendix 2. Each set was composed of

five blocks of true or false statements. Each block contained sixteen items, except for block

No. 1 which was meant for practice and contained only ten. In order to control for order,

blocks two and five were set to one size of type, and blocks three and four to another. Table 2

illustrates this:

Table 2.

Type Size and Order Counterbalancing in Task A.

Block No. Type Size for Set A Type Size for Set B

1 14 14

2 12 16

3 16 12

4 16 12

5 12 16

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Examples of the items used for the task are given below:

1. Hot water is hot water

2. My brother is not my brother

3. Naoto lives in Kyoto: his house is in Kyoto.

In order to minimise syntax and vocabulary comprehension requirements, extensive use of

tautologies was made, as in examples 1 and 2. For the same reason, proper names and

locations were all Japanese, as in example 3. Within each block, the order of presentation of

true and false statements was randomised using an online list randomiser (random.org).

Task B. While Task A measured performance with short sentences, a complementary task

measuring performance with longer texts was considered necessary to balance the

experiment. Task B measured reading speed in words per minute for three texts set to

different type sizes. Four sets (A, B, C and D) of three texts were created. The three texts

(“Momoko”, “The Magic Bag” and “The Lunch Box”) were written specifically for this study

and can be found in appendix 3. In order to avoid syntax, vocabulary and narrative

complexity to become confounding factors, these texts were created following the patterns

and style used in some of the easiest graded readers available to Japanese learners of English:

those of Heinle Cengage's Foundations Reading Library, Level 1 (Waring & Jamall, 2007).

Also in order to avoid comprehension difficulties, all names and locations were Japanese.

Text No. 1 was for practice and was set to a 14-point size. Texts 2 and 3 were alternatively set

to 12 points and at 16 points, and counterbalanced to control for order of presentation. Table

3 below illustrates how this was done:

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Table 3.

Type Size and Text Counterbalancing for Task B

Text No. Set A Set B Set C Set D

2 Text Title The Magic Bag The MagicBag

The Lunch Box The LunchBox

Type Size 12 16 12 16

3 Text Title The LunchBox

The Lunch Box The MagicBag

The Magic Bag

Type Size 16 12 16 12

Procedure

The order in which the tasks were carried out was counterbalanced across participants: half of

them did Task A first and the other half did Task B first. Participants carried out the tasks

individually, at different settings.

Task A. Set A was used with participants Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 7, and set B with participants Nos.

2, 4, 6 and 8. Participants were given an explanation of the general nature of the task and

were asked to perform at maximum speed and accuracy. They were instructed to circle 'True'

of 'False' for each of the items in the lists. Block No. 1 was used for practice. A stopwatch

was used to record the time taken to complete each block.

Task B. Different sets were used with different participants: set A (participants 1 and 5), B (2

and 6), C (3 and 7) and D (4 and 8). Participants were instructed to read the texts silently and

to skip difficult words. Participants were given one minute to read text No. 1 and then they

were asked to circle the last word that they had read. They repeated the process for text No. 2

and text No. 3, only the time given for each of these two texts was three minutes instead of

one.

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Analysis

No statistical analyses were carried out for this study. Table 4 below shows the results for

each participant at each task. Because the number of errors in task A was generally either zero

or a very small one, they have not been considered for the elaboration of this summary table.

Appendices 4 and 5 provide full details of the results for tasks A and B respectively.

Table 4.

Results by Participant and Task.

Participant No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 M SD

Task A

12-point blocks 126.50 112.03 111.94 103.99 101.08 155.83 193.34 108.31 126.63 30.06

16-point blocks 138.45 115.11 108.32 90.57 103.72 136.33 159.96 101.76 119.28 21.86

16-point advantage 9 3 -3 -15 3 -14 -21 -6 -6 15

Task B

12-point text 95 158 187 163 182 132 93 178 148 35

16-point text 125 144 215 79 191 156 135 181 153 40

16-point advantage 32 -9 15 -52 5 18 46 2 7 28

Note. Task A: 12-point blocks and 16-point blocks results are given in seconds; 16-point advantage is given as percentage. Task B: 12-point text and 16-point text results are given in words per minute. 16-point advantage isgiven as percentage.

These figures illustrate the advantage for the larger type size for the different participants

across tasks. For example, In Task A, participant No. 1 read 9% faster the items set to a 16-

point size, but in Task B, she read the text set to the larger type size 32% faster. Negative

values indicate that the text set to a smaller size was read faster. For example, participant No.

4 read the items in Task A 15% faster when set in a 12-point size, and read the texts in Task B

52% faster when set to the smaller size. In Task A, only three of the participants showed an

advantage of more than 10% of one size over another, and this was in favour of the smaller

size. In Task B, there was greater disparity, although most subjects read faster the larger print.

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There was no uniformity across tasks, and most subjects read faster with one size in one task

and with another in the other task.

An order effect was observed in Task B, since Text. No. 3 was read on average 25% faster

than Text No. 2. Also in Task B, one of the texts, “The Magic Bag” was read 19% faster than

the other text, “The Lunch Box”.

Discussion and conclusion

When it comes to discussing these results, it is important to bear in mind that this is only a

pilot study with very few participants, and that conclusions on its subject matter can only be

drawn great caution. Nevertheless, the results do seem to contradict the hypothesis that

reading materials for EFL learners would be more legible if printed with a larger type.

The results of each task considered separately do not show any advantage in legibility –as

measured in reading speed– between materials set to a 12-point size and to a 16-point size,

and when the two tasks are taken together, the same pattern, or lack of pattern, is found. Since

it has been established that the effect of type size on reading speed is strong but gradually

decreases as it gets near the critical print size (Bailey et al. 1993; Legge and Bigelow, 2011;

Mansfield et al. 1996), and since in this study we observe no advantage between sizes 12-

point and above, it can be concluded that the critical print size for the Japanese learners of

English that participated in it – and therefore the most adequate size for their reading

materials– is not above 12 points. Since graded readers have been found to be set precisely to

a 12-point size, it follows that they are not inadequate reading material in this respect.

While the results seem to indicate that the critical print size is not 12 points or larger, they

give no indication as to how small it might be. Since Soleimani and Mohammadi (2012) did

find an effect of type size on reading speed for Iranian learners –who share with Japanese

learners the crucial fact that their mother tongue is not written using the Roman alphabet–

when comparing text printed at a 10-point and a 12-point size, it could be hypothesised that

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the critical print size for both Iranian and Japanese learners may lie somewhere within that

range. That would have to be the subject of further research.

Hill (2013) argues that in publishing reading materials, the needs and tastes of accountants

and designers prevail over those of learners and result in “student-unfriendly” texts (p.90). In

a similar vain, Bloodsworth (1993) points out that it is not legibility research but the

publishers' beliefs and opinions which shape typography. Nevertheless, in the case of this

study, research seems to indicate that the preferences of publishers and designers actually

match the readers' needs. If this were true, it would not be an isolated case or an exception,

since Legge and Bigelow (2011) have demonstrated that over the centuries, publishers

preferences have generally kept the size of print within the ranges that allow for optimal

legibility.

A research question that lies out of the reach of this study, and that could certainly be of

interest, is that of legibility and size of type at the early stages of learning to read in English.

If young children may benefit from larger print sizes (Hughes & Wilkins, 2000; Wilkins et al.

2009; Woods et al. 2005), it would not be surprising to find that learners at the early stages of

learning to read in English could also benefit from larger print sizes.

Finally, research into the effects on legibility of typographical aspects other than type of size,

notably typeface and leading, would also contribute to a better understanding of what the

most adequate and efficient reading materials for learners would look like.

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References

Bailey, I., Clear, R., & Berman S. (1993). Size as a determinant of reading speed. Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society, 22(2), 102-117. Retrieved from http://eetd.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/publications/32031.pdf

Bernard, M. L., Chaparro, B. S., Mills, M. M., & Halcomb, C. C. (2002). Examining children's reading performance and preference for different computer-displayed text. Bevaviour & Information Technology, 21(2), 87-96. doi:10.1080/0144929021014673 7

Bernard, M. L., Liao, C. H., & Mills, M. (2001). The effects of font type and size on the legibility and reading time of online text by older adults. In Vol. II Proceedings of ACM CHI 2001, ACM Press, 2001, 175-176. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ab7b/45fe0a5829c8804801f37a9f92aa68bf5b64.pdf

Bloodsworth, J. G. (1993). Legibility of print (Report No. CS-011-244). East Lansing, MI: National Center for Research on Teacher Learning. (ERIC DocumentReproduction Service No. ED355497). Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED355497.pdf

Bowler, B., & Parminter, S. (2002-2016). Oxford dominoes. Oxford: OUP.Carrell, P. L., & Grabe, W. (2010). Reading. In N. Schmitt (Ed.). An Introduction to

applied linguistics (2nd ed.). (pp. 215-231). New York: Routledge. Dillon, A. (1992) Reading from paper versus screens: A critical review of the empirical

literature. Ergonomics, 35(10), 1297-1326. doi:10.1080/00140139208967394Dillon, A., McKnight, C., & Richardson, J. (1988). Reading from paper versus reading

from screens. The Computer Journal, 31(5), 457-465. Retrieved from https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~adillon/Journals/Paper%20vs%20screens.htm

Escott, J. (2000). Girl on a motorcycle (3rd ed.). Oxford: OUP. Hill, D. R. (2013) Graded readers. ELT Journal 67 (1), 85-125. doi:10.1093/elt/ccs067 Hughes, L. E., & Wilkins, A. J. (2000). Typography in children's reading schemes may be

suboptimal: Evidence from measures of reading rate. Journal of Research in Reading, 23(3), 314-324. doi:10.1111/1467-9817.00126

Johnson, M. (2010). Big hair day. Cambridge: CUP. Legge, G. E., & Bigelow, C. A. (2011). Does print size matter for reading? A review of

findings from vision science and typography. Journal of Vision, 11(5):8. 1-22. doi: 10.1167/11.5.8.

Mansfield, J. S., Legge, G. E., & Bane, M. C. (1996). Psychophysics of reading: XV: fonts effects in normal and low vision, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 37(8). 1492-1501. Retrieved from http://legge.psych.umn.edu/pdf/read15.pdf

Prowse, P. (Ed.). (1999-2016). Cambridge English readers. Cambridge: CUP.

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Soleimani, H., & Mohammadi, E. (2012). The effect of text typographical features on legibility, comprehension and retrieval of EFL Learners. English Language Teaching 5(8), 207- 216. doi:10.5539/elt.v5n8p207

Waring, R., & Jamall, M. (2007). Foundations reading library. Tokyo: Heinle Cengage. Wilkins, A., Cleave, R., Grayson, N., & Wilson, L. (2009). Typography for children may be

inappropriately designed. Journal of Research in Reading, 32(4), 402-412. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9817.2009.01402.x

Woods, J. R., Davis, K., & Scharff, L. F. V. (2005). Effects of typeface and font size on legibility for children. American Journal of Psychological Research, 1(1), 86-102. Retrieved from https://www.mcneese.edu/f/c/f2724ef5/ajpr9.pdf

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Appendix 1 – Participants

Part. No. Sex Age in years Vision

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

female

male

male

female

female

male

male

female

17

19

26

27

43

19

21

33

corrected to normal

normal

normal

corrected to normal

corrected to normal

normal

corrected to normal

corrected to normal

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Appendix 2 – Task A: List of Stimuli

Note: American spelling was preferred for the creation of these stimuli because it

predominates in Japan.

Block No. 1

1. A bird is not a cat

2. My mother is my father

3. My sister is my brother

4. A house is a house

5. A dog is a bird

6. A dog is an animal

7. My mother is my mother

8. A bird is a cat

9. A house is not a house

10. My sister is my sister

Block No. 2

1. Hot water is hot water

2. My brother is my brother

3. Naoto lives in Kyoto: his house is in Kyoto.

4. A cat is a dog

5. A cat is an animal

6. Red is not a color

7. My brother is my sister

8. Red is not yellow

9. Black, white and green are dogs

10. A bird is a bird

11. Green is yellow

12. Black, white and green are colors

13. Green is a color

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14. Kana lives in Kyoto: his house is in Osaka

15. Hot water is cold water

16. A bird is not a bird

Block No. 3

1. Red, orange and yellow are colors

2. A green house is a red house

3. A tree is a tree

4. A green house is a green house

5. A bird is a cat

6. A tree is not a tree

7. Red, orange and yellow are birds

8. Moka lives in Tokyo: his house is in Tokyo

9. Jin lives in Tokyo: his house is in Kyoto

10. Pink, blue and black are not animals

11. Today is Monday

12. Today is Monday and Tuesday

13. Blue is pink

14. A bird is an animal

15. Pink, blue and black are not colors

16. Blue is a color

Block No. 4

1. Red, orange and yellow are not colors

2. A big cat is a small cat

3. A dog is not a bird

4. Japan is in Osaka

5. Osaka is in Japan

6. A dog is a bird

7. Green is not white

8. Green is not a color

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9. Tomorrow is Thursday and Friday

10. Blue is not pink

11. Shunta lives in Osaka: his house is in Tokyo

12. Tomorrow is Sunday

13. Naoki lives in Osaka: his house is in Osaka

14. Red, orange and yellow are dogs

15. Blue is not a color

16. A big cat is a big cat

Block No. 5

1. Red is a color

2. Japan is in Tokyo

3. Black, white and green are birds

4. Yesterday was Tuesday and Wednesday

5. Hot water is not hot water

6. Hot water is not cold water

7. Black, white and green are not colors

8. Tokyo is in Japan

9. A cat is not a dog

10. Pink, blue and black are animals

11. Kyoto is in Japan

12. A cat is a dog

13. Yesterday was Tuesday

14. Pink, blue and black are colors

15. Red is white

16. Japan is in Kyoto

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Appendix 3 – Task B: Texts

Note: American spelling was preferred for the creation of these texts because it predominates

in Japan.

Momoko

Momoko Miyamoto is a seven-year-old girl from Osaka, in Japan.

Momoko has one brother, his name is Shogo. Shogo is older than her, he is fifteen years old.

Momoko and Shogo live with their parents, Tsutomu and Chikoto. They live in a small house.

They have a dog called Sebastian. It is dark brown, small and very old. It can't see very well.

Momoko loves Sebastian.

Sometimes life at home is not easy. Sometimes, Momoko doesn't like Shogo, and Shogo

doesn't like Momoko. Sometimes, Momoko's parents get angry with Momoko or with Shogo.

Sometimes Momoko goes for very long walks with Sebastian, the dog.

Every morning Momoko gets up at seven. Then she has her breakfast. She usually has miso

soup and rice, but sometimes she has a toast and orange juice. Momoko never drinks milk.

She doesn't like it, and her mother says that milk is not good for children. Then, after

breakfast, she gets dressed. At about eight, she leaves home and goes to school.

She walks to school with some of her friends. She likes talking with them. They walk very

slowly.

Momoko likes her school very much. She has many friends there. She also likes her teacher

very much. Her name is Ms. Takemoto. She is very young and she knows many things.

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After school Momoko goes back home. Then she has something to eat and after that she goes

out to play. At about seven in the evening she has dinner with her family. After dinner she

takes a bath, and after the bath she does her homework. She goes to bed at about eleven.

The Lunch Box

Naoki Takada is a fourteen-year-old junior high school student. He lives in Osaka with his

family: his mother Sachiko, his father Ippei, and his nine-year-old sister Karin. They have a

big black cat called Kikujiro.

Every morning, Naoki's mother Sachiko makes Naoki's lunch box. Naoki likes his mother's

food very much. Sometimes she puts sausages in the lunch box, and sometimes she puts egg

and vegetables. It is always great food. When the lunch box is ready, she gives it to Naoki.

Then he puts it in his bag and takes it to school with him.

This morning, Sachiko puts curry and rice in Naoki's lunch box. Then she gives it to him.

“Thank you,” says Naoki. But he is playing video games, and he doesn't put the lunch box in

his school bag. He finishes his breakfast, he gets dressed and he leaves for school.

Naoki is at school. In the morning, he has Japanese, P.E., social studies and science. Naoki

likes science, but today, during the science lesson, he can't pay much attention because he is

very hungry. He likes Mr. Kuniyama, the science teacher, but he doesn't want to listen to him

now. Mr. Kuniyama writes letters and numbers on the blackboard, but Naoki can't think about

them. Naoki can only think about food. He thinks that he is going to eat the food in his lunch

box soon.

At twelve forty the science lesson finishes. The teacher goes, and everybody gets ready for

lunch. First, they wash their hands, and then they move the desks to make groups. Everybody

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takes out their lunch boxes and the classroom becomes a dining room. The classroom smells

like food.

Naoki looks into his school bag. He wants to get his lunch box. But he can't find it. The lunch

box is not there!

“Oh no!” he thinks. “I have left my lunch box at home!”

Now Naoki is very hungry, and he is worried too. He thinks, “My mother is going to be angry

with me, and now I don't have my food here. What can I do?”

Naoki looks at his friends in the classroom. Tomoya is having a pizza, Manami is having

some pasta, Miyu is eating a big green salad with a lot of broccoli on it. All the food looks

delicious.

“I'm so hungry!” thinks Naoki.

Tomoya is looking at Naoki.

“Where is your lunch box?” he asks.

“I don't know,” says Naoki. “I think that I have left it at home this morning.”

“Oh, poor Naoki!” says Tomoya. “Your mother is going to be angry with you.”

“Yes,” says Naoki. “She is going to be angry.”

Then Tomoya takes a little bit of his pizza and gives it to Naoki.

“I have a lot of pizza here,” says Tomoya. “I can't eat it all.”

“Really?” asks Naoki. “That's very nice of you. Are you sure?”

“Of course,” says Tomoya.

“Thank you!” says Naoki.

He takes Tomoya's pizza. It tastes great.

Then Tomoya talks to everyone in class.

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“Hey, everybody!” he says. “Naoki doesn't have his lunch box today. He doesn't have any

food, and he's very hungry.”

Everybody in class gives some food to Naoki.

“Here's some pasta,” says Manami.

“Here's some green salad,” says Miyu.

“You can have this sausage,” says Kousuke.

“And here's some bread” says Tamane.

Naoki is very happy. Everybody is giving him food, and all the food is delicious.

“Thank you!” he says. “Thank you very much.”

Everybody helps Naoki, and he has a great lunch. He eats pasta, green salad, sausage, bread

and some more delicious food. Now he has finished his lunch. He is not hungry, and he is

happy because he has very good friends in class.

Everybody finishes eating. Then, there is a knock on the door. The teacher, Mr. Ueda, opens

the door. At the door there is a woman. She is carrying a red and white bag. Naoki knows the

woman very well, and he knows what is in that bag.

“Excuse-me?” the woman says. “My name is Sachiko Takada and this is my son's lunch box,”

she says. “He didn't take it with him this morning. Maybe he can eat it now.”

The Magic Bag

Ms. Yokoyama is a very old science teacher. She works at a junior high school in a city called

Okubo, in Japan. She is very short, and her hair is white. She walks very slowly. She is very

sweet. Everybody at her school loves her.

One day, she brings a very big red bag to school. In class, she tells her students about it.

“Good morning children,” she says. “I have something very special here today.”

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“What is it?” ask her students.

Then she shows them the bag and says, “It's a magic bag.”

“What is a magic bag?” they ask.

“It is a bag with many, many special things. It has almost everything in it.”

The students want to know more about the bag. One girl called Sakura asks, “Do you have a

mirror in your bag?”

“Let's see,” says Ms. Yokoyama. Then she puts her hand in the bag and she looks for a mirror.

After a minute, she says, “Here it is!”, and she pulls a little mirror from the bag. She shows it

to Sakura and asks her, “Can you see your face in the mirror?”

“Yes,” says Sakura. She is very surprised. “And that is a very nice mirror!”

Then one boy called Naoto stands up and asks, “Is there a book in the bag?”

“Yes,” says Ms. Yokoyama. “I know that. I have a very good book in the bag.” And then she

pulls a very big and heavy book. It is old and yellow.

The students are very surprised, because the book is very big and the bag is very small.

Then, a very tall student called Kenta asks, “Do you have a red pen in your bag?”

Ms. Yokoyama pulls out one pen from the bag. “Here it is,“ she says. She gives the pen to

Kenta.

“But this is not a red pen,” he says. “It is blue!”

“Oh, no,” says Ms. Yokoyama, “It looks like a blue pen, but is is a red pen. Why don't you try

writing with it?”

Kenta takes some paper and writes on it with the pen.

“Sorry,” he says. “It is true. It is a red pen. The plastic is blue, but the ink is red. So it is a red

pen!”

Another boy at the back of the classroom wants to say something. His name is Hiroto.

“Do you have a car in your magic bag too?” he asks.

22


“Let me see,” says Ms. Yokoyama. She puts her hand in her bag and looks for the car. After

one minute, she says:

“Yes! Here's a car.”

She pulls out a little yellow car from the bag. Then she puts the car on the floor. She says,

“Three, two, one, go!” And then the car rides away. It goes away from the classroom. It is

very fast.

“Wow!” say the students. They are very surprised. “It is a wonderful bag!” they think.

Then one girl called Alissa stands up and says, “I know!”

She is very excited. “You don't have this in your bag!”

“That's interesting,” says Ms. Yokoyama. “What is it?”

The girl walks to the front of the classroom. She gets next to Ms. Yokoyama and tells her

something in her ear. Only Ms. Yokoyama can hear what she says.

Ms. Yokoyama smiles.

“That's right,” she says. “I don't have that in my bag!”.

“What is it?” the students think. “Can you please tell us?” the ask Ms. Yokoyama.

“No, I'm sorry,” she says. “You just have to think about it. You can find the answer if you

really think about it.”

Then all the students look at Alissa.

“Can you please tell us, Alissa?”

“I'm sorry,” she says. “I don't want to tell you. You can find the answer. You just have to think

about it a little bit.”

The students think, but they can't find the answer.

The next day, when Ms. Yokoyama gets to the classroom, the students are very excited. Now

they know many things that are not in the magic bag. But Ms. Yokoyama doesn't have the

magic bag with her.

“Where is the magic bag?” ask her students.

“What magic bag?” she asks.

“The big red magic bag!” say the students.

“I don't know what that is,” she says. “What is a magic bag?”

23


Appendix 4 – Task A: Results*

Participant No. Set Block No.1 Block No.2 Block No.3 Block No.4 Block No.5

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

A

B

A

B

A

B

A

B

54,12

43,68 (1)

37,49

34,70

37,34

50,27 (1)

48,43 (1)

35,74

71,47

60,38

58,70

48,35

52,22

75,44

126,09 (2)

52,12

73,12

51,62

51,50

53,93

54,91 (1)

69,34 (2)

74,66

56,44

65,33

60,41

56,82 (1)

50,06

48,81 (1)

86,49 (1)

85,30

51,87

55,03

54,73

53,24 (1)

42,22

48,86

60,89 (1)

67,25 (1)

49,64

* Results given in seconds. The numbers in brackets indicate the number of mistakes in those

cases in which mistakes were made. For participants who were assigned set A blocks 2 and 5

were set to a 12-point size and blocks 3 and 4 at a 16-point size; the opposite pattern was

followed in set B.

Appendix 5 – Task B: Results**

Participant No. Set Text No. 1 Text No. 2 Text No. 3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

A

B

C

D

A

B

C

D

106

132

212

106

134

111

87

182

285

433

560

236

547

469

278

544

376

475

646

488

574

397

406

535

** The results show the number of words read in the allocated time: one minute for Text

No.1, and three minutes per text for Text No. 2 and Text No. 3.

24

Documents

Are English as a Foreign Language Reading · and style used in some of the easiest graded readers available to Japanese learners of English: those of Heinle Cengage's Foundations