by Elizabeth Cottone, NET, Po On Commercial Association Wong Siu Ching Seconday School, Tsuen Wan.

There are already many very successful ERS schemes operating within most schools in Hong Kong, so I just want to add some of my suggestions to the bandwagon.

The Education Department here in Hong Kong is now panicking that there is so little wide reading done by students that something must be done. So here we are.

Obviously, reading is essential for improvement of, in particular, writing skills. However, reading can also serve as a great base for the acquisition of knowledge about history, about other cultures and about recurrent issues in every society, to name a few. Wide knowledge is what the students are lacking when it comes to, for example, oral discussions and reading and writing and listening tests. Reading thus helps fill the information gap created by the rigid examination system.

You might say that they are reading their Chinese novels, but I do wonder what the content of these novels is – and I suspect that a lot are mindless love stories or crime stories. The students really need help in how to deal with teenage issues. In their schools, there is little or no sex education, little or no discussion about relationships, and no guidance given to them in this period of phenomenal growth. This is where good novels can assist these children to deal with their problems.

All the pundits told me that HK students would never read unabridged English novels. And I said never say never, and fortunately, the students at this school have proved me correct. With the help of Dymocks Bookstore in Brisbane, Australia, Paddyfield.com here in Hong Kong and various other bookstores willing to give discounts to schools, I have managed to come up with a sizeable collection of novels from all corners of the world which deal with Teenage and Young Adult issues.

Now, how do you get these students, who come from homes where reading is not a pastime but a pathway to examination success, reading for pleasure and personal development?

The first thing I tell them is that if they want to consider themselves educated, they must be readers. The second thing I tell them is that they must not worry if they only understand 30% of the novel and they must not use a dictionary unless there is a recurring word that they really need to know the meaning of. The third thing I tell them to do is to set aside 15 minutes every day and read, preferably just before bed-time. In Australia, we have a very successful scheme called R.I.B.I.T. – Read In Bed It's Terrific. It's a bit more difficult to sell this scheme to adults……….

Apart from that, once every cycle, we do two things. First, I introduce them to a new book/books by means of a book talk, where I might read some brief sections of the novel to them, or sometimes I ask students to tell the class about the book they have read. Second, I hand out rewards for those who have read another 3 books. Third, I give them 10 minutes of USSR, which stands for Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading. In this period, no student is allowed to talk (or to go to sleep!). They are either reading silently or filling in their individual worksheets. It works like magic and has done so in Australia for about 20 years.

Each student has his/her own individual reading scheme sheet, with columns for book number, book title, author, date borrowed and date returned. In addition, there is an extra column for students to rate the book, from 1 to 5 stars. Further, on the back of the sheet, there are five spaces given for students to respond to five of the books they have read, where they note interest level, level of difficulty and are asked to comment on the novel. This is designed to get feedback from students so that I know what they like reading and can order more copies.

To assist them with their choice, with the help of a responsible student, I also have a list of all the titles in the reading scheme with an indication of level of difficulty and a brief synopsis of each story.

The scheme has been operating since December, 2000, and already, out of my 160 students from Form 4 and Form 6, at least 70 have read at least 3 books, while two have read over 30 books, and I mean real books, like Life and Death in Shanghai, Falling Leaves, Wild Swans, Tomorrow When the War Began series, Looking for Alibrandi, Bridge to Wiseman's Cove (yes, there is an Aussie bias!) and so on.

In addition to this reading scheme, I have added a viewing scheme, where I offer teenage English Language videos without subtitles and offer them for viewing, as in Australia, reading and viewing are complementary. However, this is still in its infancy.

So if you fancy a little global knowledge and a little self-help for your students in terms of increasing their reading and understanding of both themselves and the world, then carefully selected wide reading with a daily USSR is the way to go.

If you wish to find out more about my scheme, I can be contacted at ercottone@hotmail.com