UC Davis

Previous studies in second language teaching have called attention to the importance and benefits of including reading, especially graded readers (i.e., books adapted to the proficiency level of the students), in the L2 curriculum (Martinez, 2017; Rodrigo, 2018). On one hand, previous scholars have found the following benefits from graded readers: (1) an increase in reading comprehension (Beglar et al. 2012; Suk, 2016), (2) a reduction of anxiety towards reading (Martinez, 2017; Rodrigo, 2011), (3) a fostering of cultural knowledge (Hill 2013), and (4) an increase in vocabulary learning (Horst, 2009; Suk, 2016), to name a few. On the other hand, most of the research on graded readers has been conducted in English as a second language classes and little is known about the experience of L2 Spanish elementary proficiency learners at university settings (Nation & Waring, 2020). To fill this gap, this dissertation provides information on the implementation of a Reading Program using graded readers in an ongoing first-year Spanish program at the university level. Two different studies have been conducted. The first one explores the implementation of the Reading Program, the creation of in-house graded readers and present students' reactions and opinions on the reading program in general and the graded readers in particular. Through focus groups before the implementation of the reading program and a student questionnaire at the end, this study highlights the importance of matching the proficiency level of the graded readers with the students’ level and the importance of creating stories with familiar settings and relatable protagonists to increase students’ enjoyment. The second study focuses on vocabulary acquisition and the effects of post-reading fill-in-the-blanks activities and evaluates the reliability of the Technique Feature Analysis (TFA) framework on measuring the effectiveness of these activities. 260 students participated in this

study and were divided into 4 groups (i.e., a control group and three experimental group), they have to complete a vocabulary test before and at the end of the Reading Program. Results in this study emphasized the importance of complementing reading with word focused activities in order to increase vocabulary acquisition, highlighted the fill-in-the-blanks with the translation of the target words in English as the most powerful one, and advocate for the use of the TFA framework in order to choose the most appropriate activities.