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theirfinalgradewouldbeloweredby10%points.Wekeptthepenaltyfornotreachingthefinalgoalat25%points,butstudentswouldnotbepenalizedtwice.Thissomewhatsolvedourproblem,butthenwenoticedmanystudentswereonlyreadingrightbeforethemidtermgoalandfinalgoal.WethenimplementedweeklygoalsfortheEnglishforAcademicPurposesclasses.Thisseemedtohelp.3.2TheERProgramandCOVID-19Withthecoronaviruspandemicinearly2020,thedepartmenthadtoquicklypivottopurely-onlineclasses,withlittletimetodevelopathoughtfully-integratedonlineextensivereadingelementofthecurriculum.Fortunately,wewereabletofindanentirely-onlinegradedreaderprograminXReading,primarilybecauseitwasatthetimetheonlysuchprogramthatofferedanentirely-onlineextensivereadingprogram.XReadingdoesallowforahybriddeliverysystemwithbothonlineandin-personelements,butfortunatelyalsohadthetoolsinplacetodeliverafully-fledgedextensivereadingprogram100%remotely.ThroughXReading,studentscantakeaplacementtest,checkoutandreadbooksofanappropriatelevel,andtakecomprehensionquizzesallwithinthesamewebsite;thiswasveryattractiveforourremotedeliverysysteminSpringsemester2020.Thewebsitealsoallowsfacultytosetreadingtargetsfortheirclasses,whichfitsnicelywiththeDepartmentofEnglishLanguageandCulture'sextensivereadingprogram.Forthereturntohybridremoteandface-to-faceclassesinFallsemester2020,weelectedtostaywithXReading,partlybecauseoftheuncertaintysurroundingthepossibilityofagainreturningtoremoteteachinginthefaceofsurgesinCOVID-19cases,andpartlyforsimplicity'ssake;stayingwithasingleprogramthroughouttheyearwouldsaveustroubleinstudentandpart-timeinstructortraining.Finally,aswelookedatreturningtofullyon-campusclassesinthefuture,theadministratorsoftheextensivereadingprogramdecidedtocontinueusingXReadinginthe2021schoolyear,whileconductingarigorousstudyofattitudesandlearningoutcomestohelpusdecidewhethertoreturntotheface-to-facephysicalbooksprogramofMReader,thefully-onlineprogramavailablethroughXReading,orsomehybridofphysicalandonlinegradedreaders.Thispaperpresentsthepreliminaryresultsofthatstudy,andwillfurtherdescribeourdecisionsvisavistraditionalvs.onlineextensivereadingprogramsinapost-COVID-19future.4TheStudyThestudywastwo-pronged,consistingofasurveygiventostudentsintheDepartmentofEnglishLanguageandCulturefollowingtheirexperienceswiththeonlinegradedreadersystem,andinterviewswithfull-timeandpart-timefacultymembersabouttheirexperienceswithit.Thesurveywasgivento96studentsinthedepartment.Abouthalfoftheparticipatingstudentswerefirst-yearstudents（whoseonlyexperiencewithgradedreadingwasthroughtheonlinesystem）andhalfweresecond-yearstudents（whohadusedtheface-to-facesystemduringtheirfirstyearandtheonlinesystemtheirsecond）.ItwasdeliveredviaGoogleFormsinJapanese,andparticipationwasentirelyvoluntary.Thesurveyaskedanumberofquestionsconcerningstudents'experienceswithextensivereadingingeneralwithrespecttomotivation,interest,engagement,andperceivedeffectsonEnglishlevelandreadingability.Itmightbenotedthatitisdifficulttofindadirectcorrelationbetweenstudents'academicachievementormeasurabletestscoresandtheirparticipationinthegradedreaderprogram,asthankstotheconnectiontotheirgradesparticipationandcompletionlevelsareveryhigh,andfewstudentsgofarbeyondtheirgoals.Interviewswithfacultywereconductedinformallyandfocusedondiscussionsofeaseofuseoftheonlinesystem,especiallyascomparedwiththeface-to-facesystem,aswellasperceptionsofstudentengagementandusage.5ResultsThissectionwilldiscusstheresultsofthesurveyandinterviews,splitintostudentexperiencesandfacultyexperienceswiththetwosystems.BeyondCOVID-19:OnlineExtensiveReadingandFace-to-FaceClasses―17―