LECTURE 20
TEACHING READING
1. Reading in grammar-translation:
· a fundamental purpose of learning a language is to be able to read its literature,
· reading and writing are the major skills,
· vocabulary selection is based on the reading texts.
2. Reading in audiolingualism:
o reading instruction could proceed only after students had developed a working knowledge of the spoken language,
o often reading was ignored in favour of dialogue and pattern drill,
o the process of learning to read was thought to be fairly mechanical - students developed habitual recognition of the written symbols corresponding to familiar spoken language patterns.
3. Today's approach:
· OLD VIEW: reading is a precise process; it involves exact detailed sequential perception and identification of letters, words, etc. - mechanical (like audiolingual),
· MODERN VIEW: reading is a selective process; it is a psycholinguistic guessing game; it involves interaction between thought and language.
constant interaction
READER TEXT
b background knowledge
b language knowledge selective process
(what is really important?)
UNDERSTANDING
reading for a purpose
motivation
being a good reader (effective)
4. Interactive reading:
o meaning is not fully present in the text waiting to be decoded,
o meaning is created through the interaction of text and reader,
o what is important is the role of pre-existing knowledge - SCHEMATA,
o information processing based on linguistic input from the text: bottom-up or the text-based processing (a data-driven process - evoked by the incoming data),
o top-down - knowledge based, conceptually driven information - the reader makes predictions.
Interaction between bottom-up and top-down processing!
Interaction between thought and the text!
top-down bottom-up
5. The reader's attitude towards the text:
· submissive stance/attitude - if the reader is prepared to play the role the author has cast him in; the reader allows himself to be directed by the writer, reading is an act of submission,
· assertive stance/attitude - the reader may not wish to submit to the writer control; he can use the text in whichever way best suits his purposes.
The reader's stance is influenced not only by the reading objective, but also by the type of the text.
6. Types of texts:
o artistic - novel, short story, essay, poetry,
o functional - newspapers, personal letters,
o transactional - business letters, legal documents,
o reference - dictionaries,
o pedagogical - textbooks,
o academic - research papers.
7. Failure in reading comprehension: (what are the reasons of students' failure):
· absence of relevant knowledge to utilize top-down processing,
· available schemata not activated,
· readers cannot use text-based processing if they are linguistically deficient,
· readers tend to be submissive - they read slowly and carefully.
8. Reading strategies:
o scanning - quickly going through the text to find specific piece of information,
o skimming - glancing rapidly through the text to determine its general content, gist,
o intensive reading - reading for details, profound and detailed understanding of a text,
o extensive reading - longer texts or books to grasp the global meaning.
9. Contemporary reading theory highlights the following:
· the need for both top-down and bottom-up knowledge,
· the need for a large receptive vocabulary,
· the need for adequate reading speed,
· make them aware of what they do when they read efficiently in their native language,
· give them guidance and practice in transferring the reading procedures to reading in a foreign language, by adopting a suitable stance and tactics,
· base reading on objectives,
· increase motivation through visual aids, discussion.
10. Why should we do pre-reading:
o to make it easier for students to understand the text,
o to help them to focus their attention,
o to activate or provide them with background knowledge.
11. What should we do during pre-reading:
· vocabulary pre-teaching,
· introduce the text in as interesting way as possible,
· increase the motivation to read,
· give students the purpose to read.
12. Two main kinds of questions:
o guiding questions - general questions (from 1 to 3); it helps students focus on main issues/problems of the text (mostly - first reading),
o comprehension questions - detailed questions; there are many of them and they check comprehension (second, third reading).
13. Another types of questions:
· questions of literal comprehension - questions whose answers are directly and explicitly available in the text; they can be answered in the words of the text itself,
· questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation - questions that require the students to obtain literal information from various parts of the text and put it together, or to reinterpret information (How old was Yusof?; How many children had Rahman?),
· questions of inference - questions that oblige the students to read between the lines, to consider what is implied but not explicitly stated (Why was Rahman proud of his son?),
· questions of evaluation - the most demanding questions; the lower-level students can have a lot of problems with them; there are often asked to find out what kind of impression the read text made on the students: if they liked it, or not.
14. Stages of reading lesson:
o activities before reading (pre-reading),
o checking comprehension (silent reading),
o follow-up activities.
15. Types of exercises and activities:
· to classify the organisation of the passage:
Ø the general organisation (argumentative, informative),
Ø looking for the main idea,
Ø supporting details,
Ø cohesive devices (linking words) - looking for them,
Ø functions of various parts of the text,
· to clarify the content of the passage:
Ø plain fact (to distinguish fact from opinion),
Ø implied fact (meaning),
Ø evaluation of the text,
· types of comprehension questions:
Ø questions of literal comprehension,
Ø questions requiring reorganization and interpretation (more than one sentence),
Ø questions of inference,
Ø questions of evaluation,
· authentic texts:
Ø authenticity means that nothing of the original text is changed and also that its presentation and layout are retained,
Ø the picture, the size of headline, the use of bold-face type, all contribute to conveying the message to the reader,
Ø grade tasks not texts (we should always use authentic texts but we should change the reading task depending on the level of students) - general rule.
16. Reading as an active skill: modern attitude:
o guessing,
o predicting,
o checking,
o asking oneself questions,
o communicative function of reading - read and do something,
o bottom-up and top-down interaction.
17. Criteria for text selection:
· tell students things they do not know,
· make them think,
· make them want to read more,
· challenge but not overawe them,
· not contain too much new lexis,
· ...
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