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Teaching
Reading
Goals
and Techniques for Teaching Reading
Instructors
want to produce students who, even if they do not have complete control
of
the grammar or an extensive lexicon, can fend for themselves in communication
situations.
In
the case of reading, this means producing students who can use reading
strategies to maximize their comprehension of text, identify relevant and
non-relevant information,
and
tolerate less than word-by-word comprehension.
Focus:
The Reading Process
To
accomplish this goal, instructors focus on the process of reading rather than
on its product.
They
develop students' awareness of the reading process and reading strategies
by
asking students to think and talk about how they read in their native language.
They
allow students to practice the full repertoire of reading strategies by using
authentic
reading tasks. They encourage students to read to learn
(and
have an authentic purpose for reading) by giving students some choice of
reading material.
When
working with reading tasks in class, they show students the strategies that
will work best
for the reading purpose and the type of text.
They
explain how and why students should use the strategies.
They
have students practice reading strategies in class and ask them to practice
outside of class
in
their reading assignments. They encourage students to be conscious of what
they're doing while they complete reading assignments.
They
encourage students to evaluate their comprehension and self-report their use of
strategies. They build comprehension checks into in-class and out-of-class
reading assignments,
and
periodically review how and when to use particular strategies.
They
encourage the development of reading skills and the use of reading strategies
by
using the target language to convey instructions and course-related information
in
written form: office hours, homework assignments, test content.
They
do not assume that students will transfer strategy use from one task to
another.
They
explicitly mention how a particular strategy can be used in a different type of
reading task
or
with another skill.
By
raising students' awareness of reading as a skill that requires active
engagement,
and
by explicitly teaching reading strategies, instructors help their students
develop
both
the ability and the confidence to handle communication situations
they
may encounter beyond the classroom. In this way they give their students the
foundation
for
communicative competence in the new language.
Integrating
Reading Strategies
Instruction
in reading strategies is not an add-on, but rather an integral part of the use
of
reading
activities in the language classroom. Instructors can help their students
become effective readers by teaching them how to use strategies before, during,
and after reading.
Before
reading: Plan for the reading task
Set
a purpose or decide in advance what to read for
Decide
if more linguistic or background knowledge is needed
Determine
whether to enter the text from the top down (attend to the overall meaning)
or
from the bottom up (focus on the words and phrases)
During
and after reading: Monitor comprehension
Verify
predictions and check for inaccurate guesses
Decide
what is and is not important to understand
Reread
to check comprehension
Ask
for help
After
reading: Evaluate comprehension and strategy use
Evaluate
comprehension in a particular task or area
Evaluate
overall progress in reading and in particular types of reading tasks
Decide
if the strategies used were appropriate for the purpose and for the task
Modify
strategies if necessary
Using
Authentic Materials and Approaches
For
students to develop communicative competence in reading, classroom and homework
reading activities must resemble (or be) real-life reading tasks that involve
meaningful communication. They must therefore be authentic in three ways.
1.
The reading material must be authentic: It must be the kind of material that
students will need and want to be able to read when traveling, studying abroad,
or
using the language in other contexts outside the classroom.
When
selecting texts for student assignments, remember that the difficulty of a
reading text
is
less a function of the language, and more a function of the conceptual
difficulty
and
the task(s) that students are expected to complete.
Simplifying
a text by changing the language often removes natural redundancy
and
makes the organization somewhat difficult for students to predict.
This
actually makes a text more difficult to read than if the original were used.
Rather
than simplifying a text by changing its language, make it more approachable by
eliciting students' existing knowledge in pre-reading discussion, reviewing new
vocabulary before reading, and asking students to perform tasks that are within
their competence, such as skimming
to
get the main idea or scanning for specific information, before they begin
intensive reading.
2.
The reading purpose must be authentic:
Students
must be reading for reasons that make sense and have relevance to them.
"Because
the teacher assigned it" is not an authentic reason for reading a text.
To
identify relevant reading purposes, ask students how they plan to use the
language
they
are learning and what topics they are interested in reading and learning about.
Give
them opportunities to choose their reading assignments, and encourage them to
use
the
library, the Internet, and foreign language newsstands and bookstores
to
find other things they would like to read.
3.
The reading approach must be authentic: Students should read the text in a way
that
matches
the reading purpose, the type of text, and the way people normally read.
This
means that reading aloud will take place only in situations where it would take
place
outside
the classroom, such as reading for pleasure.
The
majority of students' reading should be done silently.
Reading
Aloud in the Classroom
Students
do not learn to read by reading aloud. A person who reads aloud and comprehends
the
meaning of the text is coordinating word recognition with comprehension and
speaking
and
pronunciation ability in highly complex ways. Students whose language skills
are limited
are
not able to process at this level, and end up having to drop one or more of the
elements. Usually the dropped element is comprehension, and reading aloud
becomes word calling:
simply
pronouncing a series of words without regard for the meaning they carry
individually
and
together. Word calling is not productive for the student who is doing it,
and
it is boring for other students to listen to.
There
are two ways to use reading aloud productively in the language classroom.
Read
aloud to your students as they follow along silently.
You
have the ability to use inflection and tone to help them hear what the text is
saying.
Following
along as you read will help students move from word-by-word reading
to
reading in phrases and thought units, as they do in their first language.
Use
the "read and look up" technique.
With
this technique, a student reads a phrase or sentence silently as many times as
necessary, then looks up (away from the text) and tells you what the phrase or
sentence says.
This
encourages students to read for ideas, rather than for word recognition.
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/reading/goalsread.htm
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading
YouTube
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged
Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like
to join my FaceBook group ?
Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister
blogs:
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com
gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of
life
www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com
which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com
just for fun.
To
quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will
know.
The
more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”
