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Strategies
for Developing Reading Skills
Language
instructors are often frustrated by the fact that students do not automatically
transfer the strategies they use when reading in their native language to
reading in a language
they
are learning. Instead, they seem to think reading means starting at the beginning
and
going word by word, stopping to look up every unknown vocabulary item,
until
they reach the end. When they do this, students are relying exclusively on
their
linguistic knowledge, a bottom-up strategy.
One
of the most important functions of the language instructor, then, is to help
students
move
past this idea and use top-down strategies as they do in their native language.
Effective
language instructors show students how they can adjust their reading behavior
to
deal with a variety of situations, types of input, and reading purposes. They
help students develop a set of reading strategies and match appropriate
strategies to each reading situation.
Strategies
that can help students read more quickly and effectively include
Previewing:
reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense
of
the structure and content of a reading selection
Predicting:
using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about content
and
vocabulary and check comprehension; using knowledge of the text type and
purpose
to
make predictions about discourse structure; using knowledge about the author
to
make predictions about writing style, vocabulary, and content
Skimming
and scanning: using a quick survey of the text to get the main idea,
identify
text structure, confirm or question predictions
Guessing
from context: using prior knowledge of the subject and the ideas in the text
as
clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up
Paraphrasing:
stopping at the end of a section to check comprehension
by
restating the information and ideas in the text
Instructors
can help students learn when and how to use reading strategies in several ways.
By
modeling the strategies aloud, talking through the processes of previewing,
predicting, skimming and scanning, and paraphrasing. This shows students how
the strategies work
and
how much they can know about a text before they begin to read word by word.
By
allowing time in class for group and individual previewing and predicting
activities
as
preparation for in-class or out-of-class reading.
Allocating
class time to these activities indicates their importance and value.
By
using cloze (fill in the blank) exercises to review vocabulary items.
This
helps students learn to guess meaning from context.
By
encouraging students to talk about what strategies they think will help them
approach
a
reading assignment, and then talking after reading about what strategies they
actually used.
This helps students develop flexibility in their choice of
strategies.
When
language learners use reading strategies, they find that they can control
the
reading experience, and they gain confidence in their ability to read the
language.
Reading
to Learn
Reading
is an essential part of language instruction at every level
because
it supports learning in multiple ways.
Reading
to learn the language: Reading material is language input. By giving students a
variety
of
materials to read, instructors provide multiple opportunities for students to
absorb vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and discourse structure as they
occur in authentic contexts. Students thus gain a more complete picture of the
ways in which the elements
of
the language work together to convey meaning.
Reading
for content information: Students' purpose for reading in their native language
is
often to obtain information about a subject they are studying, and this purpose
can
be useful in the language learning classroom as well.
Reading
for content information in the language classroom gives students both authentic
reading material and an authentic purpose for reading.
Reading
for cultural knowledge and awareness: Reading everyday materials that are
designed
for
native speakers can give students insight into the lifestyles and worldviews of
the people
whose language they are studying. When students have access to
newspapers, magazines,
and
Web sites, they are exposed to culture in all its variety, and monolithic
cultural stereotypes begin to break down.
When
reading to learn, students need to follow four basic steps:
Figure
out the purpose for reading. Activate background knowledge of the topic
in
order to predict or anticipate content and identify appropriate reading
strategies.
Attend
to the parts of the text that are relevant to the identified purpose and ignore
the rest.
This
selectivity enables students to focus on specific items in the input and
reduces the amount
of
information they have to hold in short-term memory.
Select
strategies that are appropriate to the reading task and use them flexibly and
interactively. Students' comprehension improves and their confidence increases
when they use top-down
and
bottom-up skills simultaneously to construct meaning.
Check
comprehension while reading and when the reading task is completed.
Monitoring
comprehension helps students detect inconsistencies and comprehension failures,
helping them learn to use alternate strategies.
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/reading/stratread.htm
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.”
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