How-to-Teach-English-Reading

BySophieWhatIsReading•Readingisanactiveprocess,duringwhichthereadertriestounderstandthemeaningofagiventext.WhyDoWeRead•Therearemanyreasonswhygettingstudentstoread—manyofthemwanttobeabletoreadtextsinEnglisheitherforsurvival,forstudypurposesorsimplyforpleasure.•ReadingtextsprovidegoodmodelsforEnglishwriting,italsoprovidesopportunitiestostudylanguageWhatReadingSkillsShouldStudentsAcquireStudentsneedtobeabletoscanthetextforparticularbitsofinformationtheyaresearchingfor.Thisskillmeansthattheydonothavetoreadeverywordandline.Studentsneetobeabletoskimatextasiftheywerecastingtheireyesoveritssurface,togetageneralideaofwhatitisabout.HowtoTeachReadingStep1Pre-readingTheaimsofthepre-readingarethree-fold:(a)arousingthestudents’interestinthetopicortypeoftext;(b)motivatingstudentstoreadthetextbyprovidingapueposeforreading;(c)preparingthestudentsfortheconcentofthetext.TheActivitiesinPre-reading•examinetheaccompanyingvisualinformation•reflectonthetitleorthetopic;•guessthetopicbylookingatkeywordsfromthetext•statewhattheyalreadyknowaboutthetopic•statewhattheywouldliketoknowaboutthetopic•puttingtheeventsinthecorrectorder•answertheteacher’sgeneralquestionsaboutthetexttypeortopic;•trueorfalsequestions.•reviewingvocabularyorgrammaticalstructuresStep2While-readingTheaimsofthewhile-readingstage(a)Tohelpthereaderunderstandthecontentandstructureofthetext.(b)Tohelpthereaderunderstandtheauthor’spurposeinwritingthetext.TheActivitiesinWhile-reading•skimreadingtogetthegist(mainidea)ofthetext;•locatingspecificinformation;•takingnotesonthemainpoints,oronspecificpointsofthetext;•puttingtheeventsinthecorrectorder;•transferringinformationfromthetexttoadiagram,table,form,map,graphorpicture;•answeringfactualquestionsonthetext;•answeringinferencequestionsonthetext;•questionsforpersonalresponse;•trueorfalse;•workingoutthemeaningofwordsandphrasesinthetextfromthecontext;•examiningreferentsinthetextandstatingwhattheyreferto;•puttingtheparagraphsofajumbledtextbackinthecorrectorder;•givingthetextanappropriatetitleStep3Post-readingTheaimsofthepost-readingstage(a)Toconsolidateorreflectonwhathasbeenreadinthetext.(b)Torelatethetexttothestudents’ownknowledge,interests,orviews.(c)Togivethestudentsthechancetoconsolidatethatlanguagebyusingitfreely.TheActivitiesinPost-reading•gap-filling•retellingthestoryofthetextfromtheprompts;•correctthesummary;•writingasummaryofthemaincontentofthetext(basedontheprompts);•oraldiscussionofthetopicofthetext;•role-play;•writingadialoguebasedonthetext•finishingthestory(orallyorinwriting;•listeningtoorreadingsomesupplementarymaterialsaboutthetopic;•commentonthecontentofthetext;•Aninterviewifthetextissuitable.