How-to-teach-reading

Howtoteachreading?Whatisreading?Whydoweread?Howdoweread?What’stheproblem?MajorreadingstrategiesThreestagesofteachingreadingIntroductionReadingisnotjusttheabilitytorecognizewords,butthereaderalsoneedstomakesenseofwhathereads.ReasonIngeneral,therearesomemainreasonswhypeopleread:Survival——servesyourimmediateneedsorwishesLearningandinformation——helpextendyourgeneralknowledgeoftheworldEntertainmentorpleasure——asaleisureactivityProvidegoodmodelsforEnglishwriting——forstudentThreewaysBottom-up:thereaderbuildsupthemeaningofatextonthebasisofdecodingsmallerunits——firstwords,phrases,sentencesandparagraphs.Top-down:thereaderuseshisorherknowledgeofthetopicorofthetextandmakespredictionsaboutwhatthetextwillcontain,thenthesepredictionsarecheckedbyreadingandtryingtounderstandthetext.Interactive:thereaderusesbottom-upandtop-downwaystogether,andthetwowaysinteractwitheachotherintheunderstandingofatext.ProblemsGrammarandwordmeaningarestronglyemphasized.Studentsarelackingintheinterestinreading.Someteachersliketoanalyzeawrittentextword-by-word,sentence-by-sentence.Quietdifferentfromtheteachingcoursesmentionedabove,someotherteachersjustaskthestudentstoreadthereadingmaterialandfinishtheexercisesgivenafterit,andchecktheanswers.Theydon’tgiveanylinguisticanalyses.Thequestiondesignedaretoosimple,thuscan’tcheckthereadingresultsefficiently.Teachersrarelygivesomeinstructionsonreadingskillsandstrategies,andsothestudents’readingpracticearepassiveandblind.StrategiesSkimmingSkimminginvolvesreadingquicklythroughatexttogetanoverallideaofitscontents.Featuresofthetextthatcanhelpyouincludethefollowing:(a).Thetitle.(b).Thesub-title.(c).Detailsabouttheauthor.(d).Abstract.(e).Introductoryparagraph.(f).First,secondandlastsentencesoffollowingparagraphs.(g).Conclusionparagraphs.ScanningWhenyouscanatext,againyoulookquicklythroughit.However,unlikeskimming,scanninginvolveslookingforspecificwords,scanninginvolvesrapidreadingfoethespecificratherthanthegeneral;forparticulardetailsratherthantheoverallidea.Whenyoureadatext,forexample,youmaywanttofindonlyapercentagefigureorthedatesofparticularhistoricaleventsinsteadofthemainideas.Scanningwillhelpyoufindsuchinformationmoreefficiently.InferringandreferenceSometimesawriterwillsuggestorexpresssomethingindirectlyinatext.Inotherwords,awriterwillimplysomethingandleaveittothereadertoinferorunderstandwhatismeant.Whenwritersdothis,theyrelytosomeextentontheknowledgeoftheirreaders’knowledgeofasubjectorculturalknowledge,forexample.Inferringawriter’smeaningissometimesimportantintheprocessofunderstandingareadingtext.Youmayrecognizethesynonymsandantonyms,equivalenceandhyponymybydeducingthemeaninganduseofunfamiliarlexicalitemsthroughcontextualclues.Onecommonwayoflinkingstructurally-independentsentencesinordertogetameaningpassageistousewordssuchasthis,that,it,etc.whichrefertosomethingalreadymentioned(anaphora)ortosomethingwhichisgoingtobementioned.Failuretounderstandsuchanaphoric/ˌænə‘fɒrɪk/前指代linkswillprobablyleadtoaseriousmisunderstandingofthepassage.Soitisimportanttounderstandrelationsofapassagethroughreferenceandtheuseoflogicalconnectors.RecognizingRhetoricalStructuresItreferstothecomplexnetworkofrelationshipwithinatext.Itisthestructureoftheunderlyingideasandtheconnectionsthewritermakesbetweenthem.Thereader'sspeedandaccuracyindecodingamessagelargelydependsonhisknowledgeastohowthemessageiswovenintoatext.Themostcommontextstructuresarechronologicalorder,causeandeffect,comparisonandcontrast,classification,processanddefinition.ThreestagesofteachingreadingPre-readingstagePurpose:tofacilitatewhile-readingactivities,bypoolingexistingknowledgeaboutthetopic,predictingthecontentsofthetext,learningkeywordsandstructures,etc.Differenttypesofpre-readingactivities:predicting,settingthescene,skimming,scanning,etc.While-readingstageTwomainwaysofexploitingtexts:1.Focusontheresultsofreadingmultiple-choicequestions;T/F;openquestions,paragraphing,translation2.FocusingontheprocessofunderstandinginformationtransferactivitiesfivetypesofreadingcomprehensionquestionsunderstandingreferencesmakinginferencesPost-readingstagesPurposes1.Toprovidesswithopportunitiestorelatewhattheyhavereadtowhattheyalreadyknoworwhattheyfeel;2.ToenablessstoproducelanguagebasedonwhattheylearnedActivitiesTraditional:questions;paragraphing;translationSuggested:1.discussionasabasisforproblem-solving,therankingofalternatives,decidinguponpriorities,etc.2.role-play3.gap-filling4.retelling5.writing