Topic 8

The written foreign language. Approximation, maturing and improvement of the reading-writing process. Reading comprehension: techniques for global and specific comprehension. Written expression: from the interpretation to the production of texts.

The written foreign language.

READING COMPREHENSION: techniques for global and specific comprehension.

WRITING EXPRESSION: from the interpretation to the production of texts.

Defined as: the interactive process between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension.

Defined as: the skill that involves the production of graphic symbols.

Purposes of reading: for action (to perform an activity, recipes...) for getting info (to acquire culture or knowledge, magazines, textbooks...) and for entertainment (pleasure, relax, books, comics...)

Strategies:

Use descriptions, use general and specific vocabulary, paraphrase longer or more complex texts, simplify difficult ideas, writing words correcly, slow pace.

Stages (Albuquerque):

1. Pre-reading: develop the skill of predicting.

2. While-reading: devolp the skills of skimming and inferring meaning from context.

3. Post-reading: internalize the text and integrate skills, scanning.

Stages to start writing:

1. Controlled practice: copying material helps students reinforce spelling and sentence structure. 2. Directed/Guided practice: word level, sentece level and paragraphs. 3. Free production: sentence and text structure.

Stages of writing:

1. Organise writing: outlining, ordering... the way to handle a topic. 2. Pre-writing: planning the main ideas (brainstorming. 3.Drafting: focus on content and how to say it more effectively. 4. Editing: putting everuthing together.

Activities:

Games (treasure map), completing, identifying mistakes, finding and writing the differences, problem-solving, extract information, writing for pleasure, pen pals

Activities:

Look and say (picture+words), suggesting a title, answering questions...

Approximation, maturing and improvement of the reading-writing process.​​​​​​

Some methodological priciples so that students learn in a natural way:

- Input before output: listening to words before pronouncing them.

-Realism: situations close to the students experiences and interests.

-Variery of topics: acquire a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical structures.

-Relaxed atmosphere: to let students feel confident to express themselves.

Harmer's classification

Aural (ear) medium: Listening and speaking.

Visual Medium: Reading and writing.

Receptive: Listening and reading.

Productive: Speaking and writing.

LEARNING TO WRITE:

1. Copying symbols (letters) to form words.

2. Dictation-write what you hear.

3. Composition, creative writing.

WRITING stages of development (Kroll):

1. Preparation: basic motor skills and general principles.

2. Consolidation: express by writing what they can speak.

3. Differentiation: writing diverges from speech and develop its own pattern and organization.

4. Intergration: being able to change writing styles and having one's own style.

Skills:

Motor skills: distinguish sequences of letters, shapes, sizes, words...

Graphic skills: how to spell, punctuate and lay out the writing.

Organizational skills: writing senteces with coherance in a logical pattern.

Functional skills: writing style (emotive, poetic...) formal or informal.

Linguistic skills: develop an ability to use the structures of a language.

Historical attitudes

Characteristics of written language:

It is space bound, complex grammar, errors can be errased, more formal, selected vocabulary, no context, punctuation, slow pace.

Piaget: students must show psychological maturity to learn the reading and writing skills, requiring space-time organisation, intellectual, emotional and sensory-motor developments.

LEARNING TO READ:

- Phonic approaches (like Jolly Phonics): identifying sound-letter relationship.

- Whole-wrd approaches (like Look and Say): recognise indidual words as wholes, no breaking into individual letters or sounds.

Subskills: reading aloud (pronunciation), silent techniques (skimming and scanning)