READING SKILLS

READING SKILLS

1. Reading involves making sense of written text

   • To do this we need to understand the language of the text at word level, sentence level or whole-text level.

2. THE STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH ALPHABET CODE

   • What we call ‘‘spelling’’ (encoding) is the fundamental or basic operation, the process of turning sounds into symbols.
     • What we call ‘‘reading’’ involves decoding those symbols back into sounds to recover the words.
   • Maria Montessori strongly advised teachers to teach children to write (spell) first, and then allow them to discover that they can read what they have written.
   • The Prototype
     • Teach phonemes only—no other sound units.
     • Begin with basic code
     • Link writing (spelling) and reading to ensure children learn that the alphabet is a code and that codes are reversible
     • Lessons should move on to include the advanced spelling code.

3. SUCCESS IN ENGLISH TEACHING

   • Reading comprehension
     • As we read, we try to confirm or identify the precise topic, and each change of topic.
       • This activates the ideas we have stored in our mind, related to that topic.
     • Model of reading comprehension
     • the text in reading is usually clearly, completely, and permanently on the page in front of us
       • Reading texts has positive and negative sides, especially for non-native readers.
         • On the positive side, people can read at their own pace, and reread things they do not understand immediately.
         • On the negative side, some people read very slowly, word by word, even in their L1.
     • Reading comprehension in a foreign language is not translation
   • Reading activities
     • three stages are generally recommended to make reading more realistic and interesting
       • Pre-reading
         • This stage is to prepare the learners for what they are going to read, just as we are usually prepared in real life.
         • Guess the topic of the text from the headings, illustrations, etc.
         • Predict what the text will say.
       • While-reading
         • This stage is to help the learners understand the text. They may first do an easy scanning or skimming task, and then a task requiring more thorough comprehension.
         • Scan for two to four items of information. Skim for the general idea.
       • Post-reading
         • This stage is to help the learners to connect what they have read with their own idea and experience.
         • Discuss what was interesting or new in the text. Discuss or debate the topic of the text if it is controversial.
   • Reading outside the classroom
     • Reading is something that they can do at home, and you should encourage this as much as possible.
     • Extensive reading is an excellent way to extend vocabulary and consolidate grammar, as well as to develop a general communicative command of the language.
   • Ways of reading
     • Two types, scanning and skimming
       • When scanning a text, you look quickly through it to find some specific information
       • When skimming, you look quickly through a text just to get a general idea of what it is about, in other words, the gist.
     • In many English language courses, reading comprehension work consists only of scanning skimming, and ‘easy reading’.

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