Unit 5 Reading What is reading? Reading is one ofthe four language skills: reading, wating listening and speaking. It isa receptive sil ke Istening. This means it involves responding o txt aber than producing it. Very simply we can say that reading involves making sense of twriren et ‘Th do thie we need to undersand the language ofthe text at word level Sentence level or whole-text Tevel We aso need to connect the message of the ext t0 our knowledge ofthe world, Look at this sentence, for example: "The boy ws surpried becuse the gir was much faster at runing than he was. ‘To understand this sentence, we need to understand what the eters are, how the Jeter jon together to make won, what the words mean and the grammar ofthe words andthe senence. But we also make sense ofthis sentence by knowing thet, generally speaking, girls do not run as fast as boys. Our knowledge of the world helps ts understand why the boy was surprise Key concepts i aT AUT ‘A text is usually longer than just a word ora sentence. It often contains a series of sentences, as in a letter or even a postcard. Connected text is referred to as discourse. Discourse is connected by grammar and vocabulary and/or our knowledge of the ‘world, Reading involves understanding these connections, For example: The boy was surprised because the gir! was much aster at running than he was. But afer he {found out that her mother had wor a medal for runing at the Olympic Games, he understood. The second sentence gives us a possible reason why the girl was so good at running, ‘But we can only understand that this isa reason if we know that Olympic runners are very good. This means we need to use our knowledge of the world to see the sense connection between these two sentences (coherence), The grammatical links between the sentences (cohesion) also help us see the connection between them. For example, {in the second example sentence ‘he’ refers to ‘the boy’ in the first sentence, and "her" relers to ‘the gia’, and linking the sentences there is the conjunetion ‘after’. So, understanding a written text involves understanding the language of each sentence ‘and the relationship between sentences using our knowledge of language and our ‘knowledge of the world Reading also involves using different reading skills. They include: Reading for specific information (Scanning) _Reading for gist (Skimming) Reading for detail Inferring Deducing meaning from context Predicting Understanding text structure aLModule These are sometimes referred to as reading skills and sometimes as reading subskills. They help us read indifferent ways according to our purpose for reading. When we zead, we do not necessarily need to read everything in a text. How we read depends ‘on what and why we are reading, For example, we may read a travel website 10 find single piece of information about prices. But we may read a novel in great detail because we like the story and the characters, and want to know as much as we can about them. So, our reasons for reading influence how we read, Le. which reading subskill we use If we read a text just to find a specific piece or pieces of information init, we usually use asubskil called reading for specific information or scanning, When we scan, we {don't read the whole text. We glance over most of it until we find the information we are interested in, eg. when we look for a number ina telephone directory. ‘Another reading subskill is reading for gist or skimming. This is sometimes also called reading for global understanding. It involves glancing through a text to ‘get a general idea of what itis about. For example, you skim when you look quickly through a book in a bookshop to decide if you want to buy it, or when you go quickly through a reference book to decide which part will help you write an essay, or glance ata newspaper article o see if it is worth reading in detail, A third reading subskill s reading for detail. It involves getting the meaning ‘out of every word and out of the links or relationships between words and between sentences, If you read a letter from someone yo love who you haven't heard from fora long time, you probably read like this. Sometimes in books on English language teaching, but notin the TKT, this skills called intensive reading. Inferring is another skill readers Sometimes use 10 get meaning from a text. When they read, they work out what the wrter’s opinion on a topic is or what his/her feeling is. To infer these things we notice what words, register, grammar or style the writer has used to refer to something. ‘There are other skills the reader can use, Deducing meaning from context involves reading the words around an unknown word or thinking about the situation the unknown word is used in to try and work out its meaning. For example, imagine you see a text in Portuguese which you know gives facts about Portugal. You see this sentence: Lisboa é a capital de Portugal. You can probably deduce the meaning of Lisboa. ‘To do this, you use what you have been told about this text and you deduce from your knowledge of English that capital means ‘capital’ and Portugal means ‘Portugal’! From ‘your general knowledge you know that Lisbon isthe capital of Portugal, so you work ‘out that Lithoa means ‘Lisbon’. And you are right! When we read we don't always know the meaning of all the words we meet. Tis skill helps us understand unknown, ‘words without making use of a diconary or some other reference resource. Predicting means using clues before we begin reading, to guess what a text may be about. We might, for example, [ook at a newspaper's headlines or photos, the title of ‘a chapter or unit, the name of a writer or even the stamp and address on an envelope 10 make an informed guess about the general contents of the text. Prediction helps us decide if we wish to read the text (ifthe stamp and address on the envelope suggest the text is probably a bill, we may not be so keen), and to make sense of ft when we start reading it, because it gives us the opportunity to link the topic ofthe text ro our knowledge of the world, and more especially to our knowledge of the topic of the tex. ‘As we read through a text, we continue predicting, using what we are reading to sense ‘what will come next. 32Units Reading ‘Understanding text structure involves understanding how certain types of text ‘generally develop. For example, if we read a problem-solution essay, we expect that i will Gist discuss the problem, then suggest a solution, then draw a conclusion. I we read a letter of complaint in English, we generally expect the first paragraph will say why the writer is writing, the second will give the details of the complaint and ‘the third whar the writer wants in answer to his complaint, Readers expect certain information to come in certain sequences. They use this knowledge to know where they are in the text and find their way through it. Understanding the meaning of conjunctions is an important part of this skill as they often signal how an argument, will continue or is about to change. Extensive and intensive reading are ways of reading. Extensive reading, sometimes called reading for pleasure, involves reading long pieces of text, for example ‘a story or an arti. As you read, your attention and interest vary ~ you may read ‘some parts of the text in detall while you may skim through others, so you might use a variety of reading subskills, ‘Sometimes, especially in language classrooms, we ask learners to read texts so that ‘we can examine the language they contain, For example, we might ask learners to look for al the words in a text related to a particular topic, or work out the grammar of a particular sentence. The aim of these activities is to make learners more aware of how language is used. These activities are sometimes called intensive reading, This way of reading does not involve reading for meaning or comprehension, (understanding) of the text. It involves reading for language study. Sometimes in books on English language teaching, but notin the TT, ths skills called reading for detail When we read about reading we need to be quite clear what skil is being referred to in order not 1o get confused! ‘Understanding different text types is something else good readers can do, Some ‘examples of written text types are letters, articles, postcards, stories, information brochures, leaflets and poems. All these kinds of text types are different from one another, They have different lengths, layouts (the ways in which text is placed on the page), topics and kinds of language. ‘We can see that reading is a complex process It involves understanding letters, words and sentences, understanding the connections between sentences, understanding different text types, making sense of the text through our knowledge of the world and using the appropriate reading subskill. Reading may be a receptive sil but it certainly isn't a passive one! Key concepts and the language teaching classroom ‘Read these tips and ek ne ones Whe are mast porta For YoUL” zi ‘# learners know how to read in their own language, they can transfer their reading skills to reading in English. Sometimes though, they find this difficult especially when their language level is not high, so they need help to transfer these skills. ‘Teachers can check which reading subskills their earners are good at, then focus on practising the subskills they are not yet using well. They can also help them by pre-teaching vocabulary (teaching vocabulary from the text before the learners read the text), by asking learners to predict text content and with certain kinds of learner, encouraging them to predict text structure. 3Moduler 34 ‘# To help leamers bring their knowledge of the world to understanding a text the teacher can do lead-in activities before the cass looks atthe text. Lead-in activities generally involve looking at the pictures around a text or atthe title and trying to predict what the text will be about. They can also involve using brainstorming (thinking of and listing ideas or vocabulary about a topic) to predict what vocabulary the text might contain, discussing the general topic ofthe text or talking about experiences of it ‘Giving leamers lots of opportunites for extensive reading, in or out of class, helps ‘them to develop their fluency in reading. Graded readers (books with language made easier fr language learners) arc a very useful way of giving learners ‘extensive reading practice, helping them build up their confidence in reading ‘and consolidate the language they know and gradually extend it to include new language. Nowadays you can find graded readers on a very wide variety of subjects and at a large number of language learning levels. ‘# Which reading skills we need to teach depends on the age and firs language of the learners. Some learners of English. ¢. young children, may not yet know how to read in thelr own language. They need to learn how letters join to make words and how written words relate to spoken words both in their language and in English. Other learners may not understand the script used in English as their own seript is different, ¢. Chinese, Arabic ‘¢ We can choose the right texts for our learners. Texts should be interesting in order 10 motivate learners. Texts should also be at the right level of difficulty. A text may ‘be difficult because t contains complex (complicated) language and/or because itis about a topie that learners don’t know much about. ‘# To make sure learners get used to a range of text types we can give them different kinds of texts to read, eg. articles, stories, postcards, emails, brochures, leaflets, ete ‘¢ The activities ina reading lesson often follow this pattern: 1 Introductory activities: activites focusing on the topic of the text, pre-teaching vocabulary and possibly asking learners to predict the content ofthe text. 2 Main activities: a series of comprehension activities developing different reading subskils, focusing initially on general then more detailed comprehension. 3 Post-task activities: activities asking learners to talk about how the topic of the text relates to their owa lives or to give their opinions om something in the text. ‘These activities require learners to use some of the language they have met in the ‘# Notice thatthe list of reading skills on page 31 does not include reading aloud. The ‘purpose of reading aloud is not reading to get information from a written text, land its not something that a user ofa language usually does. Reading aloud takes place mainly in the language classroom where itis often used to check learners’ pronunciation or to check their understanding ofa text. Reading aloud well is a difficult thing to do as it relies on understanding a text very well, and on being able 1 predict what will come next in the text It is used in the classroom, itis most usefully done after other work on comprehension of the text has been completed successfully and the learners have a good understanding of the details of the tex. ‘See Unit for dies iatising deren reading subs Unis 9 or eson plannig and ‘Unie for esources to ela pln lessons,OTE TEED Seepage 238 for answers) Units Reading 1 Look at these activities from a coursebook for intermediate level teenagers and ‘young adults and an extract from the reading passage they accompany. Which of the terms about reading in the box match which activities? Scanning ‘Learning key vocabulary Consolidating language or evaluating opinions in the text Relating the topic to your knowledge of the world Reading for detail Life stories smuzsazr-reere ng toate Sg Barhotsurom ewan Wcbuy oacelyiwoweteane Reading 1 es nena 15 Sh neta 2mm sm (Grom New Gung Edge Intermediate by Sarah Cunningham and Peter Moor, Longman 2005) Crear ‘Think about these comments from teachers. Which do you agree with and why? 1 Think reading for derail is the most important reading skill. 2. My leamers realy like me to read them stories, even if they don't understand everything, 3. Some of my learners try to understand each new word in a text; then they often don’t understand what the whole text is about. 35Moduler 36 Career ES 1 Look at one reading text in your coursebook. What text type is it? What reading ‘subskills do its exercises and activdies focus on? Is the text interesting and at the right level for the learners? Write your answers in your Teacher Portfolio. 2 ‘Teach a reading skills lesson, Put your plan and your materials in your Teacher Portfoll, Indude some comments about what was successful / not successful and ‘why. Also comment on how you would improve the lesson next time, 3. Look at these websites, Would you recommend them to your learners? ‘http: //learnenglishkids britishcounel.org/short-storis ~ reading texts and activities for primary-age learners Innp:t2kids.mysterynet.com ~ mystery stories t0 read and solve ‘up: //www:thenewspaper.org.uk ~ newspaper extracts with sports, news and. music for eens “hupr/svsvw.roythezebra. com/index huml ~ reading activities and games 4 Use the TK Glossary to find the meaning of these terms: theme, develop skill. How do they relate to the teaching of reading? TKT practice task § (See page 245 for answers) For questions 1-7, match the readers’ statements withthe ways of reading listed A-D. ‘You will need to use some ofthe options more than once, Ways of reading ‘A. reading for detail B intensive reading © deducing meaning trom context D predicting Readers’ statements 1 Sometimes | know from just looking a the photo beside a text whether i's worth reading 2 Looking at words around a word you don't understand can help you guess its meaning, 8 | always read the headline of an article to help me decide whether to read i further or not 4 When I'm studying, I need to make sense of every bit ofthe writers arguments so Ihave to read vary carefully. '5 Thinking about your knowledge of a subject can sometimes help you understand words 6 Sometimes | underline all the conjunctions in texts I read ~it helps me folow the writer's argument. 7 {had to sign a contract last week 50, before I read it, I made sure | understood ‘completely every sentence in it