6 things beginning with R

Scott Thornbury

 Routine
Reading
Repetition
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Reference
Rote learning

Routine

Pre-reading
1. Do you know anyone who has changed their career for
something completely different?
2.

What is the odd-one-out in this group of words? Why?

tap leak
tools
van
apprentice

discipline
plumber

While reading
Read the text quickly and answer these questions.
1.
2.
3.

What did Jo do before?

What does she do now?
Why did she change?

Re-reading
Why are these words important in the text? Ilkley, mother-in-law,
French, apprentice
Post-reading
Complete these sentences from the text with the correct form of the
verb in brackets:
a.

I was a French teacher, but I [become] _______ very

unhappy with what was happening in schools.

b.

I [always like] ________ the idea of being a plumber,

because its such a useful job.

Response to the text

Would you like to change your career? If so, what to?

Reading

Possible purposes for reading a text in class:

to teach/develop the skill of reading
to use the text as a medium for introducing/
reinforcing new language, eg grammar, vocabulary
to use the text as a model for writing
to use the text as a springboard for discussion, role
play etc

Possible purposes for reading a text in class:

to teach/develop the skill of reading
to use the text as a medium for introducing/
reinforcing new language, eg grammar, vocabulary
to use the text as a model for writing
to use the text as a springboard for discussion, role
play etc

Possible purposes for reading a text in class:

to teach/develop the skill of reading
to use the text as a medium for introducing/
reinforcing new language, eg grammar, vocabulary
to use the text as a model for writing
to use the text as a springboard for discussion, role
play etc

Possible purposes for reading a text in class:

to teach/develop the skill of reading
to use the text as a medium for introducing/
reinforcing new language, eg grammar, vocabulary
to use the text as a model for writing
to use the text as a springboard for discussion, role
play etc

Possible purposes for reading a text in class:

to teach/develop the skill of reading ?????
to use the text as a medium for introducing/
reinforcing new language, eg grammar, vocabulary
to use the text as a model for writing
to use the text as a springboard for discussion, role
play etc

L2 readers need a minimum threshold level of

general L2 language competence before they
can generalise their L1 reading abilities into L2.
Where proficient L2 learners are good readers in
their L1, the consensus view (based on a wide
range of research studies and teachers
observation) is that reading abilities can, indeed,
be generalised across languages even in the
case of differing scripts.
Catherine Wallace, Reading. In The Cambridge
Guide to TESOL, 2001, ed. Carter, R., and
Nunan, D. (CUP)

L2 readers need a minimum threshold level of

general L2 language competence before they
can generalise their L1 reading abilities into L2.
Where proficient L2 learners are good readers in
their L1, the consensus view (based on a wide
range of research studies and teachers
observation) is that reading abilities can, indeed,
be generalised across languages even in the
case of differing scripts.
Catherine Wallace, Reading. In The Cambridge
Guide to TESOL, 2001, ed. Carter, R., and
Nunan, D. (CUP)

The Language Threshold Hypothesis argues that

students must have a sufficient amount of L2 knowledge
(i.e. vocabulary, grammar and discourse) to make
effective use of skills and strategies that are part of their
L1 reading comprehension abilities.
Readers usually cross the threshold whenever they
encounter L2 texts in which they know almost all of the
words and can process the text fluently.
Grabe, W., & Stoller, L. Teaching and Researching
Reading. Longman, 2002

Repetition

DEATH OF THE POET

This year
the roof of my hive
broke open to the sky

the night air is licking me

clean out of honey.

my bees buzz
like anxious flies

This year
the roof of my hive
gave up

will they learn to feed on

absence?

and let everything

down.

my combs are filling

with dark space.

Does it matter
that the moon is pouring
through my holes?

Forget selling myself

to the first sweet tooth
that sniffs along

(Dorothy Porter)

DEATH OF THE POET

This year
the roof of my hive
broke open to the sky

the night air is licking me

clean out of honey.

my bees buzz
like anxious flies

This year
the roof of my hive
gave up

will they learn to feed on

absence?

and let everything

down.

my combs are filling

with dark space.

Does it matter
that the moon is pouring
through my holes?

Forget selling myself

to the first sweet tooth
that sniffs along

(Dorothy Porter)

1. What is the overall organisation of each text?

For example, how many parts do they all
have?
2. What grammatical features are common to
each part? For example, what tense is used?
What pronouns? What modal verbs?
3. Can you find any words or phrases that are
repeated across the different texts?

Register

Headline
Finding
Research

Headline
Finding:
present tense
you
Research:
past tense
they =
researchers,
experimental
subjects

North Americans tend to spend more time

East Asians are more likely to scan the background
Scientists believe this may help to explain
faith in a pill can prompt your brain to release
help could be at hand
Butterbur ... is likely to be licenced across the rest

research published
Research published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences suggests....
Research published in Nature shows that.
according to research published in the Journal of
Neuroscience.

X + colleagues + studied/measured etc

Richard Nisbett and his colleagues studied the eye
movements.
Andrew Lilley and colleagues measured the respiration
rate
Andreas Schapowal and colleagues found Butterbur
extract was.

Repetition (again)

(1) A draft version of the honey bee genome has

been made available to the public - a move that
should benefit bees and humans alike.
(2) The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is multitalented. (3) It produces honey, pollinates crops
and is used by researchers to study human
genetics, ageing, disease and social behaviour.
(11) The genome's publication is good news for
beekeepers and victims of bee stings alike.
(23) This is the first time that the amassed
sequence data have been made publicly
available.

Reference

Honeybees have an elaborate language of dance to pass on

news about the best places for nectar. Their more solitary
cousins, the bumblebees, were always supposed to forage
for themselves. They dont, according to Elli Leadbetter
and Lars Chittka of Queen Mary, University of London,
reporting in Current Biology. The bumbles follow other
bees. The two researchers tested their volunteers with a
choice of artificial flowers where another bee was already
at work. But they copied each other only when they knew
nothing about the flower species they were visiting. When
the petals looked familiar, they made their own decisions.

Honeybees have an elaborate language of dance to pass on

news about the best places for nectar. Their more solitary
cousins, the bumblebees, were always supposed to forage
for themselves. They dont, according to Elli Leadbetter
and Lars Chittka of Queen Mary, University of London,
reporting in Current Biology. The bumbles follow other
bees. The two researchers tested their volunteers with a
choice of artificial flowers where another bee was already
at work. But they copied each other only when they knew
nothing about the flower species they were visiting. When
the petals looked familiar, they made their own decisions.

Honeybees have an elaborate language of dance to pass on

news about the best places for nectar. Their more solitary
cousins, the bumblebees, were always supposed to forage
for themselves. They dont, according to Elli Leadbetter
and Lars Chittka of Queen Mary, University of London,
reporting in Current Biology. The bumbles follow other
bees. The two researchers tested their volunteers with a
choice of artificial flowers where another bee was already
at work. But they copied each other only when they knew
nothing about the flower species they were visiting. When
the petals looked familiar, they made their own decisions.

Rote learning

An actor acquires lines readily by focusing not on

the words of the script, but on those words meaning
the moment-to-moment motivations of the
character saying them as well as on the physical
and emotional dimensions of their performance ...
Good actors dont think about their lines, but feel
their characters intention in reaction to what the
other actors do, causing their lines to come
spontaneously and naturally.

Q: Who is the bees favourite singer?

A: Sting!
Q: What goes zzub, zzub?
A: A bee flying backwards!
Q: What bee is good for your health?
A: Vitamin bee!
Q: What's more dangerous than being with
a fool?
A: Fooling with a bee!
Q: Why do bees hum?
A: Because they've forgotten the words!

 Routine
Reading
Repetition
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Rote learning