EDC11ES

UNIT 3
Text as a context
for learning
 How do we enter the world of
reading?
• School learning requires us to be literate

• There is no subject at school that does not involve reading

• There isn’t a child who can succeed at school without learning to read

• Teachers need to understand how the reading process works in order

to make it a meaningful and rewarding activity for their learners
Differences between the written and spoken word

Written word Spoken word

Written words are made permanent on paper or in Spoken words (unless they are recorded) exist for a
book brief moment

The written word endures Spoken words fade

 What happens when we read a book?
• Reading happens in the mind;

• When we read, we link the information on the page (written

letters and words) with information ‘in our heads’ to make
meaning of the potentially meaningless scribbles on the page.
 What kinds of knowledge or information do we draw on when
we read?
• Knowledge of the written code - We need to know how the letters on the page
represent particular sounds and how they combine to communicate meaning in the
form of words.

• Knowledge of the language - we need knowledge of the language in which we read.

• Even if we can sound out words correctly, they will remain meaningless if we do not
know the language of which they are a part.

• Knowledge of the rules of writing - Even if we can sound out words and know what
they mean, we must relate the words to each other in a meaningful way.

• Knowledge of the world and how it works - we need to make links actively between
the language of experience and what we actually see, hear, and feel in the world.
 Towards a definition of reading • Becoming a good reader means learning to
‘crack the code’.
Reading
• In order to do this, we must know the
alphabet and the language in which the text
is written and recognize what kind of text it
is.
Information on Information in
the page your head
• We should be able to tell if we are reading a
story, a letter, or part of a textbook and
what we can expect from each kind of
Knowledge
about code
Knowledge writing.
about Knowledge
Letters and and writing about the (What can you expect from a story that you
words language conventions world
(English or and forms cannot expect from a textbook?)
Sesotho)

• Finally, we need knowledge of the world so

that we can bring our own experiences to
the text and make it comes alive.
The richer our own life experiences are, the
more colourful and vibrant the world of
 What do we do when we read?
• First, reading is also about networking and making links between different kinds
of knowledge we already have.

The relationships between headings, sentences, or paragraphs are as important as

the meaning of individual words.

• Second, when we read we also have to construct the as yet unknown meaning of
the text by using what we already know about books and the world.

Reading presents us with a particular case of moving from the known to the
unknown
 Why is reading so difficult?
• Not all of us who read, however, enjoy the experience.

• Reading is hard work and can be exhausting.

• Especially if our experience of the world is very different to
the world of the text we are reading.
 Why do some people struggle to read?
• Their difficulty is not that they unable or unwilling to read, but that they are not sure how to
approach the reading task.

• They are not ready to read their books because they can see no real purpose for the task.

• They don’t feel like interacting with the text simply because the teacher is in a bad mood.

• They have no motivation for reading books on their own because they don’t enjoy them. They find
books irrelevant and difficult to follow.

• They also have no strategy for dealing with the difficult sections of the books or for remembering
what happens from one chapter to the next.

• The topic doesn’t interest them. They cannot relate books to their own lives and so their attention
wanders to the things that really matter to them.
Important factors for a successful reading experience
• If learners find a reading task purposeful, they will have high expectations from their interaction with the text.
• If the main purpose is simply to get through the reading to please the teacher, the task will seem meaningless
from the start.

• If learners are interested in a topic, they will remember what they read about it.

• The motivation for reading will come from the purpose and the interest. A learner who wants to do well at
school will read with great care, even if the topic is not very interesting.

• If a learner’s mind is on other things, it will be difficult to make sense of the reading even if the topic is
interesting and the learner knows why it is important to read.

• A good reading strategy (like asking questions or predicting) can help learners to focus their interest and
attention on the reading, even if it is difficult.

• Making meaningful links between the text and our existing knowledge will influence how successful the reading
experience will be.
 The reading-learning cycle
Information
Learners need knowledge of the world, the
written code, and the rules of writing, before
they can make a text come alive
selects creates

Attention
Finally, on the basis of what they have
understood from the text, they will modify Understanding
their previous understanding of reading, as Depending on the purpose for reading, learners will
well as their understanding of the subject direct their attention differently to the text. They
matter of the text might read it carefully word for word, only glance at
it, or avoid it altogether
modifies

directs

Purpose
The attention they give to the text is crucial. Prior knowledge
It will help them select information and Previous experiences of reading also
with the help of this information, they generates play an important part in generating a
construct their understanding of the text purpose for the reading task at hand
 What makes reading a meaningful experience?
• The attitudes towards reading which learners bring to the classroom will have an
important influence on how and what they will read in future.

• As teachers, we should never take reading for granted:

- When learners come to class with a negative attitude, we have to take their struggle
with reading seriously and help them experience reading as a meaningful activity.

- When learners have had good reading experiences, it is our responsibility to make
sure that the reading experiences we give them in class continue to strengthen their
positive attitude towards the written word.
 What kinds of reading support school learning?
• Literacy is only the beginning of school reading.

• As learners progress through school, the act of reading should

become more familiar to them.

• They should be able to enter the world of text with ease by the
time they are in Grade 5 in order to use textbooks,
• Reference books, and other reading material to help them
succeed at school.
 Why do teachers use textbooks?
• There are four assumptions that can explain why teachers
increase the use of textbooks in the later years of school:

- Textbooks help teachers to teach.

- Learners use textbooks to learn course content.
- Textbooks present the content of a course correctly and clearly.
- Textbooks introduce learners to the discourse of academic
learning.
 Textbooks help teachers to teach but must be used
creatively

• Textbooks are a very useful resources for teachers.

• They contain most of the critical content learners need to

learn, and

• They are often well-structured and written accessibly.

Textbooks carry course content but can be inaccessible

• If learners can establish meaningful links to the textbook, they can use it
to help them learn.

• Learners have to use textbooks that are written in their second or third
language.

• Learners find it difficult to read and understand these books - ‘euro-

centrism’ of many textbooks

• Instead of teaching the required content by using African examples

 Textbooks should present the content of a course
correctly and coherently

• Books are written by people, and all people construct their

own version of the ‘truth’; their own understanding of the
world.

• In the past, for example, many South African history textbooks

only presented a racist version of the development of our
country and the rest of Africa
 Textbooks introduce learners to the discourse of
academic learning
• The increased use of textbooks not only means that learners
have to read more texts as they move from one grade to the
next, but that they also have to learn to read different kinds of
texts.

• Different kinds of text require different approaches to

reading. E.g. fiction and nonfiction books
 Different kinds of school reading

• Reading for pleasure

• Skimming – reading to get main idea

• Scanning – reading to gather information

• Studying – reading to remember information

 Schooling is an activity centred on texts

• At school, children study written texts ranging from highly

formal discourse (such as a mathematics theorem) to texts
that aim primarily to convey and evoke emotional responses.
E.g. a poem
 School reading is circular and reflexive rather than linear

• Advanced reading is a much more circular and reflexive process.

• It involves starting at the beginning of a book (although not always), but

instead of simply reading through it, we usually:

- skim the text quickly first, concentrating on the headings, and the beginnings
and ends of paragraphs in order to get a general idea of what is in the text;

- use this information to decide whether we want to read the text, and where
we will begin.
 School reading is done actively and independently
• Learners have to develop into active and independent readers
who can make meaning from what they read.

• Learners have to make sense of the text (meaning).

• Active engagement will enable learners to read independently

and with purpose and enjoyment
 Developing active and independent readers

• Active and independent readers are not born, they are made

• Teachers play a very important role in making these readers

 Teaching method called
Directed Reading and Thinking Activity
Step 1: Guess
• Insert questions that encourage the learners to guess what will happen in the story
• (‘What do you think will happen?’).

Step 2: Predict
• Insert questions throughout the text to encourage learners to predict what will happen in the next section of the
story
• (‘Who will make the mistake?’ ‘How did he try to save them?’).

Step 3: Read
• Encourage readers to read the text.

Step 4: Revise
• Pose a question at the end of the reading process to help learners confirm, revise, or elaborate their predictions.
 DR-TA’s essential steps –
• DR-TA’s essential steps – activating and discussing what learners already know, and predicting, reading, and discussing
what happened and what was learnt – can be approached in many ways.

• The power of the method, no matter how you use it, is that it closely follows the natural process of learning:

- The method begins with what learners know (equilibrium) and they make predictions on the basis of that knowledge (focus
on the familiar rather than the unfamiliar –assimilation).

- Once learners read the text and find that they ‘made a mistake’ in their predictions, they experience a state of
disequilibrium.

- They can no longer simply assimilate the information into their existing schemata and have to focus their attention on the
unfamiliar aspects of the text.

- By doing that they extend their schemata to accommodate the unexpected information or turn of events.

- The process of accommodation means they re-establish a sense of equilibrium and have learnt something new.
 Different levels of reading
• There are four different levels of reading, namely:

 literal comprehension; - understand

 interpretation; - generalization
 critical reading; - judgment
 creative reading – generate new ideas
 Four different levels of reading
• Literal comprehension: The learner has to be able to understand the meanings of words,
recognize the main idea, understand the sequence in which things are happening, and be
able to recognize the cause-effect relationships in the text.

• Interpretation: This involves going beyond the actual information presented in the text.
Learners must be able to make generalizations, predict outcomes, and construct
relationships between different ideas in the text.

• Critical reading: At this level the reader is expected to make judgements about the quality,
value, or accuracy of the ideas in the text. This includes looking for bias or exaggeration in the
way that the language is used.

• Creative reading: This involves the reader using the text to generate new ideas or develop
new insights about a topic. At this level of reading we understand the ideas, we are able to
use them to predict and generalize, and we have opinions about their validity.
 Learning to read better
• Even though learners may want to learn, the difficulty of
textbook language makes reading tiring and, sometimes, almost
impossible.

• We know that successful reading is about ‘cracking the code’

 How textbooks are structured
• Alvermann has identified five kinds of text structures or organizing
patterns found in most textbooks, no matter what the subject content of
the book might be.

• They are:
- simple listings;
- sequences;
- comparisons;
- cause-effect patterns;
- problem solving.
 Kinds of text structures or organizing pattern
• Simple listing: This involves the presentation of information as a simple list of facts,
often in order of importance. Sometimes lists are numbered or marked with bullet
points.

• Sequence: A sequence describes events that happened in a particular order. The

sequence can be presented as a story line, a time line, or a ‘before and after’ situation.

• Compare and contrast: This kind of text concentrates on differences and similarities
between two or more things.

• Cause and effect: Cause-effect patterns look at events and their causes or
consequences.
 Problem-solution

• This kind of text is similar to a cause-effect text, but

concentrates specifically on problem-solution relationships
between different ideas.
 Why text structures are important
• Text structures help learners to recognize the relationships between
parts of a text and become aware of their own thinking while they read

- This awareness is the essence of intellectual self-control

- The awareness help learners to be active and independent readers

• It helps learners and teachers to use a text effectively in service of

learning and teaching
 Learning to study better

Banking education Critical or dialogic education

Education is like depositing facts Education is an active, critical

in the head of a learner process which can emancipate
learners
 Why do we study?
(Freire)
• The act of study is founded in a curious attitude towards the world

• If learners are curious about the world:

- they will want to understand it, and
- will use all kinds of resources to find out more about it

• Reading and studying books are useful ways of finding out more information

• Information is important if it is linked to real questions that emerge from our initial curiosity about the world

• By using our own questions to guide us from the known to the unknown, we take on the role of the subject in the
act of study

• We use education to develop our own thought

• Freire believes that the relationship between the learner and the world gives purpose and meaning to the
 Why do we study?
• We need to study the world and other people’s words, but we
need to do so actively and dialogically.
•
• We must not simply absorb these ideas uncritically, as a bank
‘absorbs’ money!

• Reading introduces the learner to the possibility of critical, and

even radical, change
 Texts, reading, and CAPS
• The South African curriculum suggests that learners should, by the end of
their schooling, be able to:
‒ make and negotiate meaning and understanding;
‒ show a critical awareness of language usage;
‒ respond to the aesthetic, affective, cultural, and social values in texts;
‒ access and use information from a variety of sources and situations;
‒ understand, know, and apply language structures and conventions in
context;
‒ use language for learning;
‒ use appropriate communication strategies for specific purposes and
situations.
 The role of reading in CAPS
• Reading is an activity of the mind requiring learners to ‘crack the code’ of the written text to generate
meaning.

• Reading becomes meaningful when the reader can make links between his or her personal experience and
the experience encoded in the text.

• Reading can be hard work and too many learners have a negative attitude towards it.

• Children are eager to learn to read when they believe that books are the key to a new world of experience.

• The attitude of adults towards reading influences the attitude of children towards books.

• Teachers need to read widely and actively themselves in order to establish a context of reading in the
classroom.

• Learning through reading requires an active engagement at several different levels of meaning making.