Lecture 8 Reading Materials

Contents: Four stages in reading Areas of concern in the selection of texts Role of texts in the L2 classroom Simplified vs. authentic texts Channel conversion Implications for L2 teachers

Reading Materials – Stages in Reading In general, there are 4 stages in reading: Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Learning to read Reading to learn

Major areas of concern in the selection of texts: Balance, Suitability of language, Concepts in the text, Level of reasoning required, Content, and Pedagogic suitability. Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Selection of Texts

Teacher need to skillfully exploit texts to help students acquire new reading skills or become fluent in using the skills: Learning to read stage Outcome of reading is to acquire the skills required when reading to learn; Texts should contain pedagogic as well as real reading purposes. Reading Materials - Selection of Texts Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005

Reading to learn stage Students tend to read slowly in order to understand & remember what they have read; Texts should be information-rich; Students read text to learn from the content; Outcome of reading is to gain knowledge. Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials - Selection of Texts

Role of text in the L2 classroom: Text as a vehicle for teaching language structure & vocabulary; Texts which teach language through reading; Texts which offer high-interest content. Reading Materials – Role of Texts Source: Wallace, 2003

Text as a vehicle for teaching language structure & vocabulary Language-focused texts; Reading solely to learn a language – not for information or interest (Williams, 1984); “ Usage” rather than “use” (Widdowson, 1978); Lack of communicative function as texts aim at reinforcing sentence patterns; Text-focused activities – focus on sentence patterns text & to highlight cohesive features; Reading Materials – Role of Texts Source: Wallace, 2003

2. Texts which teach language through reading Select texts to promote reading - learners develop language awareness through reading; Select texts that can develop reading strategies; Wide access to meaningful written language is effective in reinforcing English structures as well as learning new ones (Elley,1984); To motivate L2 learners to read widely in the L2, the overall content of the selected text is more important than the linguistic features contained in the text. Reading Materials – Role of Texts Source: Wallace, 2003

3. Texts which offer high-interest content Text must be interesting for the learner to read; However, difficult to address the issue of interest (individual differences and preferences); Therefore, select texts that are inherently motivating – something about the content that makes learners interested to read; E.g. in narratives that can stimulate readers’ schema; Reading Materials – Role of Texts Source: Wallace, 2003

Activity Which opening lines might be of the greatest general interest to secondary level students? ………………………………………………………………… . Joanne works for the Lincoln Company. There are two shifts in the Lincoln Company, a day shift and a night shift. Joanne works the day shift. Her schedule is Tuesday through Saturday from 8 o’clock to 5 pm. Her lunch time is 12.00 noon to1.00 pm. ………………………………………………………………… . Many, many years ago there was a very rich landlord who owned a lot of land and houses. ………………………………………………………………… . Reading Materials – Role of Texts Source: Wallace, 2003

Activity - Discussion Both texts are linguistically simple; However, something about the content in T2 make students more interested in reading; Why? T2 begins with a recognizable kind of narrative and students engage with the text by activating a relevant schema; T1 is not what we perceive as a “story”, events are unexceptional. Reading Materials – Role of Texts Source: Wallace, 2003

Texts are simplified for L2 learners for easy comprehension and to help prepare them for more advanced, authentic text (Young 1999); Advantages of simplified texts : - excludes unnecessary & distracting, idiosyncratic styles without suffering a loss of valuable communication features & concepts (Allen & Widdowson 1979), and - contains increased redundancy & amplified explanation (Kuo 1993). Reading Materials - Simplified Texts Source: Crossley & McNamara, 2008

However, simplified texts contain simplified & frequent forms; Widely criticized for removing authentic language, Thus, denying learners the opportunity to learn natural forms of language (Long & Ross 1993). Reading Materials - Simplified Texts Source: Crossley & McNamara, 2008

Definitions of Authenticity: “ genuine communicative acts ” - written or spoken language between native speakers (Meinhof, 1987); Authenticity is not a characteristic of the text in itself - the text can only be truly authentic in the context for which it was originally written (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987); Authenticity does not lie in the materials but is created by the reader’s response – congruence between the writer’s intention & reader’s interpretation (Widdowson,1979). Reading Materials - Authentic Texts

Authentic text written to fulfill a social purpose for native speakers within a language community (Lee, 1995) Advantages: introduces students to natural & contextualized language Use of authentic linguistic features (e.g. cohesive devices) – development of reading comprehension skills & information processing skills, contain natural lexical redundancy – aids in reconstructing text & understanding unfamiliar lexicon. Reading Materials - Authentic Texts Source: Crossley & McNamara, 2008

Simplified Vs. Authentic text? Authentic text is assumed to provide more natural language and more naturally occurring cohesion than simplified text; Simplified text is criticized as creating discourse that is unnatural and serves to reduce helpful redundancy, thus increasing text readability; Simplified text , however, is thought to benefit L2 learners because it is lexically, syntactically, and rhetorically less difficult than authentic text. Reading Materials - Simplified vs. Authentic Source: Crossley & McNamara, 2008

Readers from a different sociocultural background may find the meaning of a simple text difficult to comprehend. This is due to the lack of familiarity with culture-specific features of the discourses in the text (Wallace, 2003). Explore critically the discourse in minimal texts such as the following advertisement. In what way are the discourses in it culture-specific? Activity – Authentic Texts

TITLE: "Sucky Vacations" BRAND: San Diego AGENCY: NYCA

Message written to young parents who are considering where to take their children for a holiday; Message makes assumptions that are culture specific, e.g.: Parents are expected to take their children on family vacations; The vacations are normally related to having fun at the beach; Refer to a particular sociocultural practice – parents are sent to retirement homes when they get older. Discussion – Authentic Texts

Channel Conversion Information transfer; Information expressed in one medium, is converted into another medium; E.g. from words to graphics, materials, actions, etc. Reading Materials – Channel Conversion Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005

Channel Conversion (Cont’d) Why it is important? Whenever the receptive skill is higher than the productive skill, we might use non-verbal responses; Some information is better presented using tables, graphs, etc.; Sometimes, information in graphs, diagrams, etc. is easier to remember; Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Channel Conversion

Channel Conversion (Cont’d) Why it is important? Since many texts/textbooks include charts, graphs, etc. , it is important to teach students how to interpret them: - students learn how to make sense of the forms & the special way of presenting information; - students learn how to relate these forms to the verbal texts they accompany. Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Channel Conversion

Channel Conversion (Cont’d) Commonly-used graphics in channel conversion Maps – see relationships involving physical location Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Channel Conversion

Channel Conversion (Cont’d) Floor plans - see relationships involving physical location Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Channel Conversion

Channel Conversion (Cont’d) Bus/train schedule – gather information from schedules & how best to use them Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Channel Conversion

Channel Conversion (Cont’d) Pictures/diagrams – form mental picture using information from the text Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Channel Conversion

Channel Conversion (Cont’d) Graphs/pie-charts/etc. – present trends, relationship of parts to whole, information that is too complex to understand without the relationship being shown in written forms & hierarchical information. Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Channel Conversion

Channel Conversion (Cont’d) Time-lines & flow-charts – follow sequence of events Reading Materials Source: Chitravelu et al., 2005 Reading Materials – Channel Conversion

Implications for L2 teachers: Reading Materials - Conclusion Need to be aware of criteria involving the preparation & selection of material for teaching reading; Need to expose learners to authentic materials at earlier stage; Need to make reading lessons more enjoyable by introducing texts that are of interest to the learners; Authentic reading is interactive – teachers need to facilitate interactions between readers and texts in the classroom.

Lecture 8 Reading Materials

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Lecture 8 Reading Materials