Reading strategies for Developing reading skills among students Presented by Mr. Stanislas Birame FAYE

Reading skills Sociolinguistic competence Strategic competence Identifying the type of material Understanding the organization of the material Strategic competence Understanding the gist Locating specific information Inferring meaning Linguistic competence Recognizing the language patterns Critical competence Interpreting material content Evaluating critically the material content

STRATEGY FOR Helping students IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF MATERIAL A) Skimming (reading only the subtitles or section headings/reading the first and last sentences of a paragraph) B) Scanning for indicators Tells a story Gives information about a phenomenon Portrays a person, place or an object Gives instructions Defends an idea or opinion Text Tells a story Gives information about a phenomenon Portrays a person, place or an object Gives instructions Defends an idea or opinion Details Characters Chronological structure Simple past The first or third persons of the singular or plural Connectors indicating time Etc. Explanation of the causes and consequence of a phenomenon Facts , data about a phenomenon from different sources Words indicating cause and effect Definitions Physical details (colour, size, amount, shape) Moral details (generous, helpful) words used for comparison or contrast descritptive adjectives Imperative Sequence words (first, then, next …) must / musn’t direct language procedure illustration Technical vocabulary Position statements Appealing to the reader’s emotion Evidence to convince the reader Causual connectors

Comparison-and-contrast Strategy for helping students know how to analyse the structure of a material Get your students analyse a material structure with diagrams/graphic organizers! Narration Argumentation Sequence Problem & solution Cause-and-effect Comparison-and-contrast Directions STRUCTURE Beginning of the story (character, place, character’s objective) Middle of story (problem, solution) End of the story (outcome) Main ideas Supporting details Initiating event Event 2, Event 4 Event 5 Final event Described event/phenomenon Physical details Moral details Facts Phenomenon Cause Consequence Compared elements Similarities Differences Starting phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Final phase SIGNAL WORDS before, after, finally, etc. Besides, in my opinion, in brief, etc. first, second, third, etc. the question is , to solve this as a result, because, etc. compared with, different from, etc. first of all, next, last, etc.

STRATEGY FOR HELPING STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE GIST OF MATERIAL Phase 1: Skimming (reading only the subtitles or section headings/reading the first and last sentences of a paragraph); Phase 2: Predicting the material content by using the strategy of 5 WH-Questions (who, what, where, when, why); Phase 3: Reading thoroughly to check the information transferred in the chart. QUESTIONS Who ? What? Where ? When ? Why ? ANSWERS

Strategies for helping students guess the meaning of a word or sentence? Bottom-up strategies: guessing meaning on the base of prefixes/suffixes, prepositions (phrasal verbs), compound words, words nature, root words and etymology, etc. Top-down strategies: guessing meaning on the base of: Context clues Background Word/Sentence Context clues Inference Kinship Definition, Restatement, Example, Comparison, Contrast, Cause and effect, Discourse markers, Supporting details, Synonyms/Antonyms Word/Sentence Background Inference To grasp Background knowledge, background experience

Strategy for helping students locate specific information Phase 1: Turn the required information into question; Phase 2: Skim the subtitles, headings, sections or base on the text structure to choose the appropriate block of information; Phase 3: Scan the chosen block of information to find the answer to the question.

Use a reading material to study the following points: Strategy for helping students recognize the patterns of the English language Use a reading material to study the following points: Words structure / nature / function Sentence structure Language register (formal/informal) Genre (fiction, nonfiction) Communicative value (function) of grammatical structures, discourse markers Abbreviations and symbols meanings

Interpreting material content Strategies for helping students to interpret the material content and analyze the author’s intentions Interpreting material content Analyzing the author’s intention(s) DESCRIPTION(S) INTERPRETATION(S) Write down this column descriptive details related to the phenomenon, person, object or the place in question! Basing on the descriptive details, tell what you think about the phenomenon, person, object or the place in question! CONTENT RESTATEMENT FORM REASON What does the author say? What does the author mean? How does the author say it? Why does the say it that way? Material Reformulation of the author’s allegation Figures of speech Register, style Tone Sentence structure Lexical choice Etc. Interpretation of the author’s intention

Questions raising suspiciousness Strategies for helping students to evaluate critically a material content From curiosity to suspiciousness Cultural confrontation Ask students to confront their social values, cultural beliefs, lifestyle, behaviour with the ones addressed by the material and work out strong and weak points! Questions raising suspiciousness Possible answers Are author’s assertions objective or subjective? Fact, opinion, belief, theory, conviction, assumption, valeur Does the author make use of persuasive evidence? Published data, anecdotes, speculations Does the author adopt a stance? Bias, neutral, opponent Are the author’s information sources reliable? Rumour, specialist, study, layman

Closing words “It is better to read a little and ponder a lot than to read a lot and ponder a little.” says Denis Parson Burkitt Because “Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting” says Edmund Burke So Let’s empower our students so that they may be able to read thoughtfully.