Using a reading, listening or video text effectively Martin Holmes

In “natural” reading, we:  deliberately seek out a text (we have a reason for reading it)  know what type of text to expect (we know the genre and style)  know the background and vocabulary  seek something specific from the text (information, enjoyment, enlightenment, etc.)  ignore everything in it that doesn't interest us

Too often in the classroom, we:  present a text with no background or preparation  give unnatural reading tasks (e.g. comprehension questions covering all details)

A more natural approach involves:  pre-reading activities (schema activation)  realistic while-reading tasks  (possibly some post-reading tasks)

Purpose of pre-reading tasks:  Creating interest in the text, so that the student actively wants to read it  Providing background information about the topic  Introducing, reviewing, or reminding the student of relevant vocabulary  Inducing, surfacing or activating an attitude or point of view about the topic, which the student can then bring to bear on the text  Predicting the content of the text

Example pre-reading task: Mystery picture exercises

Purposes of while-reading tasks:  finding specific info (scanning)  getting the gist (skimming)  understanding/responding to the argument, characters or events  confirming/falsifying predictions  simple enjoyment

Example while-viewing task: Adjective matching

Purposes of post-reading tasks:  confirming comprehension  reviewing new/key vocabulary  exploiting the text for other learning objectives, such as speaking or writing practice

Example post-reading task: Concordancing  Paste your text into HyperPo, on this Website: 