Teaching reading

Teaching objectives Through learning this section, Ss will be able to: understand the nature of reading know the factors affecting reading comprehension know the skills involved in reading comprehension know the models and principles for teaching reading know the reading strategies Ss can use in different stages of the reading lesson understand the procedures and types of activities we use in teaching reading design a sample lesson plan for a reading lesson

Teaching content/procedure Revision What is reading Models for teaching Principles for teaching reading Stages in teaching reading Reading strategies Assignment

Revision (game) Noughts (o) and crosses (x) Q1 Q4 Q7 Q2 Q5 Q8 Q3 Q6 Q9

Answer the following questions:

Q1: What is schema? What’s its implication for teaching listening? BACK

Q2: What are the factors that affect listening comprehension Q2: What are the factors that affect listening comprehension? Name two of them. BACK

Q3: What are the difficulties the Chinese students may experience Q3: What are the difficulties the Chinese students may experience? List two of them. BACK

Q4: What listening strategies can students employ in the while-listening process? Name three. BACK

Q5: The bottom-up model starts with the listeners’ world knowledge and life experience. (True or false?) BACK

Q6: How many stages are there in the teaching listening. What are they Q6: How many stages are there in the teaching listening? What are they? BACK

Q7: Name four tasks of the while-listening stage. BACK

Q8: What are the purposes of while-listening stage? BACK

Q9: What are the purposes of post-listening stage? BACK

What is reading? Why do people read? What do people read? --To get information --For pleasure or interest What do people read? --Newspapers, magazines, diagrams, maps, letters, manuals, instructions, advertisements, etc. --Novels, plays, poems, lyrics, etc.

What is reading? How do people read? --Skimming: read quickly to get the gist --Scanning: read to locate specific information --Intensive reading --Extensive reading

What is reading? Factors affecting reading comprehension Discuss in groups the factors that affect reading comprehension & and the characteristics of a good reader.

What is reading? Factors affecting reading comprehension --Word recognition --Language competence --Experience --Interest/Motivation --Individual cognitive

What is reading? Characteristics of a good reader --have a clear purpose in reading --read silently --read phrase by phrase, rather than word by word --concentrate on important information --use different speeds and strategies for different reading tasks

What is reading? Characteristics of a good reader --make prediction --guess the meaning of new words from context, or ignore them --make use of background information to help understand the text

What is reading? Skills involved in reading comprehension --Understanding the explicitly stated information --understanding conceptual meaning --deducing the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items --understanding relations within sentences --understanding relations between sentences

What is reading? Skills involved in reading comprehension --predicting --identifying main idea --recognizing patterns of organization --recognizing indicators in discourse --recognizing the organization of the text --guessing meaning of new words --skimming --scanning

What is reading? Skills involved in reading comprehension --understanding references --questioning --paraphrasing --making inferences --drawing conclusions --sequencing

Models for reading The bottom-up model (data-driven) Comprehension (Reading is a decoding process) Comprehension Sentences Phrases Words Letters

Models for reading Reading begins with reader background knowledge The top-down model (concept/reader-driven) Reading begins with reader background knowledge (Goodman: Reading is a psychological guessing game)

Models for reading Reader background knowledge The interactive model (the schema theory model) Reader background knowledge Individual letters and sounds comprehension

The schema theory --Linguistic schema: language --Content schema: topics, themes --Formal schema: style e.g. --Mary heard the ice cream man coming down the street. She remembered her birthday money and rushed into the house… --buying stamps --going to a restaurant

Discussion and reflection Which model do you think we should adopt in teaching reading?

Principles for teaching reading Arouse Ss’ interest by linking topic to their experience and existing knowledge Exploit the reader’s background knowledge Build a strong vocabulary base Expose students to different types of reading: intensive/extensive; skimming/scanning Teach reading strategies: predicting, skimming, scanning, inferring, guessing meaning from the context, summarizing, etc. Integrate reading with other skills, e.g. speaking, writing.

Stages in teaching reading Pre-reading stage While-reading stage Post-reading stage

Pre-reading stage Purpose --activate Ss’ schemata --arouse Ss’ interest --clear linguistic obstacles( e.g. vocabulary)

Pre-reading stage Activities --predicting --setting the scene --brainstorming --pre-teaching vocabulary

While-reading stage Purpose --Checking comprehension --training reading skills and strategies

While-reading stage Activities: A. Skimming or scanning stage --getting the main idea --identifying topic sentences and main idea --matching subtitles with passages or paragraphs --creating titles or headlines fro passages --filling in forms with key concepts

While-reading stage Activities: B. Decoding or intensive reading stage --comprehension questions intended to develop reading skills --language activities to focus on vocabulary and structures

C. Comprehension stage (T/F, Wh-, Multiple choice) While-reading stage Activities: C. Comprehension stage (T/F, Wh-, Multiple choice) Three-level comprehension

Level 1: literal comprehension/reading the lines e.g. Decide which statements express what the author says. A terrible earthquake shook San Francisco on April 18th, 1906. A large number of people died in 1906 earthquake. The 1989 earthquake did not happen in the center of town.

Level 2: interactive comprehension/reading between lines --re-arrange the ideas or topics discussed in the text. --explain the author’s purpose of writing the text --summarize the main idea when it is not explicitly stated in the text --select conclusions which can be deduced from the text e.g. Decide which statement imply the author’s ideas. A. Many people became homeless because of the 1906 earthquake. B. San Francisco is a place where earthquakes are likely to happen. C. many buildings in San Francisco were too old to stand the 1989 earthquake.

Level 3: critical comprehension/reading beyond lines e.g. Decide which statement imply the author’s ideas. A. Nature can be very harmful to mankind in may ways. B. Mankind should and can think of different ways to prevent harms from nature. C. With the development of science and technology, mankind can discover more about nature.

Information transfer activities --Pictures --Drawings --Maps --Tables --Tree diagrams --Cyclic diagrams --Pie charts --Bar charts --Flowcharts --Chronological sequence --Subtitles (providing subtitles) --Notes (taking notes while reading)

Post-reading stage Purpose: --Expansion --integrating skills

Post-reading stage Activities: --discussion --role-play --gap-filling --retelling --summarizing --writing (e.g. comment, imaginative ending to the story, instructions, travel brochure…)

Reading strategies Brainstorming In groups of 4, list 5-8 reading strategies you use most frequently.(5 mins.)

Classifying Pre-reading strategies While-reading strategies In groups, categorize the strategies according to the three stages of reading. Pre-reading strategies While-reading strategies Post-reading strategies

Feedback Pre-reading strategies While-reading strategies Post-reading strategies

Pre-reading strategies Develop a positive attitude toward reading Advanced preparation (previewing the reading materials) Predicting (content, vocabulary…) Structured overview Question Brainstorming (Structured overview) Relating new knowledge to prior knowledge

While-reading strategies Identify important ideas Identify the organizational pattern of the text Identify indicators in discourse Identify sequence of events Note-taking Skimming Scanning Draw inferences Make use of logic/common sense Deduce the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items Skipping unknown/unimportant words Imagery Monitor understanding

Post-reading strategies Grouping Summarize Paraphrase Reread Question (ask for clarification) Cooperation Self-evaluation

Analysis (Junior middle school) Watch the video “Training in Brazil”, put down the teaching procedure and answer the following questions: What types of reading are involved in the lesson? What skills or sub-skills are covered in the lesson? Is the design of the reading activities reasonable?

Analysis What types of reading are involved in the lesson? reading silently/reading aloud 2) What skills or sub-skills are covered in the lesson? skimming, scanning, note-taking…

Lesson Analysis (Senior middle school) Watch the video segment “Olympic Games” for the first 16 minutes, put down the teaching procedure and identify the activities and strategies used in each teaching stage.

Assignment Choose a reading passage from SWE or NSEFC and design a lesson plan.