1. Teaching Reading
LLT 307

2. Reading Matters
(First paragraph in Grabe & Stoller, 2001, paraphrased): Reading is the most important skill.
Central means for learning new information
Foundation for synthesis and critical evaluations skills
The primary means for independent learning
Improves language abilities (e.g., writing, vocab)

3. Issues in L2 Reading Some of the challenges for the L2 reader
Smaller lexicon (“need more words” phenomenon)
False cognates
Complexity and vocab level of written (over) spoken texts
Motivation to read, topic interest (level of aesthetic stimulation compared to other activities)
Available time (especially for adult learners)
Reading speed
Compatibility of L1–L2 script
Ability to accept that not all learners develop reading skills or acquire new vocabulary at the same rate

4. … use lots of (metacognitive) strategies!
Good readers …
Draw on background and schema knowledge as they read
Are more global or top-down in their approach
Make predictions as they read
Visualize the events of a text as they read
Recognize confusion as they read
Recognize a text's structure/organization as they read
Identify/recognize a purpose for reading
Monitor their strategy use according to the purpose for reading the text
Take more action to solve miscomprehension problems
Make better use of cognates between languages and have more vocabulary knowledge
Make better and more frequent inferences (bridging & elaborative) as they read (also a sign of interactive reading)
Are more proficient in their L2 writing.
… use lots of (metacognitive) strategies!

5. Reading Subskills Vocabulary Development Careful Reading
Text structure awareness
Graphic Organizers
Strategic Reading
Fluency Development
Extensive Reading
Motivation
Integrated-skill tasks

6. Some Findings from Reading Research with Implications for Teaching
Reading is not a linear process: Readers (should) make and test hypotheses and predictions (i.e., they interact [??] with what they are reading).
So what?
Texts with high-interest content are more engaging and facilitate comprehension.
Pre-reading activities can compensate for a lack of background knowledge or existing schema.

7. Some more Reading Research Findings with Implications for Teaching
L2 readers differ from L1 readers in several ways: They
Read more slowly
Monitor their comprehension more slowly
Make more and longer eye gaze fixations
Experience more miscues related to function words
Recall fewer subordinate ideas from a text
Make more inferencing errors
May use fewer or more ineffective strategies, and may not be able to alter their ineffective strategies (w/o help).

8. Theoretical Perspectives on Reading (a continuum)
Macro Approach
Top-down processing; global
Emphasizes initial role of conceptual knowledge; “meaning first”; whole-language – words are recognized in context.
Emphasis on contextual support; use of formal & content schemata to predict & then read to confirm or correct predictions.
Micro Approach
Bottom-up processing
Linear build-up: Letters  word meaning  sentences; phonics approach (PRECIOUS)
Decontextualized: Involves decoding (based on sound-grapheme correspondence)
Using context may be viewed as a compensatory strategy for poor decoding skills.

9. Maximizing Learners’ Reading Comprehension
Provide as much nonverbal support for reading comprehension as possible, including pictures, diagrams, real objects, gestures, acting, and graphic organizers.
Explicitly teach comprehension strategies, such as reader-generated questions, summarizing, and monitoring comprehension.
Plan interactive activities around reading and interpreting texts.

10. Stages of Reading Instruction

11. Reading Strategies: Pre-Reading
Provide direct explanation of strategies such as predicting from context.
Try to “de-program” learners away from ineffective reading strategies (e.g., looking up every unfamiliar word).
Suggest that older learners monitor the effectiveness of their strategies and try different approaches.

12. Reading Strategies: During Reading
During-reading strategies (provide modeling through think-alouds & practice)
Self-questioning
Monitoring comprehension
Predicting meaning from context
Predicting meaning from structural knowledge
Selective dictionary use
Marking off subtopics; highlighting key information

13. Reading Activities Reading/Writing Workshops: Organization
Whole-group activities: Begins with a focused ‘minilesson’
Often used as a time for direct instruction, e.g., building background, strategies, discussion of common errors, etc.
Small-group activities
Discussions, projects, writing
Individual activities
Reading, individual conferences with teacher (e.g., writing)
Outside class
Additional reading, ongoing response journal, writing assignment.

14. Reading Activities: Post-Reading
A few post-reading activities:
Story reconstruction: select sentences from the passage, reorder them, then have students put them in a logical order to create a coherent story.
Story retelling: lower level students can demonstrate comprehension through drawing pictures.
Crossword puzzles based on stories – to review vocabulary
Lyrics of a song that tell a related story, e.g., folk songs
Memory recall is enhanced when words are combined with melody.
Creating/completing a cloze passage based on a text
Synonym substitution activity for underlined words
Writing by individual students or groups on a related topic or continuing the story presented in the reading materials
Readers’ theater: beginning readers can act out a story they have read or listened to. Intermediate readers can create a script related to the story content.

15. Reading Activities: Post-Reading (cont.)
Story Mapping
Uses the story grammar or basic structure, which may include features such as the major characters, goal, obstacle, and resolution; good for summarizing story
Example: from The Three Little Pigs
(Then repeat from the perspective of the wolf?)
Someone
Wants
But So
the pigs
- to build strong houses
- to be safe from the wolf
wolf blows down house
pigs boil wolf
in water & live happily ever after

16. Choosing Texts / Considerations for Readability (a subjective task)
Length
Level of vocabulary
Purpose/audience
Sentence complexity
Topic!
State curriculum
Classics!?
Readability statistics? (Word has a tool for this: Check grammar with spelling  check box show readability statistics)