This comparative essay examines the perspectives of Jeremy Harmer and H. Douglas Brown on the reading skill, covering definitions, processes, and techniques for teaching reading effectively. It highlights the importance of integrating all language skills in reading education and presents various strategies and principles for teaching that enhance student engagement and comprehension. The document concludes that understanding both authors' approaches can help educators create more meaningful and effective reading experiences for students.

1. UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE LA SSMA. CONCEPCION
COMPARATIVE ESSAY
READING SKILL FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF
JEREMY HARMER & DOUGLAS BROWN
PARA SER PRESENTADO EN CATEDRA DE DIDACTICA EN INGLES I
FACULTAD DE EDUCACION
PEDAGOGIA MEDIA EN INGLES
POR
GABRIEL FERNANDO JARA MUÑOZ
DOCENTE
ROXANA CAROLINA CORREA PEREZ
FECHA
CONCEPCION, 2012

2. This comparative essay aims to contrast the two conceptions that the authors Jeremy
Harmer and H. Douglas Brown have about reading skill, in which ideas such as definitions,
reasons, types, processes, skills, principles, techniques and tasks will be presented on this
paper, plus further suggestions that an educator must have in consideration when teaching
reading skill. However, tasks will for little explanation is given in one of them making
comparison harder, besides the content is found before the lesson examples. Comparing
both authors about reading will not only give teachers a very complete vision about
working with texts in classroom and make an effective reading from part of the students,
but also a differentiation between the two vision which allows the reader to make a critical
and constructive view on how to teach a language through reading by taking in
consideration both contributions and how to apply them in real pedagogical practices.
Reading, as Brown (1994) mentions, is a skill that has to be developed within the
interrelationship of all the abilities (listening, reading, writing and speaking) for the reason
that when educators aims to work in a skill, in this case reading, there is an inevitable
integration of all of them, meaning that if students work with a text, in order to read it
comprehensively they have to work with tasks that will require different skills to interact
with the content and make the text come to live. Harmer (1998) also points out some
activities that indirectly integrates different skills such as discussions or imaginative
responses (write or say an opinion and listen to a classmate), in addition of all the other
parallel benefits such as vocabulary knowledge, spelling and writing improvement.
Therefore both authors give great importance to the development of this skill as a extremely
helpful tool to acquire a language (Harmer, 1998).

3. Nevertheless, Brown (1994) makes a deeper analysis of this skill by mentioning the
context in which second language reading pedagogy was developed and the processes that
were studied as a way of approaching the reading, taking for instance bottom-up and top-
down processing, but interestingly enough according to the studies made in the area of
teaching methodology, the use of both process of reading can lead to what is called
interactive reading, in which educators might use both processes by switching between
them according to the task they are working on with the students. Now, Harmer (1998)
explains two different terms that in a way can be related to the bottom-up and top-down
processes, extensive reading (also mentioned by Brown, pg. 301) and intensive reading
(even though these concepts were mentioned in the context of types of reading). Bottom-up
is focused on the smallest features of the text such as words being also the case of intensive
reading wherein the attention lies in the construction of reading texts or particular uses of
grammar and vocabulary, which could also be related to the formal schemata in which
attention is paid to the discourse structure (Brown, 1994 pg. 300). On the other hand
extensive reading attempts to give to students long texts (it could appeal to students’
personal likes) in which similarities can be found in top-down process since tries to
approach to the reading text through students’ personal knowledge or experience, also
presented as the schemata theory (Brown, 1994). However, the relationship among these
concepts might not be equal since two of them are processes and the last two are types of
reading, therefore it would be more accurate to state that the processes (bottom-up and top-
down) can be used according to the types of texts that Harmer (1998) has given, whether
the process respond to the types of text purpose.

4. Both authors present skills that reading activities should improve or develop,
nonetheless the numbers of skills presented by the authors differ in number. Harmer (1998)
presents in a very general view three main reading skills such as scan, skim and reading
for detailed comprehension, whereas Brown (1994) presents a list of “microskills for
reading comprehension” within the context of reading strategies which is more extended
and goes from the distinction of different words in the reading to the recognition of them
plus the development of strategies in which scanning and skimming are presented. Brown
gives a more detailed list of strategies in which adds plenty of them such as silent reading,
semantic maps, guessing etc.
Principles for a better reading are given by the authors, so in order to make it easier
to appreciate both contributions similar principles will be presented first and different
principles (not necessarily opposing principles) will be presented in second place. Firstly
both authors give a lot of importance to the engagement or motivation of the reading text,
Harmer (1998) emphasizes the concept of joyful reading in which many elements have to
be integrated to this principle such as developing the reading for pleasure, make the reading
meaningful, appeal to students’ interests and make a sequence of lessons related to a topic
so students do not feel lost about reading a topic and then moving on something else.
Brown (1994) also appeal to students interests and also explains that reading should follow
the goal of developing this skills which to read events of real life so students can use it in
their everyday life. In a similar way what Harmer (1998) expresses in its third principle
about encouraging students to respond to a content of a text is partially related to Brown’s
motivation principle, because it encourages students to respond to the message of the text,
the content with their personal point of view, which can clearly help to create a meaningful

5. reading and an effective comprehension of the text, beside of all the grammatical aspects
that they can improve through reading. Secondly, Brown (1994) describes that educators
should balance the authenticity and readability of texts, meaning that texts should be chosen
regarding their authenticity (topic located in the real world) and readability (adapting them
according the text to their level without missing the main features of the text but keeping a
little bit of challenge among the vocabulary, expressions etc). This has been pointed out by
Harmer (1998) but in a different organization contextualized in the reading levels, wherein
the possibility of simplifying text could happen depending on the level of students and that
texts should be authentic (texts intended for any competent user of the language).
Finally, among other aspects that both Brown and Harmer have pointed out in their
principles we can find; in first place predictions, matching the task with the topic
(Harmer, 1998) and the use of reading strategies (presented by both authors), include
bottom-up and top-down techniques, subdivide techniques into before, while and after
reading (Brown, 1994). Obviously both authors give an important contribution with their
principles, however Brown makes a very much deeper and extensive review of the factors
that teachers might need when preparing and doing a reading activity.
As it was mentioned before reading is a very important skill that students need to
develop, plenty of information has been presented from part of Jeremy Harmer and H.
Douglas Brown. Among the main ideas it can be said that reading or any skill need from
the other skills for it is impossible to insolate them, there are many techniques or strategies
that educators can use to make reading texts more interesting, real, meaningful. Reading
texts can be simplified for students according to their level, however both authors advise to

6. be careful not to lose the meaning of the text and also to keep in mind to preserve some
structure in order to give to students challenging texts. Learning how to teach English
through reading is a useful tool that must be put in practice always, for it can enhance
students’ vocabulary, grammar and even culture.

7. Bibliography
• Brown, H (1994) Teaching by Principles: An interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy, Longman, pg. 298-333.
• Harmer, J (1998) How to Teach English An introduction to practice of English
language teaching, Longman, pg. 68-78