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Reading skills
The document discusses the importance of reading skills within language acquisition, emphasizing that reading is the most vital skill for students. It explores types of readers, reading strategies like top-down and bottom-up processing, and the implications for teaching reading effectively. Additionally, it offers practical suggestions for classroom practices and developing reading skills through various techniques.
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Reading skills
- 1. Reading Skills Prepared by:Faraidoon H.amin University of Kurdistan – Iran – Sanadaj Faculty of Literature & Linguistics MA Student in Applied Linguistics
- 2. Reading Skill SomeQuestions Definition of Skill Among the Four Skills Which One is the First One? Why? Reasons for Reading Changes in the Concept of Reading Skills Types of Readers What is Reading? Types of Reading Skills Schema Theory, What Does Schema Theory Mean? Two Important Strategies Top-Down VS Bottom-Up Implications What the Teachers Should Provide? Classroom Practice and Procedure Some ways for Developing Reading Skill: Feedback To Learners Conclusion
- 3. Some Questions 1. Whatis reading? 2. What is skill? 3. Why do you/we read? 4. Who are readers? 5. How should we teach reading skill? 6. Among the four skills which one is the most vital one?
- 4. Definition of Skill Skill: ‘is an acquired ability to perform an activity well, usually one that is made up of a number of co-ordinated processes’. Richards and Schmidt. In lg teaching, skills are often discussed in terms of fours different modes, skills, and strands as following: A. Reading B. Listening C. Speaking D. Writing
- 5. Among the FourSkills Which One is the First One? Why? Reading is clearly the most important lg skill since: 1.students have to read for their own specialist subject rather than speak lg. 2.Basic Internet Communication BIC continues to assume that reading skill as the primary mode of communication. 3.From the lg acquisition point of view, reading can be a major source of comprehensible input (Krashen,2004)Especially, in EFL contexts and countries where English is used outside of country. 4.One of the things a student(s) is/are asked to do is to read. 5.Finally, it is easier to supply a written text to be read rather than a spoken one to be understood.
- 6. Reasons for Reading Why do you read? Williams(1994) classified the purpose of reading into: 1.Getting information from a text. 2.Getting specific information from a text. 3.For pleasure or for interest. 4.For criticizing
- 7. Changes in theConcept of Reading Skills Traditionally, the reader was seen as the ‘recipient’ of information or as an ‘empty vessel’ who brought nothing to the text. This notion of ‘text as object’ (figure 6.1) is now frequently discredited in reading circles as readers are not entirely passive. This ‘text as object’ viewpoint regards the reader as having nothing to contribute to the reading process as such; the writer provides information for the reader who is seen as an ‘empty vessel’ that merely receives information. In recent years, however, an increasing number of ELT materials that profess(shows and claims to develop reading skills have moved from the ‘text as object’ viewpoint to that of the ‘text as process’, by encouraging close interaction between the reader and the text (figure 6.2).
- 8. Types of Readers Two Types of Readers: Efficient Readers/Active Readers: can access content more easily by changing reading speed according to text, they can select significant features of a text and skim the rest, they can guess meaning from the text they think a head by predicting outcomes, they use background knowledge to help them understand the meaning, they are motivated to read the text as they see it as a challenge and the text has a purpose, they can switch reading strategy according to the type of text they are reading and so on. Ur (1996). Inefficient Readers/Passive Readers: acknowledges the idiosyncratic(unusual way in which a particular person behaves oddity and individualism) and unpredictable nature of individual reading preference and styles, readers differ in what they read, how well they read, and how much they depend on or care about reading. The readers are most likely to be engaged in the texts are interesting to them as individuals and relevant to their practical needs and wants. Esky (2005).
- 9. What is Reading? Reading:is a source of 1.learning and a source of 2.enjoyment. 3.It can be a goal in its own right and 4.a way of reaching other goals. As a source of learning, reading can establish previously learned vocabulary and grammar, it can help learners learn new vocabulary and grammar, and through success in language use it can encourage learners to learn more and continue with their language study. As a goal in its own right, reading can be a source of enjoyment and a way of gaining knowledge of the world. As learners gain skill and fluency in reading, their enjoyment can increase.
- 10. Types of ReadingSkills Extensive reading: can essentially also be referred to as reading for joy. This approach advocates reading as much material in your target language. You will be exposed to the widest range of vocabulary and grammatical structures. To make you a better language learner and help you on the way to fluency. Intensive reading: focuses a shorter text, doing exercises with it, and learning it in detail. Helps language learners really understand grammar and syntax. For example, EFL can read a short paragraph and then answer questions about the text, order sentences, or find specific words.
- 11. Schema Theory? What DoesSchema Theory Mean? Schema Theory: “is the knowledge that we have about the world is organized into interrelated patterns based on our previous knowledge and experience”. Bartlett, (1992). Schema Theory: “is hardly a theory, and there is a very little research which explores actually a schema is and how it would work for reading comprehension”. Grabe (2002: 282). He values schema as “a useful simplifying metaphor for the more notion of prior knowledge”. These ‘Schemata’ allow us to predict what may happen. For example: efficient readers are able to relate their background knowledge of the world and based on previous knowledge of the similar texts. In this sense both ‘Formal Schema’ and ‘Content Schema’ seems useful too.
- 12. Essential Features ofReading: Bottom-Up VS Top-Down Reader tries to decode each individual letter encountered(meet) by matching it to the minimal units of meaning in the sound system(the phoneme) to arrive at a meaning of the text. The interaction process between the reader and the text involves the reader in activating knowledge of the world, plus past experience, expectations and intuitions, to arrive at a meaning of the text. In other words, the top-down process interacts with bottom-up process in order to aid comprehension. Top-Down Figure 6.3. Top-down and Bottom-Up Text Process of the Text. Bottom-Up
- 13. Two Important Strategies Top-DownVS Bottom-Up Efficient Readers will not just try to interpret (Decode) the meaning of individual lexical items but will also have clear ideas about the overall rhetorical organization of the text. With the influence of ‘Schema Theory’, ‘Top’ has come to mean not only linguistics elements such as discourse but also conceptual elements such as associated background knowledge in our memory.
- 14. Implications What the TeachersShould Provide? Purpose of reading by supplying materials that stimulate(to motivate), interest and do not have an overfamiliar content. In reading the notion of privacy relates to learner needs: a learner may need material of different topic and level, (individualized reading). To be able to assess the difficulty of the materials to learners topic, length, complexity, unfamiliar words/expressions, and overlapping the learners. Timed activities or Speed reading: by encouraging students to read quickly. Individual student and/or teacher can keep a record of how long it takes to extract information from a given source.
- 15. Classroom Practice andProcedure Eskey,(2005) argues: “People learn to read, and to read better, by reading”. He says, “The reading teacher’s job is . . . not so much to be teach a specific skill or content as to get students reading and to keep them reading – that is, to find a way to motivate them to read, and to facilitate their reading”.
- 16. Classroom Practice andProcedure R. V. White (1981) makes some suggestions Stage1: Arouse the students’ interest and motivation by linking the topic of the text to their own experience or existing knowledge. Stage2: Give them points to search for in the reading text, or ask the students to suggest the points. Stage3: After reading, encourage a discussion the answers. Stage4: Develop into writing by using the information gained for another purpose.
- 17. Classroom Practice andProcedure Nunan; considers five essential steps: 1.Decide the overall purpose of the reading course. 2.Identify the types of texts and tasks that the course requires. 3.Identify the linguistic elements to be covered (consider what is going to be important: grammatical items/lexis/discourse/specific purpose etc.). 4.Integrate texts and tasks into class-based work units. 5.Link reading to other language skills.
- 18. Some Ways forDeveloping Reading Skill: 1.Skimming/Scanning; enable the learner to select specific and redundant information. 2.Gives a learner reason for reading. 3.Materials for reading obtain ‘Text Scrambling’ activities. The students should taught o have ‘Awareness’. 4. Some reading materials are constructed along the lines that the learners bring not only background knowledge to reading but emotional (affective) responses as well, and will want to talk about their reactions to various texts. 5. Learners proficiency, ask the learners to provide reading texts or to research their own material for discussion in class. particularly in an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) context. 6.Teachers need to think about choosing reading passages that provide learners with a way of questioning and interacting with the text.
- 19. Feedback To Learners Questions to learners can be either written or spoken form and it is generally thought that a balance of the two is appropriate for most learning situations. The form of the questions should be: Yes/No True/False Multiple Choice Non-Verbal Matrix Open-Ended.
- 20. Nuttall, Identifies FiveBasic Question Types Used for Reading 1.Iiteral comprehension. 2.Recoganizing or putting the information in the text into a different order. 3.Come questions of inferring ‘reading between lines’. 4.Question types requiring a measure of personal response. 5.Question is quite sophisticated and not all students need it.
- 21. Conclusion Reading isthe most important skill among the four skills. Reading helps us to improve communication. Provide students with some reasons, aims, and purpose. Motivate and encourage our students to read. Active readers bring background knowledge to the text. Pay attention to readers’ level, age, needs. Focus on the features of the text short, complexity, and length. Two ways of reading : Extensive and Intensive The top-down process interacts with bottom-up process in order to aid comprehension.
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