READING – PIU PROJECT 2012 With a communicative approach to language teaching in mind we are aware of the fact that communicative competence is the true goal of the teaching and learning process. In that sense, it seems easier for us to decide on which type of texts we will be using in our language classrooms. That is why anything can become reading material: from a textbook article to an authentic brochure: it all depends on how we plan, develop and assess the tasks.
During the PIU course for tutors, we worked with materials form Uruguay in Focus 1, 2 and 3. Some of the activities we thought about when it comes to enhancing reading were:
• Working with paratext before reading the actual text:pictures, titles, etc. • Teaching students how to create semantic maps to organize information from the text and asking them to underline specific information. This is particularly useful when working with students form the PIU project since it is an activity which they can perform successfully and can be used before moving on to more complex ones such as answering questions!
• Inferring meaning from context and using other resources to explain the meaning of words that we know will be difficult for students to understand • Skimming and scanning • Paraphrasing – this can be either a written or oral activity How can we, teachers, help students to use those strategies? (taken from http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/reading/stratread.htm) •
•
• •
By modeling the strategies aloud, talking through the processes of previewing, predicting, skimming and scanning, and paraphrasing. This shows students how the strategies work and how much they can know about a text before they begin to read word by word. By allowing time in class for group and individual previewing and predicting activities as preparation for in-class or out-of-class reading. Allocating class time to these activities indicates their importance and value. By using cloze (fill in the blank) exercises to review vocabulary items. This helps students learn to guess meaning from context. By encouraging students to talk about what strategies they think will help them approach a reading assignment, and then talking after reading about what strategies they actually used. This helps students develop flexibility in their choice of strategies.
When language learners use reading strategies, they find that they can control the reading experience, and they gain confidence in their ability to read the language!
Prof. Lourdes Cardozo Prof. Ana María Núñez
Done at IPES – Thursday 19th, 2012