Reading comprehension booklet isbn

How to Make the Most of your Coursebook: Create your own Reading Activities

Ιωάννα Κουδούνη MA in Computational Linguistics, MA in ELT Εκπαιδευτικός Αγγλικής 1o Πρότυπο Πειραματικό Γυμνάσιο Αθηνών

ISBN 978-960-93-5565-0 © Ioanna Koudouni 2013 Ιωάννα Κουδούνη 2013

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form -- except for teaching purposes in Greek State Schools with prior acknowledgement of the author/s. ______________________________________________________________ Απαγορεύεται η αναδημοσίευση και γενικά η αναπαραγωγή του παρόντος έργου με οποιονδήποτε τρόπο -- εκτός από τη χρήση του για εκπαιδευτικούς λόγους στα Ελληνικά Δημόσια Σχολεία μετά από προηγούμενη αναφορά στον συγγραφέα ή τους συγγραφείς.

First published 2013 by Ioanna Koudouni, Athens, Greece Πρώτη έκδοση 2013 από την Ιωάννα Κουδούνη, Αθήνα, Ελλάδα

Contents Introduction

2

Chapter 1

2

1. The historical background of the different approaches to reading texts

2

1.1 What is learner-centredness?

4

1.2 What is the pre-, while- and post-reading framework?

5

Chapter 2

7

2. Examples of reading materials

7

2.1. Example 1

8

2.2 Example 2

12

2.3 Example 3

17

Conclusion

26

References

27

Appendix I

29

Appendix II

31

Introduction The aim of this booklet is to give useful advice on how to teach reading skills with the texts and course books teachers already have in hand. It is divided into two chapters. Chapter 1 involves the historical and theoretical background of the different approaches to reading texts. Chapter two provides the reader with examples of adapted reading materials from ‘Think Teen!’ course books.

Chapter 1 1. The

historical

background

of

the

different

approaches to reading texts Beaumont (1999) distinguishes five phases in the history of teaching reading comprehension. In phase A, what prevailed in reading classes at the beginning of the twentieth century was translation of mainly literary texts and memorization of new words.

In phase B, reading texts were approached differently. Three different parts were introduced in the reading comprehension procedure. In the prereading part the teacher explains vocabulary or grammatical items to facilitate reading. In the while-reading part the text is read by the learners silently, or by the teacher/learners aloud. In the post-reading part we may find the following activities (Beaumont, 1999:7) 1. Comprehension questions requiring learners to answer in their own words; 2. True/false statements; 3. Grammar/comprehension questions; 4. Vocabulary/comprehension questions; 1

5. Gap filling activities requiring learners to fill in the appropriate grammatical or vocabulary item; 6. Vocabulary implementation exercises requiring learners to use words from the text in sentences of their own; In phase C, multiple choice exercises were introduced. They were developed originally as an objective testing device since the reader demonstrated comprehension without producing any language. In order to answer such type of questions, the reader needed to understand specific and isolated parts of the text. Sometimes, it was still not entirely clear what the correct answer was.

Phase D, which began in the 1970’s, is known as the information transfer phase and it came as an answer to the drawbacks of the previous approaches. In this phase, learners acquired information from the text, which was considered to be a source of information, and transferred it to some kind of visual display like charts, tables, maps, diagrams etc. The reading steps are outlined below (Beaumont, 1999:11) 1. The teacher introduces the topic and explains the tasks; 2. The learners work individually or in pairs to complete a series of tasks extracting information from their text and transferring it to a chart, map, diagram or table; 3. The teacher monitors the learners working; 4. When the learners finish their tasks, the teacher asks them to report orally; 5. The learners may be asked to perform another task with the information they have gathered from the text, for example write a summary; 6. As a final task, learners may be given a visual prompt and asked to produce their own text;

2

In this phase, the centre of the teaching process moved from the teacher towards the learner. It was developed in the early stages of the Communicative approach. Even though it gave teachers the opportunity to work with texts that were more relevant to the learners’ needs and engage them in more authentic tasks, it was argued that like multiple choice activities, the information transfer approach was developed for the sake of more valid testing.

In Phase E, which Beaumont (1999) describes as the current one, the focus has moved from the teacher to the learner. This learner-centred approach aims at encouraging learner independence and self-reliance. It focuses on the process rather than the product of reading.

1.1 What is learner-centredness?

The "learner centred approach" requires teachers to change their traditional roles, requiring them to transform themselves from ‘tellers’ to ‘facilitators’ and from ‘materials users’ to ‘teaching materials creators’ in order to promote learners’ constructive self-learning (Nonkukhetkhong, Baldauf and Moni, 2006).

Some of the learner-centred approaches for the teacher and the learner are summarized in the following implications (Beaumont, 1999): 

Learners can read alone and may sometimes be helped by the teacher;



There should be a large choice of texts of their level;



A wide range of reading approaches should be used;



Different skills and strategies should be tested;

Learners should have their own purpose for reading a text and they should be helped by the teacher on how to achieve their reading purposes.

3

Learners should have a choice of task and they should understand the purpose of any task they undertake. Grabe (1991:396) summarizes the central concepts of the learner-centred approach: 

Reading should be taught in a content-centred, integrated skills context;



Additional reading materials should be provided to encourage learners to practice their reading skills and strategies outside the context of the course;



Teachers should encourage silent reading in the classroom in order for the learners to achieve fluency;



Learners need to read extensively so that they develop fluency, enhance background knowledge, promote confidence and motivation;



Learners should be encouraged to work cooperatively in order to discuss texts and work with information from texts;



Reading texts should be planned in a pre-, while- and post reading framework;

Finally, from a pedagogic perspective the learner-centred approach to reading materials means that the text is used as a vehicle for information. This means that the tasks do not focus on grammar but on information from the texts. Ur (1997) insists on making texts more motivating by making reading activities more purposeful.

1.2 What

is

the

pre-,

while-

and

post-reading

framework?

In this section the pre-, while- and post-reading framework and the different task types are described (Beaumont, 1999:74-75). The three phase

4

procedure in reading materials ensures that learners are helped to develop increasing ability to understand texts (Hedge, 2011).

Pre-reading stage: explores the topic, motivates the learners to read and creates a purpose for reading, review their own experiences in relation to the topic (Schema theory, McDonough and Shaw, 2003), activate existing cultural knowledge and become familiar with some of the language of the text. The activities which can be used in this stage are the following (Beaumont, 1999, Hedge, 2011): 

Predicting the content of a text from its title;



Brainstorming a mind map of relevant vocabulary items;



Devising questions to which answers might be found in the text;



Answering a set of questions or a quiz;



Listing items of information they already know about the topic;



Talking about pictures that accompany the text;

While-reading stage: the activities at this stage aim to encourage learners to be active as they read. A range of while-reading activities can be used (Beaumont, 1999, Hedge, 2011): 

Skimming for the global meaning of the text;



Scanning the text for specific facts;



Transferring information from the text to a diagram/chart;



Jigsaw reading;



Answering questions in a full sentence;



React to the options expressed;



Make notes;



Confirm expectations or prior knowledge;



Follow the order of ideas in a text; 5

Post-reading stage: this is the stage of retrieval, which means the ‘new’ knowledge or ideas the reader has taken from the text. This new knowledge may be grammatical or lexical as well as conceptual. A variety of activities focusing on the content of the text can be undertaken (Beaumont, 1999, Hedge, 2011): 

Choosing synonyms for vocabulary in the text;



Discussing the opinions of the author;



Creating an ending for the text;



Creating a text of a similar discourse structure;



Retelling the main events in a text/story;



Writing a summary of the main ideas in the text;



Debate;



Role play;



Reading of contrasting texts;

The following chapter includes reading lessons organized according to the prewhile- and post-reading approach.

Chapter 2 2. Examples of reading materials In the previous chapter I discussed some historical and theoretical aspects of developing reading comprehension skills. The aim of this chapter is to provide the reader with examples of reading lessons. The texts are taken from the ‘Think Teen!’ course books which are taught in lower secondary schools in Greece.

At this point, I would like to mention that the reading lessons included here involve teaching proposals which could supplement the course books and provide the learner with reading materials that would support his/her reading

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comprehension skills. They are written to give you an idea on how you can use the course book texts and adapt them according to your students’ language level, needs and interests.

From a pedagogic perspective, the texts are seen as vehicles of information and the tasks are more learner-centred. Thus, the activities do not focus on grammar practice. They focus on using information from the text possibly for an authentic response. The reading materials are organized in pre-, while- and postreading stages.

While you are reading the reading lessons, try to identify the different reading tasks used in the different stages, as described in section 1.2. For examples 1 and 3 look at the appendices I and II for the lesson plans. As for example 2, try to design you own lesson plan.

2.1 Example 1 (Think Teen! Workbook, A’ Γυμνασίου Προχωρημένοι, p.

44) The Vikings Let’s find out some interesting things about the Vikings!

Pre-reading stage Activity 1

Quiz Find out how much you know about the Vikings. Put a tick in the right column.

True False

1. The Vikings were warriors

□

□ 7

2. The Vikings were farmers

□

□

3. The Vikings reached Arabia

□

□

4. The Vikings came from Britain

□

□

5. The Vikings were pirates

□

□

6. The Vikings were traders

□

□

7. The Vikings liked peaceful life

□

□

8. The Vikings believed in the god of the dead

□

□

9. The Vikings were good sailors

□

□

10. The Vikings gave names to their swords

□

□

It’s time to check your answers to the QUIZ!

While-reading stage Activity 2 Read the text and tell a. What the blue parts in the map represent. b. What the red parts of the world represent.

8

The Vikings sailed the seas, attacked towns and stole treasures all over Europe between the years 800 and 1100. They started from Scandinavia and attacked many countries in Europe. They settled in Britain, Ireland and France. They also crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Iceland and Greenland. They discovered North America but they also travelled east to Russia and south to Arabia. They were good farmers and excellent shipbuilders. They used their ships for wars. They also used them to carry people and goods to new lands. In winter, when there was not much farm work to do, they stayed at home and did other interesting jobs. Men made swords to use them in battles. The Vikings liked swords so much they often decorated themselves with gold and gave them names. Women cooked food and made clothes, shoes and jewellery for them, their children and their husbands. The Vikings believed in many gods and goddesses. Their favourite was Odin, the god of the dead! In 866 the Vikings captured an Anglo-Saxon town. They called it Jorvik and it was the capital of the Viking kingdom for 200 years. They made Jorvik rich and one of the most famous cities in Britain. Some years ago, archeologists discovered part of that Viking town in York, the modern city of Jorvik. They found many things such as jewellery, coins and clothes. If you ever go to York and you want to travel back in time and see how the Vikings lived, visit the Jorvik Viking Centre!

Pictures from Maynard, C. (1996) Viking Times, Kingfisher Adapted from Wilson, D. M. (1987). The Vikings, Activity Book, British Museum Press

Activity 3 Read the text again and find what jobs were appropriate for men and those appropriate for women.

9

Men

Women

Activity 4 Now read the last paragraph of the text again and a. Find the name of the capital of their kingdom _____________ b. Where can we find more information about the Vikings? _________________________________________________

Post-reading stage Activity 5 a. What do you think happened to the Vikings? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

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b. Now read the following text and find out. Then write a short article (100 words).

Jorvik's last king Throughout the Viking Age, there were many battles between the Vikings and the English. In the 9th century, the English king Alfred the Great stopped the Vikings taking over all of England. In the 10th century the English reconquered much of the land held by Vikings. In 954, they drove out Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Jorvik. After Eric was killed in battle, the Vikings in England agreed to be ruled by England's king.

The Norman Conquest In 1066 England was conquered by William, Duke of Normandy. The Normans were the descendants of Vikings who had settled in France. They took over all of England, including the Danelaw. In 1069 the Normans burned Jorvik. This was the end of the Viking Age in England.

2.2 Example 2 (Think Teen! Student’s Book, Β’ Γυμνασίου, Αρχάριοι, p. 52-53)

Student A Pre-reading stage Activity 1 Find as many words as you know concerning a. Museums and b. natural history museums. Fill in the two spidergrams below.

Museums

Natural history museums

11

While-reading stage Activity 2 This is an extract from an article concerning a museum in London. You need to know more information about the museum and the exhibits. For this reason you ask your friend Gerasimos who has just visited the museum. Fill in the table below.

Dazzling treasures of fantastic beauty from one of the world's most famous museums are on display to mark the 300th anniversary of Peter the Great's visit to England at the age of 25. This is the first time that all the Kremlin artifacts have come to London. Focusing on the 17th and 18th centuries, the exhibition covers one of the most brilliant periods in the development of Russian art and works of silver and gold. Coins from the period are also on show. Admission is included in the price of a ticket to the Tower of London. Tickets bought two days in advance are i1.20 cheaper than normal.

Name of the museum

What is exhibited?

Are there exhibits?

any

special

Where can we buy tickets?

Is it worth a visit?

12

Activity 3 This is the leaflet of a local museum. Your friend Thanassis needs information about it because he is planning to visit it. Give him the information he needs orally.

This magnificent building houses important collections of minerals and fossils, natural history, eastern art, world wildlife, archaeology galleries of works of art.

In the past we exhibited great masters like El Greco. The museum shop stocks a wide range of souvenirs and gifts, and the cafe offers refreshments in a beautiful environment.

Open: daily 10 am -5pm, Schools FREE Tel: 0117 922 3571 Website: www.bristol-city.gov.uk/museums Email: general_museum@bristol-city.gov.uk Access: Lifts to some floors; not art galleries or first floor displays. Ground floor toilet. Wheelchairs available.

Post-reading stage Activity 4 Use your dictionary and find the English equivalents of the underlined words.

13

Student B Activity 1 Find as many words as you know concerning a. Museums and b. natural history museums. Fill in the two spidergrams below.

Museums

Natural history museums

While-reading stage Activity 2 You are planning to visit the local natural history museum. Your friend has some information for you. Ask him and fill in the table below.

Exhibits

Any exhibits of importance?

Museum shop?

What can we buy?

Cafe?

Opening hours Ticket price Facilities

14

Activity 3 This is the postcard you are planning to send to your friend Maria.

However, before you have the opportunity to send it, your friend Maria calls you and asks you for some information about the Tower of London. Answer her questions orally.

Dear Maria, I have just been to an amazing exhibition in the Tower of London. The curators of the museum have built a new room only for this exhibition. In fact, I have never seen anything like it before. It is full of all kinds of objects and statues.

This is the first time these objects have been outside Russia until now. The exhibition includes priceless objects used in military processions. One of these is the Tzar's Jerico Cap (helmet), which is richly decorated with gold, silver and precious stones. It is exactly as it was when the Tsar wore it and nothing has changed. Admission is included in the price of a ticket to the Tower of London, so it's a good deal. Because I didn't want to queue up for ages, I bought the ticket in advance from the Underground tube station. I saved myself ν1.50 by doing this.

Anyway, I must go.

Speak to you soon!

Gerasimos.

Post-reading stage Activity 4 Use your dictionary and find the English equivalents of the underlined words.

15

2.3 Example 3 (Think Teen! Student’s Book, B’ Γυμνασίου, Προχωρημένοι, p.66)

Student A Pre-reading stage Activity 1 We are going to read a text. These words will be used in the text. Work in pairs and decide what the article is about.

Depressing

extracurricular activities

rules

study

Library

disturbing classes

breaking rules

discipline

Choices

freedom

responsible people

motivate

Activity 2 The words in activity 1 relate to two different kinds of school. Reread them and try to put them in the right column. Work with your partner.

Old school

New school

16

Activity 3 Look at the pictures below. Work in pairs and decide which school you would like to attend. Why? Picture A

17

Picture B

While-reading stage Activity 4 Read the following extract from Joan Benoit’s high school Journal. Fill in the table below.

As an adult I can understand my junior high school teachers, but it was hard to be their student. The building was overcrowded – we were still waiting for the new high school to open – dark, old and depressing. We didn’t have any extracurricular activities to enjoy after school, so we all came and went at the same hours. We did everything together, day after day. We were a jumpy, bored mob – it was no wonder that they needed so many rules to keep us in line.

18

a. How does Joan describe her school?

b. How do you think Joan feels at her school?

c. Do you think anything changed in Joan’s school in the future?

Activity 6 Your partner has the end of Joan’s story. Ask him and try to describe Joan’s new school and her feelings about it.

Description of Joan’s new school:

Joan’s feelings about her new school:

19

Post-reading stage Activity 7 Do you like your school? What are your feelings about it? Write a diary entry. You can use the vocabulary from activity 1 as well as what you learned from Joan’s feelings and description of her old and new school.

20

Student B Post-reading stage Activity 1 We are going to read a text. These words will be used in the text. Work in pairs and decide what the article is about.

Depressing

Library

Choices

extracurricular activities

disturbing classes

freedom

rules

breaking rules

responsible people

study

discipline

motivate

Activity 2 The words in activity 1 relate to two different kinds of school. Reread them and try to put them in the right column. Work with your partner.

Old school

New school

21

Activity 3 Look at the pictures below. Work in pairs and decide which school you would like to attend. Why?

22

While-reading stage Activity 4 Read the following extract from Joan Benoit’s high school Journal.

Going into high school was a completely different experience. Suddenly, we had choices to make; nobody was telling us where to be and what to do all the time. The headmaster of the school felt that we should be given more control of our time in school. The high school offered a series of mini-courses in English and Social Studies from which we could pick and choose. In free periods we could elect to swim, study in the library, sit out on a sunny hillside, eat or do anything else that didn’t involve leaving campus, disturbing classes, or breaking rules.

Activity 5

a. How does Joan describe her school?

b. How do you think Joan feels at her school?

c. Joan says: ‘Going into high school was a completely different

experience.’

How do you think was Joan’s old school?

23

Activity 6 Your partner has the beginning of Joan’s story. Ask him/her and try to describe Joan’s old school and her feelings about it.

Description of Joan’s old school:

Joan’s feelings about her old school:

Post-reading stage Activity 7 Do you like your school? What are your feelings about it? Write a diary entry. You can use the vocabulary from activity 1 as well as what you learned from Joan’s feelings and description of her old and new school. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

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3. Conclusion To conclude, the aim of this booklet was to provide useful tips about how to construct reading activities and supplement the existing reading texts in the course books used in lower secondary education. The first part of the booklet involved background, historical information about how reading comprehension skills developed and evolved from the beginning of the 20 th century till now. The second part contained examples from texts included in the course books taught in the lower secondary education.

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References Beaumont, M. (1999). The teaching of reading skills in a second/foreign language: A framework for the teaching and learning of reading in a second/foreign language. Patra 1999 Grabe, W. (1991). Current Developments in Second Language Reading Research.

TESOL Quarterly 25/3 375/406 Grabe, W., and Stoller, F.L. (2002). Teaching and Researching Reading. Applied Linguistics Action Series. Edited by Candlin, N.C. and Hall, D.R. Longman Harmer, J. (2000, 4th ed.). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers. Longman.

Hedge, T. (2011, 5th ed.). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom.

Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers. Oxford University Press McDonough, J. and Shaw, C. (2003,2nd ed.). Materials and Methods in ELT. A Teachers Guide. Blackwell Publishing Nonkukhetkhong, K., Baldau, R. B., Moni Jr and K. (2006). Learner Centeredness in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, 26th Thai TESOL International Conference, vol.

1—9, in http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:8562/K_B_MThaiTESOL06.pdf [accessed on: 27-10-2013] Ur, P. (1997, 2nd ed.). A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory.

Cambridge Teaching Training and Development. Series editors Williams, M. and Wright, T. Wallace, C.(1996, 4th ed.). Reading. Language Teaching: A Scheme for Teacher Education. Editors: Candlin, C.N. and Widdowson H.G. Oxford University Press

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Coursebooks Γιαννακοπούλου, Α., Γιαννακοπούλου, Γ., Καραμπάση, Ε., Σοφρωνά, Θ. Think Teen!

Second Grade of Junior High School (προχωρημένοι). Οργανισμός Εκδόσεως Διδακτικών Βιβλίων, Αθήνα

Καραγιάνη, Ε., Κουή, Β., Νικολάκη, Α. Think Teen! First Grade of Junior High School (προχωρημένοι). Οργανισμός Εκδόσεως Διδακτικών Βιβλίων, Αθήνα

McGavigan, P. Think Teen! Second Grade of Junior High School (αρχάριοι). Οργανισμός Εκδόσεως Διδακτικών Βιβλίων, Αθήνα

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Appendix I LESSON PLAN The Vikings Pre-reading stage Objectives: - to activate prior knowledge of learners.

- To motivate and prepare them for the reading text.

- creating a purpose for reading.

Procedure: students work in their groups and share their knowledge.

Interaction: -

genuine communication.

- Collaborative work.

Time: 10 min.

While-reading stage The original text is divided into smaller portions. In this way the text and the activities are processed more easily.

Objectives: -

To provide a visual representation (a map) of what is described in the text and to respond to the text in a non-linguistic way (activity 1).

28

-

to involve the students in the visualisation of the short history of the Vikings (activity 1)

-

To get learners classify and somehow recreate the information in the text: information transfer activity (activities 2, 3).

-

To practice scanning for specific facts (activities 2, 3).

Procedure: group work.

Interaction: collaborative work. Students learn through their communication with their peers.

Time: 25 min.

Post-reading stage Objectives: -

to predict the ‘end’ of the Vikings’ history (10 min).

To give learners the opportunity to use their knowledge from the text and their background knowledge to create something on their own (assigned as homework)

-

To give the opportunity to the students to learn more about the Vikings.

29

Appendix II Lesson Plan A School is...

Pre-reading stage (10 min) Activities 1, 2, 3: -

The students decide what the article is about.

-

They fill in the table.

-

They decide which school they would like to attend and why.

Objectives: -

To create a purpose for reading

-

To explore the topic lexically and conceptually

-

To draw on readers’ prior knowledge

-

To make up for cultural discrepancies

-

To motivate the reader

While-reading stage (20 min) Activities 4, 5: The students do activity 4 individually. Then in pairs they do activity 5.

Objectives: -

scanning of the text for specific information

30

-

selective reading and rejecting irrelevancies

-

Transferring of information for questions 4b and 4c. Teach the strategies of guessing and inferencing. Allow students to express their personal opinion

-

integration of speaking and writing

-

‘Jigsaw principle’ for activity 5

Post-reading stage (20 min): The students write the diary entry.

Objectives: To write about their own situation and express their own feelings

31