اليمن أحلى
عذب الكـــــــــلام
معين الكلام
عندما تشتاق تتمنى أن تنقلب وجوه الناس كلهم .. وجـهاً واحدا .. لا يألفه غـيرك ..! لا يشعر به الا وجدانـــك ..! انه وجه ذلك الانسان الذي سبب لك هذا الشعور اللامألوف في نفسك
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Teaching Reading
Teaching Reading
We encounter a great variety of written
language day to day -- articles, stories, poems, announcements, letters,
labels, signs, bills, recipes, schedules, questionnaires, cartoons,
the list is endless. Literate adults easily recognize the distinctions
of various types of texts. This guide will not cover instruction for
learners with little or no literacy in their native language; you will
need to work intensively with them at the most basic level of letter
recognition and phonics.
Finding authentic reading material
may not be difficult, but finding materials appropriate for the level
of your learners can be a challenge. Especially with beginners, you
may need to significantly modify texts to simplify grammar and vocabulary.
When choosing texts, consider what background knowledge may be necessary
for full comprehension. Will students need to "read between the
lines" for implied information? Are there cultural nuances you
may need to explain? Does the text have any meaningful connection to
the lives of your learners? Consider letting your students bring in
their choice of texts they would like to study. This could be a telephone
bill, letter, job memo, want ads, or the back of a cereal box. Motivation
will be higher if you use materials of personal interest to your learners.
Your lesson should begin with a pre-reading
activity to introduce the topic and make sure students have enough vocabulary,
grammar, and background information to understand the text. Be careful
not to introduce a lot of new vocabulary or grammar because you want
your students to be able to respond to the content of the text and not
expend too much effort analyzing the language. If you don't want to
explain all of the potentially new material ahead of time, you can allow
your learners to discuss the text with a partner and let them try to
figure it out together with the help of a dictionary. After the reading
activity, check comprehension and engage the learners with the text,
soliciting their opinions and further ideas orally or with a writing
task.
Consider the following when designing
your reading lessons.
- Purpose
Your students need to understand ahead of time why they are reading
the material you have chosen. - Reading Strategies
When we read, our minds do more than recognize words on the page.
For faster and better comprehension, choose activities before and during
your reading task that practice the following strategies. - Prediction: This is perhaps
the most important strategy. Give your students hints by asking them
questions about the cover, pictures, headlines, or format of the text
to help them predict what they will find when they read it.
- Guessing From Context: Guide
your students to look at contextual information outside or within the
text. Outside context includes the source of the text, its format, and
how old it is; inside context refers to topical information and the
language used (vocabulary, grammar, tone, etc.) as well as illustrations.
If students have trouble understanding a particular word or sentence,
encourage them to look at the context to try to figure it out. Advanced
students may also be able to guess cultural references and implied meanings
by considering context.
- Skimming: This will improve
comprehension speed and is useful at the intermediate level and above.
The idea of skimming is to look over the entire text quickly to get
the basic idea. For example, you can give your students 30 seconds to
skim the text and tell you the main topic, purpose, or idea. Then they
will have a framework to understand the reading when they work through
it more carefully.
- Scanning: This is another
speed strategy to use with intermediate level and above. Students must
look through a text quickly, searching for specific information. This
is often easier with non-continuous texts such as recipes, forms, or
bills (look for an ingredient amount, account number, date of service,
etc.) but scanning can also be used with continuous texts like newspaper
articles, letters, or stories. Ask your students for a very specific
piece of information and give them just enough time to find it without
allowing so much time that they will simply read through the entire
text.
- Silent Reading vs. Reading
Aloud
Reading aloud and reading silently are really two separate skills.
Reading aloud may be useful for reporting information or improving pronunciation,
but a reading lesson should focus on silent reading. When students read
silently, they can vary their pace and concentrate on understanding
more difficult portions of the text. They will generally think more
deeply about the content and have greater comprehension when reading
silently. Try extended silent reading (a few pages instead of a few
paragraphs, or a short chapter or book for advanced students) and you
may be surprised at how much your learners can absorb when they study
the text uninterrupted at their own pace. When introducing extended
texts, work with materials at or slightly below your students' level;
a long text filled with new vocabulary or complex grammar is too cumbersome
to understand globally and the students will get caught up in language
details rather than comprehending the text as a whole.
ESL textbooks are a good place to look
for reading activities that include pre- and post-reading exercises.
If you choose to select your own reading material, the following sites
may be helpful.
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