Teaching Reading

Students of foreign languages have reading as one of their most important goals, first to get the ability to read in a foreign language and because written texts can enhance the process of language acquisition.

In first language settings, research has demonstrated at least ten major findings for reading:
Instruction: The importance of developing letter-sound correspondences for beginning reading

Importance of developing letter–sound and word recognition.
Necessity for a large recognition vocabulary.
Need for reasonable reading rates

Facilitating role of Content-Based Instruction.
Need for students to become strategic readers.

Influence of varying social contexts on the development of reading abilities.

DILEMMA 2
A second dilemma for L2 reading instruction derives from the (U.S.-based) generative
linguistic foundation of most research in second language acquisition.

DILEMMA 4
A large vocabulary is critical, not only for reading, but for all L2 language skills, for
academic abilities, and for background knowledge.

DILEMMA 6
We learn to read by reading a lot, yet reading a lot is not the emphasis of most reading
curricula.

The more immediate solution to this dilemma rests partly on educating administrators
and teachers about the importance of extensive pleasure reading. Classrooms and libraries
must be supplied with reading resources that can excite students to read.

The dilemma is that we have to make students into strategic readers rather than teach them
reading strategies. How to do this is a major educational dilemma for L2 contexts, and how
to do the relevant research also poses an interesting set of dilemmas.

DILEMMA 9
At some point in all students’ academic careers, they must learn to make the transition from
learning to read to reading to learn other information.

Reading strategies can be defined as “plans for solving problems encountered in constructing meaning” (Duffy, 1993, p. 232).

ONE ESL CLASSROOM: HOW WE APPROACH GROUP
READING ACTIVITIES

word-recognition exercises, and individualized reading, as well as work with vocabulary"

1. General strategy discussion
2. Teacher modeling
3. Student reading
4. Analysis of strategies used by the teacher or by students when thinking aloud
5. Explanation/discussion of individual strategies on a regular basis.

(1) Strategies
help to improve reading comprehension as well as efficiency in reading; (2) By using
strategies, students will be reading in the way that expert readers do;

WHAT IS EXTENSIVE READING?
According to Carrell and Carson (1997, pp. 49–50), “extensive reading ... generally involves rapid reading of large quantities of material or longer readings (e.g., whole books)
for general understanding, with the focus generally on the meaning of what is being

An extensive reading programme is a supplementary class library scheme,
attached to an English course, in which pupils are given the time, encouragement, and materials to read pleasurably, at their own level, as many books
as they can, without the pressures of testing or marks.

STUDENTS READ LARGE AMOUNTS OF MATERIAL
STUDENTS USUALLY CHOOSE WHAT THEY WANT TO READ

THE BENEFITS OF EXTENSIVE READING
Enhanced language learning in such areas as spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and text
structure
2. increased knowledge of the world
3. improved reading and writing skills