TEACHING READING

SKILLS, STRATEGIES, METHODS…

Cem Balçıkanlı
Gazi University
English Language Teaching Dep
balcikanli@gazi.edu.tr
What have you read
in the last twenty-
four hours?
Topics for discussion:

1. How do people read?

2. What do people read?
3. What are the skills involved in
reading?
4. Principles for teaching reading
5. Common types of activities in
teaching reading
Effective readers:
 have a clear purpose in reading;
 read silently;
 read phrase by phrase, rather than word by word;
 concentrate on the important bits, skim the rest,
and skip the insignificant parts;
 use different speeds and strategies for different
reading tasks;
 perceive the information in the target language
rather than mentally translate;
 guess the meaning of new words from the
context, or ignore them;
 have and use background information to help
understand the text.
Observation Table: Real-life Reading

• Work individually

• Complete the task within a 48-hour

period, observing at least FIVE
people who are reading something.
Observation Table: Classroom Reading

• Work individually

• Arrange to observe a reading lesson.

• Include at least FIVE examples of

reading observed.
 Post-observation questions
Pg. 58-59
 We believe ESL/EFL reading
textbooks should have a great
variety of authentic materials, as
much as the coverage allows. Of
course, textbooks should always be
supplemented by extra materials.
Calendars Clothes size labels Magazines
Addresses Graffiti on walls Radio/TV guides
Phone books Children’s scribbling Advertisements
Name cards Informa1 letters Posters
Bank statements Business letters Travel guides
Credit cards Rules and regulations Cookbooks
Maps Electronic mail Repair manuals
Anecdotes Telegrams Memos
Weather forecast Fax messages Time schedules
Pamphlets Junk mail Street signs
Product labels Postcards Syllabi
Washing instructions Credit cards Journal articles
Short stories Comic books Song lyrics
Novels Newspapers Film subtitles
Plays Diplomas Diagrams
Poems Application forms Flowcharts
Handbooks Store catalogues Name tags
(adapted from Gebhard 1996:189)
 It
is important for EFL teachers
to bear in mind what we read in
real life, so that when we select
reading materials for our EFL
classroom, we not only have a
greater variety but also meet
the needs of different students.
 The tortoise or the hare?
Slow and steady wins the race.

• Work in pairs.
• Discuss the reading strategies in a
foreign language (Handout given by
your trainer)
• E- Effective
• I- Ineffective
• Remember to note down the reasons
for your opinions.
 Panel Discussion
• Work in groups.

• Discuss the questions on the page 59.

 The Bottom-up Model

 The Top-down Model

 The Interactive Model

  In the ………………, the
teacher teaches reading by
introducing vocabulary and
new words first and then
going over the text sentence
by sentence. This is followed
by some questions and
answers and reading aloud
practice.
 In
the …………….., it is believed
that the teacher should teach
the background knowledge first,
so that students equipped with
such knowledge will be able to
guess meaning from the printed
page.
 According to ……………, when
one is reading, the brain
receives visual information, and
at the same time, interprets or
reconstructs the meaning that
the writer had in mind when he
wrote the text.
 This
model of teaching reading is
based on the theory in which
reading (and listening, too) is
regarded as a process of
“decoding”, which moves from the
bottom to the top of the system
of language.
 This model of teaching reading is
based on the theory in which reading
is regarded as a prediction-check
process, “a psycholinguistic
guessing game” (Goodman, 1970).
 In the Top-down Model, not only

linguistic knowledge but also

background knowledge is involved
in reading.
  Based on such understanding,
teaching reading in the classroom
divides reading activities into
basically three stages, in which
bottom-up and top-down
techniques are integrated to help
students in their reading
comprehension and in increasing
their language efficiency in general.
 Discourses
Linguistic Knowledge Sentences/
& Phrases
Background Words
Knowledge Morphemes
Phonemes
 Discourses
Sentences/
Linguistic knowledge Phrases
is used. Words
Morphemes
Phonemes
 Discourses
Schemata to be activated
Sentences/
the schema of
Phrases
language;
Words
the schema of content;
Morphemes
the schema of forms Phonemes
Browsing
 Work individually.

 Readthe quotes from

experienced teachers.

 Asyou read, underline

any new ideas about
teaching reading that
appeals to you.
 Focus questions
 Work in pairs.

 Answer the focus questions on the page

61.
The three stages in teaching
reading

 pre-reading

 while-reading

 post-reading.
The purpose of pre-reading (also
called Lead-in) is to facilitate
while-reading activities.
 predicting,
 setting the scene,
 skimming, and
 scanning
 A Nation of Pet-Lovers

Save the Jungle: Save the World

Police Hunt for Child

Text 1: What is a pet? What are pets for? Why
do people love pets? Are there any
problems with pets?
Text 2: What is a jungle? Where can you find
jungles? What do you think has happened
to the jungle?
Text 3: What happened to the child? How do
you think the parents would feel? What
could the police do?
 Settingthe scene means getting
the students familiar with the
cultural and social background
knowledge relevant to the reading
text.
While-reading activities focus on the process
of understanding rather than the result of
reading.
 Deciding on sub-skill to practice
 Reading comprehension questions
 Understanding references
 Making inferences
 Making inferences means “reading between
the lines”, which requires the reader to use
background knowledge in order to infer the
implied meaning of the author.
 Post-reading tasks should provide
the students with opportunities to
relate what they have read to what
they already know or what they
feel.
 In addition, post-reading task
should enable students to produce
language based on what they have
learned.
 e.g.
 Do you think he was a good doctor?
 How do you think the young man felt?
Tell part of the story from these
prompts:
 A doctor – village – annoyed.
 People – stop – street – advice.
 Never paid – never – money –
made up his mind – put and end
1. Act out the conversation between
the doctor and the young man.
2. Act out an interview between a
journalist and the doctor.
Writingbased on what the
students have read, e.g.
producing a tourist
brochure, an advertisement,
a short summary, etc.
 How we read!!!!
 Work in pairs.

 Matchdifferent reading techniques

with reading activities from
coursebooks on the page
62-63-64- 65.
Which reading techniques do
the activities practice?
 Upside down, inside out
 Work in a group.

 Re-ordera mixed-up reading lesson

which includes pre-reading, while-
reading, and post-reading.

 Specify pre, while, and post-reading

activities
 The teaching of reading should
focus on developing students’
reading skills and strategies rather
than testing students’ reading
comprehension.
 We should view reading as an
interactive process.
 Reading in the classroom can be
divided into 3 stages: pre-reading
activities, while-reading activities,
and post-reading activities.
Thank you!