54

Teaching
reading 1

Teaching reading 1

The need for reading

We all need to be able to read in our own language, whether from books, documents,
computers, mobile devices, signs or billboards. Students of English need to be able
to read these things in English, too. But reading also helps them to learn and
acquire English.

Students can also, of course, fill in WORKSHEETS with language exercises based on a
book, but they should only do this after they have read the book, usually as
HOMEWORK 76 or private study.

We can divide reading into EXTENSIVE READING and INTENSIVE READING.

Some students enjoy reading more than others. Some of them will read extensively
(and enthusiastically). Some will not. Nevertheless, we should encourage extensive
reading, explain why it is such a good idea, have DEAR moments and make our
classes reading friendly.

Extensive reading

Intensive reading

Reading at the appropriate level is one of the best ways for students to get
COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT 35 that is, language that they can understand. The more
comprehensible input they receive, the better their English gets.

We often get students to read intensively in class. This means that they will look at a
short reading text and do various exercises based on it. Texts for more advanced students
are usually longer than those for students at lower levels.

When students read extensively, they are not just looking for specific language or
trying to do vocabulary and comprehension exercises. They are reading either for
pleasure or for information that interests them.

Good reading exercises help students with TOP-DOWN PROCESSING (getting a general idea
of meaning) and BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING (understanding individual words, phrases and
text construction).

We need to encourage our students to read on their own so that they can keep
learning and acquiring language even when there is no lesson and no teacher to
help them.

Intensive reading is often used to train students in different reading skills, such as
READING FOR GIST (getting the general meaning from a text) or READING FOR SPECIFIC
INFORMATION (looking for particular things, such as the times of a film at a cinema,
rather than trying to get the general picture).

Students will get the most benefit from extensive reading if they read at an
appropriate level. If the text is too difficult, it will be more like work than pleasure.
If it is too easy, it may not be very engaging.
Students will get most benefit from reading texts that they themselves want to read.
Different students have different interests: this means that they should, if possible,
read different books.
Many publishers offer GRADED READERS (sometimes called learner literature). These
range in level from beginner (CEFR A1) to advanced (CEFR C1) 41. Some of them
re-tell stories from famous books or films. Some describe the lives of famous people.
Some are original stories written especially for the appropriate level.
Where possible, we should have a collection of books (or texts) that individual
students can choose from. When they themselves choose what to read, they are more
likely to be enthusiastic about reading.
We can give students time to read in lessons say ten or 15 minutes a week.
Some teachers (and schools) have DEAR (drop everything and read) moments to
encourage this.
We can ask our students to tell other students about what they have been reading.
They can do this orally, or they can fill in fairly simple report forms such as the
following (for intermediate students):
TITLE:
AUTHOR:
Type of book (non-ction, thriller, romance, etc.)

Reading for gist is sometimes called SKIMMING. We often ask students to read a text
quickly (skimming over its surface) and get the main idea(s) first, before we ask them
to read for more detailed information.
Reading for specific information is sometimes called SCANNING because the eye is
searching around just for the special information that we want a bit like a computer
scanning for only the information it needs.
Some people say that we dont need to teach reading skills like scanning and
skimming because these are things that people do in their L1 anyway and they can
transfer them to learning English. Others say that many students (especially those
from certain cultural and language backgrounds) dont read very much even in their
L1, so it is a good idea to train them when they read in English. What is certain is
that it is a good idea for students to read in different ways as often as possible since
this helps them to practise reading. It also helps them to see new and previously
learnt language in context.
When we get students to read in class, we often give them a more general task first
(such as skimming or scanning) before asking them to look for more detailed
information (relating to both meaning and language).
Although we use intensive reading for showing vocabulary and grammar in context,
we should never forget that the best response to any text is to ask whether or not the
students like the text and why. This makes them think about the content and the
language and encourages them to re-use both.
Any text can be MINED for language 46.
We look at ways of using intensive reading in 55.

What you like/dont like about it

Would you recommend the book to your colleagues? Why? Why not?

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55
Teaching
reading 2

12 The Gliding Lesson

1 Read the text and choose the summary of it.
a The narrator was given a gliding lesson as a present and loved it.
He wants to do it again.
b Christophe took the narrators daughters for a flight in his glider.
c The narrator was given a gliding lesson as a present. It terrified
him and he is unlikely to go again.
d Christophe bought his daughter a gliding lesson as a present.
She really enjoyed it.
2 Look back at the text and answer these questions.
a
b
c
d
e

How many people were in the car?

Where were they going?
Why were they going there?
What happened when they got there?
What did the narrator think of the experience?

3 Find words or phrases in the text that mean the following:

a
b
c
d
e

a place where planes and gliders take off and land

people who travel with you
playing with, moving something
the place where a pilot sits in a plane or glider
beating strongly

Speaking
4 IN GROUPS, talk about:
whether you have been or would like to go gliding
the most exciting thing you have ever done
what you would like to try that
you have never tried before

Teaching reading 2

We can give the students words or phrases from the text and ask them to guess what
the text is about. We can give different phrases to different students in a group
(instead of the pictures we used for the STORY RECONSTRUCTION activity 53). They
have to guess the story which links all the phrases.
We can project the first line of a text on the screen. The students have to guess what
the next word will be. We show the next line and again they have to guess what the
next word will be, as in this example:
It is difficult to remember what it was like before educational technology
changed classrooms for ever. Once we were lucky if we had a board and
some chalk, but now many classrooms have a variety of educational

t was a cold windy day as they approached the airfield. He was

driving. He wondered if he should turn back and go home. But
they were sitting there, one beside him and the other behind him.
If he said he didnt want to do it, they would laugh at him. So he
kept quiet.
They drove up to the clubhouse and got out. The man in charge of
the airfield opened the door and let them in.
Come for your flight? he said.
Yes, he replied, more cheerfully than he felt.
First time? Looking forward to it?
He looked round at his two companions. They were smiling and
happy with the present they had chosen for him. How could he tell
them that he was absolutely terrified?
A new man came up to them. Hi, he said, My names
Christophe. Ill be taking you up.
He greeted Christophe and shook his hand.
And so, a few minutes later he found himself walking over the
grass, the wind ruffling his hair. His two daughters walked alongside
him, chatting away and giggling. Then Christophe helped him on with
his harness and explained how to use the parachute. The parachute?!
He couldnt back out now. He got into the tiny cockpit and
strapped himself in. Christophe got in behind him. And then suddenly,
far far too quickly, they were bouncing over the grass behind the
tow-plane and before he could say Stop, I want to get out they were
bouncing up into the air.
He tried to remain clam. Tried to tell himself that he was safe and
that Christophe knew what he was doing. But it didnt work. His
heart was thudding in his chest and his knees were literally knocking
together. Every time they slipped in the wind, he thought he would
be sick.
Christophe was chatting away happily. Look! he said. Look down
there. Thats Royston.
So he looked from their height of 2,000 feet. And felt sick again.
The flight only lasted about 25 minutes, though it seemed to go on
for ever. But in the end they dipped to the right and came thudding
down onto the grass, stopping a few feet from where his two
daughters were standing, their hair flying in the wind.
He got out onto the grass and suddenly as he walked up to the two
girls he felt a sense of huge excitement, a great feeling of triumph, a
feeling of something big and important.
But he hasnt been gliding again.

What texts should we give students for intensive reading?

Things I know

We should give our students TEXTS that are appropriate for their level. We need to give
them material on a variety of topics and let them read in a variety of GENRES 32
(stories, advertisements, reports, poems, newspaper articles, etc.).

What to do before students read a text

Things I think I know

It helps if we give the students a chance to think about what they are going to read.
Thats why we give them PREDICTION activities so that they are thinking about the topic
and getting their brains ready for reading with the knowledge they have about the genre
or the topic of the text.

We can tell the students what the topic of the text is and ask them to guess what they
will find in it. Sometimes they can form BUZZ GROUPS 52 to do this.

Things I would like to know

We can ask them to read some questions about a text before they read the text itself.
They should try to guess the answers, and then read the text to see if their guesses are
correct DVD18 .
We can tell the students what the text is going to be about and ask them to fill in a
CHART like the one on the left about the topic.

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Like poetry with blanks for the students to complete 63, this keeps the students
attention and makes them think about language.

We can display part of a text and ask the students to predict what comes next. They
then read the next section of the text to confirm their predictions before predicting
what comes after that.

Reading activities
We can ask our students to do almost anything with a reading text. Here are some of
the most common activities. They are designed so that the students get a general
understanding of the text first.

The students read the text and then tell each other if they liked it and why (or what
they agreed with or didnt agree with). This kind of GIST reading exercise 54 makes
them think about meaning in general, and invites them to ENGAGE 80 emotionally
with the text.
The text is presented as a reading puzzle. We cut it up and give the students the
different paragraphs in random order. They have to work out how to put the text back
into the correct order.
For JIGSAW READING we can divide the students into groups of three (or more) and
create an INFORMATION GAP 50. Each student has a text which tells part of a story (or
contains part of the information they need). They cannot show each other their texts.
They have to ask each other what is in their texts in order to tell the whole story.
Jigsaw reading gives the students a reason to read and understand what they are reading.
We can ask students to TRANSFER INFORMATION from texts to graphs, charts or other
graphics. We look at this in more detail in 105.
We can ask students to answer gist questions about the text, such as the following:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Which of the following topics are mentioned in the text? Tick the boxes.
Choose a title for the text.
Read the text. What three things does the writer suggest?
Read the text and match the statements to the different paragraphs.
Read the advertisements. Which one is about a., b., c.? etc.
Say whether the following statements about the text are true or false.
Say which of the statements about the text are true.
Read these short summaries. Which (a, b or c) is the best summary of the text?

We can also get them to write their own questions about the text.

We can set a time limit for reading tasks and stress that the students should use the
appropriate SUB-SKILL to get what they need from the text in the time they have.

We can show the students any PICTURES which accompany the text (or headlines,
captions, etc.) and get them to guess what will be in the text.

At higher levels, many teachers help their students to get used to reading TEST
exercises, such as MULTIPLE-CHOICE questions 89 and other question types.
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