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References ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------75
In this chapter, we will deal with the third of the major language skills, reading. Points
such as the nature of the reading skill, approaches to reading, types of reading texts
and pedagogical implication will be highlighted.
Generally speaking, the skill of reading could be either reading aloud or reading
comprehension. Reading aloud aims at recognizing the alphabetical letters and
relating them to their sounds. This kind of reading is usually practiced by beginners
who want to master the pronunciation of words and sentences rather than
understanding what they actually mean. On the other hand, reading comprehension is
quite different from merely pronouncing words and sentences correctly; it is actually a
complicated process through which the readers try to interact and comprehend what
they read. In this chapter, we are not concerned with the former, i.e. reading aloud but
we are concerned with the latter, i.e. reading comprehension. So whenever we
mention reading in this chapter we mean “reading comprehension”.
The reading skill is also interactive and this interaction is taking place inside the mind
of the reader. The reader usually receives the written information through his eyes,
then he/she takes it to the brain where it is interpreted. The reader usually has an
opinion in what he/she reads, he/she either agrees with the writer, adds more
information to what he/she reads, omits some of the information or rejects the ideas of
the writer.
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Approaches to Reading
As mentioned in the last two unit we saw that the top-down and bottom-up
approaches can be followed in processing listening and speaking texts, and discussed
the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. These two approaches have
also a direct impact on the processing of reading texts. The bottom-down model
indicates reading by starting to recognize the letters of the language and then relating
them to their sounds, i. e. sounds. Afterwards, the reader will combine these sounds to
form words and words into sentences with the purpose of understanding the meaning.
We think that the bottom-up approach might be useful to beginners who are supposed
to be trained in the sound system of the language and who need to recognize the
letters and the phonemes they represent. But, it seems to us this approach has little
bearing on the process of comprehension.
The top-down approach, on the other hand, starts from the context and text going
downwards to the sentences and words. In other words, the meaning and its parts are
the most important aspects in this process. The words and sentences by themselves are
meaningless unless they are put in certain context that gives them the meaning.
Pedagogical Implications
In this section, we will try to implement what we have discussed in the previous
sections.
We should not forget to mention that in our selection of texts and design of tasks, the
following points were taken into account:
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1. The texts are authentic in nature. In fact, learners need to encounter language that provides
authentic, meaningful interaction. They must be involved in real-life interactive reading tasks
that cause them to communicate naturally and which aims at the end to enable them frilly
understand what they have read.
2. The tasks will also encourage the learners to engage their knowledge of the world, i.e.
schemata to interpret the text and comprehend the message behind it.
3. The tasks are designed for intermediate and advanced level learners rather than beginners
and semi-beginners.
4. The tasks are organized according to the their purposes, because looking for certain
information in the text (scanning) differs from getting the gist of it (skimming), and this in
turn is different from thorough comprehension and evaluation.
5. The tasks are presented from the simple to difficult.
6. The suggested methodology to be employed by the teacher is the same three stages that we
used before: pre-task stage, task- stage and post- ask stage. In the first stage, the teacher
explains the aim of the task and tells the learners about its genre then how to go about it. In
the second stage, the learners try to carry out the task and it is usually (reading a text then
answering the questions which follow). In the last stage, the teacher evaluates the learners’
performance.
7. The teacher’s roles in this method are an organizer trying to organize the process of
carrying out the task and a facilitator trying to help when help is needed, as well.
8. The roles of the learners in this method are: First, a reader trying to comprehend the texts
which are given to him. Second, negotiator trying to discuss the results with his colleagues
and with the teacher later on.
(1) Pre-task stage: The teacher distributes the following text to the learners and
asks them to read it individually then answer the questions in pairs.
Internet users are being bombarded with sympathy e-rnails full of tearful tales of youngsters
in need who ask for help. For every address to which the e-mail is forwarded, there are
promises that specific charities or corporations will donate a few cents to the needy child.
5 While they appear to rally Internet users for a good cause, most, if not all, of these e-mails
are fakes, officials say. There is no child in trouble behind the message. There is no
technology for tracking forward c-mails making it extremely difficult for anyone to know
how many times a message was sent on to somebody else. This so-called charity forwards
flow through e-mail systems across the country,
10 slogging up personal computer mailboxes. For example, one frequent message says the
American Cancer Society will donate three cents toward cancer research as part of 7- year-old
cancer patient Jessica Mydek’s dying wish. Another says the Make-A-Wish Foundation will
pay seven cents toward the hospital bills of 7-year-old Amy Bruce, who it says is suffering
from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke and large brain
15 tumor caused by repeated beatings. Another making the rounds says BBC
Software Inc. will donate five cents to help with 7-year-old Kahn Relek’s operation for
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Internal bleeding after he was stuck by a car. But, it seems none of these 7-year-olds exist.
The American Cancer Society posted a statement on its Web site saying the chain
20 letter e-mail naming them as a corporate sponsor is fraudulent. “The story of Jessica
Mydek is completely unsubstantiated,” it said, “No fundraising efforts are being made by the
America Cancer Society in her name or by the use of chain letters.” The Make-A- Wish
Foundation posted this disclaimer on its Web site: “This request
25 is false, and the foundation has contacted the originator’s Internet service provider to
pursue the matter”. Make-A-Wish said it receives hundreds of inquiries every day bout chain
letters. BCC Software told Reuters it is aware of the charity c-mails but the company is not
involved with it in any way.
30 Why do people launch these sympathetic forwards when it seems they have nothing to
gain? Mostly to get attention, experts say. Reuters
(2) Task- stage: The learners read individually the text then they try to answer the question
below:
What are the underlined cohesive devices refer to in the text:
1. who (line 2) -----------------
2. Somebody else (line 8) -----------------
3. Another (12) -----------------
4. it (14) -----------------
5. he (17) -----------------
6. its (19) -----------------
7. it (21) -----------------
8. her (22) -----------------
9. this (24) -----------------
10. it (29) -----------------
(3) Post-task stage: The pair learners compare their answers with each other.
Then the teacher gives the correct answers and the learners check their answers.
This activity involves the deletion of words from a text on a regular basis, for example every
7thj word. However, words are not deleted from the first and last paragraph. In addition, years,
months, numbers and names are not deleted and the words that follow them are deleted. The
deletion of words depends on the standard of the learners. With high level learners, you can
delete every fifth word, for example, but with low level learners, you can delete every tenth
word and so
on. This exercise is highly communicative because the deleted words do not represent certain
items like nouns, adjectives or adverbs but they represent different language elements such as:
pronouns, content words, prepositions, and so on. The aim of this type of exercise is that it
enables the learners to predict the
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deleted items it also helps them focus on the process they follow through the text rather than the text
itself.
London: An unemployed English cleaner who was living in his car and surviving on bread And water
carried around a wining National Lottery ticket for almost six months before
realizing that he had won $250,000 (about QRI.3mn) just seven days before the money have gone to
charity.
Chris Jackson, 43, Southend in Essex --------- his luck while he was looking --------- a Job in a local
newspaper ----------- the library, the Daily Telegraph reported -----------
In the newspaper he saw an ------------- about unclaimed Thunder ball ticket purchased in
February ------------- checked the numbers against the tickets --------------- his pockets.
Jackson, who is divorced -------------- has two sons. aged 17 and 16. ----------- a 12-year-old
daughter, said: ---------------- am still in complete shock. I ------------- the worst of my life.”
“
“1----------------- believe that I have been struggling get ------------- by over the past few ----------- and I
have had this money ------------ along. I was living on bread ---------- water three weeks before
I found -----------------"
He described the win as an ------------- stroke of luck after his financial -------------- reached
an all time low earlier ------------------ year.
Debts started to build up ------------------ May after he lost his job ------------ a cleaner for Ford,
in Basil don Essex. was living on unemployment benefit of $30 ------------------ week.
--------------------------------
“I had never been unemployed -------------- then. It was the lowest point ------------- my life. I had not
played ----------lottery for ages to save money, ----------‘m not the type of person ------------- rush out
and buy a flash ----------- I’ll just be happy with --------------- decent home,” he said.
.
Unclaimed lottery tickets have resulted in more than $333mn being donated to
Charities in the past six years, as the winners have failed to come forward within 180
Days. DPA
- ________
(2) Task stage: The learners complete the gapped text as they read through it individually, then they
can compare their answers with other learners sitting next to them.
(3) Post- task stage: At this stage, the teacher displays the original text on the screen by using the
overhead projector and the learners check their answers. Any answer that is similar in meaning to the
original text is acceptable.
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Hence the importance of the scanning skill stems from the fact that it will help this student to find the
information he is looking for in a short time with a little of effort.
(1) Pre-task stage: The teacher distributes the following text to the learners, then he asks them to
answer the questions below:
Cases of Guinea worm disease have declined in much of Africa so far this year, but the infection
remains a serious public health problem in some countries, US health officials said. The illness,
transmitted to people when they drink pond water infested with fleas that harbour a parasite. a remains
endemic in 13 African countries despite eradication efforts, the US Centres for Disease Control and
Prevention CDC said. Those who contract the disease often suffer crippling joint damage when the
larvae grow into worms up to 1 metre long and later emerge in the human body through painful skin
blisters. Guinea worm disease is a particular problem in southern Sudan, where a civil war has impeded
efforts to eradicate the illness. There were 66,097 known cases of the disease in Sudan last year, the
CDC said. Outside the Sudan, there were 12,097 cases of Guinea worm disease during the first six
months of this year, 18% less than the 14, 828 cases reported during the same period last year, the CDC
said. Distribution of water filters and efforts to educate people about the risks of disease have played a
large part in the reductions, said Ernesto Ruiz Tiben of the CDD C’s National Centre for Diseases. It “
gives us a very good chance at achieving our target date of stopping all transmission by next year,” he
said. Niger reported 59% fewer cases during the first half of this year and Nigeria reported a 35%
decline, the CDC said. There was, however, a slight increase in cases in Ghana during the first six
months of this year. Exposure to illness can be reduced by boiling drinking water, treating water with
Larvicide or straining the water with special nylon filters. Underground wells can also provide
uncontaminated water sources. If we break through the barriers of understanding about where the
“
disease comes from through health education efforts and through the provision of filters of filters, that
makes the biggest difference,” Ruiz said. The World Health Organization said transmission of Guinea
worm disease has ended in almost all countries outside Africa. India was recently declared Guinea-
worm free by international authorities - Reuters
(2) Task-stage: the learners read the text and try to answer the following questions individually, then
they compare their answers with those of their friends sitting next to them.
(3) Post-task stage: The teacher displays the correct answers on a screen using the overhead projector
in order for the learners to check their answers.
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Task Five: (skimming)
This is an important skill in which the reader has to comprehend the text and give the main idea. In
other words, the reader has to give the gist of the text. When a reader skims through a text, he does not
have to read and understand every word of it, but he has to grasp the general scope of it and he has to
decide what is it about. The techniques used in such exercises are many like: reading through the text
then giving a suitable title for it, or reading the text then choosing the colTect option which expresses
the main idea of the text, or asking the reader to give the main idea of each paragraph in a text and so
on.
(1) Pre-task stage: The teacher distributes the following text to the learners then he asks them to read
it quicidy and give it a suitable title.
About a year ago, I registered at Detroit motel. I had just cashed a check. I didn’t want to carry too
much money with me. so I asked the desk clerk to put a hundred dollar bill in the safe for me.
The next morning the clerk denied any knowledge of my money. I had
neither a receipt nor any other proof that I have given the man my money. it was his word against mine.
There was nothing I could do but go to the nearest lawyer.
The lawyer advised me to return to the hotel with him and give another
hundred- dollar bill to the clerk. This we did. An hour later T went back to the desk and claimed the
money. Since 1 had a lawyer as a eyewitness to to the second hundred-dollar bill, the clerk could not
look innocent and say he knew nothing about it.
Another hour later, I put the second part of the lawyer’s plan into action.
This time both the lawyer and I went to the motel. I asked for the hundred- do liar bill, and when the
clerk insisted he had already given it to me, I
denied it. The lawyer said, I saw this man give you a hundred- dollar bill. If you do not hand it over
“
immediately, I will be forced to call the police.” The clerk realized he had been tricked, but he knew he
had to face the music. He gave me back the first hundred -dollar bill.
From: “New Horizon in English 5” Mellgren! Walker, Addison-Wesley publishing company 1980 p.
162
(2) Task-stage: The learners read the text quickly then in pairs they have to supply a suitable title for
the text that can express the main idea of it.
(3) Post-task stage: The teacher checks and discusses the answers of the learners.
(1) Pre-task stage: The teacher distributes the following text to the learners then he asks them to
read the text thoroughly and answer the questions that follow.
Types of Computers
There are two basic categories of computers, special purpose and general- purpose. Special-purpose
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computers are pre-programmed to perform a specific task, such as injecting fuel into car engine,
keeping time in a digital watch, or programming a videocassette recorder general purpose computers
are more flexible, they can be adapted to perform many different functions.
General-purpose computers can be divided into four main types, depending on their size and power:
mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers and supercomputers. Supercomputers are the largest and
the fastest computers. They are used for large projects such as national or world weather forecasting, or
following the movements of satellites in space.
Mainframes are very powerful computers. They can be as large as a whole room and and and
process a mass of data very quickly. Mainframes usually have terminals connected to them. A terminal
consists of a monitor and a keyboard that allow a person to enter information and retrieve it from the
computer. Mainframes are used, for example, by banks to keep track of millions of cheques and
deposits, by airlines to schedule thousands of flights and make seat reservations, and by governments to
keep track of their citizens.
Minicomputers are smaller and less powerful than mainframes. They also have terminals attached to
them. They are used in medium-sized companies to run their manufacturing processes and to store
information about their products. Microcomputers or personal computers are smaller than mainframes
or minis and carry out their processing on a single microchip. They are used as personal computers in
the home, or offices for group work. Examples of micros are the IBM PC, or the Apple Macintosh.
There are two types of personal computers: desktop PCs, which are designed to be placed on a desk,
and portable PCs, which can be as small as a notebook. This is why they are called “notebooks” and
“laptops”. These are the smallest and least powerful computers, but the most recent models can run as
fast as similar desktop computers. They are used by businessmen who travel a lot.
(2) Task-stage: The learners read the text individually then in pairs they try to answer the following
questions:
1. Which category of computers is more flexible?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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6. Which types of computers have terminals attached to them?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. What are the terminals used for?
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(3) Post-task: After the learners finish answering, they should compare their
answers with other learners. At the end, the teacher displays the correct answers on the
overhead projector in order to enable the learners check their answers.
(1) Pre-task stage: At this stage, the teacher distributes the text to the learners and asks them
to read it and respond to the questions that follow. One technique to be followed here is to
give the learners sentences then ask them which of the sentences be inferred to be true, to be
inferred false or to be inferred as not implied. In the first category the conclusion that can be
drawn from the sentence is correct. In the second category, the conclusion that can be drawn
from the sentence in incorrect and in the third category the sentence is not related to the text
at all.
formed during the last 3 or 4 months of pregnancy, and that is one reason why the diet of the
pregnant mother should contain an adequate amount of calcium and vitamin D. The crowns of
the permanent teeth are laid down during infancy and up to school age. For this reason we
think it is important to make sure that children are getting enough vitamin D up to that time.
There are several other factors that play a part in making good teeth. These include vitamin A,
vitamin C and fluorine. Once the
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Teeth have erupted, all we can do is to look after them by brushing them properly and cutting down
on the type of foods that feed the bacteria in the mouth and cause acids that attack the teeth. Sugar is
undoubtedly the chief offender here, and our habit of ending a meal with sweets is not the best for the
teeth. A number of toothpastes contain substances that will interfere with the action of bacteria on
teeth, but their effect is a temporary one. The indulgence in sweets between meals—candy, sodas and
cola drinks—too common among young people, is probably an important cause of the increase in
dental caries at this time of life. Adolescents are usually growing fast and many need the extra calories,
but it would better to if these could be provided in the regular diet with less emphasis on sweets.
Regular visits to the dentist are advisable not only to check on the health of the teeth but also to see if
the new teeth are coming in the proper position and to correct early malocclusion.
(2) Task-stage: The learners should read the following sentences and tick where appropriate in the
following table.
1. People whose teeth are thickly coated with enamel on the crown of the teeth should not have their
teeth checked by the dentist regularly.
2. The pregnant woman should take a lot of orange juice in the last 3 or 4 months of pregnancy in order
to keep her baby’s teeth healthy.
3. A pregnant woman should see a doctor regularly.
4. The passage implies that regular visits by adolescents to the dentist is necessary to keep healthy
teeth.
5. Being a way from sweets is the only way to keep healthy teeth.
6. Chocolate, candy and sweet cookies are expensive to buy.
7. I love people who have clean white teeth.
8. Healthy teeth at childhood save a lot of trouble for the people when they grow old.
Can be inferred to be
Sentence No Can be inferred to be true [Not implied
false
(3) Post-task stage: The learners at this stage compare their answers with each other, then
they should also compare their answers with the model answers which are given by the
teacher at the end of the task.
Task eight :( miscellaneous)
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In this task, a sophisticated text is usually given to the learners; then, they are asked to
carry out variety of exercises in relation to skills like reference, skimming, scanning,
understanding contents, or inference in order to check more than one skill of reading on
their part of the learners at a time. It is worth mentioning here that the miscellaneous
task is an excellent exercise in testing.
(1) Pre-task stage: The following text is distributed to the learners and they are asked to answer the
questions that follow.
(2) Task-stage: The learners read individually the text then in pairs they try to answer the following
questions.
1. Reference
What do the underlined cohesive devices refer to?
1. it: ----------------
2. this program: --------------
3. they: --------------------
4. this: ---------------------------
2. Skimming
Circle the main idea of paragraph 3 in the text.
a) How the UAE government is trying to save the houbara.
b) Why a large number of the houbara need to be released into the wild?
c) What Dr. Al-Kuwari did to save the houbara.
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3. Scanning:
Complete as quickly as possible the following sentences with information taken from the text.
a) Hunting was threatened seriously as a sport by the near extinction of the hunter bird
(falcon) in -------------------
b) Al-Kuwari expected the extinction of the falcon and houbara by the year ---------------
5. Understanding content
Give full answers to the following:
a) When do people usually hunt?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b) How does the UAE plan to increase the number of houbara in the world?
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6. Inference
Circle the letter (T) if the item can be inferred to be TRUE and the letter (F) if the sentence
can be inferred to be FALSE
a) The Sakar falcon is no longer in danger of extinction. T/F
b) People are now using falcons to hunt other birds. T/F
c) The houbara can fly long distances. T/F
d) The program of the UAE may save the houbara. T/F
After we have introduced a number of ways of teaching a variety of reading texts, we would
like to finish this chapter by teaching discourse markers or cohesive devices as a way to
enhance your learners’ understanding of texts.
Example:
Pre-task stage: The teacher emphasizes the importance of the cohesive devices through
showing different examples.
Task-stage: The learners read the following short text and answer the questions that follow:
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(b) Because man is the one who creates the robot.
(1) Post-task stage: The compare their answers and discuss evidence to their
correctness. Teacher then checks and guides the learners to the correct answer.
References
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