ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

Using concept maps

to promote Upper
Intermediate and
Advanced reading skills
Christine Roell describes how she uses this useful tool.

R eading comprehension is a key skill

for many Upper Intermediate (B2)
and Advanced (C1) students, especially
in a professional or academic context.
This article presents some activities
based on the creation of a concept map
to train and develop students’ reading
skills of longer and complex texts.

Reading comprehension forms part of

the communicative language activities
and strategies specified in the Common
European Framework of Reference for
Languages (CEFR). Regarding reading
for information and argument, the
CEFR describes the following reading
comprehension skills: At the C1 level,
students 'can understand in detail a
wide range of lengthy, complex texts
likely to be encountered in social,
professional or academic life, identifying
of Europe, 2018). Examples of the processing, which means that they use
finer points of detail including
more complex text types the CEFR their schematic knowledge of the topic
attitudes and implied as well as stated
refers to include academic papers and and their understanding of the world
opinions' A B2-level student 'can obtain
specialised newspaper and journal to interpret the meaning of the text,
information, ideas and opinions from
articles as well as technical texts. while bottom-up processing involves
highly specialised sources within his/her
recognising words and decoding
field. […], can understand articles and
Although reading comprehension is sentences. Teachers commonly
reports concerned with contemporary
considered a receptive language skill implement the following strategies
problems in which the writers adopt
because students are not required to support text comprehension: they
particular stances or viewpoints' and
to produce language, the reader’s activate their students’ previous
'can recognise different structures in
active involvement is nevertheless knowledge by asking questions about
discursive text: contrasting arguments,
required. Readers usually employ two the topic of the text and revise or
problem-solution presentation and
types of strategies in order to decode pre-teach important vocabulary to
cause-effect relationships' (Council
and make sense of a text: top-down stimulate top-down processing. To

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ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES
stimulate bottom-up processing, they ask
students to find key words and answer
comprehension questions. While these
strategies are valid for dealing with
complex texts as well, it is important
that more advanced students become
familiar with the structures of the text
types that are relevant for them and
are trained to understand the line of
argumentation of a text. For this, they
need to develop deep reading skills
that go beyond merely scanning a text
and regurgitating information. In deep
reading, 'the reader uses higher-order
cognitive skills such as the ability to
analyse, synthesise, solve problems,
and thinks meta-cognitively in order to
negotiate meanings with the author and
to construct new meaning from the text.
The deep reader focuses on the author’s
message, on the ideas she is trying to
convey, the line of argument, and the
structure of the argument'
(Hermida, n.d.).
Creating a concept map that summarises
a text visually is an activity that
promotes deep reading and serves as
preparation for text-based follow-up
activities. A concept map is a kind of
diagram similar to a mind map in which
information is arranged graphically
Shown below, a concept map
70 www.modernenglishteacher.com n Volume 30
and is structured by using nodes of
different hierarchy levels. Additionally,
the relationships between the nodes
can be shown by lines and arrows that
are labelled. Students have to engage
actively with the meaning of the text
to create a concept map that visualises
how an argument is developed, how
the individual arguments are connected
and how they support the conclusion.
Apart from promoting deep reading
skills, the creation of a concept map
may have additional pedagogical merits
due to its visual elements. According
to Allan Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory,
we learn more effectively when we use
visual input and text at the same time
(Thomas 2014). Finally, a concept map
is conducive to deep learning because
it does not only allow students to reflect
on the text, but also on the process of
reading comprehension itself.
A concept map can be created
manually using an A4 or A3 size paper
and coloured pencils or with the help
of a computer program, for example
Mindomo (https://www.mindomo.
com/), an online tool that offers
different concept map templates to
create a digital map. It is available as a
free version that can be downloaded
and installed on a computer. The
finished concept map can be saved
and exported in different formats, for
example as PDF or PNG. The concept
map below was created by a computer
science student based on the text We’re
approaching the limits of computer
power – we need new programmers
now (https://www.theguardian.com/
commentisfree/2020/jan/11/we-are-
approaching-the-limits-of-computer-
power-we-need-new-programmers-n-ow).
When planning the lesson, teachers
need to take into account that creating
a concept map is a time-consuming
task that may take an hour or longer
depending on the length and the
complexity of the text as well as the
students’ familiarity with the text type
and its subject.
Apart from lower order thinking skills,
such as understanding the meaning
of words, higher order thinking skills
need to be employed for deep reading.
These skills refer to analysis, creation
and evaluation, as described in Bloom’s
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
(Anderson et al, 2001). When students
create a concept map, they first need
to analyse the text to identify and distill
n Issue 4

its main arguments, which involves
'recognising structures in discursive
text: contrasting arguments, problem-
solution presentation and cause-effect
relationships', as described in the CEFR.
In addition, they have to establish
relationships between the different
parts of the text and distinguish relevant
information from irrelevant information.
Creating a concept map also requires
creativity because it involves a change
of format from the written text to a
diagram that combines words and visual
elements that graphically represent
the structure of the text. Questions that
can guide students in the creation of a
concept map are, for example:
n What arguments are provided by
the author?
n How are they related to
each other?
n How do they lead to the
author’s conclusion?
After finishing their concept maps, in the
next step students compare their version
with their peers’ work, thereby critically
reviewing their peers’ concept maps as
well as their own − and modifying it if
necessary. In remote teaching, students
can work in small groups in the breakout
rooms of the online conference tool. If a
virtual learning platform such as Moodle
is used, it is possible to upload and share
files in a Student Folder. Otherwise,
students can send their concept maps
by email or a file-sharing service to allow
others to access them. Based on the
concept map, they then can evaluate the
text, for instance regarding the following
guiding questions:
n What is the author’s attitude?
n What arguments does s/he provide?
n Is the argumentation coherent
and logical?
n How are the arguments connected?
n Are the arguments sufficiently
backed up?
As follow-up activities, students can be
asked to explain terms and statements
in the text, give their opinion regarding
the author’s point of view and if they
would add or modify any information.
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ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES
They can also reflect on the question
of how the concept map helps them to
understand the text.
Another option or possible follow-up
activity is that students compare the
concept maps of two different texts
that deal with a similar topic. Students
can either create the concept maps
in different sessions or at home, for
example in preparation for the next
lesson in a blended learning or flipped
classroom scenario. Alternatively, the
group can be divided so that half the
students create a concept map for one
text and the other half for the other text.
The students then work in small groups
or breakout rooms to compare the two
texts using the following questions:
n How are the texts similar in terms
of subject matter, purpose,
argument and style?
n Do the two texts reach the
same conclusion?
n What reactions do you have to
the texts?
n Which of the two texts do you find
more convincing?
Preparing a concept map can also serve
as a previous step for summary writing,
i.e. it provides a kind of scaffolding,
breaking down a large task into smaller
tasks. The structure, main ideas and
line of argumentation of a text are
made more transparent by identifying
and condensing the arguments and
showing how they are connected, which
facilitates writing the summary.
Finally, the creation of a concept map
can also be an examination element.
It is a creative task that cannot be
copied and pasted from the internet
and there is no uniform solution to
it, which makes every concept map
unique. It is therefore suitable as
a form of reading comprehension
assessment administered in remote
assessment, such as an e-learning or
blended learning context, instead of a
conventional exam in an
examination hall.
Creating a concept map based on a
text is a useful activity to aid students
in developing their deep reading
skills regarding challenging texts.
Deep reading involves processing
new information and integrating it
into relevant prior knowledge, as 'the
reader makes connections to already
known concepts and principles and
uses this understanding for problem
solving in new contexts' (Hermida,
n.d.). A concept map is a constructivist
learning tool that supports meaning
and knowledge construction because
students have to engage actively with
the text to accomplish the task.
References
Anderson L & Krathwohl D (Eds.) (2001)
A Taxonomy for Learning,Teaching, and
Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives (Complete edition).
New York: Longman
Council of Europe (2018) Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages:
Learning, Teaching, Assessment Companion
Volume with New Descriptors (65) Available
at: https://rm.coe.int/cefr-companion-volume-
with-new-descriptors-2018/1680787989
(Accessed November 2020)
Hermida J. (n.d.) Strategies to Promote a Deep
Approach to Reading.Tomorrow’s Professor
Postings. Stanford University. Available at
https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/928
(Accessed November 2020)
Thomas N (2014) Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. Available at http://plato.stanford.
edu/entries/mental-imagery/theories-memory.
html (Accessed November 2020)
Christine Roell is a lecturer of
English and Spanish at the University
of Applied Sciences Nordhausen,
Germany. She trained as a translator
and adult educator and has a Master’s
degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign
Language. Her current interests include
task-based learning, using media and
film in language learning, exploring
e-teaching and e-learning tools and
intercultural communication.
Email: roell@fh-nordhausen.de
Website:
https://www.teaching-english-and-
spanish.de/