LESSON 3.

DEVELOPING WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS

(READING AND WRITING)

1. What do we know about the process of second language reading?

1.1. In what ways is reading an interactive process?

 Schematic knowledge. Certain words or phrases in the text will activate prior
knowledge of some kind in the mind of the reader. This is demonstrated by current
research into the reading process which has uncovered what happens in silent
reding by asking and responding to the text and by recording their thoughts. These
records are known as “protocols”. The procedure requires some training as more
fluent readers have automatized the strategies they use in reading, but it has
provided useful insight into reading strategies.
A Good example of this can be appreciated when we have a look at the headlines
of a piece of news. Though it we will check how a simple headline can we giving
us a global idea about the content of an article, predicting us a global idea about
the information received through media mass.
Other studies have used a recall procedure. Here, subject are asked to write down
what they can remember about the text, in complete sentences. They are
encouraged to link ideas un the same way as the original text, using both their own
words and words from the text. The recall protocols were assessed in terms of the
number of ideas recalled from the original text and the organizational structures
used in writing the protocol.
One of the major responses to increasing insight about the role of schematic
knowledge in reading has been the focus in current reading methodology on a pre-
reading stage, and in material design on task to activate different types of prior
language.
 Language knowledge: enables readers to work on the text. Good readers recognize
and decode quickly
o Grammatical structures and other linguistic features
o Has a good knowledge of language structure
o Can recognize a wide range of vocabulary automatically.
Clearly second language readers are going to have difficulties in processing text
which contain unfamiliar aspects of the English language

o Inability to understand the cohesive devices in a text will impede

understanding of the functional relationship of sentences.
o Vocabulary is another major component of reading ability with which
language learners will have trouble, but the degree of difficulty will vary
with:
 demands of the text
 the prior knowledge of the reader
 degree of automaticity a learner has achieved in general word
recognition
 lexical knowledge a student might have
 learner’s first language.

A major strategies to build vocabulary for reading is to encourage them to

develop strategies for guessing words meanings from contextual clues and
background knowledge.

Sequence to help learners when they are dealing with texts

Nation and coady (1988)
1. Finding the part of speech of the unknow word
2. Looking at the immediate context of the unknow word
3. Looking at the wider context of the unknow word.
a. Looking at the relationship between the clause
containing the unknow word
b. surrounding clauses and sentences
4. Guessing the meaning of the unknow words
5. Checking that the guess is correct.
1.2. In what ways is reading a purposeful process?

Pugh(1978) and Lunzer and gardner (1979) describes various styles of reading, and their
terminology for these has been taken into ELT methodology

 Receptive reading. When a reader wants to enjoy a short story, follow a line of
argument in a newspaper or understand the main stages in a textbook description.
 Reflective reading. Used when a reader wants to check a new line of argument in
a political text with opinions expressed earlier in the same article.
o Reading the text
o Pausing to reflect and backtrack
 Skim reading. Is used to get a global idea of a text. A good example of this is
when we are reading headlines of a piece of news
 Scanning. Involves searching rapidly through a text to find a specific point of
information (for example: the relevant point on a timetable, items in a directory
or key point in a academic text)
 Intensive reading. Involve carefully looking a text. Good sample of this may be a
poem and the way we appreciate the choice of words, or as a solicitor would study
the precise wording of a legal document

The point of making this distinction is that different purposes for reading determine
different strategies in approaching texts and also different rates of reading. They imply
different uses of top-down (schematic) and bottom-up (linguistic) processes.

It is now standard practice in ELT Methodology to consider real purposes for reading
outside the classroom and to build these into reading activities. Rivers and Temperley
(1978) list the following purposes for reading:

 To get information: (information leaflet, weather forecast, schedules, train

timetables…)
 To respond to curiosity about a topic. (magazines articles, newspapers,
advertisements, guidelines…)
 To follow instruction to perform a task. (maps, route planners, recipes, assembly
instructions, manuals)
 For pleasure, amusement, and personal enjoyment. (poems, short stories, plays,
reviews, cartoons…)
  To keep in touch with friends and colleagues. (postcards, invitation, letters…)
 To know what is happening in the world. (news, articles, news reviews)
 To find out when and where things are. (announcements, programmes, tour
guides)

Some of these purposes may be real-lifes one for many language learners because English
is part of their environment, or because they have immediate needs such as studying in
English or using it in professional life.

It is important to show to the student a variety of texts (brochures, articles, poems, shorts
stories, maps and diagrams) and encourage them with different types or degrees of
reading that allow them to reflect and think for themselves in addition to teaching other
levels of reading comprehension.

2. What are the implication for the teaching of reading?

2.1. How do we stablish goals for the English classroom?

In the light of insights into the reading process and into how successful readers interact
with texts, a set of general learning goals for the reading component of an English
language course could include:

 To be able to read a range of text in English.

 To adapt reading style according to range of purposes and apply different
strategies (e.g. skimming, scanning) as appropriate
 To build a knowledge of language (Vocabulary, structure) which will facilitate
development of greater reading ability
 To build schematic knowledge in order to interpret text meaningfully
 To develop awareness of the structure of written text in English and to be able to
make use of rhetorical structures, discourse features and cohesive devices in
comprehending texts.
 To take a critical stance to the contents of texts.

The teacher’s responsibilities in helping learning achieve this goals will be motivate
reading selecting or making appropriate text according to their maturation level, selecting
or creating appropriate text for them, in order to have better results at the classroom and
promote a enriched environment to promote reading at early ages. Therefore, there are
not a specific or rigid methodology. The teacher will need to focus on different goals and
use a range of materials to get these purposes.

2.2. What kinds of tasks help to develop reading ability?

William (1984) establish a standard practice in the design of reading task to use a three-
phase procedure involving pre-, while- and post reading stages. The objective is to ensure
that reading is taught in the sense of helping readers develop increasing ability to tackle
text.

This is in contrast to more traditional materials in which reading would be tested through
a procedure in which learners would read a text without and introduction, possibly with
some pre-teaching of vocabulary, and then would be required to answer comprehension
questions. Many contemporary materials reflect this three-phase procedure.

 During the pre-reading phase learners can be encouraged to do a number of things:

o Become oriented to the context to the text
o Tune in to the content of the text
o Establish a reason for reading
o Express an attitude about the topic
o Review their own experiences in relation to the topic
o Activate existing cultural knowledge
o Become familiar with some of the language in the text.

Example pre-reading activites are talking about pictures accompanying the text;
predicting from the title, agreeing or disagreeing with a set of proposals about the
topic, answering a set of questions or a quiz, listing items of information they
already know about the topic or discuss the topic.

 While-reading. The reading process itself. That encourage learners to be active as

they read. Activities that can be uses during this phase are:
o Follow the order of ideas in a text
o React to the opoinons expressed
o Understand the information is contains
o Ask themselves question
o Make notes
o Confirm expectation or prior knowledge
 o Predict the next part of the text from various clues.

To encourage this activities the teacher can use a range of activities for example,
ask students to tick a list of expectations or find answers to their own question;
suggest they tick and cross in the margin in reaction to the writer’s opinions; give
them a few questions to stop and think about…

 Post- reading activities can be varied as the text they follow, but ideally will tie
up with the reading purpose set, so that students check and discuss activities done
while reading and make use of what they have read in a meaningful way (Debate,
make questions, links contents with the course, design activities related with the
book…)

3.Learning to read in the L1 and L2

Cummins (1979) stablish one view of learning to read, mention that the development of
reading skills in a foreign language is greatly assisted if pupils have developed strong
reading skills in their first language

In this view, the positive relationship between the two is a result of children being able to
transfer L1 reading skills to the L2

In some contexts, it has been decided to encourage speaking first and leave reading until
later, especially if the pupils are still not fully literate in their L1. Teacher of very young
children may not use a coursebook at all, or may use coursebook such as first steps, which
rely on pictures alone. In other contexts, where they start learning English later, children
may be quickly introduced to coursebooks in their first English cass and be expected to
begin reading and writing English as soon as possible.
3.1. What do children already know about reading?

When children learn to read successfully in their L1, they develop different forms of
awareness and knowledge.

 Awareness and knowledge about print.

 Graphophonic knowledge.
 Onset and rimes.
 Lexical knowledge.
 Syntactic knowledge.
 Semantic knowledge.

4.Learning to read in English: The initial stages.

It is important not to place too many readings demands on younger learner who are still
learning to read in their L1.Developing good level of literature in the L1 and good oral
skills in the L2 are the most important objectives.

4.1. Which teaching methods are in use?

Teaching reading means in many countries use a balanced approach with several methods.
This include phonics working out sound/letter correspondences to develop ‘word attack
skills. This approach aims to consolidate children’s phonemic, phonological and
morphological awareness.

However, meaning is not always highlighted, so sounds and words may sometimes be
presented in sound sets but little other contextualization

Most teachers use a balance of activities that focus on sounds letter and words but also
activities that promote word recognition associated with meaning, for example

 Look and Say. Is based on encouraging sigh recognition of the most common
words, such as the, he, she is are, so that part of reading become automatic. In a
recent article Dugosz (2000) recommends the look and say method and also
describes its use with some Polish children where they listen to text many times
until they become familiar with words and their graphic representations.
 Language experience is used in young children and tries to make print meaningful
by encouraging personal events to become part of a simple text
The foreign language teacher will need to consider the difference between “sounding out”
and “reading with understanding in their English class.

4.2. Coping with English orthography

Once children are introduced to the written word in English, they will discover that
English spelling does not always help them in their reading. (comparativa entre lectura
castellana vs inglesa)

Children in many countries will have a working knowledge of the roman alphabet,
although children from countries with a different alphabet, such as India, the middle East
or East Asia, will need to spend more time learning to form letters or to orientate their
handwriting from left to right.

2.3. Developing print awareness

Decorate the classroom with functional print, such as alphabet friezes, flashcards, posters,
words of songs, or signs, using published material or material you make yourself. You
can make labels for equipment such as cards, scissors and glue.

Provide displays with information or questions written in English that can link to
classroom routines. Other examples include environmental prints, example of written
available in the local environment (t-shirt, food labels or advertisements)

2.4. Supporting reading in the initial stages.

It is important to introduce reading after the pupils have some basic knowledge of the
spoken language so, that is quickly becomes meaning-based and not simply decoding.

Nevertheless, reading in English in the early stages will combine “meaningful” reading
in sentences supplemented by independent reading at the tetter and word level. This stage
is important for those pupils who are not used to the Roman alphabet.

Generally, the teacher should support pupil association of letters words and pictures
thought

 Songs
 Visual aids
 Games
Simple games like dominoes, snap, bingo and puzzles like word searchers help learners
to become familiar with typical letter combinations of form words.

 Pupils will be introduced to pictures only

 Then, pictures and words together as flashcards.
 Once the pupils are more confident, they will be able to cope without so much
visual support, but it will still remain an important support for many years

When we are going to design flashcards, words with similar sound can be written in the
same colour (Bed, head, guess) or words in a lexical set (Table, chair, lamp.)

Ensure that the child experiences reading as purposeful and enjoyable rather than simply
a meaningless, repetitive activity. Pupils enjoy listening to simple dialogues and stories
which are well illustrated and have an interesting story line.

In the very early stages pupil can simply listen as the plot unfolds and the illustrations are
shared with them. Teacher may be interested in producing their own big books using
versions of stories they think are useful.
BLOQUE 2
5.Reading to learn: the later stages.

As pupils become more confident in reading their own language, they use reading to read.
After an initial introduction to English learning, pupils will be expected to cope with the
independent reading required of a coursebook. Pupils are often introduced to and learn
new vocabulary or grammar through reading short text in the form of

 Dialogues
 Descriptions
 Instructions
 Short stories

They may be learning how to learn through their reading. Much of the advide given in
the section on teaching listening also applies to teaching reading.

5.1. Reading strategies

When children are listening to spoken messages, they are trying to understand and
interpret information in a similar way to when they are trying to understand and interpret
written messages. This mean, they will often use similar strategies.
If learners know what are they listening to or reading something to get a general picture,
they will listen or read in a slightly different way than if they are expected to listen or
read in detail for specific parts of a message. A learning-centred approach to reading use
activities in a three -stage model:

 Pre-reading
 While-reading
 Post-reading.

Reading practice may also be derived from listening work or may lead to writing. In this
way, reading becomes integrated with other language skills.

5.2. Reading activities

Reading to learn activities which are meaning-focused are often referred to as DARTS
(directed activities related to text). These focus on the processes and outcomes of reading.
DARTS introduce:

 Reconstruction activities. The text was modified by the teacher in some way so
the pupil can match part of the sentences or “speech bubbles” to character, fll in
gaps in sentences or texts (words, phrases or titles)
 Analysis activities. Pupils hunt for specific information to organize it in some
way. This is more difficult and at primary level the pupil can underline specific
parts of a text, perhaps in different colours, to show different things, for example,
underline any shape word in blue, and any size word in red, label part of a text
using labels provided by the teacher (underline specific instructions of a recipe )
and create heir own questions for other pupils to answer.
 Reading awareness activities. Language awareness activities can be encouraged
by asking pupils to notice similarities and differences between alphabets or by
counting how often letter occur in words. In advance level, pupils can be
introduced in the notion of genre, types of text (menu, comic, newspaper
,advertisement…)In that way students can compare specific text types and the
teacher can introduce a few prompts such as “They both have…”; “The first one
has … but the second one has…”; and a selection of words, such as address,
greeting, pictures and so on.
6.Reading activities for both stages.