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Strategies to Enhance Reading Comprehension in ESL Classroom

Method · November 2017

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35137.38240

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Vannak Hour
BELTEI International University
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Strategies to Enhance Reading Comprehension in ESL Classroom

1. Introduction
To become fluent readers, ESL students must know that, besides communicating,
they need to do a lot of reading. For the students to achieve their reading fluency, ESL
teachers must help them by teaching them a range of reading comprehension strategies
and be encouraged to reflect on their own understanding and learning. This is crucial
because these strategies, once acquired, the students will read English texts beyond their
literal interpretation and are able to reflect on complex meanings of the text whether by
the implicating and/or deducting process.

2. Reading Strategies
a. Before Reading
i. Skimming
Skimming is a valuable technique in studying textbooks. It involves searching for
main ideas, noting the organizational cues used by the author, especially when the students
run their eyes down the page as they look for specific facts, key words and phrases.
Teachers should model how this is done and verbally walk students through the process
(Porter, n.d.). This sub-skill is necessary. It has been proven effective in my English
classroom. Before the teacher starts to teach reading English classroom, he/she teaches
the students how to skim as they will be required to read frequently later on, whether at
home or inside the class. Based on my experiences, the best way to skim is first to look at
the title or topic of the passage or article so that students gain some insight of what they
are going to read about. Then, I usually ask them to read the entire first paragraph as it is
usually gives a lot of details into the whole article. Next, I ask them to read on the first
line of the following paragraphs as it usually is the main idea of a particular paragraph.
Lastly, I ask them to read the whole last paragraph as it usually concludes everything
detailed in the article. This technique proves extremely effective, and I have received
numerous positive feedback from the students.

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ii. Question Generating

During this process, students can write questions about the story as a post-reading
exercise. These questions can then be integrated into formal tests or informal questioning
games. The teachers might want to suggest that students generate questions by adapting
sentences from the text. Students can also generate questions to identify their own
uncertainties about the text. Besides, they can try to answer these questions by consulting
the classroom teacher or other students (Babbitt, n.d.). I usually employ this technique
right after the skimming process. I would ask students to write two or three questions
regarding the text. The questions can be about many things regarding the text including
the author’s purpose and what they do not understand after the first round of brief reading.
Then I would ask some students to share their questions with the class. I usually turn this
questions-sharing period into short discussion time. Before the students even read the
article thoroughly, they would likely have grabbed a lot of details.

b. During Reading
i. Shared Reading
According to Franzen (2006, as cited in Castaneda, 2011), shared reading is an
ideal teaching strategy to use in the ESL classroom. It is a form of “reading along” with
the students, and that helps them move from the emergent stage of reading to more
conventional reading of text. Besides, it also is an effective classroom tool because it
involves the students in extensive language repetition and encourages students’
involvement in the learning process. In addition, a shared-reading experience offers the
students an opportunity to practice language, learn the meaning of words, and use the
sentence structures of English. Furthermore, it can be used to assist in literacy growth for
ESL students as the teacher provides reading opportunities that foster the early stages of
literacy development. During the process, the teacher should check with the students to
make sure they understand certain key vocabulary and important concepts.

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ii. Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning is one of the best methods I have ever employed in my
English class. According to Babbitt (n.d.), cooperative learning is a strategy that
maximizes student engagement, reduces class tensions, and promotes student learning.
Typically, students work in groups of four. If the teacher plans to use cooperative learning
oftentimes in the ESL classes, he/she may consider arranging the classroom to facilitate
learning in small groups. Based on my experiences, seat arrangement is very crucial.

For example, students can work cooperatively to learn more about a narrative work of
literature as below:

• Each group uses a plot diagram to locate and summarize a stage of plot
development.
• Group members have conference briefly with the teacher to ensure their answers
are correct.
• Students reassemble into new groups comprising one "expert" from each of the
previous groups.
• These new groups pool their expertise to fill out every stage of the plot diagram.
• The session concludes with a class discussion of the novel, short story, play, or
narrative poem.

Based on my observation, cooperative learning appears to be interesting to most students

as it is student-centred, and which involves every one of them in the learning process while
providing a more enjoyable learning environment.

iii. Guided Reading

Guided reading procedure is similar to that of the cooperative learning. Therefore,
one of these can be used accordingly to suit the reading topic. Referring to Porter (n.d.),
there are five steps to conduct guided reading effectively. First, the teacher presents a
reading assignment to the ESL class. Second, the students are divided into groups of three
or four after they have completed their reading assignment. Third, the teacher assigns one

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student in each group to record what the group members say. Each member has a few
minutes to state main ideas or points found in the text. Fourth, each recorder from each
group is required to orally share their group members’ ideas with the class while the
teacher writes what is said on the board. In this phase, the recorders should only present
information not already given by another group. Last, the teacher should correct inaccurate
information and help students to organize and sequence the information. Besides, he/she
may have students eliminate unimportant details and fill in missing points.

c. After Reading
i. Team Review
As what I can see, students understand much better when they discuss with each
other what they have just read. During team-review period, the teacher asks the students
to share their understanding of the newly acquired knowledge with other students. Babbitt
(n.d.) has proposed six points which students are required to do during this process. Those
points are:

• identify writer's main ideas

• recognize the purpose or intention of the selection
• distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information
• note the evidence for support of main ideas
• detect the organizational pattern of the author
• follow material sequentially

In addition to team review, in my English class, I usually require the students to

answer the questions they have posted during the question generating period (before
reading). Most of them find this activity exciting, and oftentimes it seems they always
have things to discuss about regarding the text. Therefore, team review is a motivating
tool which should be used in the ESL classroom.

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ii. Summary
Summary is an effective strategy for readers who have difficulty remembering and
writing about what they have read (Porter, n.d.). For the summary, the teacher may ask
the students to write journals, letters, and a response to the text. All of which I have done
throughout my English teaching career. For example, sometimes, I ask the students to
summarize the action of a narrative. Some other times, I ask them to write a journal from
a particular character's point of view, and sometimes I ask them to summarize events in a
letter that one character writes to another. Also, I may ask them to write a response towards
an ambiguous part of the text.

d. Using Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers, which provide a visual map for the reader, can be placed next
to the text as learners read in groups individually, aloud, or silently. They are particularly
useful in helping readers to understand the structure of a narrative or of an argument.
Graphic organizers take different forms such as: table which is used for compare and
contrast; matrix diagram also used for compare and contrast; and hierarchy diagram used
to assist students who are reading informational texts of all kinds, whether related to
language arts or to other content areas (Babbitt, n.d.). Graphic organizers are commonly
used in the Malaysian school context.

3. Conclusion
Reading comprehension can be effectively improved only if the teacher uses the
right reading procedure and employs various reading strategies in the ESL classroom. The
reading procedure is divided into three parts: pre-reading, during-reading, and after-
reading. Each phase of the procedure can be implemented with many different reading
strategies such as skimming, generating questions, shared reading, cooperative reading,
guided reading, team review, answering questions, and summary. Graphic organizers are
also important as they help facilitate students’ reading and understanding.

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 References

Babbitt, P. (n.d.). Scaffolding: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension Skills.

From http://www.phschool.com/eteach/language_arts/2002_12/essay.html

Castaneda, M. (2011). Enhancing Reading Proficiency in English Language Learners

(ELLs): The Importance of Knowing Your ELL in Mainstream Classrooms. From
http://tapestry.usf.edu/journal/documents/v03n01/Castaneda%20et%20al_FORMA
TTED%20MG.pdf

Porter, K. (n.d.). Reading. From http://departments.weber.edu/teachall/reading/post.html

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