Leitura e

Redação em
Língua Inglesa

Aula 1

Sarah Barbieri
Vieira
 In this class...

• Introduction to the Course

• The Reading Skill

• Reading in English (FL)

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 Reading Skill – Compreensão Escrita
Reading is the receptive skill in the written mode. It
can develop independently of listening and speaking
skills, but often develops along with them, especially

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in societies with a highly-developed literary tradition.
Reading can help build
vocabulary that helps
listening comprehension
at the later stages,
particularly.

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 Assumptions about Reading

1. We perceive and decode letters to read

words.
2. We need to underdstand all the words to
understand a text.
3. The more symbols (letters or words) there
are in a text, the longer it will take to read it.
4. We gather meaning from what we read.
5. Our understanding of a text comes from
understanding the words of which it is
composed.
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Why is Reading important?

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 The Reading Skill

Many EFL students consider good reading

skills one of the most important goals they
need to achieve since they have to be able to
read:
to improve in their careers,
to gather information,
to get a degree or post-graduation degree,
to improve their English understanding
skills.

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 The Reading Skill

Out of the four skills, reading is considered by

students the easiest one due to its nature:
it is permanent,
you can read at your own pace,
you can read when or where it is convenient,
it is a solitary activity.

Besides, there are many cognitive similarities

between L1 and L2/FL reading processes.

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 L1 and FL Reading Differences

• knowledge of vocabulary, syntax, discourse markers

and text organization awareness is much more limited.

• much less reading exposure in the target language,

which means much less reading practice in the target
language.

• the cognitive processing involves two language

systems.

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 L1 and FL Reading Differences

• transfer effects, such as cognitive skills, strategies,

goals and expectations, which will also involve both
L1 interference and facilitation.

• different combination of general background

knowledge due to the fact that drawing on
information about the world, that is, cultural
differences.

• different social and cultural assumptions in the

target language texts that they might not be familiar
with or find difficulties to cope with.
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 L1 vs. FL Reading Abilities

Beginning and intermediate FL reading skills, more

L1 distinct abilities are brought into play.

FL advanced reading skills are more similar to L1

reading abilities.

As FL readers become fluent and highly skilled in

reading comprehension, the reading processes
involved become more similar, though perhaps
never the same.

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 Bibliography

• BROWN, H. D. Teaching by Principles: an interactive

approach to language learning. New Jersey: Prentice
Hall Regents, 1994.
• NUNAN, D. Second Language Teaching and Learning.
Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1998.
• SCARCELLA, R. C.; OXFORD, R. L. The Tapestry of
Language Learning: the individual in the communicative
classroom. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1992.
• UR, P. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1996.

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 Leitura e
Redação em
Língua Inglesa

Atividade 1

Sarah Barbieri
Vieira
What is the difference
Between spoken and
written language?

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SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1. Situational dependent
Used to communicate at same time
Relies on shared knowledge and often
makes reference to shared situation
Generally accompanies action.
2. Dialogic in Nature
Usually involves two or more
speakers creating spoken texts
together.
3. Unrehearsed and Spontaneous
Interactants build spoken texts within
social and linguistic parameters.
4. Records the world as happenings
Relies more on verbs to carry
meanings.
5. Grammatically intricate
Develops through intricate networks
or clauses rather than complete
sentences as it is jointly constructed
and relies more heavily on verbs.
WRITTEN LANGUAGE
1. Contextual dependent
Used to communicate across time
Must recreate for readers the context it
is describing.
Generally reflects action.
2. Monologic in Nature.
Usually written by one person removed
from an audience.
3. Edited and redrafted.
Written language can be edited and
redrafted any number of times.
4. Records the world as things.
Relies more on nouns to carry
meanings.
5. Lexically dense
Relies on the process of nominalization
in which things that are not nouns can be
turned into nouns.
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