Advantages and Disadvantages of Reading Approach

v  Advantages of Reading Approach

There are some benefits in utilizing reading approach:

1.      Reading approach can be used in a big class.

2.      In reading approach, students can know much vocabulary because they have to read the passage.

3.      Students focus what they are studying because they only learn grammar.

4.      The reading method requires little teaching skill since the lesson-form is a standardized and fixed procedure.

5.      The reading method is economical of time since the pupils all read simultaneously.

6.      The reading method does not demand deep knowledge of the language on the part of the teacher, since the teacher does not have to compose the sentences and questions: everything is supplied in the book.

 

v  Disadvantages of Reading Approach

Reading approach also has limitation since there is no single teaching method that is chategorized as the best based on some consideration such as: the curriculum, students’ motivation, financial limitation, number of students, etc.

The main disadvantages of reading approach are as follow:

1.      Since reading approach is only focused on written skill, this approach is lack in speaking skill.

2.      Reading approach is oppressive approach because the vocabularies and grammar are controlled.

 

What is Critical Reading?

Critical reading is a form of skepticism that does not take a text at face value, but involves an examination of claims put forward in the text as well as implicit bias in the text's framing and selection of the information presented. The ability to read critically is an ability assumed to be present in scholars and to be learned in academic institutions.

"...a story has as many versions as it has readers. Everyone takes what he wants or can from it and thus changes it to his measure. Some pick out parts and reject the rest, some strain the story through their mesh of prejudice, some paint it with their own delight. " John Steinbeck, The Winter of our Discontent

There are no simple relations between these levels. As the "hermeneutic circle" demonstrates, the understanding of single words depends on the understanding of the text as a whole (as well as the culture in which the text is produced) and vice versa: You cannot understand a text if you do not understand the words in the text.

The critical reading of a given text thus implies a critical examination of the concepts used as well as of the soundness of the arguments and the value and relevance of the assumptions and the traditions on which the text is based.

"Reading between the lines" is the ability to uncover implicit messages and bias.

Reading aloud

Reading aloud

Teachers model fluent and accurate reading. Students experience the  rhythm and flow of the language, and the language patterns, structures and vocabulary of various text types.

      Learning focus

Reading to students helps build prior knowledge of the concepts, words and language patterns of the text type they will be reading. It also provides opportunities to teach comprehension skills while students are mastering code-breaking skills.

      Teacher preparation

Choose texts from various genres. Students need to hear both literary texts, such as stories, rhymes and poems, and factual genres read aloud. Reading factual texts aloud enables students to experience language structures used in communicating information, explaining things, giving directions and negotiating.

      Suggested implementation

1.  Read the chosen text. Stop the reading at key points and pose questions. Ask students, for example, to: 

v  make predictions about what will happen next

v  consider how the characters might be feeling

v  Identify the problems in stories, and new information in factual texts.

2.  Model thinking about texts, such as:

v  summarizing events so far

v  linking actions to characters’ thoughts, personalities traits and actions

v  recalling other texts about the same subject matter

v  connecting to life experiences

v  Confirming predictions.

Reading Comprehension

 Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a text/message. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text/message.^[1]

Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly.^[2] If word recognition is difficult, students use too much of their processing capacity to read individualwords, which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read.

Many educators in the USA believe that students need to learn to analyze text (comprehend it) even before they can read it on their own, and comprehension instruction generally begins in pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten. But other US educators consider this reading approach to be completely backward for very young children, arguing that the children must learn how to decode the words in a story through phonics before they can analyze the story itself.

During the last century comprehension lessons usually consisted of students answering teachers' questions, writing responses to questions on their own, or both.^[3] The whole group version of this practice also often included "Round-robin reading", wherein teachers called on individual students to read a portion of the text (and sometimes following a set order). In the last quarter of the 20th century, evidence accumulated that the read-test methods assessed comprehension more than they taught it. The associated practice of "round robin" reading has also been questioned and eliminated by many educators.

Instead of using the prior read-test method, research studies have concluded that there are much more effective ways to teach comprehension. Much work has been done in the area of teaching novice readers a bank of "reading strategies," or tools to interpret and analyze text.^[4] There is not a definitive set of strategies, but common ones include summarizing what you have read, monitoring your reading to make sure it is still making sense, and analyzing the structure of the text (e.g., the use of headings in science text). Some programs teach students how to self monitor whether they are understanding and provide students with tools for fixing comprehension problems.

Instruction in comprehension strategy use often involves the gradual release of responsibility, wherein teachers initially explain and model strategies. Over time, they give students more and more responsibility for using the strategies until they can use them independently. This technique is generally associated with the idea of self-regulation and reflects social cognitive theory, originally conceptualized by Albert Bandura.

Competencies for Proficient Reading

                                                 Competencies for Proficient Reading

Proficient reading is equally dependent on two critical skills: the ability to understand the language in which the text is written, and the ability to recognize and process printed text. Each of these competencies is likewise dependent on lower level skills and cognitive abilities.

Children who readily understand spoken language and who are able to fluently and easily recognize printed words do not usually have difficulty with reading comprehension. However, students must be proficient in both competencies to read well; difficulty in either domain undermines the overall reading process. At the conclusion of reading, children should be able to retell the story in their own words including characters, setting, and the events of the story.

Reading researchers define a skilled reader as one who can understand written text as well as they can understand the same passage if spoken.

There is some debate as to whether print recognition requires the ability to perceive printed text and translate it into spoken language, or rather to translate printed text directly into meaningful symbolic models and relationships. The existence of speed reading, and its typically high comprehension rate would suggest that the translation into verbal form as an intermediate to understanding is not a prerequisite for effective reading comprehension. This aspect of reading is the crux of much of the reading debate. The purpose of reading is to have access to the literature of a specific language. reading materials have traditionally chosen from literary texts that represent'higher' forms of culture. According to many traditional approaches, learners aim has been to study vocabulary items, grammar and sentence structures. The concern has been only with learning the syntax of this ' higher' cultures. these approaches assume that has benn to read authentic materials limited to the work or experience of great authors and reserved to upper level students who can understand these reading. They only read the paragraphs and sentences written by text writers which are explained by their instructors.

skimming, Scanning and Intensive Reading

                                            Skimming, scanning and intensive reading

Depending on the purpose of their reading, readers choose between either of three modes of reading: skimming, scanning orintensive reading.

Skimming is a mode of fast reading which is used to get a rapid general impression of what a text is about. In this mode of reading, if the text you are reading is a non-fictional text, you may first look at its table of contents, the summary, and subject index. You may next leaf through the text and focus attention on subtitles, headlines, content keywords, or prominent text features (passages printed in bold type, or colour, or with illustrations). Writers often use such features to highlight what they want to say.

If, however, the text which you want to get a first impression of is a fictional text, you may decide to first read the opening scene and the beginning or ending of chapters. Skimming helps you decide if you like a book, its characters and story, its topics and style of writing. It may or may not be followed by some more intensive reading.

Scanning is a mode of fast reading which you use if you start with a predefined set of keywords and want to find out if a given text provides information on them. You leaf through the text and search for passages which contain your keywords. If you hit on pages which contain your keyword or semantically related words, it frequently is useful to note the page numbers for later intensive reading or for making abstracts.

Skimming and scanning are modes of fast reading which can be practised by training in high speed reading. For an understanding of meaning to occur in speed reading, it is necessary to read in ‘chunks’. Estimates are that readers’ eyes must scan about 400 words a minute. High speed reading is mostly sustainable for short bursts only. The mind needs pauses for evaluation and assimilation of information (time to think and digest).

Intensive reading is a mode of reading in which readers focus on a fairly comprehensive understanding of a given text. There is, of course, a difference between reading fictional or non-fictional texts. The first generally allows more freedom of imagination than the second. Note, however, that for both types of reading processes it is true that a reader’s understanding of a text can be divorced from his pre-knowledge, age, and purpose of reading. Each of these factors contribute to the construction of the meaning and may lead to partially different interpretations of the given text. All reading for understanding requires the interaction of two types of cognitive processes, namely top-down processes and bottom-up processes in the construction of meaning.

Top-down processes start from the reader's general knowledge of the world and the given topic. They activate a reader's contextual knowledge which is then used for interpreting the information coming in 'bottom up'. Top-down processes may be triggered by, for example, the title/ topic of a specific text and what the reader knows about that already. This preknowledge creates certain expectations which are then matched, in bottom-up processes, against the information which comes in with each new sentence and paragraph. Understanding thus is the joint product of an anticipation of meaning and its confirmation or refutation by the literal study of the textual document.

Assesing Reading Proficiency

Assessing Reading Proficiency

Reading ability is very difficult to assess accurately. In the communicative competence model, a student's reading level is the level at which that student is able to use reading to accomplish communication goals. This means that assessment of reading ability needs to be correlated with purposes for reading.

Reading Aloud

A student's performance when reading aloud is not a reliable indicator of that student's reading ability. A student who is perfectly capable of understanding a given text when reading it silently may stumble when asked to combine comprehension with word recognition and speaking ability in the way that reading aloud requires.

In addition, reading aloud is a task that students will rarely, if ever, need to do outside of the classroom. As a method of assessment, therefore, it is not authentic: It does not test a student's ability to use reading to accomplish a purpose or goal.

However, reading aloud can help a teacher assess whether a student is "seeing" word endings and other grammatical features when reading. To use reading aloud for this purpose, adopt the "read and look up" approach: Ask the student to read a sentence silently one or more times, until comfortable with the content, then look up and tell you what it says. This procedure allows the student to process the text, and lets you see the results of that processing and know what elements, if any, the student is missing.

Comprehension Questions

Instructors often use comprehension questions to test whether students have understood what they have read. In order to test comprehension appropriately, these questions need to be coordinated with the purpose for reading. If the purpose is to find specific information, comprehension questions should focus on that information. If the purpose is to understand an opinion and the arguments that support it, comprehension questions should ask about those points.

In everyday reading situations, readers have a purpose for reading before they start. That is, they know what comprehension questions they are going to need to answer before they begin reading. To make reading assessment in the language classroom more like reading outside of the classroom, therefore, allow students to review the comprehension questions before they begin to read the test passage.

Finally, when the purpose for reading is enjoyment, comprehension questions are beside the point. As a more authentic form of assessment, have students talk or write about why they found the text enjoyable and interesting (or not).

Authentic Assessment

In order to provide authentic assessment of students' reading proficiency, a post-listening activity must reflect the real-life uses to which students might put information they have gained through reading.

• It must have a purpose other than assessment
• It must require students to demonstrate their level of reading comprehension by completing some task

To develop authentic assessment activities, consider the type of response that reading a particular selection would elicit in a non-classroom situation. For example, after reading a weather report, one might decide what to wear the next day; after reading a set of instructions, one might   repeat them to someone else; after reading a short story, one might discuss the story line with friends.

Use this response type as a base for selecting appropriate post-reading tasks. You can then develop a checklist or rubric that will allow you to evaluate each student's comprehension of specific parts of the text. SeeAssessing Learning for more on checklists and rubrics.

developing Reading Activities

Developing Reading Activities

Developing reading activities involves more than identifying a text that is "at the right level," writing a set of comprehension questions for students to answer after reading, handing out the assignment and sending students away to do it. A fully-developed reading activity supports students as readers through prereading, while-reading, and post-reading activities.

As you design reading tasks, keep in mind that complete recall of all the information in a text is an unrealistic expectation even for native speakers. Reading activities that are meant to increase communicative competence should be success oriented and build up students' confidence in their reading ability.

Construct the reading activity around a purpose that has significance for the students

Make sure students understand what the purpose for reading is: to get the main idea, obtain specific information, understand most or all of the message, enjoy a story, or decide whether or not to read more. Recognizing the purpose for reading will help students select appropriate reading strategies.

Define the activity's instructional goal and the appropriate type of response

In addition to the main purpose for reading, an activity can also have one or more instructional purposes, such as practicing or reviewing specific grammatical constructions, introducing new vocabulary, or familiarizing students with the typical structure of a certain type of text.

Check the level of difficulty of the text

The factors listed below can help you judge the relative ease or difficulty of a reading text for a particular purpose and a particular group of students.

• How is the information organized? Does the story line, narrative, or instruction conform to familiar expectations? Texts in which the events are presented in natural chronological order, which have an informative title, and which present the information following an obvious organization (main ideas first, details and examples second) are easier to follow.
• How familiar are the students with the topic? Remember that misapplication of background knowledge due to cultural differences can create major comprehension difficulties.
• Does the text contain redundancy? At the lower levels of proficiency, listeners may find short, simple messages easier to process, but students with higher proficiency benefit from the natural redundancy of authentic language.
• Does the text offer visual support to aid in reading comprehension? Visual aids such as photographs, maps, and diagrams help students preview the content of the text, guess the meanings of unknown words, and check comprehension while reading.

Remember that the level of difficulty of a text is not the same as the level of difficulty of a reading task. Students who lack the vocabulary to identify all of the items on a menu can still determine whether the restaurant serves steak and whether they can afford to order one.

Use pre-reading activities to prepare students for reading

The activities you use during pre-reading may serve as preparation in several ways. During pre-reading you may:

• Assess students' background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text
• Give students the background knowledge necessary for comprehension of the text, or activate the existing knowledge that the students possess
• Clarify any cultural information which may be necessary to comprehend the passage
• Make students aware of the type of text they will be reading and the purpose(s) for reading
• Provide opportunities for group or collaborative work and for class discussion activities

Sample pre-reading activities:

• Using the title, subtitles, and divisions within the text to predict content and organization or sequence of information
• Looking at pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs and their captions
• Talking about the author's background, writing style, and usual topics
• Skimming to find the theme or main idea and eliciting related prior knowledge
• Reviewing vocabulary or grammatical structures
• Reading over the comprehension questions to focus attention on finding that information while reading
• Constructing semantic webs (a graphic arrangement of concepts or words showing how they are related)
• Doing guided practice with guessing meaning from context or checking comprehension while reading

Pre-reading activities are most important at lower levels of language proficiency and at earlier stages of reading instruction. As students become more proficient at using reading strategies, you will be able to reduce the amount of guided pre-reading and allow students to do these activities themselves.

Match while-reading activities to the purpose for reading

In while-reading activities, students check their comprehension as they read. The purpose for reading determines the appropriate type and level of comprehension.

• When reading for specific information, students need to ask themselves, have I obtained the information I was looking for?
• When reading for pleasure, students need to ask themselves, Do I understand the story line/sequence of ideas well enough to enjoy reading this?
• When reading for thorough understanding (intensive reading), students need to ask themselves, Do I understand each main idea and how the author supports it? Does what I'm reading agree with my predictions, and, if not, how does it differ? To check comprehension in this situation, students may
• Stop at the end of each section to review and check their predictions, restate the main idea and summarize the section
• Use the comprehension questions as guides to the text, stopping to answer them as they read

Strategies for Developing Reading Skills

                                                                       Teaching Reading

Strategies for Developing Reading Skills

Using Reading Strategies                                

Language instructors are often frustrated by the fact that students do not automatically transfer the strategies they use when reading in their native language to reading in a language they are learning. Instead, they seem to think reading means starting at the beginning and going word by word, stopping to look up every unknown vocabulary item, until they reach the end. When they do this, students are relying exclusively on their linguistic knowledge, a bottom-up strategy. One of the most important functions of the language instructor, then, is to help students move past this idea and use top-down strategies as they do in their native language.

Effective language instructors show students how they can adjust their reading behavior to deal with a variety of situations, types of input, and reading purposes. They help students develop a set of reading strategies and match appropriate strategies to each reading situation.

Strategies that can help students read more quickly and effectively include

• Previewing: reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense of the structure and content of a reading selection
• Predicting: using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about content and vocabulary and check comprehension; using knowledge of the text type and purpose to make predictions about discourse structure; using knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing style, vocabulary, and content
• Skimming and scanning: using a quick survey of the text to get the main idea, identify text structure, confirm or question predictions
• Guessing from context: using prior knowledge of the subject and the ideas in the text as clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up
• Paraphrasing: stopping at the end of a section to check comprehension by restating the information and ideas in the text

Instructors can help students learn when and how to use reading strategies in several ways.

• By modeling the strategies aloud, talking through the processes of previewing, predicting, skimming and scanning, and paraphrasing. This shows students how the strategies work and how much they can know about a text before they begin to read word by word.
• By allowing time in class for group and individual previewing and predicting activities as preparation for in-class or out-of-class reading. Allocating class time to these activities indicates their importance and value.
• By using cloze (fill in the blank) exercises to review vocabulary items. This helps students learn to guess meaning from context.
• By encouraging students to talk about what strategies they think will help them approach a reading assignment, and then talking after reading about what strategies they actually used. This helps students develop flexibility in their choice of strategies.

reading to learn

                                                                Reading to Learn

Reading is an essential part of language instruction at every level because it supports learning in multiple ways.

• Reading to learn the language: Reading material is language input. By giving students a variety of materials to read, instructors provide multiple opportunities for students to absorb vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and discourse structure as they occur in authentic contexts. Students thus gain a more complete picture of the ways in which the elements of the language work together to convey meaning.
• Reading for content information: Students' purpose for reading in their native language is often to obtain information about a subject they are studying, and this purpose can be useful in the language learning classroom as well. Reading for content information in the language classroom gives students both authentic reading material and an authentic purpose for reading.
• Reading for cultural knowledge and awareness: Reading everyday materials that are designed for native speakers can give students insight into the lifestyles and worldviews of the people whose language they are studying. When students have access to newspapers, magazines, and Web sites, they are exposed to culture in all its variety, and monolithic cultural stereotypes begin to break down.

When reading to learn, students need to follow four basic steps:

1. Figure out the purpose for reading. Activate background knowledge of the topic in order to predict or anticipate content and identify appropriate reading strategies.
2. Attend to the parts of the text that are relevant to the identified purpose and ignore the rest. This selectivity enables students to focus on specific items in the input and reduces the amount of information they have to hold in short-term memory.
3. Select strategies that are appropriate to the reading task and use them flexibly and interactively. Students' comprehension improves and their confidence increases when they use top-down and bottom-up skills simultaneously to construct meaning.
4. Check comprehension while reading and when the reading task is completed. Monitoring comprehension helps students detect inconsistencies and comprehension failures, helping them learn to use alternate strategies.