Nurlanbekova Y.K.
Kazakh
state women’s teacher training university
Kazakhstan,
Almaty
Reading comprehension
Reading
comprehension has much in common with listening comprehension, but also some
differences. As is often the case in listening, we usually start reading with
certain expectations: for example, in a newspaper we expect news, and on
certain pages we expect financial news, entertainment news, or sports news. As we read, we try to confirm or identify the precise topic, and each
change of topic. This activates the ideas
we have stored in our mind related to that topic. And that helps us to make
sense of what we then read. On the basis of our expectations, our previous ideas
about the topic, and our knowledge of the language and of texts written in the
language, to some extent we predict what will come next.
We respond to what
we read while and after reading: we may frown or smile, or even cry. Or we may think things like 'That's interesting', or
'Yes, I've heard about that before', or even 'I can't understand much of this'.
One important
difference between reading and listening is that the text in reading is usually
clearly, completely, and permanently on the page in front of us, while in
listening the text is ephemeral and often not clear or complete. This permanence of reading texts has positive and
negative sides, especially for non-native readers. On the positive side, people
can read at their own pace, and reread things they do not understand immediately.
On the
negative side, some people read very slowly, word by word, even in their L1. Many more people do this in a foreign language. In
fact, they often laboriously translate the text word by word. Reading
comprehension in a foreign language is not translation, though translation may
occasionally be useful. And it is not reading aloud. Reading comprehension work
should normally deal with direct comprehension in silent reading. In other words, it
should aim to develop the skills competent readers use in their L1.
Ways of reading
We often read in distinctly different ways
for different purposes. Sometimes we do
preliminary or exploratory reading rather than reading whole texts thoroughly.
This kind of reading can be divided into two types, scanning and skimming. When
scanning a text, you look quickly through it to find some specific information,
for example, looking through a telephone directory for a specific number, a
sports article for the result of a specific soccer game, or a textbook for the
mention of a specific topic. When skimming, you look quickly through a text
just to get a general idea of what it is about, in other words, the gist.
When we read whole
texts we may also read in different ways at different times, depending, for
example, on whether we are reading an easy text for pleasure or a difficult
text for study or work. When reading a
novel, for example, you may hardly be aware of the words on the page. The novel
simply 'comes to life' in your head. Even with study or professional reading
you may also read easily through a text if the text and content is simple or
you are already familiar with the subject. But even in our L1 we sometimes have
to work hard to understand a text. For
example, articles or books on innovative or complex areas of science or
technology may make us painfully aware of how we are struggling to attach
intelligible ideas to the words on the page. Obviously, this happens more often
in a foreign language.
In many English
language courses, reading comprehension work consists only of scanning,
skimming, and 'easy reading'. But you
should not forget that professional people need to be able to deal with more
complex texts as well. For example, doctors, engineers, or chemists need to be
able to understand new, often revolutionary and complex, concepts and
procedures very clearly indeed.
Reading activities
As we have said,
reading has much in common with listening, and many aspects of the teaching of
reading comprehension are similar to the teaching of listening comprehension. For example, the selection of texts is just as
important. They should as far as possible be what the learners might really
want or need to read. Many coursebooks nowadays contain potentially interesting
reading texts. But you still need to be prepared to find alternatives to texts
which are of little interest and are really trying to give practice in grammar
not reading comprehension. If necessary, it is relatively easy to substitute or
supplement the reading material in your coursebook with authentic material from
magazines, newspapers, holiday brochures, and books. You may need to simplify
such material for lower level classes, and you will need to design suitable
activities and exercises. The text is only one element in a reading activity.
As in listening comprehension practice, three
stages are generally recommended to make reading more realistic and
interesting:
Pre-reading
This
stage is to prepare the learners for what they are going to read, just as we
are usually prepared in real life.
While-reading
This
stage is to help the learners understand the text. They may first do an easy
scanning or skimming task, and then a task requiring more thorough
comprehension. As with listening, you should help your learners understand the
text rather than just testing their comprehension the whole time.
Post-reading
This stage is to help the
learners to connect what they have read with their own ideas and experience,
just as we often do in real life, and perhaps to move fluently from reading to
another classroom activity. Summarize the text, either orally or in writing.
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.
Comprehension strategies are conscious plans — sets of steps that good
readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps
students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own
reading comprehension.
Used Literature:
Campbell, C. and H.
Kryszewska. 1992. Learner-based Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nuttal, C. 1996. Teaching
Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Oxford: Heinemann.
Wallace, C. Reading. Oxford:
Oxford University Press. White, G. 1998. Listening. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Williams, E. 1984. Reading in
the Language Classroom. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan.