HOW  TO  TEACH  READING  
What  is  reading?  
• Reading  is  one  of  the  four  language  skills:  reading,  writing,  listening  and  
speaking.    
• It  is  a  receptive  skill,  like  listening.  This  means  it  involves  responding  to  text,  
rather  than  producing  it.    
• Reading  involves  making  sense  of  written  text.  To  do  this  we  need  to  understand  
the  language  of  the  text  at:  
§  word  level,  
§ sentence  level  or  whole-­‐text  level.  
§  We  also  need  to  connect  the  message  of  the  text  to  our  
knowledge  of  the  world.  
Reasons  for  reading:  
Students  want  to  be  able  to  read  texts  in  English  for  different  reasons:  
§ for  their  careers,    
§ for  study  purposes    
§ or  simply  for  pleasure  
 
The  benefits  of  reading:  
• Reading  is  useful  for  language  acquisition  
• Reading  has  a  positive  effect  on  students’  vocabulary  knowledge,  on  their  
spelling  and  on  their  writing.  (Reading  texts  also  provide  good  models  for  
English  writing.)  
Good  reading  texts  can  introduce  interesting  topics,    stimulate  discussion  …  
 
Different  kinds  of  reading:  
1.  Extensive  reading  refers  to  reading  which  students  do          often  (but  not  exclusively)  
away  from  the  classroom.  They  may  read  novels,  web  pages,  newspapers,  magazines  or  
any  other  reference  material.  Where  possible,  extensive  reading  should  involve  reading  
for  pleasure    -­‐  what  Richard  Day  calls  joyful  reading.    This  is  enhanced  if  students:  
–  have  a  chance  to  choose  what  they  want  to  read,  if  they  are  encouraged  
to  read  by  the  teacher,  
–  and  if  some  opportunity  is  given  for  them  to  share  their  reading  
experiences.    
 
2.  Intensive  reading  refers  to  the  detailed  focus  on  the  construction  of  reading  texts  
which  takes  place  usually  (but  not  always)  in  classrooms.  Teachers  may  ask  students  to  
look  at  extracts  from  magazines,  poems,  Internet  websites,  novels,  newspapers,  plays  
and  a  wide  range  of  other  text  genres  
         Intensive  reading  is  usually  accompanied  by  study    
         activities.  We  may  ask  students  to:    
– work  out  what  kind  of  text  they  are  reading,  tease  out  details  of  meaning,    
– look  at  particular  uses  of  grammar  and  vocabulary,  and  then  use  the  
information  in  the  text  to  move  on  to  other  learning  activities.  We  will  
also  encourage  them  to  reflect  on  different  reading  skills.  
 
Reading  principles:  
Principle  1:  Encourage  students  to  read  as  often  and  as  much  as  possible.  
Principle  2:  Students  need  to  be  engaged    with  what  they  are  reading.  
Principle  3:  Encourage  students  to  respond  to  the  content  of  a  text  (and  explore  their  
feelings  about  it),  not  just  concentrate  on  its  construction.  
Principle  4:  Prediction  is  a  major  factor  in  reading.  
Principle  5:  Match  the  task  to  the  topic  when  using  intensive  reading  texts.  (useful  study  
exploitation)  
Principle  6:  Good  teachers  exploit  reading  texts  to  the  full.  
Bottom-­‐up  and  Top-­‐down  Processing:  
Reader  builds  meaning  from  the  smallest  units  of  meaning  to  achieve  comprehension.  
Top-­‐down  Processing:  
Reader  generates  meaning  by  employing  background  knowledge,  expectations,  
assumptions,  and  questions,  and  reads  to  confirm  these  expectations.  
Interactive  Approach:  
Reader  uses  both  bottom-­‐up  and  top-­‐down  strategies  simultaneously  or  alternately  to  
comprehend  the  text.  
Factors  that  influence  reading  comprehension:  
● The  reader  
● The  text  
● Interaction  between  the  reader  and  the  text:  
o Strategies  
o Schema  
o Purpose  for  reading  
o Manner  of  reading  
Schema  theory  and  background  knowledge:  
The  reader  brings  information,  knowledge,  emotion,  experience,  and  culture  –  that  is,  
schemata  (plural)  –  to  the  printed  word.        
Individuals  have  schemata  for  everything.  Long  before  students  come  to  school,  they  
develop  schemata  (units  of  knowledge)  about  everything  they  experience.  Schemata  
become  theories  about  reality.  These  theories  not  only  affect  the  way  information  is  
interpreted,  thus  affecting  comprehension,  but  also  continue  to  change  as  new  
information  is  received.  
The  choice  of  a  reading  text:  
Christine  Nuttall  (1996)  offered  three  criteria  for  choosing  reading  texts  for  students:  
(1)  suitability  of  content:  material  that  students  will  find  interesting,  enjoyable,  
challenging,  and  appropriate  for  their  goals  in  learning  English;  (2)  exploitability:  a  text  
that  facilitates  the  achievement  of  certain  language  and  content  goals,  that  is  exploitable  
for  instructional  tasks  and  techniques,  and  that  is  integrable  with  other  skills  (listening,  
speaking,  writing);  (3)  readability:  a  text  with  lexical  and  structural  difficulty  that  will  
challenge  students  without  overwhelming  them.  
Reading  sub-­‐skills:  
Reading  also  involves  using  different  reading  skills  (sub-­‐skills).  They  include:  
• Reading  for  specific  information  (Scanning)  
• Reading  for  detail  
• Deducing  meaning  from  context  
• Understanding  text  structure  
• Reading  for  gist  (Skimming)  
• Inferring  
• Predicting  
Our  reasons  for  reading  influence  how  we  read,  i.e.  which  reading  sub-­‐skill  we  use.  
What  are  the  stages  in  a  reading  skills  lesson?  
1. Pre-­‐reading  (Before  reading)  stage:  
• Arouse  interest  and  help  predictions  (use  such  prompts  as  realia,  
visuals,  references  to  your  or  the  students’  experiences,  and  
questions  to  arouse  the  students’  interest,  to  activate  any  
knowledge  they  have  about  the  topic  and  to  help  them  predict    
what  they  are  going  to  read.)  
• Use  any  clues  afforded  by  the  text    layout  and  format  (a  magazine  
article,  a  letter,  a  theater  program,  etc.)  Are  there  any  pictures  
accompanying  the  text  that  can  help  the  students  predict  what  
the  text  is  about?  
• Use  top  down  strategies  
•  Teach  any  key  words.  
• Create  enthusiasm.  
  2.  While-­‐reading  stage:  
• Set  a  task  to  assist  overall  understanding  (this  can  be  in  the  form  
of  two  or  three  gist  questions,  or  a  task)  
• Set  a  task  to  focus  on  more  detailed  understanding  
• Vary  your  tasks.  
• Encourage  students  to  work  together  before  eliciting  their  
responses.  
• Support  comprehension  
• Discuss  problems  
  3.  Post-­‐reading  stage  (Follow-­‐up):  
• Confirm  comprehension  
• Paraphrase/summarize  
• Discuss    
• Extend  knowledge  
• Deepen  understanding    
• Reflect  on  how  the  text  relates  to  the  students’  life  (connect  the  
text  to  their  life)  
References:  
• Jeremy,H.  2007  How  to  teach  English  (Longman)  
• Gower,R.,  Philips,D.  and  Walters,  S.  1995  Teaching  Practice  (Macmillan)  
• Brown,D.  1994  Teaching  by  Principles  (Prentice  Hall  Regents)  
• Thaine,C.  2010  Teacher  Training  Essentials    
• Spratt,  M.,Pulverness,  A.  and  Williams,  M.  (2005)  The  teaching  Knowledge  Test  
Cambridge  University  Press  
• http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gipej/teaparty.pdf    
• https://ibpsych.themantic-­‐education.com/2017/11/29/schema-­‐theory-­‐a-­‐summary/    
• http://www.philseflsupport.com/reading_approaches.htm