LHE 3209THE TEACHING OF READING SKILLS IN ESL

NAMA KURSUS : TEACHING OF READING SKILLS(Pengajaran kemahiran membaca)

KOD KURSUS : LHE 3209

KREDIT : 3 (2+1)

JUMLAH JAM PEMBELAJARAN PELAJAR

: 120 jam per semester

PRASYARAT : Tiada

HASIL PEMBELAJARAN

: Pelajar dapat:

1. menghuraikan teori-teori berkaitan dengan pengajaran dan pembelajaran kemahiran membaca dalam pengajaran Bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa kedua (C5, CTPS)

2. membina rancangan pengajaran kemahiran membaca yang efektif (P6)

3. mengamalkan strategi pengajaran dan pembelajaran kemahiran membaca (A5, CS)

4. kebolehan menganalisis dan membuat keputusan dalam penyelesaian masalah berkaitan etika (EM)

SINOPSIS : This course covers the process of reading, reading stages, speech and comprehension, remedial practice, types of reading, types of reading materials, diagnosing students’ reading levels, and enhancing vocabulary development.

(Kursus ini merangkumi proses membaca, peringkat pembacaan, pertuturan dan pemahaman, proses pemulihan, jenis bacaan, jenis bahan bacaan, pemilihan bahan bacaan, mendiagnos tahap pembacaan pelajar, dan mengkayakan pembinaan istilah.)

KANDUNGAN Jam Pembelajaran

Bersemuka

KULIAH : 1. The reading process 2

- Characteristics of reading- Reading for different purposes

2. Reading in the first language- Interactive theory - Schema theory

3

3. Reading in the second language- Factors influencing second language

learning- Linguistic threshold hypothesis- Linguistic interdependence hypothesis

3

4. Designing the reading course- The aims of the reading program- Teaching reading to different levels of

students - The lesson plan

6

5. Text selection- Characteristics of material selection- Readability, content, and flexibility

3

6. Intensive reading - The stages of reading stages - Text based and skill based reading

3

7. Teaching vocabulary skills- Vocabulary acquisition- Techniques in teaching vocabulary

3

8. Questioning- Types of questions- Forms of questions- Levels of questions

2

9. Extensive reading- Principles of extensive reading- The benefits of extensive reading- Setting up an extensive reading program

3

Jumlah 28

Jam Pembelajaran

Bersemuka

AMALI : 1. The reading lesson 6

- General characteristics- Types of reading tasks

2. Instructional objectives- Macro and micro skills- Writing the instructional objectives

9

3. Set induction- Writing the set induction

3

6. Writing the lesson plan- Developing the content of the reading

lesson- Writing the lesson plan

7. Teaching materials and audio-visual aids - Types of teaching materials and AVA- Using teaching materials and AVA

8. Conducting the lesson- Basic considerations- Dicussion and presentation

9

6

9

Jumlah 42

PENILAIAN : Mid term Assigment Finals

35%30% 35%

RUJUKAN : 1. Aebersold, Jo Ann and Field, Mary Lee (1997) From Reader to the Reading Teacher. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2. Carrell, PL & Eisterhold J.C. (ap83) Schema Theory and ESL Reading Pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 17.4, 553-573.

3. Day, RR and Banford (1998) Extensive Reading In the Second Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4. Eskey, DE (1986) Theoretical Foundation. In F. Dubin, ED., Eskey and W. Grabe (Eds) Teaching Second Language Reading for Academic purposes. Reading, Massachusettes.

5. Hudson, T. D. (2007). Teaching second language reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

6. Nuttall, C. (1996) Teachiong Reading Skills in a Foreign Language (2nd) ed. London: Heinemann Educational Books.

7. Stahl, S. A., & Nagy, W. E. (2006). Teaching word meanings. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

8. Thornbury, Scott. (2002) How To Teach Vocabulary. Essex : Longman

The following outline will help you to study and prepare for your course better. There will be a total of three evaluations for the course – a midterm, an assignment and a final exam.

Midterm:The midterm will cover units 1 and two of the module. Besides the module, please read the following:Aebersold and Field – chapters 1 & 2Nuttall - chapters 1 & 2Carrell & Eisterhold articleEskey’s article

The midterm will focus on the following topics.

Characteristics of reading. The physical processes of reading. Sensory store, short-term and long-term memory. READING IN THE L1

Bottom upTop-downInteractiveSchema theory

READING IN THE L2 Factors influencing the L2 readers.

Final exam

The final exam will cover units three, four and five of the module. Besides the module, please read the following:Aebersold and Field – chapters 3,4,5,6,7,9 and 10Nuttall – chapters 3, 9, 10 and11Day and Bamford – chapters 1-13

The final will focus on the following topics.

DESIGNING THE READING COURSE

The aims of the reading program.TEXT SELECTION

Characteristics of the material selection.

INTENSIVE READING Reading stages. Text based VS skill based.

QUESTIONING Types of questions. Levels of questions.

EXTENSIVE READING Principles of extensive reading. The benefits of extensive reading. Setting up the program. Material selection. Community of readers.

AssignmentPlease read: Nuttall chapters 5-7,10,12

Aebersold and Field chapters 3-7Date Due: Hand them in during the mid term exam

You are required to prepare either a text based or a skill based lesson plan comprising a range of activities from pre-reading, while reading to post reading for a mixed ability group of target students (for example form 2 level at SMK Bandar Baru Bangi, Bangi, Selangor DE. ) Your task is to choose a reading text or a reading passage and make sure that the topic and content of the text is suitable for your target learners.

Please use the format given in unit four of the module for your lesson plan and as discussed during the secomd face to face. As you know, there are three stages of reading i.e. pre reading, while reading and post reading. For each stage, you need to design at least an activity. However, for the while reading stage, you need to demonstrate how a specific activity can be adjusted for the three different proficiency levels of language learners i.e. beginner, intermediate and advanced. An example will be shown on the web site. This means you will have a total of 5 sets of activities, 1 for pre, 3 for while, and another 1 for post reading.

You need to create your own activities and they must be suitable to each level of your target students. Please include all the materials – reading text, activities and tasks, worksheets, transparencies etc. into your teaching package

Characteristics of reading

Purposeful

Selective

anticipatory

Active

Interactive

Comprehension

Role of the eyes

- seeing Vs looking

- Seeing is not immediate depends on non-visual and the number of alternatives

fakjkds

Machine

Tremor

Saccade

Fixation masking

Regression

Memory

Sensory store STM LTM

Capacity

Persistence

Retrieval

Input

Theories of reading

2.1 The different models of reading

2.2 .1 Bottom-up models

Paragraph structure Inter-sentential links Sentence structure Clause structure Phrase structure

Words Word structure

Letter-sound relationship Graphemes

Letters Print

Strengths

Limitations

2.2.2 Top-down models

According to Goodman (1971:260) ... reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game. It involves an interaction between thought and language. Efficient reading does not result from precise perception and identification of all elements, but from skill in selecting the fewest,most productive cues necessary to produce guesses which are right for the first time.

Knowledge of the World Subject matter

Topic Knowledge of Discourse structure Language Rhetorical structure

Paragraph structure Inter-sentential links Sentence structure Clause structure Phrase structure Words Word structure Letter-sound relations Graphemes Letters Print

Strength

Limitation

2.2.3 Interactive models

all of the various sources of knowledge, both sensory and non-sensory, come together at one place and the reading process is the product of the simultaneous joint application of all the knowledge sources" (Rumelhart 1977:588).

Schema theory

Schema- prior knowledge

- hierarchically organized from the most general at the top to the most specific at the

bottom

- formal schemata and content schemata

- information gapped against existing schemata and all aspects must be compatible

with the input information

The policeman held up his hand and stopped the car

Superman held up his hand and stopped the car

Touching the car?

Car breaks?

- Clothes?

Nunan 1985 – worked with 2 groups of ss at Adelaide high school

- one group arrived before the term began and the other arrived much later

- the text employed had 2 sections

- Text 1 was linguistically easier but more difficult content

- the other was more difficult linguistically but easier content

- both groups found text 2 easier to read

- content play a bigger role than language

Johnson 1982 – effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension

- subjects were required to read about Halloween

- text has two sections – one with familiar content, the other familiar

- could recall more from familiar section in both the true/false section and written

recall

- could even integrate other information from their own prior knowledge into their

writings

Pritchard (1990)

- American and Palauan

- Read about funeral in the two cultures

- Also found that content schemata influence reading comprehension

- Furthermore, Americans are top-down and Palauan are bottom-up in their use of

strategies

The L2 Reader

Cognitive development

Style orientation

L1 Reading skills

writing system

metacognitive knowledge

content knowledge Over-reliance on decoding skills

Language competency

Different cultural conceptions of reading

Comprehension gap

Lack of Confidence

Formal schemata

Aim of a reading programme

“To enable students to enjoy ( or at least feel comfortable with) reading in the foreign

language, and to read without help unfamiliar authentic texts, at appropriate speed,

silently and with adequate understanding” (Nuttall 1996:31)

Material selection

A. Readability

Fry readability test

1. Choose 3 typical passages of 100 words from the beginning, middle and end of the text.

2. Find the average number of syllables in 100 words. This will be "A".3. Find the average number of sentences in 100 words. This will be "B".4. Plot graphs "A" and "B".

Cloze test

1. Delete every nth. word beginning from the second sentence. Ideally. every fifth to tenth word.

2. Do not delete anything from the first sentence. Readers need this sentence to sample the text.

3. Use synonyms scoring when you mark the test. As long as the answers are similar in meaning, accept them.

4. Frustration < 38% Instruction +/- 45% Independent > 60%

Content

Authentic

Meaningful

Interesting

Cognitively challenging

Moral values

Non text information

Exploitability

Variety

Questioning‘Poor questions defeat even the ablest teacher’

(Nuttall 1996:183)

The purpose of questioning

Questioning vs. testing

Exploiting questions

As asserted by Nuttall (1996:181-182) :Even a challenging question is useless to most of the class if the teacher simply accepts the first correct answer and moves on; it can only help every student tries hard to answer it. We have to make sure this happens, partly by the way we devise and handle questions, partly by showing the learners that reading tasks are opportunities for learning, not tests to be escaped if possible.

Forms of questions

- alternative- yes/no, T/f- mcq- open endede7

Presentation of questions written/spoken language of question

People sometimes maintain that reading the questions is part of the reading task, but this is only partly valid. It is certainly a reading task, but the reading task is making sense of the text itself, and we could argue that anything that distracts from this is unhelpful …

quesioning skills language of responses

Answering teacher’s own questions. Repeating one’s own questions. Get further clarification. Use pauses. Get volunteers. Call on non-volunteers. Discuss inaccurate answers.

language of responses

Levels of questions

Figure 5.8: Levels of questioning in Bloom’s Taxonomya. Knowledge

This is the lowest type of understanding where students are required to recall specific bits of information from the text for instance certain formula, character, facts, observation or definition. The students usually are required to remember, identify or recognized certain information.

Examples:

1. Who escaped from prison on 16th May 1960?2. What are the characteristics of a good question?3. Where did the story take place?

Examples of behavioural terms which you may want to use in your questions are as follows:

List Match Recite Define

comprehension

application

knowledge

analysis

synthesis

evaluation

Levels of thinking

Low

High

Identify Label Recall Name

b. Comprehension

A level higher is comprehension where students are required to explain the main ideas of the text. At this level, students stick solely to what is going on in the text without relating the information to other contexts or materials. The students are required to describe, explain or demonstrate.

Examples:

1. What is the main idea of this chapter?2. What happened to Aminah when she discovered that Rahman was

lying? Describe it.3. The twins are similar to and, at the same time, different form each

other. Can you explain their similarities and differences?

Examples of behavioural terms which you may want to use in your questions are as follows:

Explain Describe Locate Report

c. Application

At this level, students start using their knowledge for other contexts and situations. This level requires students to use concepts, principles or methods learned to solve problems or constructs something new.

Examples:

1. Classify these texts into their different rhetorical organizations.2. The journey from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu is seven hours.

If Zul leaves Kuala Lumpur at 10.00pm on Monday, when will he arrive at Kuala Terengganu?

3. What are the different meanings of the word table?

Examples of behavioural terms which you may want to use in your questions are as follows:

Construct Illustrate Dramatize Apply

d. Analyses

This level requires the learners to analyse the organization of the texts and how language is used to present the meaning. The text is dissected into its constituent elements. to analyse the contribution of each section to the whole. Students are required to find specific supporting evidence to support generalizations, make inferences, identify motives etc.

Examples:

1. “ Ah Seng is a man or courage.” Do you agree with the above statement? Find evidence in the text to support your answer.

2. Now that we’ve read about Frankenstein, what can you conclude about the author’s attitude towards society?

3. As we know, Muthu and Aru hated each other and they were not in talking terms. When the fire broke, why did Muthu run into the burning house to save Aru?

Examples of behavioural terms which you may want to use in your questions are as follows:

Classify Compare Model Diagram Contrast

e. Synthesis

In contrast to analyses, synthesis require the putting together of the parts to form a whole. The text that has been dissected into its constituent elements is now analysed so that the contribution of each section to the whole can be gained. Students are required to solve problems, make predictions and think of implications.

Examples:

1. What do you think would happen if he did have the money to buy the car?

2. Can you suggest a suitable title for the passage?3. How can pollution be overcome?

Examples of behavioural terms which you may want to use in your questions are as follows:

Compose Design Assemble Formulate Manage

f. Evaluation

This is the highest level that involves judging the value of the text, issue or methods based on certain criteria, norms and standards. Readers have to evaluate and make a stand on certain issues. Based on their judgement, they are to express their opinions about certain issues, justify their decisions and defend their stand.

Examples:

1. Do you agree with the author? Justify your answer.

2. In your opinion, does military action against a country a positive step towards the war against terrorism? Discuss.

3. Which option do you like better? Option A or option B?

Examples of behavioural terms which you may want to use in your questions are:

Assess Value Appraise Criticize Generate criteria

5.4.2 Nuttal’s types of questions for reading

In the area of reading, Nuttall (1996) proposed six types of questions-- questions of literal comprehension, reorganization or reinterpretation, inference, evaluation, personal response and on how writers say what they mean. We will discuss each of them.

How the writers say what the

Easy Difficult

Figure 5.9: Nuttal’s 6 types of questions

a. Literal comprehension

This is the easiest type of question as it focuses on the plain meaning of the text. Literal comprehension questions usually require answers which are lifted exactly from the text.

This level requires students to understand the text at the sentence level. These questions are usually employed as preliminary work on a text as they are both direct and explicit. This type of questions is important to ensure students’ general comprehension of the text before more in-depth work can be done.

Examples:

1. Where did the accident take place?2. What is Jenny’s favourite song?3. When did it start to rain?

b. Reorganisation/reinterpretation

Questions at this level require readers to gather information from different parts of the text, organise, and interpret it, or reinterpret literal information. The reader is required to process information above the sentence level.

These questions require readers to work at the paragraph or the passage as a whole for a more comprehensive understanding. The answer should be presented as a unified piece of information.

Examples:

1. What are the different ways of overcoming pollution that was mentioned in the text? Discuss.

Reorganization/ Inference

Literal comprehension

EvaluationPersonal

2. Was Ali in the room when the fire broke?3. How many times was Sofia disappointed by her friend?

c. Inference

Inference requires readers to read between the lines. Readers need to understand what is implied rather than the meaning at the surface level.

Like the previous level, readers need to integrate information from different parts of the texts, but now they need to go a level higher and analyse what it means so that implications and conclusions can be drawn. To do this, readers need to employ not only their linguistic knowledge, but also their intellectual capacity.

Examples:

1. Why was Ah Beng disappointed with his son?2. How does Aminah feel when her long, lost son pretended not to

recognize her?3. What are the similarities and differences between Hang Jebat and Hang

Tuah?

d. Evaluation

This type of questions requires readers to evaluate both the effectiveness of the message, and the effectiveness of the writer. This type of question requires readers to think about the author’s intentions. Readers need to think critically if the writer was effective in presenting the message—was the author prejudice? Is the information bias? Is the evidence given a fact or an opinion? Can one trust the efficacy of the information given?

Examples:

1. According to the author, smoking is bad for health? Do you agree with him? Justify your answer. 2. What is the author’s intention in this passage? List them.

e. Personal Response

This type of question seeks to accommodate students’ prior knowledge. Students are required to reflect on their personal thoughts as a result of what have been read.

This type of question also relies least on the writer or how the writing was presented. It depends on the readers’ personal reaction to the text which is based on what was written.

For instance, they may say that “I am sad,” “I am moved,” “I am so happy,” “I am not convinced” or “I am not changing my mind because of this.” Readers need to understand the text and explain why they react the way they do by citing certain textual evidence.

This type of questions serves as a spin off for other language tasks such as writing. Writing tasks such as creative or expository writing can be integrated into the reading class.

Examples:

1. After reading the text “Life in the year 3000,” would you like to be reborn a 100 years from now?2. How do you feel if you were Heathcliff?3. What do you think of Ahmad’s reaction to Aminah’s wedding?

g. How the writers say what they mean.

This type of question is similar to question type 4. These questions require readers to look at the text organization and analyse how the message is presented. Type four question evaluates the content but type 6 look at the means used to achieve the intended message.

Example:

What is the author’s attitude towards war? Describe it and justify your answer.

This type of questions also requires readers to employ their text attack and word attack skills. These skills will be elaborated in the next units. The skills help to provide guidance for students to handle different kinds of texts, genre and structures.

Examples of these kinds of questions are filling flow chart to follow the author’s organization of a procedural text, a matrix if it’s a descriptive text or using contextual clues to analyse deep structure meanings.

What is the benefit of knowing these types of questions? Knowing the different types of questions helps to develop teachers’ skill at questioning. A range of questions needs to be given so that reading competency can be developed.

Most of the questions in ESL classrooms seem to focus on literal comprehension and reorganization or reinterpretation, and some inference. More of evaluation, personal response and on how writers say what they mean kind of questions need to be asked.

If a balanced of all these levels of questions are utilised, readers will not just understand what is written, they also know why and how it is written. This provides a strong foundation for the development of the critical reader.

Figure 6.4: The purposes of pre-reading activities

Possible activities and tasks

The possible activities and tasks that can be carried out at the pre-reading stage are as in Table 6.1:

Table 6.1 Possible Activities and Tasks for Pre-reading

1. Anticipate content through titles, blurbs, summary, and biographical information of the author.

2. Anticipate through music and sounds3. Anticipate through pictures, illustrations, cover page etc.4. Anticipate through preface and introduction

1. To establish the purpose in reading (e.g. Why am I reading this? What do I want to get from it?)

To develop the students' interest in the reading materialTo preview the text

4. To reflect on what they already know To invoke the appropriate network of schemata To provide the necessary background knowledge

5. Anticipate through the index or the table of contents6. Anticipate through the key words or key ideas in the text7. Anticipate through chapter titles8. Anticipate through headlines, the opening sentence and the

closing sentence9. Anticipate through the title, the first sentence and the first few

words of every paragraph10. Anticipate from the blurb and biographical information11. Semantic mapping12. Match titles and pictures, illustrations, cover page etc.13. Match titles and text or short descriptions of text14. Discussion on what students know about the topic15. Quiz to familiarize students with some of the ideas that will be

dealt with in the text16. Arranging a possible story line.17. Skimming for the gist of the text.18. Scanning for specific information.

Reference: Grellet, 1981; Carter and Long, 1991; and Duff and Maley, 1991.

Examples of pre-reading activities

The following are examples of pre-reading activities:

Example 2:

Objective : To build students’ anticipation about the text.

Instruction:

Answer the following questions:

1) Which farm animal provides us with milk?2) How is chicken useful to us?3) What other ways does this farm animal contribute to us?4) How many types of farm animals can you name?5) What animal can provide us with food like sausage, burger and cheese?6) How can horses help farmers in their daily chores?

Can you solve these riddles?

RIDDLE 1:

I have two tiny little legs,I wake people up early in the morning,

I live on the farm,I also have two wings but I can’t fly very high,Who am I?

RIDDLE 2:

I have four legs,I help my master to plough the paddy field,I have two horns on my head,Sometimes people use my skin to make handbags,Who am I?(Lim: 1999)

6.2.2 While Reading

Figure 6.5: The purposes of while reading activities

Possible activities and tasks

The possible activities and tasks are as in Table 6.2:

Table 6.2 Possible Activities and Tasks for While Reading

1. Self questioning – let students formulate questions on what they would like to find out from the text. This helps to establish the purpose of

1. understand the language and content of the text;2. understand the function of the text (such as giving information, direction, instruction, persuasion etc.);3. understand the function within the text ( request, agreement, apology, greetings, farewell);4. understand the organisation of the text (main ideas vs. supporting details, sequence of events, analogy and contrasts, classification and logical organisation etc.); and5. develop readers who are reflective and flexible.

reading which is an important pre-reading task. Students also need to ask questions on what they do not understand. Identifying their source of difficulty and working out the answers is an important part of comprehension

2. Retelling and paraphrasing – retell and paraphrase certain events from the point of view of different characters

3. Drawing plot progression – plot the progression of events on a graph. This is best for narrative texts.

4. Distinguishing main ideas from supporting details – get students to identify the main ideas of the paragraphs, the section, the chapter and the text as the whole. Students may then identify the supporting details of the main ideas selected.

5. Describing characters, setting etc. – Provide a matrix with names of characters and factors which represents setting and let students fill them up. This can also be done as open ended.

6. Summarizing the text – write the summary for different types of audience. This also helps students to differentiate main points and supporting details

7. Sequencing - cut up certain units (sentences, lines, paragraphs, chapter titles, headings, conclusions etc.) of the text and get the students to arrange it into proper order.

8. Expanding information – expand or add on certain events in the text. Students may also add descriptive interior monologue, authorial comment or grammatical items (adjective, adverbs etc.) to the text.

9. Reconstructing information – delete the punctuation or paragraphing, and get students to reconstruct the original form.

10. Transferring information (maps, tables, graphs, flow charts) – complete / construct / classify diagram, transfer texts information into non-text information such as maps, graphs, tables, sketches of characters, posters, advertisements, book covers etc.

11. Following instructions - make or construct something . This is usually used when reading procedural texts.

12. Changing the beginning, middle or ending – let students explore how this might affect the plot and content of the text.

13. Selecting an appropriate summary – provide different summaries which takes into account different misinterpretations, incomplete main ideas, unnecessary details etc.

14. Matching information – match titles, beginnings, endings, characters and quotations, causes and effects, pros and cons, etc.

15. Catching the mistake – provide information which is inaccurate and students need to produce the correct version. This can also be done orally where one group reads the wrong version and the other corrects it.

16. Role play – get the students to role play certain sections of the text. This also helps to integrate speaking into the reading class

17. Compare and contrast – differentiate fact from opinion, main ideas from details

Reference: Grellet, 1981; Carter and Long, 1991; and Duff and Maley, 1991.

Below are sample activities for while reading:.

Example 1

Objective: To train the students to study the chronological sequence in the text.

Instruction:

Here is a recipe for chocolate cake. However, the instructions are not in the correct order. Can you re-order them?

Chocolate cakeIngredients:500 gram sugar500 gram flour500 gram butter6 eggs2 tea spoon vanilla essence1 cup of cocoa1 bar of cooking chocolate1 cup of water1 tea spoon baking powder

1. While waiting for the butter and sugar to be soft and fluffy, sift the flour which has been added cocoa powder and baking powder.2. Bake for 40 mins. 3. When the butter is soft and fluffy, add the eggs.4. Grease the baking tray.5. Cool the cake before serving.6. Make sure the oven is hot before putting in your baking tray.7. Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.8. After adding all the eggs, sift in the flour into the mixture.9. Add the cocoa powder into the flour.10. Set the oven at 180 degrees F.11. Give it at least 30 seconds between beatings before another egg is added in.12. Pour the mixture into the baking tray.13. After the cocoa powder, add the baking powder into the flour. 14. Make sure, you add one egg at a time.

The right order is ..........................

Example 3

Objective: To develop students’ ability to make comparisons based on the reading text.

Instruction:

Compare and contrast Burger King and McDonald’s by completing the chart below.

Burger King

Characteristics

McDonald’s

Variety of food

Tasks

Specialties

Desserts

Drinks

Price

Condition of the restaurant

Services provided

6.2.3 Post Reading

.

The purposes of post reading activities

1. recall, apply and consolidate what was read;2. gain the overall understanding of the text;3. make a global evaluation of the text;4. evaluate the author's effectiveness in writing;5. compare and contrast writer's values to the values of the reader; and6. detect the author's biases or prejudice.

Figure 6.6: The Purposes of post reading activities

Possible activities and tasks

Activities and tasks appropriate for post reading are as in Table 6.3:

Table 6.3 Possible Activities and Tasks for Post Reading

1. recognising implications2. drawing inferences and conclusions3. making moral judgements4. reassessment and reinterpretations of key issues, events,

themes etc.5. writing dialogues, plays or reports6. summarising overall events in visual and written form7. analysing author's intention and attitude8. recognising author's prejudice and biases9. reviewing and consolidate what was read.

The following are sample activities for post reading:

Example 1

Objective: To train students to recognize implications and make conclusions of the text they read.

Instruction:

Imagine that you have been asked to give a speech on the hazards of pollution.

Now, write a speech. Include the following:

Types of pollution The causes of pollution The consequences What must be done to stop pollution

You may begin your opening lines of a speech like this:

Good morning, teachers and friends. Welcome to the first “Love your nature” meeting of Sekolah Menengah Bukit Kiambang. I feel very honoured to be given this opportunity to address you about pollution.

Example 2

Objective: To train students to summarize a text.

Instruction:

Based on the words given, write a summary of 150 words of the text given.

February ---------- happy --------- friends --------- dinner --------- mother’s best clothes ---------- new --------- lend -------- birthday present ------- make sure -------- impressed -------- wanted -------- return -------- my brother’s knowledge --------- came -------- dinner ------- arrived ------- college ------ joined ------ poured ------- put ------- saucer -------- noticed -------- had used ------ accused ------- stealing ------- tried ------ denied ------ ashamed ----- hide ------ cried ------ father’s arrival ------ timely ------ told ------ silent ------ found ------ problem ------ brought ------ apologized

Example 3

Objectives: 1. To develop students’ ability in making moral judgment2. To develop students’ ability in recognizing the

implications of the text.

Instruction:

Write what you must and what must not do in school, at home and in town to keep the environment clean.

1. In schoolDo’s Don’ts

i. Put rubbish in waste basket Throw paper on the floor

ii.iii.

2. At homeDo’s Don’ts

i. Clean our bedroom Leave the room dirty

ii.iii.

3. In town or cityDo’s Don’ts

i. Keep our river clean Throw rubbish into the riverii.iii.

Example 1

Objective: To build students’ anticipation about the theme of the passage.

Instruction:

Do you know what to do if a fire breaks out in your school? Discuss with your partner next to you. Which of these things should you do and

which should you not do?

Panic and scream Leave the building quickly Leave everything behind Push your classmates Line up in the school field Take your bag and all your books Run and hide under the tables Stay calm Follow your teacher’s instructions Phone home

Reference: Kaur, 2000

Nurul’s lesson plan for reading

Date : 28 April 2007

Time : 40 minutes

School : Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Abdul Rahman Talib,

Jalan Alor Akar, 25000 Kuantan

Location : Semi-urban

Form : 1 Dynamic

Enrolment : 30 students

Level of proficiency : Intermediate

Subject : English Language (Reading)

Topic : What a Wonderful World! (Environment)

Prior knowledge :Students have background knowledge about waste in environment

and the recycling programme.

Curriculum

specifications : 2.1 Obtain information for different purposes by reading material

in print such as article.

2.2 Process information by skimming and scanning for specific

information and ideas, and extracting main ideas and details.

Skill : Reading.

Sub-skills : Classifying, integrating information with students’ prior

knowledge, and transferring media from linear text to non-linear

text.

General objective : To enable students to transfer information from linear text to non-

linear text.

Specific objectives : By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

Pre-reading

# Orally answer 3 questions related the picture of ‘recycle

sign’

While-reading

1. Beginner

# Complete the mind-map with answers given in the text

box with at least 80% accuracy.

2. Intermediate

# Complete the mind-map with the answers given in the

text box with at least 80% accuracy.

3. Advanced

# Complete the mind-map with short answers with at least

80% accuracy.

Post-reading

#Write an article in about 250 about words on ways one

can help

to reduce waste.

Moral values : Love towards nature, responsibility, discipline, cooperation,

tolerance

Teaching materials : Transparency, reading text, worksheets

References : Wee, Doris; Bien, Teo Hwee. (2003). Companion English Form 1

Johor Bahru: Penerbitan Pelangi Sdn. Bhd. Malaysia.

Ministry of Education, Malaysia (2003). Curriculum

Specifications for English, Form 1, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan

Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Stage/ Time Activity/ Content Presentation/ Rationale

Pre- reading

10 minutes

Whole class activity

Aids:

1. Transparency on the

picture of ‘recycle

sign’

(Appendix I)

Questions:

I. Do you know this sign?

II. Where could you find this

sign?

III. What is the significance of

this sign to our

environment?

1. Teacher shows the picture of ‘recycle

sign’ on transparency . (Appendix I)

2. Based on the picture, students are

asked to answer three questions:

3. Teacher responds to students’ answer.

4. Teacher helps students in answering

the questions appropriately.

5. Teacher explains about the importance

of recycling to our environment.

6. Teacher relates this to the topic of the

reading text.

Rationale:

To activate the appropriate network

of schemata for reading the text.

To initiate students’ interest to the

topic of lesson.

While-reading

20 minutes

Individual Activity

Aid:

1. Worksheet 1

(Appendix 11, III, IV,

or V)

1. Teacher gives instructions as follows;

I. Read the text.

II. Complete the worksheet.

a. Beginner (Appendix III)

Complete the mind-map with

the answers given in the text

box.

b. Intermediate (Appendix IV)

Complete the mind-map with

the correct answers given in

the text box.

c. Advanced (Appendix V)

Complete the mind-map with

short answers.

III. Attempt the task in 10 minutes.

IV. Refer to the text to find the

answers if necessary.

V. Compare your answers with your

partner on the left.

2. Teacher asks students for feedback to

ensure that they understand what they

are supposed to do.

3. Teacher distributes the worksheet 1

(Appendix III, IV or V) to students.

4. Students attempt the task.

5. Students compare their answers with

their partner. Teacher discusses the

answers as a class.

Rationale:

To enable students to classify for

different ideas presented in the

text.

To enable students to transfer

information from the text in print to

the non-linear text.

Post-reading

10 minutes

Pair work

Aid:

1. Worksheet 2

(Appendix VI)

1. Teacher gives instructions as follows:

a. Work with a partner on your

left.

b. Write an article about ways you

can help in reducing waste.

c. Use the guidelines to help you

writing.

d. An article should be written

within 250 words.

e. Students can take the task as

homework if they do not

manage to finish it.

2. Teacher asks students for feedback to

ensure that they understand what they

are supposed to do.

3. Teacher distributes Worksheet 2

(Appendix VI) to students.

4. Students attempt the task.

5. Teacher asks students to attempt the

task as homework if they do not

manage to finish it.

Moral of the Lesson:

To instill students’ awareness on the

importance of preserving our environment.

Rationale:

To enable students to apply what

they have learned today.

APPENDIX I

While-reading Activity APPENDIX III1. WORKSHEET 1 (BEGINNER) Complete the mind map below with the information in the text box below.

Ways to Solve the Problems1

……………………….Types of Waste

Damage Caused by Waste2 ……………………….3 ……………………….4 ……………………….

Where It Comes From

Ways to Solve the

Problems1

……………………….Wh

ere It Comes From1

domestic 1

…………………………

…….1 domestic

Damage Caused by Waste2 ……………………….

1 ……………………………………2 ……………………………………3 ……………………………………

WASTE

WASTE

WASTE

3 ……………………….4 ……………………….2 ………………………….3 ………………………….4 ………………………….2 ……………………………….3 ……………………………….2 ………………………….3 ………………………….4 ………………………….

Where It Comes From1

……………………………

….

2 ……………………………….3 ……………………………….

While-reading Activity APPENDIX IV2. WORKSHEET 1 (INTERMEDIATE) Complete the mind map below by choosing the appropriate information in the text box at the bottom. You may not use all of the information provided.

1 ……………………………………2 ……………………………………3 ……………………………………

domestic homes, schools, shops and offices

factories and power station

contamination of rivers

reduce waste

hazardous

use resources more carefully

human

industrial

industry and agriculture

people

poisoning of soils

polluted air

change to the 3Rs ways of living

WASTE

Types of Waste

1 ……………………………………Ways to Solve the Problems1 …………………………………1 domestic IntroductionIntroduce and define the topic.

Body1.Explain the various ways to reduce waste—include the

suggestions given.2.Make sure you give examples and elaborations for each

suggestion.3. Write in complete sentences.

4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12. Conclusion13. Give a general statement about the topic.

Post-reading Activity

APPENDIX VIWORKSHEET 2 (INTERMEDIATE) Write an article in about 250 words about ways you can help in

reducing waste. Include the points below in your article.

buying in bulk reduces household rubbish, for example, fruits

buy second-hand or repair old products, for example car

use and reuse clothes instead of following fashion

Use the guidelines below to help you.

Title: …………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…..

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

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…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

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2 ……………………………………3 ……………………………………2 …………………………………3 …………………………………

Damage Caused by Waste

2 …………………………………3 …………………………………4 …………………………………

While-reading Activity APPENDIX V3. WORKSHEET 1 (ADVANCED) Complete the mind map below with short answers.

While-reading Activity APPENDIX V3. WORKSHEET 1 (ADVANCED) Complete the mind map below with your own words.

Types of Waste

1 ……………………………………2 ……………………………………

domestic homes, schools, shops and offices

factories and power station

contamination of rivers

reduce waste

leftover food and the packaging

and products

hazardous

use resources more carefully

WASTE

human

industrial

chemical, toxic and radioactive

waste

industry and agriculture

people

poisoning of soils

polluted air

change to the 3Rs ways of living

3 ……………………………………

4 ……………………………………

APPENDIX IIRead the passage. Waste is the material remaining at the end of a process, the material that is not used or is

thrown away because it has no further use.

Then main types of waste we produce are domestic, industrial, hazardous and human.

Domestic or household waste comes from our homes, schools, shops and offices and includes

leftover food and the packaging and products we throw away. Industrial waste comes from

factories and power stations and is mainly made up of the waste materials, liquids and gases from

production processes. Hazardous waste includes chemical, toxic and radioactive waste. These

wastes come mainly from industry but also include chemicals used in modern agriculture. These

wastes are both are of special concern because they can be extremely dangerous to both people

and environment. And with the world’s population now over 6 billion people, and still growing,

waste from our own bodies is becoming a problem too.

The problem with waste is that it remains in our environment- we move it from one place to

another, but rarely get rid of it completely. Nature has recycled waste material for millions of years

as part of the global ecosystem, but human population has increased so rapidly during the last

century that the environment is now threatened by our activities and the wastes these activities

produce. This damage can be seen in the contamination of rivers, the poisoning of soils and the

polluted air in many of our towns and cities.

Many scientists believe that if we don’t act soon, both to reduce waste and to use resources

more carefully, the global ecosystem will fail, with the result that many species, including humans,

could become endangered. One of the easiest changes we can make to the way we live is to think

about the three Rs- Reduction, Reuse and Recycling.

Waste, Recycling and Reuse Our Impact On The Planet Rob BowdenWord hazardous - dangerous

extremely - verycontamination - pollution