What and Why?
Similar to listening, speaking and writing, there are two main roles for reading in language learning. The first is as a goal of learning: 'the skill of reading'. The second is as a means of learning: as a way of developing the students language proficiency and educational depth. Secondary aged students need to develop the skill of reading in English. It is through reading that they will most likely come into contact with English, particularly if they go on to higher education or are employed in international work of some kind. But reading as a means of learning is also important. Reading can support their language learning through contextualising and extending vocabulary, creating a mental images of correct spellings, providing models for writing, and by developing a 'feel' for English - especially if they have very few classroom hours. Reading can also be a means for developing their learning beyond just English. Through reading, the students can learn more about the world and come into contact with different ideas. For these reasons, reading needs to be encouraged right from the start. There are a number of ways you can do this.
Practical ideas
- Students may not read very much in their mother tongue so you may need to start by encouraging reading generally. You can do this by asking, perhaps at the start of every lesson, what they have read since the last lesson. This can be anything - a newspaper headline, a story, an advert, in the mother tongue or in English. Gradually, you can suggest that they look for things to read in English which they can tell the class about. In this way, the students can begin to see reading as something of value to share.
- You can encourage extensive reading through readers or short stories. If possible, let the students choose what they want to read. Invite (rather than demand) them to tell other students (perhaps in small groups) what they have read. They don't need to report back on everything they read.
- You can allow time for silent reading in class. Some students may like to read if they finish an exercise early or if they chose to do do it yourself for the decide exercises.
- Encourage students to read other students' creative work such as stories and poems.
- Encourage the students to guess the meaning of words they don't understand. Also, stress that they don't need to understand every word in order to read something.
- Show the students how to use a dictionary so that they can read alone. (At this level, a bilingual dictionary.)
- You can also teach the students other reading skills such as skimming and scanning.
- For further ideas download the document Supporting reading
One common technique is to ask students to read aloud. In CES, this technique is not recommended. Reading aloud is, in fact, a separate skill from reading for comprehension. Students are unlikely to need this skill - unless they become newsreaders! In the classroom, students typically make more mistakes when they read aloud than they do normally (particularly in pronunciation). It also wastes time for the students who have to listen and places the teacher in the role of having to correct the reader all the time. Also, since the emphasis is on production, the main skills involved in reading - guessing words, working out meaning, predicting - are not utilised.
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