What is reading?

Complete the text using the words in the box:

sentence – knowledge of the world - mean – producing - making sense - letters - receptive

Reading is one of the four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. It is
a …………… skill, like listening. This means it involves responding to text, rather than ………….
it. Very simply we can say that reading involves ………………. 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. Look at this
sentence, for example:

The boy was surprised because the girl was much faster at running than he was.

To understand this sentence, we need to understand what the …………… are, how the letters
join together to make words, what the words ………….. and the grammar of the words and the
…………….. But we also make sense of this sentence by knowing that, generally speaking, girls
do not run as fast as boys. Our …………………….. helps us understand why the boy was surprised.

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Key concepts:
1- Coherence and cohesion
Complete the following sentences:
…………………… is achieved when ideas in a spoken or written text fit together clearly and
smoothly, and so are logical and make sense to the listener or reader.

……………..…… is the way spoken or written texts are joined together with logical grammar or
lexis, e.g. conjunctions (Firstly, secondly), lexical sets, referring words (it, them, this).

Coherence:
What is coherence?
We use the term coherent to describe a text that makes sense because the ideas
in it fit together clearly and logically.

Which text is coherent?

On arriving at the station, come to the booking office to collect your tickets.
London is only 50 minutes away by train! The train is at platform 3 is for
Cambridge. Why not visit our new transport museum.
On arriving at the station, come to the booking office to collect your tickets. Please
remember to bring your online receipt with you or some form of picture ID. Once
you have your tickets, check the departure boards to find out which platform your
train departs from or speak to any of the staff who will be pleased to help you.

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 Cohesive devices

Grammatical Lexical

1- References 1- A ………………. is a group of words with the same topic.

a. References include:  I went to a café and had some coffee.
……………… (he, she, mine, theirs, anyone, etc.)  The audience were very appreciative. The crowd gave
the orchestra a standing ovation at the end of the
……………… (a, the, an, etc.) concert.
……………….. (this, those, these, etc.) 2- ……………………..: using the same style (formal or informal)
throughout the text.
2- Linkers: Example:
- They link clauses, phrases and sentences together and show how
 The patient presented with a ruptured spleen.
they relate to each other.
 He has a consistent bellyache
‘When I arrived, I met Joe and Sue but Sam wasn’t there because she
was ill.”

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 2- Reading Subkills
Reading also involves using different reading skills.
Match the skills with their definitions:

1- scan a. reading or listening to focus on how language is used in a text.

Reading for specific information This is how intensive listening/reading is used in TKT.

2- skim b. To listen to or read a text in order to understand most of what it

Reading for gist says or particular details.
3- inferring attitude, feeling, mood
c. To read a text quickly to get a general idea of what it is about.

d. to think about the topic before you read to imagine what the
4- reading for detail topic will be using clues like headlines or pictures accompanying the
text or their general knowledge about the text type or topic. This
makes it easier for you to understand what you read.

e. understanding how certain types of text generally develop. i.e. a

5- Intensive Reading problem/solution essay will first have the problem. A complaint
letter will have the complaint first.

f. involves learners reading texts for enjoyment and to develop

general reading skills. Learners can be encouraged to read
6- deducing from context
extensively by setting up aclass library, encouraging review writing,
and incorporating reading of books into the syllabus, and dedicating
some class time to quiet reading.
g. To guess the meaning of an unknown word by using the
information in a situation and/or around the word to help, e.g.

7- Predicting I drove my van to the town centre and parked it in the central car
park.

Van must be some kind of vehicle because you drive it and park it.

h. To read a text quickly to pick out specific information, e.g. finding

8- understanding text structure
a phone number in a phone book.

g- to decide how a writer feels about something from the way that
9- Extensive reading
write, rather than from what they openly say.

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3- Reading Activities:
The activities in a reading lesson often follow a particular pattern. Match the
activities to their aims:
1 Introductory activities a- a series of comprehension activities developing different
reading subskills, focusing initially on general then more
2 Main activities detailed comprehension.

3 Post-task activities b- activities asking learners to talk about how the topic of
the text relates to their own lives or to give their opinions on
something in the text. These activities require learners to
use some of the language they have met in the text.

c- activities focusing on the topic of the text, pre-teaching

vocabulary and possibly asking learners to predict the
content of the text.

Examples of each type of reading activities:

1 Introductory activities
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2 Main activities
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3 Post-task activities
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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