Teaching Reading

By
Dr. Mohammed Ghawi
 Basic Concepts
•Silent Reading: Reading done under the close guidance of the teacher for the
purpose of understanding the text as a whole or only part of it. It is often practiced
after key concepts have been introduced or explained and a task has been assigned.
•Reading Aloud: Reading done under the close supervision of the teacher for
checking students' pronunciation, word stress, intonation, and pauses. The teacher
often does the first reading as a model, then students read individually or in pairs.
• Skimming: Glancing rapidly through a text (title, sub-titles, topic sentences,
summaries) to determine its gist or main idea.
•Scanning: Glancing rapidly through a text to search for a specific piece of information
(a name, a date, etc.).
• Predicting: Reading a text quickly and anticipating what is coming based on what
was read and the reader’s previous experience with language and the world.
• Guessing: Readers guess the meaning of unknown words from context
 Definitions

•Reading is the process of extracting meaning from written language.

•Reading is the process of interpreting and/or reconstructing meaning of
written language by utilizing the reader's background knowledge.
• Reading is the process comprehending written discourse as a result of
the interaction between printed text and the reader’s background
knowledge.
 Reasons for Reading
• We read literary works such as stories, novels, and plays for pleasure.
• We read newspapers, magazine, brochures, phone books to learn new information.
 Objective of Teaching
Reading
To enable students to read written material at appropriate speed
and with adequate understanding.
 Reading Models
•Bottom-Up Model: Readers arrive at meaning by decoding written symbols.
According to this model, readers gradually progress in reading: letters, words,
phrases, clauses, sentences, discourse.

•Top-Down Model: Readers arrive at a general understanding of a written text

based on their previous knowledge of language and the world. They make use of
available verbal and non-verbal clues such as titles, sub-titles, pictures, tables,
charts, maps, etc.

•Interactive Model: Readers make use of both written symbols and background
knowledge to arrive at the meaning of a text.
Types of reading
 Extensive Reading
Reading long graded texts such as stories, poems, novels, plays,
magazines, and journals under the guidance of the teacher.
Reading is often done at home for pleasure and for general
knowledge without the direct assistance of the teacher. Students
rarely use a dictionary, but rather rely on guessing the meaning of
new words from context.
 Extensive Reading Tasks
Oral Reports: Students present oral reports about what they have read and
answer any questions asked by their classmates and teacher.
Written Reports: Students write reading reports and reviews about what they
have read.
 Intensive Reading
Reading short texts under the close guidance of the teacher for the
purposes of comprehension, vocabulary learning, grammar mastery,
explanation, pronunciation practice, functional use, and cultural
knowledge.
 Teacher Roles in Intensive
Reading Tasks
• Organizer: The teacher gives students a clear purpose for the reading, assigns a
specific task, and sets time-limit for completing the task.
• Prompter: After doing the reading task, the teacher directs students to pay
attention to text structure and certain features of the text.
• Feedback Planner: After completing each reading task, students compare
answers and share information on what they have read in pairs, groups, or whole
class format.
 Intensive Reading Tasks
•
 Pre-Reading Phase
• Brainstorming: Before students read, the teacher asks them
general questions related to the topic and writes down some
related words, phrases, and structures on the board.
• Predicting: Students predict what they are likely to find in the
text based on headings, pictures, tables, graphs.
• Pre-teaching of key words: Before the reading, the teacher
introduces students to key words they will definitely need to
understand the text well.
 While-Reading Phase
• Skimming: Students read for overall understanding of the text.
• Scanning: Students read for specific information in the text.
• Jigsaw reading: Each student is responsible for reading a
paragraph n the text. In groups, students get together to
answer questions related to the whole text.
• Ordering paragraphs: Students read paragraphs and put them
in the right sequence.
• Inserting missing paragraphs into a text.
 Post Reading Phase
• Answering reading comprehension questions.
• Filling-in forms or charts
• Matching sub-titles with paragraphs
• Matching paragraphs with pictures
• Summarizing the text orally
• Writing a summary, a paraphrase, a new ending, a new title
• Using some new words in sentences
• Answering opinion and personal experience questions
• Doing vocabulary and grammar exercises.
• Acting out a role-play
 Bad Reading Habits
•Sub-vocalizing: murmuring the words you are reading hinders
your understanding
•Finger-pointing: Pointing at every word in the text slows
students down and distracts their attention
•Regression: Moving the eyes backwards to check previous
words interrupts the process of understanding; therefore, the eyes
have to move steadily forwards.
 Types of Questions
•Yes/ No questions
•True/ False questions
•Multiple-Choice questions
•Wh-questions
Thank You