UNIVERSITY MOHAMED I

POLY-DISCIPLINARY FACULTY OF NADOR

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Types of Reading

• Lesson 4
• Profs. Youssef Loumim & Nisrine El Hannach
OBJECTIVES

In this lesson, you will learn:

• The different types of reading.
• Why do we read?
• How to read.
WHAT’S THE READING PROBLEM?
• Decoding words word by word.
• Bottom up reading: Readers relay totally on reading and decoding
words one by one to construct their understanding. This method
doesn’t encourage readers to read longer texts, such as long pages or
books.
• Reliance on intensive reading.
• Intensive reading refers to reading materials for details. It is time and
effort demanding. Intensive reading is not bad, yet it doesn’t create
active and strong readers.
WHAT’S THE READING GOAL?
• To receive new lexis.
• To learn different language structures.
• Verb tenses.
• Prepositions use.
• Words in context.
• Reading fluency.
• New knowledge and Information.
• Problem solving.
• Building speaking and writing fluency.
 TYPES OF READING

• Intensive reading
• Reading fluency
• Extensive reading
 TYPE I: INTENSIVE READING

• Intensive reading refers to reading for details and limited reading goals, such
as answering specific questions to prove understanding. With intensive
reading the focus is usually on vocabulary, grammar, and literal
comprehension.
• It is usually the core of language programs in secondary schools.
• It is teacher-centered.
• Students read with instructions.
 METHODS TO READ INTENSIVELY

• For an effective reading here, the reader needs to go through three

important stages:

1) Pre-reading – 2) Reading – 3) Comprehension check.

 PRE-READING
• Pre-reading entails top down strategies:
• Top down strategies involves techniques like:
1) Making prediction after previewing the text via titles, pictures, sources, or type
of text.
• The advantage of prediction or guessing is that it keeps readers active and helps
them activate related vocabulary.
• Readers should make guesses and write them down to be checked after reading.
• 2) Skimming (Quickly looking over a text and reading a few selected parts to
get an idea of what it contains.)
How to Skim?

Take a quick look at the following:

• Titles and subheadings
• A few sentences from the introduction
• The first lines of some paragraphs
• Proper nouns (names) and numbers (These are easy to spot and generally helpful in
quickly determining what is being discussed.)
• Few sentences from the conclusion.

Skimming should be done within a short-time limit.

READING THE ENTIRE TEXT

• In this phase, readers read for different types of understanding

that encompass vocabulary, grammar, and detailed information.
• Readers have herein ample slots of time compared to the pre-
reading stage.
 COMPREHENSION CHECK
-The goal of an intensive reading lesson is not just to explain what a particular text means but to teach
students how to unravel the mystery of a text for themselves. Students should play an active role in
figuring out each reading passage.

-The reader should respond to comprehension questions and check his/her answers right after. (Literal
comprehension of the reading passage)
- Readers write an outline of the main ideas in the text.
- Readers can ask or be asked profound questions, like the author’s bias, purpose, or tone.
• Bias and stance: Is the author objective or biased?
• Tone: Is the author serious or joking?
• Purpose: Why was this written? Is the author trying
• to entertain? Persuade? Explain? Some combination of these?

(In this case, students move from literal comprehension to evaluating texts)
 TYPE II: READING FLUENCY

• Reading fluency implies that readers need to read with accuracy,

speed, and comprehension.
• There are two approaches to this type: Reading speed and
repeated reading.
 READING SPEED

• The advantage of reading speed is that it enables readers to cover

more material and enhances their comprehension.
• Reading specialists (e.g., Bowen, Madsen, & Hilferty, 1985) suggest that the
minimum effective reading speed is 200 words per minute (WPM), the
average is 250, and the optimum is 400–500.
• Improvement in reading speed tends to be very gradual, so students should
not expect their speed to improve dramatically during a one-semester course.
 STRATEGIES FOR READING SPEED
• Choose passages. Find passages that are short enough to read within any period, easy
enough that you don’t often need to resort to dictionaries, and on topics that would be
interesting the most to you.
• Create a simple comprehension quiz. You should know that speed is not the only goal.
Read general questions on main points so that the focus stays on getting the gist of the text
quickly rather than on comprehension of details.
• Calculate time. Estimate the number of words in the selected passage and have a rough
idea of how long you think it will take to read this passage.
• Work under time pressure. Read the text quickly and restrict yourself to answer all the
comprehension questions within a short time limit.
• Aim for 70% comprehension. Go over the right answers to the comprehension questions
and have yourself mark how many you got right. (Reading effectively)
• Record your scores and time average. Try to improve scores and minimize time gradually.
 BENEFITS OF READING SPEED:

• Increases fluency
• Time-saving
• Takes you to sundry materials
• Works perfectly during time pressure situations
• Effective in short time-bound tests, such as language proficiency tests (IELTS or
TOEFL)
REPEATED READING

• The second approach in reading fluency is repeated reading.

• Repeated reading is exactly what it sounds like: The reader
reads the same passage again and again.
• It improves reading fluency and comprehension, and it develops
reading automaticity. (Reading without difficulty to recognize
words and meanings)
 STRATEGIES FOR REPEATED READING

• Select a text of your interest.

• The text should be no longer than one page.
• If applicable, read simultaneously with a recording of the same text.
 BENEFITS OF REPEATED READING

• It increases fluency .
• It improves pronunciation .
• Readers memorize information and sometimes details .
• It boosts speaking skills .
• Functions as a good rehearsal for a public speaking event .
 TYPE III: EXTENSIVE READING

• Extensive reading simply alludes to reading for pleasure. (Autonomous)

• It occurs when readers read books, magazines, E-articles or newspapers out
of habit rather than a duty or homework.
• It can be conducted with long texts. (quantity emphasis)
• It puts responsibility on students.
• Attention given to student choice over reading material. With students able to
choose what they read, they have more control over the level of the reading
and hopefully are able to find materials they feel motivated to read.
 STRATEGIES FOR EXTENSIVE READING
• Find materials with appropriate difficulty level.
• Design your own library that fits your purposes.
• Be generous with bookstores to feed your mind.
• Exhange books with your friends, classmates, or acquaintances.
• When you read, avoid repeated dictionary use and guess meaning instead.
• Have yourself accountable to share your new knowledge in different settings.
(summary / reporting / discussion etc . . .)
 BENEFITS OF EXTENSIVE READING

• With Extensive reading, readers will naturally continue to develop their

reading fluency, speed, vocabulary, scientific knowledge, and cultural
awareness.
• It is relaxing and optimal to spend recreational time fruitfylly.
 REFERENCE

Snow, D., & Maxi-Ann, C. (2017). More Than a Native Speaker: An Introduction to Teaching English
Abroad. New York: Tesol Press.