What is reading?
Reading is the process of looking at written symbols in order to get meaning from them. When
we read, we use our eyes to receive written symbols and our brain to convert them into words,
sentences and paragraphs. Reading can be silent or aloud.
It is the skill of purposeful looking over, reading, and evaluation of the text to understand
concepts, ideas, words and phrases expressed in written texts. Reading is not a passive skill of
just decoding what is encoded; readers predict what is to come next. They highlight some parts
selectively while some parts are skipped. They make some hypotheses which can be accepted,
rejected or reformulated. To get the message conveyed, readers use their background knowledge
of the world and the context and the author. Therefore, reading comprehension of a text is a
continuous activity depending on pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities
(Duke and Pearson, 2002).
Speed reading: Skimming and scanning as two different strategies of speed reading used for
different purposes. Readers do not read every single word; they read to get the information they
need fast without wasting time (Beale, 2013)
Why do we read?
Reading comprehension is a necessary skill in our daily and academic life in L1. It can be
entertaining and instructional. It is a tool of opening up new worlds and enriching our
knowledge. It can improve hand-eye co-ordination and social skills. Regarding reading in a
foreign language, it has some additional important advantages helping readers to learn L2 faster
and more completely.
Reading skills can also help university students to achieve their academic goals easier and faster.
They can get better grades since they can get the message of their textbooks better.
What do we read?
There are different instructional materials to use in order to improve reading skills:

books

newspapers
 online news articles
 online blogs about interesting topics
 letters
 short stories
 poetry
 advertisements and brochures
There are a large number of reading comprehension strategies applied before, while and after
reading that are appropriate for university students to apply in order to become professional
readers of different texts.
There are some pre-reading tasks applied in English classes before reading the text. They help
readers to read efficiently; they prepare learners for the reading activity by anticipating the text.
Getting familiar with the grammatical structures, vocabulary and language of the text, they are
motivated to read more (Millington, 2016).
In Pre-reading tasks, readers should read unit title and subtitles, glossary, focus or guiding
questions. They should also take part in class discussion, brain storming, storytelling and video
watching before reading the passage. Regarding these, some classroom tasks are designed.
Brain Storming as an effective tool in reading comprehension activates readers to
generate different ideas based on their background knowledge. The goal is to raise the
readers’ expectation about what the passage is about.
Glossary as the alphabetical list of words or a brief dictionary of words of a text can
facilitate the text comprehension.
Visual aids are graphs, diagrams, maps and pictures that can prepare learners to get
the message while leading their minds towards the main idea of the text.
Making Predictions can be done by combining TWO things: 1- clues the author leaves
for the reader, such as the words, pictures or text features and 2- what they know as
schema.
Task 1:
A Long and Healthy Life?
Pre-reading Activities for
Intermediate Students
Before reading this text, please look at the title
and picture. You have 5 minutes to recall
related ideas you've learned in the past. Write
brief notes about your thoughts. Share your
ideas with your classmates.
A baby born today could live to be not only 100, but even 120 years old. Hard to believe?
Apparently, there could be a gene for not only long life, but long and healthy life.
Even today, there are many, many people who have passed the landmark age of 100 – an age that
seemed an impossible achievement only a few decades ago. In fact, there are now so many
healthy, elderly people that a new term has been coined: the wellderly. These are people over the
age of 80 who have no chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, coronary disease or diabetes
and who have never taken medication for these conditions.
The small village of Molochio in Calabria numbers about 2,000 inhabitants. And of these, there
are at least eight centenarians. When researchers ask people like this what the secret of their long
life is, the answer is invariably to do with diet and is almost always the same: ‘I eat a lot of fruit
and vegetables.’ ‘A little bit, but of everything.’ ‘No smoking, no drinking.’
New research into long life, looking at groups of people who have a genetic connection, has
taken scientists to Ecuador. In one small region there are a number of people with a genetic
condition called Laron syndrome. The main effect of this condition is to restrict the individual’s
growth to little more than a metre, but it also seems to protect them against both cancer and
diabetes. Ultimately, those with Laron’s syndrome live longer than the rest of their families.
Meanwhile, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, there’s a completely separate group of JapaneseAmerican men who are particularly long-lived. And it turns out that they have a variant of the
same gene as the Laron syndrome group.
So what really makes people live longer? It seems likely that it is an interaction of genes, the
environment and ultimately a third factor beyond our control – luck.
My Prediction
My Justification
Skimming as a pre-reading systematic strategy is searching only for the general or main
idea. It works best with non-fiction (or factual) material. What parts of the text do you
read and what parts do you leave out? You can begin to read the first sentence of each
paragraph called topic sentences giving you the main idea of the paragraph. Continue to
read only topic sentences skipping the rest of the paragraph until you are near the end.
Task 2:
Pre-reading Activities for Intermediate Students
Skim the following paragraph quickly and write its main idea in a sentence.
You have 5 minutes.
Once, the traditional British holiday was a week at the seaside – either in the UK or somewhere with
more reliable weather like the Mediterranean. But recently, holidaymakers have been looking for a
different holiday experience. Perhaps inspired by wildlife documentaries on television, tourists have
been flocking to places like Kenya and South Africa for safaris and bush camp holidays. Interest in
China has been growing too. About half a million UK tourists have visited China on cultural tours
since the 2008 Olympic Games. Meanwhile, tour companies have been promoting the traditional
package holiday with a new twist to attract more customers – but with mixed results. One holiday
operator has filled all the places on its spa holidays in Spain for this season, but they have sold only
half of their available luxury breaks in Egypt.
Main idea:...................................................................................................................................
Task 3: Pre-reading Activities for Intermediate Students.
Skim the following paragraph quickly and write its main idea in a sentence.
You have 3 minutes.
When competitors in sport are equally matched, the team dressed in red is more likely to win.
According to a new study, when a competitor is equally matched with an opponent in fitness and skill,
the athlete wearing red is more likely to win.
Meanwhile, what about those athletes who win in their events while wearing red? Do their clothes give
them an unintentional advantage? Robert Barton accepts that ‘that is the implication’ of their findings.
Is it time for sports authorities to consider new regulations on sports clothing?
Main idea:..............................................................................................
While-reading activities
After completing pre-reading activities, it's time to actually read the text. It encompasses reader’s
interaction with the text and monitoring his/her comprehension, paying attention to complex points.
knowing the structure of the texts is vital for readers to know the relationship between different
elements and receive the intended meaning of the text.
Reading out loud: like children reading out loud when they first start reading,
foreign language readers can read loudly in order to listen to their English voice.
Task 4: While -reading Activities for Intermediate
Students
Read the following text loudly in your class
Eid al Fitr
Eid al-Fitr is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of
Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (sawm). Eid is an
Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "to break
fast"; and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the
fasting period. It is celebrated after the end of the Islamic
month of Ramadan, on the first day of Shawwal.
Eid al-Fitr is sometimes also known as the "Smaller Eid" as
compared to the Eid al-Adha that lasts three days following
the Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) and is casually referred to
as the "Greater Eid"
At the end of Ramadan every Muslim is required to pay Zakat al-Fitr (a special fast breaking
alm) as a token of thankfulness to God for having enabled him or her to observe the obligatory
fast.
Typically, on the day of the al eid Muslims generally greet each other have a small breakfast
before attending a special Eid prayer that is performed in congregation at mosques or open areas
like fields, squares etc. Muslims are encouraged to dress in their best clothes (new if possible) for
the occasion.
Silent Reading as a while-reading activity asks students to read the text paragraph by paragraph
to answer the guiding questions asked by teachers.
Task 5: While -reading Activities for Intermediate
Students
Read the paragraph silently (5 minutes) and answer the question.
Guiding question 1: What is segregation?
Through most of America’s history, African-Americans have enjoyed less rights and freedoms
than White Americans. In the 1900’s, a practice called “segregation” was common in America,
particularly in the Southern United States. Segregation simply means “separation.” Schools,
restaurants, bathrooms, and even public buses were segregated. African-Americans went to
different schools, ate at different restaurants, went to different bathrooms, and were forced to
obey rules on buses that required them to give up their seats for White passengers. “Separate but
Equal,” were the words that justified segregation, but of course, “separate but equal” really
meant that the White Americans would have many advantages over African-Americans.
Scanning as the next useful tool of fast reading is
searching for a specific piece of information in the text
without reading every word. It is used to discover some
specific information to complete a given task like what to
watch on TV or which museum to visit. Scanning can be
used to scan for the appropriate answer of some whquestions. It can be used to complete tasks in language
teaching classes.
Task 6: While -reading Activities for Intermediate
Students
Look for answers in the text. It is not necessary to read the whole
text.
1. In the first paragraph, what does them refer to?
2. In the first paragraph, what does they refer to?
3. In the second paragraph, what does them refer to?
4. In the second paragraph, what does us refer to?
5. In the second paragraph, what does who refer to?
6. In the third paragraph, what does them refer to?
7. In the fourth paragraph, what does these refer to?
8. In the fifth paragraph, what does it refer to?
9. In the sixth paragraph, what does their refer to?
10. In the sixth paragraph, what does these refer to
11. In the last paragraph, what does them refer to?
12. In the last paragraph, what does it refer to?
Paraphrasing as a while-reading strategy is readers’ restating the difficult sentence in their
own words. Paraphrasing acts as a kind of comprehension check. If the reader can
paraphrase the sentence, it means that reading comprehension occurred. Readers can
paraphrase words, phrases, or sentences.
Task 7: While-reading Activities for Intermediate
Students
Read the passage carefully and paraphrase the sentences in your
own words.
Mother's Day
The modern Mother's Day is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most
commonly in March, April, or May as a day to honor mothers and motherhood. In the UK and
Ireland, it follows the old traditions of Mothering Sunday, celebrated in March/April.
Historically, the celebration has it origin in ancient customs and traditions. The ancient Greeks
kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. The ancient Romans also had another
holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno (an ancient Roman goddess), though mothers
were usually given gifts on this day. In Europe there were several long standing traditions where
a specific Sunday was set aside to honor motherhood and mothers such as Mothering Sunday
which is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe that falls on the 4th Sunday in Lent.
One of the early calls to celebrate Mother's Day in the United States was the "Mother's Day
Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe. Written in 1870, the Proclamation was tied to Howe's
feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.
Today the holiday has become very popular around the world. People take the day as an
opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers and thank them for all their love and support. There is
also a tradition of gifting flowers, cards and other gift to mothers on the occasion.
1. The modern Mother's Day is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world,
most commonly in March, April, or May as a day to honor mothers and motherhood.
paraphrased as…………………………………………………………………………………
2. People take the day as an opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers and thank them for
all their love and support.
paraphrased as …………………………………………………………………………………
3. In Europe there were several long standing traditions where a specific Sunday was set
aside to honor motherhood and mothers.
Paraphrased as …………………………………………………………………………………
Answering literal and inferential questions
As the next while-reading activities, readers should be able to answer different questions.
Literal questions refer to what the text says and inferential questions are answered by
using the text as a starting point to get a deeper meaning.
Questions are effective because they give them a purpose for reading, help them to focus on
what they are to learn, help them to test their comprehension and relate what they have
learned to what they already know.
Task 8: While -reading Activities for Intermediate
Students
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions.
Today, millions of people want to learn or improve their English but it is difficult to find the best
method. Is it better to study in Britain or America or to study in your own country?
The advantages of going to Britain seem obvious. Firstly, you will be able to listen to the
language all the time you are in the country. You will be surrounded completely by the language
wherever you go. Another advantage is that you have to speak the language if you are with other
people. In Italy, it is always possible, in the class, to speak Italian if you want to and the learning
is slower.
On the other hand, there are also advantages to staying at home to study. You don't have to make
big changes to your life. As well as this, it is also a lot cheaper than going to Britain but it is
never possible to achieve the results of living in the UK. If you have a good teacher in Italy, I
think you can learn in a more concentrated way than being in Britain without going to a school.
So, in conclusion, I think that if you have enough time and enough money, the best choice is to
spend some time in the UK. This is simply not possible for most people, so being here in Italy is
the only viable option. The most important thing to do in this situation is to maximize your
opportunities: to speak only English in class and to try to use English whenever possible outside
the class.
1. What is the article about?
2. What is the advantage of going to the UK to learn English?
3. What is the advantage of staying in your country to learn English?
4. According to the text, how can you improve your English?
Guessing meaning from context: Readers can rely on context to infer the
meaning of new words.
Task 9: While -reading Activities for Intermediate
Students
Look at the reading below. Some of the words are bold. Try to guess
their meaning from the sentence it is in, or sentences around it, and
from the topic of the paragraph. It is not necessary to tell the exact
meaning
The endangered Species: Polar Bear Makes the List
In spring 2008, the polar bear was placed on the endangered species
list. According to the USA's Endangered Species Act, an endangered
species is an animal, plant or any other kind of wildlife that is likely
to face extinction in its natural habitat. Polar bears had already been
categorized as a "threatened" species which the ESA defines as one
that is likely to become "endangered" in the foreseeable future.
The polar bear's habitat is more vulnerable to global warming than many other species. Polar
bears live mainly on the sea ice in the Arctic. This is where they hunt for fish and build up fat
reserves. When the ice melts many polar bears move to land and live off their stored fat. In the
Arctic, global warming is causing the ice to melt slightly earlier and form slightly later. This
results in a shorter feeding season for the polar bear. Some risk their lives to find ice. If they
have to swim too far they will drown from exhaustion and hunger. The World Wildlife Fund
estimates that over 25% of Arctic sea ice has disappeared in the past 30 years.
It is important that animals such as the polar bear make it onto the endangered species list. Once
they are on the list there are laws that protect these animals from being hunted for food or sport.
Agencies also receive money and tools to protect the habitat and recover the species. The goal
of removing the animal from the list is often achievable. Since the Endangered Species Act was
introduced in the US in 1973, many species have been taken off the list due to increased
populations. In fact, it is rare for a species to go extinct after they make the list. Sadly, many
species do go extinct while waiting for consideration.
1. What does endangered species mean?
2. What does extinction mean?
3. What does habitat mean?
4. What does vulnerable mean?
5. What does risk mean?
6. What does protect mean?
Post-reading activities
They help readers to critically analyzing what they have read in order to understand texts better.
Wrap Up strategy
Students brainstorm a number of possible questions. They should write them in under
Questions about the important ideas in the passage.
Task 10: Post-reading Activities for Intermediate
Students
Read the passage carefully and write 5 questions. Ask your
questions in your group and answer them.
The hardest language
People often ask which language is the most difficult to learn, and it is not easy to answer
because there are many factors to take into consideration. Firstly, in a first language the
differences are unimportant as people learn their mother tongue naturally, so the question of how
hard a language is to learn is only relevant when learning a second language.
A native speaker of Spanish, for example, will find Portuguese much easier to learn than a native
speaker of Chinese, for example, because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, while Chinese is
very different, so first language can affect learning a second language. The greater the
differences between the second language and our first, the harder it will be for most people to
learn. Many people answer that Chinese is the hardest language to learn, possibly influenced by
the thought of learning the Chinese writing system, and the pronunciation of Chinese does
appear to be very difficult for many foreign learners. However, for Japanese speakers, who
already use Chinese characters in their own language, learning writing will be less difficult than
for speakers of languages using the Roman alphabet.
No language is easy to learn well, though languages which are related to our first language are
easier. Learning a completely different writing system is a huge challenge, but that does not
necessarily make a language more difficult than another. In the end, it is impossible to say that
there is one language that is the most difficult language in the world.
Question 1……………………………………………………?
Question 2. …………………………………….…….…..…..?
Question 3. ………………………………………….….…...?
Question 4. ………………………………………….…..….?
Question 5. ………………………………………….……...?
Task 11: Post -reading Activities for Intermediate
Students
Read the passage carefully and write 5 questions. Ask your questions in
your group and answer them.
Active villagers
Residents of a small Welsh-speaking community have clubbed together to buy the post office
and shop, ten years after buying the pub.
The people of Llithfaen, Caernarfonshire were determined to prevent their village losing its focal
point. Ten years ago they paid £40,000 for the pub, called the Victoria, and now they have
helped to keep the shop open. Most of the cost, £19,500, was met by the local council and a
European Union grant, but the villagers needed to raise a further £6,000 to buy the shop from the
owner who is retiring.
John Jones, chairman of the community committee, said: “We went around every house and
came back with £500 more than we needed. The post office and the pub are essential to the life
of the village. There are no other amenities.
“We were not prepared to stand by and let the heart and soul be ripped out of our community. No
one else was going to help us so we decided to buy them ourselves.” Llithfaen had a population
of 600 but that halved when nearby granite quarries were closed. The primary school was shut
because of the population decline but the locals turned it into a leisure centre and youth club.
The shop has been leased to Fion Medi Llywelyn, 24, who lives in the village with her husband,
Dillon. She said: “There is a wonderful community spirit here.”
Question 1……………………………………………………………?
Question 2. …………………………………………………………..?
Question 3. ………………………………………………………….?
Question 4. ………………………………………………………….?
Question 5. ………………………………………………………….?
Graphic organizer as a post-reading activity involves a one-page form with blank areas for
learners to complete with ideas and information related to the text .it is a kind of sorting
information or organizing details in a systematic or chart form.
Task 12: Post -reading Activities for Intermediate
Students.
Read the passage carefully and do Events chain task
First
Second
Thirth
Figure 1. Events Chain Task
Summarization as a post-reading activity is asking readers to summarize what they read in
the text to represent their overall comprehension of the text. Readers determine the
important ideas of the text and synthesize them in order to make a new brief text (Duke and
Pearson, 2002).
Task 13: Post -reading Activities for Intermediate Students
Read the passage carefully and summarize it in 5 sentences.
When another old cave is discovered in the south of France, it is not usually news. Rather, it is an
ordinary event. Such discoveries are so frequent these days that hardly anybody pays heed to them.
However, when the Lascaux cave complex was discovered in 1940, the world was amazed. Painted
directly on its walls were hundreds of scenes showing how people lived thousands of years ago.
The scenes show people hunting animals, such as bison or wild cats. Other images depict birds and,
most noticeably, horses, which appear in more than 300 wall images, by far outnumbering all other
animals. Early artists drawing these animals accomplished a monumental and difficult task. They
did not limit themselves to the easily accessible walls but carried their painting materials to spaces
that required climbing steep walls or crawling into narrow passages in the Lascaux complex.
Unfortunately, the paintings have been exposed to the destructive action of water and temperature
changes, which easily wear the images away. Because the Lascaux caves have many entrances, air
movement has also damaged the images inside. Although they are not out in the open air, where
natural light would have destroyed them long ago, many of the images have deteriorated and are
barely recognizable. To prevent further damage, the site was closed to tourists in 1963, 23 years
after it was discovered.
Summary:……………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Task 14: Post -reading Activities for Intermediate Students
The sentences A-E below have been placed in a random order. Put them in
the correct order.
A: When this bank was founded in 1695, Scots coinage was in short supply and of uncertain
value, compared with English, Dutch, Flemish or French coin.
B: In most countries it is only the government, through their central banks, who are permitted to
issue currency.
C: To face growth of trade it was deemed necessary to remedy this lack of an adequate currency.
D: But in Scotland three banks are still allowed to issue banknotes.
E: The first Scottish bank to do this was the Bank of Scotland.
1………2………3………4………5……..
Reading comprehension
self-assessment
Task 15: Put a tick next to the options to see your reading skills.
1. I can identify details about a specific topic or idea within a text. Yes/No
2. I can identify the main idea of a text. Yes/No
3. I can identify details that support the main idea. Yes/No
4. I can identify sequence signal words. Yes/No
5. I can write a summary in my own words. Yes/No
6. I can identify problems and attempted solutions in texts. Yes/No
7. I can identify cause/effect signal words. Yes/No
8. I can identify compare/contrast signal words. Yes/No
9. I can identify clues that hint at unstated ideas or information. Yes/No
10. I can consider prior knowledge about a topic. Yes/No
11. I can combine text clues with my own knowledge and experience to
reach a new understanding. Yes/No
References
Beale, A. M. (2013). Skimming and scanning: Two important strategies for speeding up your
reading. Retrived from http://www. howtolearn. com/2013/02/skimming-and-scanning-twoimportant-strategies-for-speeding-up-your-reading.
Duke, N. K., & Pearson, P. D. (2009). Effective practices for developing reading comprehension.
Journal of education, 189(1-2), 107-122.
Millington, N. (2016). 10 Pre-reading activities. How to teach. Teaching resources. EFL
magazines.
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