READING
DR. HUSNIAH SAHAMID
FACULTY OF EDUCATIONAL STUDIES
UNIVERRSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA
What is reading?
Reading
• What do people do when they read?
• Use previous knowledge, experience, of topic ?
- when trying to understand the meaning of a
passage?
- Only depend on information in text/
Model of Reading
Top down: reader brings
- Prior knowledge , experiences
- predicts, guesses etc
- Confirmation of prediction, guesses
Models of Reading
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Bottom up:
Reader :
Reads words, sentences,
Looks at organisation of text
Knowledge of vocabulary ,syntax,
- to construct meaning of text
Interesting exercise
• Read the paragraph in the following slide.
• Try and figure out what the paragraph is
about.
• Make a note of the startegies that you used to
help you in your task
TOP DOWN: Experience, prior knowledge
comprehension
BOTTOM UP : Words
Sentences
Grammar
Text
What is this writer talking about?
A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is a
better place than a street. At first it is better to run
than to walk. You may have to try several times. It
takes skill, but it is easy to learn. Even young children
can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are
minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain, however,
soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same
thing can also cause problems. One needs a lot of
room. If there are complications, it can be very
peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break
loose, however, you will not get a second chance
• Topic of passage:
Flying a kite!
• Importance of activating prior knowledge
PRELIMINARIES
When selecting a passage:
• Making a decision
• Identifying of text
• Recognizing level of students
• Recognising proficiency of students
• Interests
• Recognising purpose
Purpose of Reading
Recognizing purpose
- help students select reading strategies.
• get the main idea?
• obtain specific information?
• understand most /or all of message?
• enjoy a story?
Instructional purpose
• What is the Objective?
• practicing / reviewing specific grammatical
constructions,
• introducing new vocabulary,
• familiarize with structure of certain type of
text. (narrative, descriptive essays?, report,
poem etc)
Reading Activity
3 stages:
• Pre-reading,
• While-reading,
• Post-reading activities
Texts: Level of difficulty
• How is the information organized?
• Does the:
- story line,
- narrative,
- instruction
conform to familiar expectations?
Selecting Texts
• events presented in natural chronological
order ?
• have an informative title?
• present the information following an obvious
organization?
 First
- main ideas,
 Second - details and examples
easier to follow.
Familiarity
• How familiar are students with topic?
WHY?
• misapplication of background knowledge
• - eg: cultural differences
• can create major comprehension difficulties.
Redundancy
• Does text contain redundancy?
WHY?
- lower levels of proficiency, (LP)
• short, simple messages easier to process
( HP students benefit from natural redundancy
of authentic language)
Visual support
• visual support to aid in reading
comprehension?
eg. photographs, maps, and diagrams?
WHY
• help students preview content of text
• guess meanings of unknown words
• AND check comprehension while reading.
Pre-reading activities
• important at lower levels of language
proficiency
• when more proficient at using reading
strategies
• T can reduce amount of guided pre-reading
• allow students to do activities themselves.
PRE READING ACTIVITIES
What are Pre reading activities
• prepare students before they read
• considerable effect on understanding
• enjoyment of what they read
Why pre-reading activities?
• need a reason/purpose to read.
• activating prior knowledge
• Esp: learner who does not feel completely
confident of his / her ability to read
Purpose of Pre-Reading Activities:
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Motivate, set purposes for reading
Activate, building background knowledge
Relate reading to students’ lives
Pre-teach vocabulary, concepts
direction setting
Text type
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Discuss the text type
Example:
If it is a newspaper article
Spend time discussing facts and opinions
If Magazine…
Predicting
Different types of predicting activities
• Predict based on the title,
• later confirming students’ their guesses
• during the while stages of reading.
Predicting
what the text is about according to
• external text features:
• the picture,
• the title in bold,
• the subtitle,
• the type of the text.
Predicting
• Read first line of beginning paragraph
• and try to predict
• a title or theme.
Brainstorm
• The Questions: When-Where-Who? What
Happens? Why?
• Ask students to relate the phenomenon to
their personal lives,
• provide examples
• activate personal knowledge
KWL graphic organiser
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Students fill in column of :
what they "KNOW"
then ask about "What they "WANT" to know
they fill in what they LEARNED
after they have read the text.
EXAMPLE
• Activating prior knowledge on:
News Consumption Habits
• class discussion / group work.
• Sample beginning questions:
“How do you get the news - from radio, TV,
newspaper, Internet? “
KWL Organiser
• K-W-L is the creation of Donna Ogle
• 3-column chart
• Before, During, and After components of
reading a text selection.
• http://www.readingquest.org/strat/kwl.html
KWL Organiser
• K stands for Know
This is the prior knowledge activation
question.
• W stands for Will or Want
What do I think I will learn about this topic?
What do I want to know about this topic?
• L stands for Learned
What have I learned about this topic?
K
What do I already
know?
W
What do I think I will
learn
L
What have I learnt
During Pre-reading
• may serve as preparation :
• assess students' background knowledge:
- topic, linguistic content of text
• give students background knowledge
• or activate existing knowledge students
possess
• necessary for comprehension of text,
During pre-reading
• Clarify any cultural information which may be
necessary to comprehend the passage
• Make students aware of the type of text they
will be reading and the purpose(s) for reading
• Provide opportunities for group or
collaborative work and for class discussion
activities
Sample pre-reading activities
• Using the title, subtitles, and divisions within the
text to predict content and organization or
sequence of information
• Looking at pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs
and their captions
• Talking about the author's background, writing
style, and usual topics
• Skimming to find the theme or main idea and
eliciting related prior knowledge
• Reviewing vocabulary or grammatical structures
• Reading over the comprehension questions to
focus attention on finding that information while
reading
• Constructing semantic webs (a graphic
arrangement of concepts or words showing how
they are related)
• Doing guided practice with guessing meaning
from context or checking comprehension while
reading
WHILE READING ACTIVITIES
Match while-reading activities to
purpose for reading
• students check comprehension as they read.
• purpose for reading determines
• appropriate type, level of comprehension.
specific information
• When reading for specific information
• students need to ask themselves,
• have I obtained the information I was looking
for?
pleasure/literature-based
• students need to ask themselves
• Do I understand the story line?
• Do I understand sequence of ideas?
intensive reading
• When reading for thorough understanding
(intensive reading),
• students need to ask themselves,
• Do I understand each main idea/central theme
and how the author supports it?
• Does what I'm reading agree with my
predictions, and, if not, how does it differ?
check comprehension
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Stop at end of each section to review
check students predictions,
Restate main idea
and summarize the section
check comprehension
• Use comprehension questions
• as guides to the text,
• stopping to answer them as they read
Rosenblatt (1978, 1991)
aesthetic and efferent
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identified two stances
readers take while reading a text
depending on their purposes for reading:
aesthetic and efferent
aesthetic stance
• in reading a story, poem, or play,
• attention shifts inward
• centers on what is being created during the
actual reading:
• personal feelings, ideas, and attitudes.
efferent stance
• readers’ attention narrows
• build up meanings ,ideas to be retained.
• Rosenblatt : the reader, rather than the text,
dictates stance
• any text can be read either way
• when reading any one text,
• readers shift along a continuum from the
aesthetic to efferent stance.
• Pantomime a scene you choose or the class
calls out to you while up there.
• Dramatic monologue for a character in a
scene: what are they thinking/feeling at that
moment--why?
• Dramatic monologue for a character while
they are out of the book: where are they?
why? thinking?
• Business Card Book: write the story in the
most compelling way you can on paper the size
of a business card.
• Collage: create an individual or class collage
around themes or characters in the book.
Haiku/Limerick: create one about a character.
• Cliffs Notes: have each student take a chapter
and, using Cliffs' format, create their own.
• Roundtable: give students a chance to talk
about what intrigues, bothers, confuses them
about the book.
• Silent Roundtable: the only rule is the teacher
cannot say anything during the period allotted
for class discussion of book.
• Silent Conversation: a student writes about a
story on paper; then passes it to another who
responds to what they said; each subsequent
respondent "talks" to/about all those before.
• Fishbowl: impromptu or scheduled, 2-4 students
sit in middle of circle and talk about a text; the
class makes observations about the conversation
then rotate into the circle.
• Make Your Own Test: have students create their
own test or essay questions about the text; this
allows them to simultaneously think about the
story and prepare for the test on it.
• Recasting the Text: students rewrite a poem as a
story, a short story as a poem or play. All rewrites
should then be read and discussed so as to
understand how the different genre work.
• Debates: students reading controversial texts
or novels with debatable subjects such as
1984 should debate the issues.
• Literature Circles: students gather in groups
to discuss the text and then report out to the
class for full-class discussion.
http://www.englishcompanion.com/assignment
s/reading/103readingactivities.htm
• Postcard: write to a friend about this book; to
the author; to a character in the book; write as
if you were the character or author and write
to yourself.
• Mapmaker: draw a map of the book's setting
• Moviemaker: write a one page "pitch" to a
producer explaining why the story would or
would not make a great movie.
• Trailer: movie previews always offer a quick
sequence of the best moments that make us
want to watch it; storyboard or narrate the
scenes for your trailer. Focus on verbs.
• Billboard: as in the movies, take what seems
the most compelling image(s) and create an
ad.
• Adjective-itis: pick five adjectives for the book
or character(s), and explain how they apply.