Developing Reading
Activities
Developing reading
activities involve more than identifying a text that is "at the right
level," writing a set of comprehension questions for students to answer
after reading, handing out the assignment, and sending students away to do it. A the fully-developed reading activity supports students as readers through
pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading activities.
As you design reading
tasks, keep in mind that complete recall of all the information in a text is an
unrealistic expectations even for native speakers. Reading activities that are
meant to increase communicative competence should be success-oriented and build
up students' confidence in their reading ability.
Construct the reading
activity around a purpose that has significance for the students
Make sure students
understand what the purpose of reading is: to get the main idea, obtain
specific information, understand most or the entire message, enjoy a story, or
decide whether or not to read more. Recognizing the purpose of reading will
help students select appropriate reading strategies.
Define the activity's
instructional goal and the appropriate type of response
In addition to the main purpose of reading, an activity can also have one or more instructional
purposes, such as practicing or reviewing specific grammatical constructions,
introducing new vocabulary, or familiarizing students with the typical
structure of a certain type of text.
Check the level of the text difficulty
The factors listed
below can help you judge the relative ease or difficulty of a reading text for
a particular purpose and a particular group of students.
· How
is the information organized? Does the storyline, narrative, or instruction
conform to familiar expectations? Texts in which the events are presented in natural
chronological order, which have an informative title, and which present the
information following an obvious organization (main ideas first, details, and
examples second) are easier to follow.
· How
familiar are the students with the topic? Remember that misapplication of
background knowledge due to cultural differences can create major comprehension
difficulties.
·
Does the text contain redundancy? At the lower levels of proficiency,
listeners may find short, simple messages easier to process, but students with
higher proficiency benefit from the natural redundancy of authentic language.
·
Does the text offer visual support to aid in reading comprehension?
Visual aids such as photographs, maps, and diagrams help students preview the
content of the text, guess the meanings of unknown words, and check
comprehension while reading.
Remember that the
level of difficulty of a text is not the same as the level of difficulty of a
reading task. Students who lack the vocabulary to identify all of the items on
a menu can still determine whether the restaurant serves steak and whether they
can afford to order one.
“To learn to read is
to light, a fire, every syllable that is spelled out is a spark”
Victor Hugo
