Methods of Teaching Reading to Learners

THE MINISTRY OF HIGHER AND SECONDARY SPECIAL EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

 

THE UZBEK STATE WORLD LANGUAGES UNIVERSITY

 

METHODOLOGY OF LANGUAGE TEACHING DEPARTMENT

 

 

Sharipova Gulnora Rajabboy qizi

 

II- ENGLISH PHILOLOGY FACULTY GROUP 405b

 

Qualification paper

 

METHODS OF TEACHING ENGLISH WITH

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES

 

 

5220100 – Philology (The English language) for granting

the bachelor’s degree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“THE QUALIFICATION PAPER IS ADMITTED TO DEFENSE” The head of the methodology of language teaching department Akhmedova L.T.(Ph.D) __________________________ “___” ____________________2012

Scientific supervisor: senior teacher  F.Azizova   __________________________ “___” ____________________2012

 

Tashkent - 2012

 

                                                                                      

CONTENTS

 

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………..3

CHAPTER I. THEORETICAL BASIS OF TEACHING READING

          1.1. Approaches to teaching reading skills ……………………………..

1.2. Main methods of teaching foreign language………………………..

CHAPTER II. READING AS AN AIM AND A MEANS OF TEACHING       AND LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

2.1 The content of teaching reading. …………………..……………….. 27

2.2. Some difficulties pupils have in learning to read in the English language. ………………………………..……………………………………..34

2.3. How to teach reading…...……………………………………………..38

CHAPTER III. OVERCOMING THE SCARCITY AT THE TEACHING READING

3.1. Methods of Teaching Reading to Learners

3.2. Approaches to Correcting Mistakes………………………………….41

3.2. Practical works for the 6th form at school……..50

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………63

THE LIST OF USED LITERATURE……………………………………..67

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I N T R O D U C T I O N

This qualification paper is dedicated to the problem of teaching reading at the 6th form stylistics, especially to the types of methods of teaching foreign language.

The subject of the qualification work is to develop the usage of methods of teaching reading in our educational system.

 The object of the qualification paper is to study main methods of teaching reading and also the useful sides of these methods for the young pupils.

The actuality of the qualification paper is determined teaching reading with the help of exercises at the 6 form. 

The aim of our qualification paper is to looking through the methods of teaching reading for pupils.

The tasks of our research are the followings:

• To analyze the theoretical literature
• To analyze the programmes and textbooks
• To analyze the main methods of teaching foreign language
• To study some difficulties pupils have in learning to read in the English language.
• To introduce methods of Teaching Reading to Learners
• To study the approaches for Correcting Mistakes

The actuality of our research is that the teaching reading through exercises at 6th form

The novelty of our research is that at the first time doing the analysis is teaching reading thoroughly.

The hypothesis of our research is that the methods of teaching reading are effectual for teaching foreign languages at schools.

The methods of investigation are:

• Sociologic-pedagogical method
• Test
• Experiment

The theoretical significance of the work is that the results of the scientific work can be used in the course of lectures from methodology and also can be useful for those who study in the sphere of linguistics.

Practical value of the work is the exercises which can be used during the seminar on methodology of teaching English language and practical lessons.

The structure of the research paper consists of introduction, three chapters, conclusion and bibliography.

The first chapter is devoted to the study of investigation of theoretical basis of teaching reading of the English language.

The second chapter is devoted to investigation of aim and a means of teaching and learning a foreign language.

The third chapter is devoted to investigation practical basis of teaching reading.

In conclusion the basic results of investigation are submitted and at the end of the list of used literature. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I. THEORETICAL BASIS OF TEACHING READING

1.1. Approaches to teaching reading skills

Reading is about understanding written texts. It is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought. Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition and comprehension. Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving how written symbols correspond to one’s spoken language. Comprehension is the process of making sense of words, sentences and connected text. Readers typically make use of background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, experience with text and other strategies to help them understand written text.

Reading skills are the cognitive processes that a reader uses in making sense of a text. For fluent readers, most of the reading skills are employed unconsciously and automatically. When confronted with a challenging text, fluent readers apply these skills consciously and strategically in order to comprehend1.

There are numerous reading skills that pupils need to master to become proficient readers: extracting main ideas, reading for specific information, understanding text organization, predicting, checking comprehension, inferring, dealing with unfamiliar words, linking ideas, understanding complex sentences, understanding writer’s style and writing summaries2. But if adult learners are psychologically prepared for reading and the matter is only in acquiring basic reading skills, enriching vocabulary stock and mastering at least few grammar rules, then the situation with young elementary readers is quite different.

Learners read effectively only when they are ready. The reader’s preparedness to read is called ‘reading readiness’. According to Thorndike’s law of learning, the first requisite for beginning reading is an interest in reading. Reading stories, allowing children to draw and read charts, displaying readable messages, providing picture books and labeling the objects will stimulate their interests3.

At any level, the following skills are necessary for a pupil to become a proficient reader:

• automatic, rapid letter recognition
• automatic, rapid word recognition
• the ability to use context as an aid to comprehension
• the ability to use context when necessary as a conscious aid to word recognition [11; 2-3].

A good readiness program develops proficiency in the following area:

speaking and listing skill; visual discrimination; knowing the alphabet;

thinking skills; word meaning skills; auditory discrimination;

moving left to right; sight vocabulary; identification skill

 

For visual discrimination a teacher may use exercises of identification of the same picture in a row, for visual and auditory discrimination one may find useful exercises of identification of same letters in a row, finding the odd one, picking out word pairs (yes-yes, tit-tit), circling the odd word pair in a group. To train word identification and word recognition tasks like ‘complete the letters or words with the help of pictures in a sentence’ may be appropriate [22; 5-6].

While teaching reading the following approaches should not be neglected:

1. Focus on one skill at a time. Explain the purpose of working on this skill, and convince the pupils of its importance in reading effectively.3. Work on an example of using the skill with the whole class. Explain your thinking aloud as you do the exercise.4. Assign pupils to work in pairs on an exercise where they practice using the same skill. Require them to explain their thinking to each other as they work.5. Discuss pupils’ answers with the whole class. Ask them to explain how they got their answers. Encourage polite disagreement, and require explanations of any differences in their answers.6. In the same class, and also in the next few classes, assign individuals to work on more exercises that focus on the same skill with increasing complexity. Instruct pupils to work in pairs whenever feasible.7. Ask individual pupils to complete an exercise using the skill to check their own ability and confidence in using it.8. In future lessons, lead the pupils to apply the skill, as well as previously mastered skills, to a variety of texts [4; 4].

Reading becomes effective when teacher starts with words that are familiar to pupils, uses simple structures, blackboard and flashcards, and gives emphasis to recognizing and understanding the meaning of a word simultaneously. As far as young elementary learners are concerned teaching reading should be started when a child can learn his/her own mother-tongue [22; 9]. Also, it is suggested to use some kind of reading repetition or practice and progress monitoring [13; 151]. Moreover, teachers should always keep in mind the various problems of reading a foreign language [22; 9].

It is useful to know if a pupil can read nonsense words such as ‘flep, tridding and pertollic’ as the ability to read nonsense words depends on rapid and accurate association of sounds with symbols. Good readers do this easily so they can decipher new words and attend to the meaning of the passage. Poor readers usually are slower and make more mistakes in sounding out words. Their comprehension suffers as a consequence. Poor readers improve if they are taught in an organized, systematic manner how to decipher the spelling code and sound words out [20; 19].

There are also several principles behind the teaching of reading:

Principle 1: Reading is not a passive skill. Reading is an incredibly active occupation. To do it successfully, we have to understand what the words mean, see the pictures the words are painting, understand the arguments, and work out if we agree with them. If we do not do these things - and if pupils do not do these things - then we only just scratch the surface of the text and we quickly forget it.

Principle 2: Pupils need to be engaged with what they are reading. As with everything else in lessons, pupils who are not engaged with the reading text - not actively interested in what they are doing - are less likely to benefit from it. When they are really fired up by the topic or the task, they get much more from what is in front of them.

Principle 3: Pupils should be encouraged to respond to the content of a reading text not just to the language. Of course, it is important to study reading texts for the way they use language, the number of paragraphs they contain and how many times they use relative clauses. But the meaning, the message of the text, is just as important and we must give pupils a chance to respond to that message in some way. It is especially important that they should be allowed to express their feelings about the topic - thus provoking personal engagement with it and the language.

Principle 4: Prediction is a major factor in reading.

When we read texts in our own language, we frequently have a good idea of the content before we actually read. Book covers give us a hint of what's in the book, photographs and headlines hint at what articles are about and reports look like reports before we read a single word. The moment we get this hint - the book cover, the headline, the word-processed page - our brain starts predicting what we are going to read. Expectations are set up and the active process of reading is ready to begin. Teachers should give pupils 'hints' so that they can predict what's coming too. It will make them better and more engaged readers.

Principle 5: Match the task to the topic. We could give pupils Hamlet's famous soliloquy 'To be or not to be' and ask them to say how many times the infinitive is used. We could give them a restaurant menu and ask them to list the ingredients alphabetically. There might be reasons for both tasks, but, on the face of it, they look a bit silly. We will probably be more interested in what Hamlet means and what the menu foods actually are. Once a decision has been taken about what reading text the pupils are going to read, we need to choose good reading tasks - the right kind of questions, engaging and useful puzzles etc. The most interesting text can be undermined by asking boring and inappropriate questions; the most commonplace passage can be made really exciting with imaginative and challenging tasks.

Principle 6: Good teachers exploit reading texts to the full. Any reading text is full of sentences, words, ideas, descriptions etc. It doesn't make sense just to get pupils to read it and then drop it to move on to something else. Good teachers integrate the reading text into interesting class sequences, using the topic for discussion and further tasks, using the language for Study and later Activation [9; 70].

All things considered, reading is far from being a passive skill. Pupils need to be engaged with what they are reading. Teachers should match tasks to the topic, choose activities up to the pupils’ abilities and develop teaching programs in such a way so that to develop all the reading skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.2. Main methods of teaching foreign languages

The direct method

Methods of foreign language teaching is understood here as a body scientifically tested theory concerning the teaching of foreign languages in schools and other educational institutions . It covers three main problems:

1 ) aims of teaching a foreign  language;

2 ) content of teaching , what to teach to attain the aims;

3 ) methods and techniques of teaching , how to teach a foreign language to attain the aims in the most effective way.

       Methods of foreign language teaching is closely related to other sciences such as pedagogics , psychology , physiology , linguistics and some others .

Pedagogics is the science concerned with the teaching and education of the younger generation. Since methods also deals with the problems of teaching and education, it is most closely related to pedagogics. To study foreign language teaching one must know pedagogics. One branch of pedagogics is called didactics. Didactics studies general ways of teaching in schools. Methods, as compared to didactics, studied the specific ways of teaching a definite subject. Thus, it may be considered special didactics. In the foreign language teaching of mathematics, history, and other subjects taught in schools, general principles of didactics are applied and, in their turn, influence and enrich didactics. For  example, the so-called “ principle of visualization  “ was first introduced in teaching foreign languages. Now it has become one of the fundamental principles of didactics and is used in teaching all school subjects without exception. Programmed instruction was first applied to teaching mathematics. Now through didactics , is it is used in teaching many subjects, including foreign languages.

          Teaching a foreign language means firs and foremost the formation and development of pupils habits and skills in hearing, speaking, reading, and writing. We can not expect to develop such habits and skills of our pupils effectively if we do not know and take into account the psychology of habits and skills, the ways of forming them, the influence of formerly acquired habits  on the formation of new ones, and many other necessary factors that psychology can supply us with. At present we have much material in the field of psychology which can be applied to teaching a foreign language.

         Effective learning of a foreign language depends to a great extent on the pupil’s memory. That is why a teacher must know how he can help his pupils to successfully  memorize and retain in memory the language material they learn.                     Here  again psychological investigations are significant.

        Methods of foreign language teaching has a definite relation to physiology of the higher nervous system. Pavlov’s theories of “ conditioned reflexes “ , of the “ second signaling system” and of “ dynamic stereotype” are  the examples. Each of these interrelated theories bears a direct relation to the teaching  of a foreign language. Methods of foreign language teaching is most closely related to linguistics deals with the problems which are of paramount importance to  methods, with language and thinking, grammar and vocabulary, the relationship between grammar and vocabulary, and many others.

        Methods successfully uses, for example, the results of linguistic investigation in the selection and arrangement of language material for teaching.

It is known that structural linguistics has had a great impact on language teaching. Teaching materials have been prepared by linguists and methodologists of the structural school.

       Many prominent linguists have not only developed the theory of linguistics, but tried to apply it to language teaching. The following quotation may serve as a proof of this: “ It has occurred to the linguist as well as to the psychologist that the foreign language classroom should be an excellent laboratory in which to test new theories of language acquisition. “

Methods of foreign language teaching like any other science, has definite ways of investigating the problems which may arise. They are:

1) a critical study of the ways foreign languages were taught in our country and abroad;

2) a thorough study and summing up of the experience of the best foreign language teachers in different types of schools;

3) experimenting with the aim of confirming or refutting the working hypotheses that may arise during investigation.

Experimenting becomes more and more popular with methodologists. In experimenting methodologists have to deal with different data, that is why in arranging research work they use mathematics, statistics, and probability theory to interpret experimental results.

In recent years there has been a great increase of interest in Methods since foreign language teaching has many attractions as an area for research. A great deal of useful research work has been carried out. New ideas and new data produced as the result of research are usually developed into new teaching materials and teaching techniques.

         It should be said that we need research activities of the following types: descriptive research which deals with “ what to teach “ . More research is now needed which compares different combination of devices, various teaching aids.

        Aims are the first and most important consideration in any teaching. Hence the teacher should know exactly what his pupils are expected to achieve  in learning his subject, what changes he can bring about in his pupils at the end of the course, at the end of the year, term, month, week and each particular lesson. He should know the aims and objectives  of foreign language teaching in schools.

The terms  “ aims “ and “ objectives “ are clearly distinguished  in this work in accordance with the suggestion given  by R. Roberts. Here is what he writes: “ The term , aims ‘ be reserved for long – term goals such as provide the justification or reason for teaching second languages. The term ,, objectives “ be used only for short term goals ( immediate lesson goal ) , such as many reasonably be achieved in a classroom lesson or sequence of lessons. “

The changes the teacher must bring about in his pupils may be threefold: practical –pupils acquire habits and skills in using a foreign language; educational – they develop their mental abilities and intelligence in the process of learning the foreign language; cultural – pupils extend their knowledge of the world in which they live.

Therefore there are three aims, at least, which should be achieved in foreign language teaching: practical, educational and cultural.

Practical aims.

The foreign language as a school subject differs from other  subjects of the school  curriculum. Whereas the teaching, for instance, of history is mostly connected with the  imparting of historical laws and facts which pupils are to learn and the teaching of the mother tongue leads to the mastery of the language as a system ( which is already used for exchanging thoughts and feelings ) so that pupils will be able to use it more effectively in oral and written language, the teaching of a foreign language should result in the pupil’s gaining one more code for receiving and conveying information; that is, in acquiring a second language for the same purpose as the native language: to use it as a means of communication. In this connection we should like to quote G. Perren: “ Whatever  a new language is being taught as a curricular extra … or as an essential medium for education it will be learned by the young child only if it obviously makes possible some purposeful activity other than language learning. If it does not do this, attemps to teach it may be largely a waste of time. “