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SELF - ASSESSMENT REFLECTION ON READING

I introduce the learners to authentic or semi-authentic texts which contain different registers in order to help them identify writer’s attitude by knowing the connotations of the words he or she uses.
I can select different text types with different text length appropriate to the learners’ language level, needs and interests.
I can offer the learners purposeful reading guided by a variety of activities.
I can orient the learners towards the text in various ways.
I can help learners in understanding the reading text with different pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading activities.
I can involve learners in post-reading activities which are related to the content to give personal views or tell about personal experience, or activities which specifically deal with the language use.
I am aware of reading problems and their reasons and can offer an appropriate strategy to resolve the problem.
I can use different reading techniques.
I give learners regular opportunities to evaluate both the text and the activities so that they learn to work out for themselves where their reading problems occur and what might be done to solve them.
I can help learners to assess their progress and set short term learning objectives and in this way promote learner’s autonomy.
I can help learners the writer’s purpose (informative, educational etc.)
I can help learners to understand the organisation of a text at 2 levels, at the paragraph level and at the whole text level
I can help learners to understand the logic of the paragraph or group of paragraphs
I can help learners guess meanings of the unknown words by teaching them how to interpret text and its context by setting it in some kind of a background.
I familiarize learners with the SQ3R technique which is extremely useful for extracting the maximum amount of benefit from learner’s reading time. It helps to organize the structure of a subject in the reader’s mind. It also helps to set study goals and to separate important information from irrelevant data.
I facilitate learners’ use of dictionaries and glossaries to emphasize vocabulary development

(Explanation)

Point 1

Authentic materials – articles in newspapers and magazines, tickets, leaflets, brochures, calendars, timetables, e-mails and letters etc.

Semi- Authentic materials – texts adapted for the learner’s needs, graded reading

Register – style in which the writer addresses the reader. Formal vs. Informal reading – e.g. application letter vs. private postcard

Point 2

The learners’ language level

	A1 Reading Comprehension
I.	I can understand very short, simple texts catching familiar words, phrases and names
II.	I can understand short, simple messages on postcards
III.	I can follow short simple written instructions (in textbooks, computer programmes, etc.)
IV.	I can understand short messages I receive (e.g. SMS or e-mail)
V.	I can understand simple forms concerning my personal details
VI.	I can understand the main points of simple leaflets, brochures or prospectuses, particularly when the visual support is available
VII.	I can understand simple captions under photographs and illustrations

	B1 Reading Comprehension
I.	I can find information I need in everyday texts (e.g. official letters and documents, brochures, etc.)
II.	I can understand descriptions of events, feelings, and wishes in personal letters
III.	I can identify the main points of a longer newspaper article on a familiar topic
IV.	I can distinguish facts from the author’s opinions in a text
V.	I can understand the plot of a clearly written story
VI.	I can understand the general points of clearly written instruction manuals
VII.	I can guess the meaning of unknown words from context

Point 3

Purposeful reading

Reading for the gist (skimming)
Reading for the details (scanning)
Intensive Reading
Extensive reading

Point 4

Various ways

Telling what type of text they are going read.
Providing any necessary background information about the text.
Helping learners to create expectations with the help of photos or drawings.
Giving key vocabulary and expressions which occur in the text.

Point 5

Pre-Reading activities

showing pictures
asking questions
referring to readers’ previous experiences and knowledge

While-reading activities

questioning
recognizing text types
matching
following instructions
note-taking
interpreting
completing

Point 6

Post-reading activities

form/chart completion
responding to text
extending lists
sequencing/grading
extending notes into written responses
summarising
using information for problem solving and discussion
identifying relationships betweenthe writers
establishing the mood, attitude, behaviour of the writer
role play, simulation

Point 7

Reading problems

Comprehension tasks
Negative Expectations
Difficult and uninteresting topic
Difficult Vocabulary
Language Problems
Struggling readers

An appropriate strategy

Strategies for Reading

Start reading with certain expectations about the given task.
Read and identify the precise topic by discriminating key words supporting the topic.
Try to recognize as many words and phrases as possible connected with the topic.
Notice and understand parts of words as a way to determine meaning.
Don’t expect to understand every word. Try to get the general sense of what you are reading.
Identify the key words in the text. Don’t worry too much about the unimportant words (articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, etc.).
When you read, pay special attention whenever the writer emphasizes or repeats points.
Learn to understand incomplete sentences, interpret them and guess thier meaning.
Learn to distinguish between the main idea and supporting details when reading the text
Try to create a coherent text in your mind using what you know about the topic on the one hand, and about the English language on the other.
Be aware that not all reading texts in English are the same.

Point 8

Reading techniques

Teacher asks learners to read the text or passage once, without preparation, asking the learners to read for the main idea.
Teacher announces the topic of the text or passage, then asks the learners to brainstorm vocabulary they expect to read in the passage, and tells the purpose of reading.
Teacher gives the learners the text to read and before they read it they are asked to identify its genre, kind or use.
Teacher shows learners pictures related to the text they are going to read and asks them to guess what it could be about.
Learners have done one reading task to get the main idea of a text (SKIMMING). For the second time they read the text or passage again for more detailed information.
Teacher reads a short introductory passage or text, then orally asks learners basic comprehension questions.
Teacher plays the text several times, each time asking to listen for a different purpose.
Teacher tells students to read the text several times, each time asking to read for a different purpose.

Point 9

Reading Problems

Difficult and uninteresting topic – solution: focus on learners’ interests and aptitudes
Negative expectations – solution: tasks facilitating positive expectations (pictures, discussions)
Difficult vocabulary - solution: pre-teaching of vocabulary
Too long and complicated words, sentences – solution: selecting the right text according to the learners’ level
Struggling readers (dyslexia etc.) – solution: individual attitude
Not appropriate comprehension tasks – solution: interesting tasks appropriate for the learners’ aptitudes

Point 10

Learner’s Autonomy – according to definitions present in literature

'Autonomy is the ability to take charge of one's own learning' (Henri Holec)
'Autonomy is essentially a matter of the learner's psychological relation to the process and content of learning' (David Little)
'Autonomy is a situation in which the learner is totally responsible for all the decisions concerned with his [or her] learning and the implementation of those decisions'. (Leslie Dickinson)
'Autonomy is a recognition of the rights of learners within educational systems'. (Phil Benson)

Point 11

Writer’s purpose – understanding why the text has been created at all

to teach?
to inform?
to instruct?
to make people think?
to entertain?
to discuss things?
to persuade?
to criticize?
to explain things? etc.

Point 12 and 13

Organization of a text – paragraph and text levels

The paragraph level means understanding the organization of the sentences in a paragraph, and the links between them. For example you can draw arrows from words like 'he', 'she', 'they', and 'it', back to the nouns they refer to, like this:

You also need to understand the logic of the paragraph or group of paragraphs, for example by drawing a mind maps of the organization, with words like 'and', 'but' and 'so' linking the topics and sub-topics.

The whole text level is organized in different ways according to the type of document you are reading, for example a memo might have a situation, problem, suggested solution and a request for action. A report usually has a title page, abstract, table of contents, methodology, findings, conclusions and recommendations sections.

Point 14

Guess meanings of unknown words by setting it in some kind of background by facilitating learners’ interest – showing them pictures, using antonym or synonym explanation

Point 15

SQ3R technique - is a useful technique for fully absorbing written information. It helps to create a good mental framework of a subject, into which one can fit facts correctly. It helps readers to set study goals. It also prompts how to use the review techniques that will help to fix information in the reader’s mind.

SQ3R is a five-stage active reading technique. The stages are:

Survey
Question
Read
Recall
Review

Point 16

Glossaries - A glossary is a list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a glossary appears at the end of a book and includes terms within that book which are either newly introduced or at least uncommon.

A bilingual glossary is a list of terms in one language which are defined in a second language or glossed by synonyms (or at least near-synonyms) in another language.