Language skills

How do you improve your reading skill?

2011 years

Reading skill

Educators frequently ask students to 'read around the subject' with little or no guidance on how to approach this task. Conscientious students spend many hours with a book or article in front of them and eventually either copy out chunks of information or forget what they have read by the time they have left the library. This section and those on Note Taking and Using the Library should, hopefully, make private study time more effective for all students.

There are a number of objectives which academic reading aims to achieve:

Finally, it should be remembered that those students who do read widely and effectively are likely to achieve the higher grades.

How to improve your technique: some basic principles

Why read this?
Which areas are of specific interest?
How will it help my studies?
Is it worth reading?

The facts
Examples and illustrations
The author's own ideas

Evaluate

How convincing are these ideas?

Do you have all the facts?

Are there contrary examples to those given?

Can you think of alternative theories?

What are the consequences of these alternatives as opposed to the author's suggestions?

Remember what you've read or recall

Having read a complex passage or chapter, try to note down, without looking, the key points of what you have read

Try to think of a couple of the main examples given

Check your memory or review

Check your notes against the passage

Correct and amend

Make sure you have covered the key point of each paragraph

Summary

The guidelines given in this section follow a technique called SQ3R, the five steps to effective reading.

Task

Using the latest edition of the Economic/Business Review, read the lead article. With reference to Note Taking, make notes on this article.

Reading is an important skill.  In Japan, a great deal of emphasis is placed on improving students’ reading ability because this is the focus of the entrance exams.　Students need to be able to read long passages of English and find the important bits of information.

Reading for Practice

 Chorus reading is the most common form of reading in Japan.　It is a form of practice reading which focuses on correct pronunciation and recognition of words.　However it is quite common for students to read a whole page of English and not even consider its meaning.　Though chorus reading is widely used, please consider the following points:

　 Not all students actively participate

Students mimic rather than understand

The speed is not suitable for all students: some are slower, while others are faster

The focus is on pronunciation, NOT on meaning

Students often ignore the expression and intonation of the model reader and sound like robots

Chorus reading does not help comprehension ability, which is important for exams

　 Many teachers think chorus reading is speaking English.  In fact, there are no communicative aspects to this type of activity.  While chorus reading can be used to practice pronunciation, it should not be the main activity of any lesson.

Individual Reading for Comprehension

Individual reading can involve having the students read silently or having them read aloud.  There are two ways to have students read aloud:  a) individually, in front of the whole class, or b) at the same time as everyone else, but at their own speed.  Individual reading activities are helpful for both students and teachers.

Some advantages are:

Students read at their own speed so they have the time to think about the meaning of the passage

Students can go back and try again if they have a problem or don't understand

When students read by themselves the teacher can walk around and help students individually.

Students can ask the teacher questions about the text, which is impossible to do in chorus reading sessions. 

Activities where students take turns reading a sentence aloud force active participation.  The students MUST follow the text carefully. 

Teachers can listen and point out common mistakes and problem areas.  With chorus reading there is no chance to point out mistakes.

Students will worry less about making mistakes

Reading for comprehension is directly-related to exam practice

Problems with Students' Reading Strategies

Many students believe that they need to understand every word in order to understand the content.　(They also feel the same about listening.)　If you give your students some new material to read, they will typically act like this:

They will read the text very slowly, thinking about each word.

They will translate each word as they go, and write the translation above the English

Coming across a word they don't recognize, they will either look in the dictionary or stop because they don't think they can understand the sentence.

Students need to be taught that it is more effective to look for (or listen for) phrases or word groups rather than individual words.　

Example:  “The ball hit her on the noggin.”　

            The word "noggin" should be unfamiliar.　However, even without understanding it, you should know that the girl was hit with a ball.　You can guess that “the noggin” is a body part.  It is unnecessary to know that “the noggin” means “head” to understand the gist of the sentence.

　 Students should adopt a positive approach towards comprehension.　They should focus on what they can understand instead of worrying about what they can't recognize. They need to feel free to guess the meaning of things based on the information they already have.

The Importance of Guessing

When your students take high school exams or entrance exams, they will come across words they don't recognize.　It is, therefore, important for them to realize the following things:

The study of a foreign language is never-ending.　They will never know every word, but neither will native speakers.　They should not set impossible aims for themselves—they can never

They don't need to understand every word.　They should look for parts that they do understand and guess the meaning of the rest.

Students should try to recognize word clusters rather than individual words.　Look at the words in context.

Understanding the theme of the material will help them guess the meaning of other words.

Task Reading

Most reading activities in Japanese schools are centered around the English textbook.  Many times the only material students read is in their textbooks.　As a result they become accustomed to reading short stories and dialogues, which enable students to pay close attention to all the words.　They should read to catch the overall theme or topic of the passage.　In reality, however, we do not often read such things.　Most people read things to gain information.　With this type of reading we skim over the page, paying attention to the most important pieces of information.　Most students have little experience when it comes to this type of reading, but it is this skill which is tested in the reading comprehension section of entrance examinations.

　 The benefits of task reading activities are:

　 Students learn to read quickly (very important for exams AND real life!)

They concentrate on the essential information

They skip over bits they don't understand without worrying

They can understand English used in real life

It's easy to find interesting topics

There are lots of materials you can use in class:

Timetables, TV Schedules

Sports Results, Movie Reviews

Guidebooks, Travel Pamphlets

Advertisements, Postcards

Letters, Shopping Catalogues

Menus, Weather Forecasts

Magazine Articles, News Items

You can get lots of material from newspapers like The Daily Yomiuri or Japan Times.　Ask the ALT for help finding such material.　They should be enthusiastic and can even help make easier articles.　By doing these types of activities, you are showing how English is really used.　Your students will enjoy access to realistic English materials.　

Reading Activities in Class

In addition to task reading, as mentioned above, Dramatic Reading can be employed in the classroom in order to make reading more interesting.　Dramatic reading is an interesting form of reading aloud.　Reading aloud is important; however, simple chorus reading quickly becomes monotonous.　Dramatic reading provides all the benefits of reading aloud while avoiding the negative aspects of chorus reading.　　

Dramatic reading works best with materials outside of the text.　Whenever you come across an interesting excerpt from a novel, television show, or movie, use it in the classroom!　For example, read an excerpt from a teenage magazine, a play, or film script.　The students should read the text, using gestures and intonation, so that they can best convey the feelings as well as the meanings.　They have to understand the passage well in order to convey the meanings to others.　Such an activity allows students to practice intonation and pitch, as well.　It also allows teachers to check the students' comprehension and memorization of words and phrases.

Although many Japanese people study English for at least six years, it may be difficult for them to produce even a simple conversational sentence.　This is because in the past, the emphasis had been mainly on memorizing vocabulary and grammar.　Students had very little opportunity to use the English they had studied in a communicative context. 　

Fortunately the situation has changed.　In most JHS classes, students regularly speak English and do communicative activities.　Classes at SHS have been slow to change, but gradually teachers are beginning to adopt communication-based lessons.　The introduction of AETs has created a real need for students to learn how to converse in English.　The AET is proof that English is a 'living language' to be used, not just studied academically.　

Repetition and drills typically make up a large part of the speaking activities in the classroom.　These types of activities can be useful for learning some skills (such as pronunciation), but should not be considered communicative activities.

　 Students need to practice using the English they have learned.　For this, they need situations that provide a real need to use English.　Producing original thoughts in English is a much better test of competence than simply reciting a memorized phrase.

　 Students should aim towards being able to have a simple conversation with a native speaker of English.　To achieve this, they need regular practice at exchanging ideas and information with each other in a relaxed classroom environment.　Communication activities should be a regular feature of your classes.　As students improve, make the activities more challenging.

Pronunciation

　 Attaining good pronunciation in English is not easy.　In Japanese, there is a standard alphabet where pronunciation is always the same.　The difficulty with English is that pronunciation does not always follow a set pattern.　Also, English uses many sounds that do not exist in Japanese; however, it is important to remember that it is quite possible for Japanese speakers of English to achieve good pronunciation.