UNIT 11 READING COMPREHENSION-I

Structure

Objectives
Introduction
Reasons for Reading and Reading Styles
Reading Comprehension and Teaching Implications
Teaching Objectives for Reading
Principles Underlying Producing or Using Reading Comprehension Exercises
Reading Comprehension in the Classroom
Let Us Sum Up
Suggested Reading

11.0 OBJECTIVES

What should you do with the help of this unit?

1. You should be able to relate the reasons for reading with the appropriate reading style.
2. You should be aware of the teaching objectives and principles underlying reading
comprehension activities.
3. You should be aware'of the three phases of a reading lesson and identify the questions
belonging to each phase.

11.1 INTRODUCTION

A simple definition of reading is that it is a process whereby one looks at and understands
what has been written. The key word is 'understands' -merely reading aloud does not count
as reading.

This definition does not mean that the learner needs to understand everything in a text.
Understanding is not an 'all or nothing' process, and from it follows that reading is not an
'all or nothing process either'.

Again, although reading has been defined as a process whereby one looks at and understands
what has been written, the reader does not necessarily need to look at e v e w n g in a given
piece of writing. The reader actively works on the text and is able to arrive at understanding
it without looking at every letter and word.

11.2 REASONS FOR READING AND READING STYLES

People generally do not read unless they have a reason for reading i.e. they have a need of
some kind that can be satisfied through reading. Furthermore in case of an effective reader,
hislher reason for reading will also influence hisher style of reading. The effective reader
is one who is able to adapt hisher style to histher purpose, and does not read everythmg slowly
and intensively.

Learning language should not be an aim in itself - the ultinlate aim is to be able to use
language appropriately. It is therefore important to give learners practice in different reading
styles. This is achieved not by telling learners to skim, read intensively, etc. but by setting
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tasks that encourage these styles.
Reading Comprehension The following diagram summarises the relationship between reasons for reading and various
styles of reading

REASONS

General information Information from Pleasure or

about the text . the test . interest

s k i n g 1
STYLES. hpiL
dveR
7insdaei

Check Your Progress 1

Consider the following types of texts and write for each of them the reason for reading it and
the style of reading used. One has been done for you.

elrt Reason for Reading Style of Reading

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Used

1. Railway Looking for a particular Scanning

time table piece of information
2. Instruction
for using
a inaclune
3. Newspaper
article
4. An extract
from a novel
5. Telephone
directory
6. A letter to
the editor
7. A notice
8. A recipe
9. A Poem
10. Rules for
playing a game

11.3 READING COMPREHENSION AND TEACHING

IMPLICATIONS

The important thing to remember is that the reading comprehension passage and the associated
activities should promote skills in reading for understanding. The following are some
important characteristics of 'understanding' and their implications of teaching reading
comprehension.
1. All readers bring something with them to a text in terms of a general stock of knowledge. .
Knowledge of the world does not only cover knowledge of a particular topic, it may include
knowledge of a particular topic, it may also include knowledge of a particular culture or way;
of life.
 Teaching implications : Before reading the reading passage itself, one can draw on Reading Comprehension-I
the learners' previous knowledge ofthe subject matter, their experience of life in general. (This
is the purpose of warm up/ pre-reading activities).

2. One can understand something better if one puzzles out things for oneself. Advice and
guidance are valuable. But true learning involves a large element of personal discovery,
struggle and achievement. The outcome is that one is more confident and better equipped
for firrther and more challenging tasks of understanding. The same is true of reading
comprehension.

Teaching implication : Make students work out things for themselves. Don't spoon
feed them by explaining the passage to them, but devise exercises so that they can work them
out on their own.

3. Understanding some thing will be deeper and will last longer if one does something with
the information one has just acquired. e.g. one will understand a recipe better if one has
actually cooked the dish concerned. This is equally true of reading.

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Teaching implication There should be exercises and activities to get the learners to
use this newfound knowledge and ideas.

4. In trying to understand, for example, directions on how to get to someone's house, you
need to concentrate exclusively on what the directions are. Similarly, in reading, one needs
to concentrate on reading for understanding and not get sidetracked into other aspects of the
passage.

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Teaching implications In teaching reading comprehension, don't use the passages
for the purposes of teaching pronunciation or granmr.

5. Understanding anything is not an 'all or nothing' process. ~ i k i l a r l ~reading

, for
understanding is not and 'all or nothing process' either.

Teaching implications- Don't aim at 'total comprehension' of every single word,

sentence and item of content of a passage.

6. The ability to understand anything or anybody is made up of a variety of component

sub-skills (e.g. anticipating what will come next, distinguishisng main elements from the
details, bringing together information from various sources). Reading, too, is composed of
such sub-skills.

Teaching implications -
Instead of aiming at 'total comprehension' of a particular
reading passage, use that passage as a vehicle for teaching the reading skills that the learner
needs for reading other passages.

Check Your Progress 2 . ,

Write in your own words all the factors that you need to keep in mind while constructing
exercises for teaching reading comprehension.
Reading Comprehension
11.4 TEACHING OBJECTIVES FOR READING

At the end of a reading programme we should expect ow learners to be able to achieve the
following objectives at their own level, e.g. a learner at the end of class-VI should be able
to identifl the main points and details of a passage suitable to hidher level and s h e can should
be able to do the same for a difficult passage at the end of class IX.
1. read silently at varying speed depending on the purpose of reading.
2. adopt different reading strategies (diagram in 5.3) for different types of text.
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3. recognise the organisation of a text
4. identi@ the main points of a text.
5. understand the relations between different parts of a text.
6. anticipate and predict what will come next in a text.
7. deduce the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items in a given context.
8. consult a dictionary to obtain the required information.
9. infer, analyse, interpret and evaluate the ideas in a text.
10. select and extract from a text information required for a specific purpose.
11. transcode information frpm verbal to diagrammatic form.
12. read e.xtensively for pleasure.

In any given passage it is possible to fulfill a combination of objectives i.e. when you choose
a reading passage you can set questiondexercisedactivities which would fulfil a number of
objectives stated in this list.

11.5 PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING PRODUCING OR

USING READING COMPREHENSION
EXERCISES

According the Francoise Grellet there are a number of considerations to be borne in mind
when producing or using reading comprehension exercisedactivities.

1. One should start with global understanding (understanding the text as a whole) and
move towards detailed understanding rather than working the other way round.
Similarly, when constructing/using reading comprehension exercises on a given text
it is always preferable to start with the overall meaning of the text, its function and
aim, rather than working on vocabulary or more specific ideas.

This is important and essential because

a) It is an efficient way ofbuilding the learner's confidence. Ifthe activity is global

enough, the learner will not feel completely lost. They will feel that at least
they understand what the text is about and will later feel less diffident when i
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tackling a new text.
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b) It will develop an awareness of the way texts are organised (e.g. stating the main
aim and developing it or giving the chronological sequence of events). It is
this awareness of the general structure of a passage that will allow the students
to read more efficiently later on.
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c) Reading is a constant process of guessing and what one brings to the test is
often what one finds in it. From the beginning the learners should be taught
to use what they know, to understand unknown elements, whether these are ideas
or simple words and phrases. This is best achieved through a global approach
to the text. 1
 2. It is important to use authentic texts whenever possible (at least when you are choosing Rmdiq compdmdon-I
an unseen passage for reading comprehension). Authenticity means that nothing of
the original text is changed and also its presentation and layat are retained. e.g. a
newspaper article should be presented as it first appeared in the paper.
Getting the learners accustomed to reading authentic texts from the very beginning as
against a simplified or adapted text does not necessarily mean a much more dBicult
task on the learner's part. The dif6culty ofa reading exercise depends on the activities
and the exercises rather than on the text itself, Therefore, one should grade them and
not the text.
C
3. Another important principle when devising comprehension exercises is that the
activities should be flexible and varied. The exercises should be suited to the texts
and to one's reasons for reading them It is essential to take into account the author's
point of view, intention and tone for a full understanding of the text.

4. Reading Comprehension should not be separated from the other skills. There a fow
1 cases in real life when we do not talk or write about what we read. It is therefore
important to link the different skills through the reading activities.

' Check Your Progress 3

What are the various things that we must take care of in order to make a learner an independent,
efficient reader?

11.6 READING COMPREHENSION IN THE

CLASSROOM

As you've h d y read in Course 3, Block 2 the first point to be noted when conducting a
reading lesson in the classroom is that it is a silent activity. Therefore silent reading should
be encouraged. The students should not read aloud. This would infact tend to give the
impression that all the texts are to be read at the same speed. Besides when we read, our
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eyes do not follow each word ofthe text one after the other at least in the case of efticient
readers. On the contmy?many words or expressions are simply skipped;we go back to check
something or forward to confirm something. Such tactics became impossible when reading
aloud and this reading activity therefore tends to prevent the learners from developing e£6cient
reading strategies.

Three phases of a reading lesson :

Pre-reading t a s b

1. These tasks arouse learners' interest in the topic, encourage them to predict and deal
with m c u l t vocabulary.
In order to help prepare for pre-reading work, useful questions that you can ask yourself are:

a) What knowledge, ideas or opinions might the learners already have on the topic and
how can this knowledge be drawn out and used?

b) Why should anyone want to read this text and can the same or similar reasons be
generated in the learners?

The answers to these questions will give a clue to ways of introducing the text, motivating
the learners and at the same time will incorporate language preparations . Visuals, drawing
up of lists or setting questions (mostly oral) may all play a part in pre-reading activities.
,Reading Comprehension While reading activity

This phase draws on the text, rather than the learners' ideas previous to the reading activity.
The aims of this phase are:
a) to help understand of the writer's purpose
b) to help understand of the organisation of the text.
c) to clarify the text content.

The traditional 'Comprehension exercise' at the end of the text is a typical while reading
activity. There are usually plenty of these kind of activitiesJexercises. What you need to
do is to consider whether these exercises correspond and fulfil the teaching objectives of
reading.

The sort of questions that you can ask yourself as a guide to the while reading activities are
the following :
a) what is the function of this text?
b) How is the text organised? (narrative, descriptive, chronological, etc.)
c) what content is to be extracted from the text?
d) wlut may the i m e r infer or deduce?
e) what reading style is suitable?
f) what language may be learned from the text?

As 2 rule, while reading work should begin with a general or global understanding or the
text, an< move to the smaller units such as paragraphs, sentences and words. The reason
for this is that the larger units provide a context for understanding the smaller units a -
paragraph or a sentence e.g, may help the reader to understand a word.

Post-Reading

The exercisedactivities in this section do not directly refer to the text, but grow out of it.
The aims of post-reading exercises are:
1) to consolidate and reflect upon what has been read
2) to relate the text to the learner's own knowledge, interests or views.

These exercises should contribute, in a coherent manner, to the writing, speaking and listening
skills.

You may get ideas for post-reading work by asking yourself the following questions:
a) Do the learner know of a similar situation to that presented in the text?
b) Does the text present's situation that invites completion?
c) Does the text present views that might need to be counter balanced?

If the answer to any of these questions is 'yes' then there is an opportunity for post-reading
activities.

This t h e e phase approach is not to be carried out mechanically on every occasion. So~netimes
you may wish to cut out the pre-reading stage and get the learners to work on the text directly.
Sometimes post-reading work may not be required.

However, the advantage of this three phase approach is twofold:

a) it respects and makes use of the learner's knowledge of language and of the world a ~ ~ d
uses this as a basis for involvement, motivation and progress.
b) it leads to the integration of the skills in a coherent manner, so that the reading sessioil
is not isolated.
 Check Your Progress 4 Reading Comprehension-I
?
( Here are same exercisedactivities based on a lesson, called 'The Never-Never Birdy.Which
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phase of a reading lesson is it meant for pre, while or post reading? Give reasonsto justify
1 your answer. You can do this without knowing the text.
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1. Why does the author call the never-never bird 'a spirit of the sky'?
2. Why was it important for the never-never bird not to cry out eventhough she was so
scared?
b
3. Imagine you can fly like a bird. What does it feel like to soar above people's heads,
to fly over houses and trees? What will you do and where will you go? Write a story
about the exciting flight you made.
4. Describe how the scientist carried out the experiment.
i 5. Why do we need to experiment 7
Ii 6. Discuss in groups of four what you know about the Atlantic Ocean.

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11.7 LET US SUM UP

As you are aware, in Course 3, we tried to give you an understanding of the nature of the
i readingprocess and the charateristics of reading as a meaningful activity. In this course,while
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we have reiterated some of the points of the previous course, at the same time our primary
aim is to help you understand the principles underlying producing and using reading
comprehension exercises which will help you to conduct the reading activity in a meaningful
way in the classroom.

11.8 SUGGESTED READING

t Grellet, F. 1981. Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.