UNIT 8: LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE. READING COMPRE COMPREHEN HENSIO SION: N: EXTENS EXTENSIVE IVE AND INTENS INTENSIVE IVE READIN READING. G. WRITING: FROM INTERPRETATION TO PRODUCTION. 1. WRIT WRITTE TEN N LANG LANGUA UAGE GE Speech uses phatic substance and writing, graphic substance. Speech is considered to be part of an interaction which both participants are present and the speaker has a specific address in mind. On the other hand, in written language the producer is distant from the receiver and sometimes even do not know who the receiver is. While speech is time-bound and dynamic, writing is space-bound and static. So writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. It needs careful organisation and structured expression. Some words must be avoided when the meaning relies on the situation. mbiguity must also be minimised in writing, as there is no possibility of asking for immediate explanation. Some constructions might be fond only in writing !formal" and others, in speech !slang, swear words, #" 2. LEARNING LEARNING TO TO READ AND WRITE WRITE IN THE THE FIRST FIRST LANGUAG LANGUAGE E $here are many different methods to teach reading% Phonic approaches try to identify the regular sound&letter relationship. 'ermitted vocabulary is restricted. Go!" approaches try to recognise individual words as wholes without breaking them into constituent letters letters or sounds. It is based on meaning. (owadays there are some mixed schemes, integrating the the strength of each. )luent reading needs some strategies% *apid and selective techni+ues !scanning" Silent techni+ues !skimming" )or writing is necessary to ac+uire the motor skill of se+uencing letters, usin using g diff differ erent ent shap shapes es and and sie sies, s, word word spac spaces es,, spac spaces es betwe between en line lines, s, margins, etc. ut writing is more than that automatic exercise, it is the ability to use the structures of the language in an appropriate and mature way. $here are different stages of writing ac+uisition% a. asic motor motor skill skill and princip principles les of spellin spelling g system system are developed. developed. b. sing the writing system to express what they can already say in speech. c. Writing riting and speech speech split split up, and writing writing develo develop p its own pattern pattern and organisation. d. Write riters rs can can make make styl stylis isti ticc choi choice cess and and deve develo lop p a pers person onal al way way of expressing.
/
#. LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE *eading is to distinguish the meaning of a chain of words in a text, +uite +uickly. 0nglish spelling is different from sounds, so words and structures must be worked first in an oral way. efore reading, children must know most of vocabulary structures and have some knowledge about the topic, culture and situation. R$"%in& '$chni()$* 1hildren need some techni+ues in order to get the maximum information from a text with the minimum of misunderstanding% 0xtensive reading% getting a global picture, a clear idea of the overall meaning of the text !skimming" Intensive reading% paying attention to the details, getting particular points !scanning" 2aving an interpretation of the text based on reader3s own experience. 4uessing many unknown words by simply studying the context. 'redicting what they are going to read next, recognising discourse linkers !although, but,#" Inferring opinion and attitude, based on the recognition of linguistic style and appropriate purposes. fter reading comprehension learners must interpret the text% 'icking the author3s intention 5istinguishing facts and opinions )inding relations with personal experience. R$"%in& "c'i+i'i$* ,'h-$$ *'"&$* P-$/-$"%in& tasks% to familiarise with the topic. 6ooking at previous knowledge. It is necessary to create expectations in order to increase their interest. $hey will read to confirm expectations and that is motivating. !describing photographs or covers of the text, informal dialogues about the topic, prediction of the content, giving a tittle, #" Whi$/-$"%in& tasks% S0iin&% reading a text to get the gist of it !suggesting the tittle of the passage, matching text tittles with series of short texts,#" Sc"nnin&% extracting specific information from the text !underlining information re+uired, completing an information form, classifying under different headings, tick in a list of ob7ects already read, #" Co!inin& both, skimming and scanning !answering +uestions, describing main characters physical and emotionally, completing a drawing, anticipate actions,#"
8
9aking in$-$nc$*% recognising opinion and attitudes !+uestions of possible interpretations" Po*'/-$"%in& tasks% the main aim of these activities is to internalise the language of the text !crossword, drawing comics, role play, carry out a survey, summarise, change the end, continuing the story, preparing a similar text, boarding games,#"
3. WRITING: FROM CONTROLLED PRACTICE TO FREE PRODUCTION $raditional methods used writing to fix linguistic forms in memory. $here was no intention to teach the learner to express anything of himself through the new language. (owadays we need to identify the needs of communication of our pupils. Our pupils will spend most time completing tightly controlled written exercises. Sometimes they might be encouraging to produce free writing. Writing needs some "!ii'i$*% G-"4hic" o- +i*)" skills% includes spelling, punctuation, capitalisation and format. G-""'ic" skills% to use successfully a variety of sentence patterns. S'5i*'ic or $64-$**i+$ skills% to express precise meanings in a variety of styles and registers. Rh$'o-ic" skills% cohesion and links of parts of the text into logical se+uence. O-&"ni*"'ion" skills% se+uencing the ideas, summarising relevant points and re7ecting irrelevant information. Writing activities might be these ones% )or 4-"c'ic$% 9aking lists, personal vocabulary 1ompleting crosswords 9atching labels to pictures 1lassifying words under headings Writing speech bubbles for cartoons 0xplaining surveys or +uestionnaires 1orrecting mistakes 1opying sentences that have been matched nswering +uestions )or co)nic"'ion% Writing games !descriptions of famous people" 0xchanging letters !playing a role" Story construction !small pieces of paper" Writing reports and advertisements"
:
1orrection of written work can be done by both, teacher and pupil. $he teacher must show positive aspects, showing the pupil where the work was effective and where it was not. $he teacher can underline the error and write in the margin the type of error it is% concordance, wrong word order, unclear meaning, #
;
