UNIT 8- LENGUA LENGUA EXTRANJERA EXTRANJERA ESCRIT ESCRITA. A. APROXIMAC APROXIMACIÓN, IÓN, MADURA MADURACIÓ CIÓN N Y PERFEC PERFECCIO CIONAM NAMIEN IENTO TO DEL PROCES PROCESO O LECTOESCRITOR. LA COMPRENSIÓN LECTORA : TÉCNICAS DE COMPRENSIÓN GLOBAL Y ESPECÍFICA DE TEXTOS. LA EXPRESIÓN ESCRITA : DE LA INTERPRETACIÓN A LA PRODUCCIÓN DE TEXTOS.
Introduction
The written foreign language: aproximation, maturation, and improvement
The reading comprehension
The written expression
Conclusion
As a way of introduction is worth considering consider ing that the efectiveness in the use of a language requires we have different skills, which are, called “linguistic skills! "e can find two kind of skills! #n one hand, the skills which are acquired $y means of oral interaction, listening and speaking, and on the other hand, the skills acquired $y means of visual interaction, reading and writing! If we want to achieve a communicative competence among our students, we must work simustaneously the four skills! In relation to the written foreign language we have to $ear in mind we can can find find three three diff differe erent nt styl styles es acco accord rdin ing g to writ writin ing g purp purpos ose% e% the the expresive style focuses on the expression of the writer&s personal feelings% the trasactional style focuses on logical statements and the poetic style
which expresses imaginative experiences! In the same way, we can find a serie of stages in writing! They&ll $e the preparatory stage where principles of the spelling system are acquired% the consolidation stage in which children $egin to use the writing system to express what they can say in speech% the differenciation stage where the students diverge from speech and develop their own and finally, the integration stage where they have a good command of language and they can vary their stylistic choices! Along the 'rimary (ducation we pretend students get $asical necessities of written language! )oreover, they must $e a$le to answer in usual situations of written language, they must express communicative intentions and recogni*e the characteristics in each situation! As for the approach to reading+writing it is convenient to $egin to develop the reading+writing capacity of the foreign language through simple and superfluous texts, descriptions and $rief narrations, class instructions, children and popular songs, tales encouraging the pleasure to interpret the written texts and enoy with the reading! The reading allows the gradual addition of voca$ulary and the motivation for second language learning! -ome methods present a $ook for additional lecture! If the student reads texts spontaneously and in a voluntary way, the success will $e complete, as the readings will also give him the opportunity to know and assimilate easily the culture from the foreign country! At the $eginning, the contexts of the new lessons must $e easy% in this stage, the reading will $e confined, most of the time, to repeat words and structures seen in the lesson .in class/, offering new com$inations, visual help as pictures, etc! The teacher will read aloud several times and he &ll ask them questions in order to answer yes or no! As for maturing of the reading+writing process we have to take into account as the course advances, the reading+writing exercises will $e,
logically, more complex! They&ll serve to assimilate the structures we have ust seen and review the previous ones! The procedure to follow could $e $ased on an introduction of the teacher where the students o$serve a picture, the teacher asks them some questions and then he relates the text to other situations! The next step will $e listening and reading the text and finally we&ll present a comprehension exercise using questions which can $e open, that is, the answer expected can change, or close where the expected answer is yes or no!
Teacher: "here did mummy put the cake0 -tudent: #n the cup$oard! Teacher: Is the cup$oard small0 -tudent: 1o, it&s $ig!
2eaching this point, the student is a$le to interpret a complementary text! "e3ll try to offer the student short tales with familiar situations, related to their daily lives, alternating with fantastic stories in order to get the success and arise the student&s interest! "e can work out different types of activities: in class, the teacher will comment superficially the plot and then he will read the text% the first texts are read aloud, to continue gradually to silent reading and later to the summaries or $rief written commentaries! After the reading, the teacher suggests a series of udgements that will have to $e determined as true or false! "e can propose different endings or return to writing the text $ut under another point of view, composition of a text whose sentences appear disarranged, etc! "e are going to continue with the improvement of the reading+ writing process! "e have to consider the texts will present a greater
difficulty, they may $e more long extended and, in some occasions, without pictures! "hen finishing these readings, a simple comment will help understand and place the text! "e&ll ela$orate in class a summary, we can divide the text in parts with su$titles, the students can answer questions and they can explain their personal opinions a$out the central idea! #n the other hand, we can use complementary readings! The additional text will consist on a reading already chosen $y the student, although we can provide him with comics, series of cartoons, maga*ines, etc! The traditional tales and the easy poems are a good source of reading materials! 1ow that the possi$ilities of the students reading+writing are $etter, it is advisa$le the use of the dictionary, the preparation of their own voca$ulary and the ela$oration of his own note$ook where he can register in alpha$etical order! In relation to reading comprehension we have to $ear in mind that the reading capacity of the students from 'rimary (ducation, starts to acquire a more systematic characteristic! It&s convenient the student gets used to extensive and intensive reading! 4or the intensive reading, the student will work with short texts, from which he will understand $asically all the words .la$els, advertisements, letters from friends, etc!/! In the extensive reading, the student will make the effort to understand the messages although he may not known the meaning of some words! In this case, he can ask for the teacher&s help, other classmates, $asic $ilingual dictionaries and other communication strategies .inference $y the context, similarity with the mother tongue!!!/!
In the foreuign language class we can practise activities of different kind focused on glo$al or specific comprehension! At first, the short of games proposed will $e in relation with with what the student already knows in his mother tongue so he can infer from his previous experience the sense of formal or referntial elements .headings, presentation!!!/ which allow him to formulate hypothesis a$out the content! "e can work out a great num$er of clues which help the comprehension as photographs, charts, pictures, presentation of the text, the headings, words in the text which are repeated, familiar words, ask the students questions: "ho0 "hen0 5ow0 The age to start reading must start from the first year when the language is studied .from the $eginning/! The techniques will $e suita$le to the student&s level, the complexity will vary as he is acquiring more knowledge and promoting to new courses! 4irstly, they3ll read short sentences and later they&ll achieve the interpretation of a $rief and simple text! "e can find a serie of advantages in reading, which consists, have learn other cultures, review structures and voca$ulary and a $etter+written expression! In the same way, we must distinguish three types of pupils! Those who find difficult to get a glo$al idea, those who don&t pay attention to details .quick reading/ and those who are imaginative readers $ecause they interpret the text as they like! As result, we have to $e careful with the texts we choose! "e have to adapt the readings to the group and the individuals! In relation to the techniques for the glo$al comprehension, skimming, we have to consider that it can $e achieved using the following strategies or techniques:
- The student relies on the clues previously mentioned who writes0 "hen0 "here0 "hy0
- The text will $e adpated to the student&s level! - Comprehension of the main idea in the text $eing neccessary to make student understand that is perfectly possi$le to understand the main idea without knowing all the words completely! 1ouns and ver$s have more important meaning than other words!
- 6educe the neaning of unknown words from the context! - 2egister the voca$ulary in a note$ook! - 7ook up words in the dictionary! - Identify relations $etween sentences $y connectors! - 2ecognise discourse patterns .conuctions, etc!/ As examples we can include reading $ased on the inference system, reading carried out $y the teacher in aloud voice, reading made $y the students in class, reading aloud and normal reading! As for the techniques for specific text comprehension, scanning, we &ll take into account reading performs $y the teacher in aloud voice where the students have the text and repeat it! Also, they can infer, deduce a specific information $y means of clues, questions, etc! The students reading in class aloud would $e another strategie provided them with narrative or descriptive passages or short poems% reading at home as an enoya$le activity, not as a school task! Advertising will $e interesting at the time of finding specific information! The teacher could $ring a written example, prefera$ly original and with drawings or colour photos! The scanning is a technique related to the speed in reading and involves the attainment of information $y means of searching words or key
propositions! It&s a very productive exercises where the student answers questions reading the text very quickly! 4inally, it is important to point out that although there are different techniqes for the glo$al and for the specific comprehension of texts, $oth will have to $e always together or integrate in order to achieve a $etter acquisition of the foreign language! "e are going to continue with the written expression! 4irstly we are going to expone a serie of writing skills visual or graphical as spelling, punctuation and capitali*ation% grammatical as sentence pattern and constructions% expresive using different styles% rethorical in order to link parts of the text into logical related sentences% organisational reecting irrelevant information or summari*ing relevant points and finally the fact of knowing formal structures! Also it&s important to emphasi*e that the more we read the $etter we write! 8rashem develops the hypothesis that the written skill is acquired in the same way as the speaking skill! The student would request a given language, comprehensive input, in a quantity enough to develop his capacity! This input should $e accomplished for pleasure and interest, so his attention would $e focused on the message or content and not on the form how the message is expressed! "e have to follow a serie of criteria for planning activities of written expression, which consists of contextuali*ation, $ecause when we write a message in real life, we always do it within a context or situation! The place where the written activity is generated may $e as well a determinant element of it! If this takes place in a relaxed atmosphere, the result will $e very different that the outcome o$tained in an examination atmosphere! An another criterion is the aim, that is, writing has always a purpose which determine the expressions, voca$ulary, etc!
The type of register is also important according to descriptions, informal or formal letters, etc! The creativity since when we write we ela$orate ideas trying to express the contents $y means of words or sentences! It&s important to provide the student with occasions where he can create his own language and feel that it is the product of his effort! "e suggest the importance of programming activities, where the student writes spontaneously short messages or informal notes in the target language, we&ll select su$ects a$out which the students have read or had a personal experience and therefore are interesting for him! It&s interesting the reasoning of the writers and the integration with other skills in order to aproximate the use of the language to the real world, develop two or more linguistic skills within the same context so the students aware of the written text, the resources to achieve, the conventions of personal or institutional writings, headings, address, greetings,etc! The last criteria we are going to comment is to provide the student with a motivation to learn! "e can develop two kind of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic! If the activities are motivating, the student will feel satisfaction to learn, to communicate with others and carry out a task he likes! In relation to the step from interpretation to text production we are going to consider some activities or preparatory techniques as well as techniques of written expression! 4irstly we have to $ear in mind we can find two main kind of writings! #n one hand the personal writings for personal use which appear reflected in shopping lists, telephones and adresses, dates, reading $ooks, recipes, etc! #r directed to other people .messages, invitations, letters, postcards, etc!/
#n the other hand, the institutional or pu$lic writings that are found in daily life: commercial letters, $iographies, posters, songs, pu**les, crosswords, games, compositions, etc! The preparatory techniques are related to the development of reading comprehension! "e may emphasi*e the inference technique of the meaning of a word in the context, or the ones guessing the meaning of unknown words and the meanings implicit in the text, and the techniques of predicting the content of a text from the knowledge of one of its parts! In the first place, the students are provided with a text where there are a key word missing! "e ask them to pay attention to the context surrounding this word .voca$ulary, structures, idioms, etc!/ to infer the meaning! In pairs or small group, the students try to guess which word it is! #ther technique is the “linguistic reflection, which help the student to perceive specific aspects from the text! 7ater, the students can write letters to the students from another class or formal letter to travel agencies! The next activity is $ased on “$raimstorming and helps the student to remem$er and learn the voca$ulary necessary to develop a su$ect! The students are asked to say the words they can think a$out a topic and later they will write a composition using the voca$ulary noted down! After the preparatory techniques, we suggest techniques to help students to develop their written expression, so the task they carry out will $e attractive and easy! These will vary from the very controlled to the free writing! In most of the activities the student is encouraged to write his own communicative text with his experiences, interests, feelings, etc to a possi$le reader! "e can work out activities following a model where we can present an illustrative drawing as orientation and stimulus, transferring information activities as ela$oration of questionaires, activities from a situation and
given instructions to write a text, activities without specific support .creation of tales, short novels, writing diaries, etc!/! As conclusion of the topic we consider very important students feel the interest and curiosity towards the written text as well as the capacity to ela$orate them! The $i$liography used has $een:
- 9ello y otros! 6idctica de las segundas lenguas! Aula ;;I (d! -antillana! )adrid! <==>
- 5armer! The practice of (nglish 7anguage Teaching! 7ongman! 9urnt )ill! <=?@
- 9yrne! Teaching writing skills! 7ongman! 9urnt )ill! <=?? - "hite, 2! 'rocess "riting! 7ongman! 7ondon! <==< - Caas 2oas
