Session 4 was full of useful tips , I’d like to share my views and experience on reading aloud and guessing meaning...
Session 4 was full of useful tips , I’d like to share my views and experience on reading aloud and guessing meaning from context as these two points resonated powerfully with me, my colleagues and other teachers in the community.
READING ALOUD
I have been dealing with reading aloud a lot in my teaching.
On one hand a lot of students asked for reading aloud because they feel, as Penny mentioned in her talk, it’s part of their learning culture, they are used to it and like it. On the other hand, I clearly saw that reading aloud focuses on decoding and production rather than comprehension.
I decided to accept the request from the students to read aloud in some situations showing understanding of their needs and preferences. I do believe that sometimes students are right and the teacher should follow their requirements to be student centered. However, I do explain a lot what is happening when they focus on reading and not comprehension. I show the logic behind reading for gist and detail, how they read authentic texts in their work or native language.
Once gist and detail reading comprehension is completed, I focus on pronunciation and meaning of individual words.
I do reading aloud with some of students with the profile of being totally confused about pronunciation and meaning or with the ones who never experienced proper reading techniques in their learning before. I believe when improving reading skills the teacher needs to develop good learning habits. I have made this point before, once adults understand why they are doing certain activities and see the aim, they are willing to cooperate and enjoy learning more.
GUESSING MEANING FROM CONTEXT
Penny provided us with a spot-on example of how we were able to deal with guessing from context. I did like that part of the talk a lot, very good point, indeed.
I believe when the teacher knows the students well than he/she can identify which useful vocabulary from the text to teach.
However, some competitive students find it challenging to guess the meaning form context, first they identify if the word is negative or positive, they can define the word form, etc..
WRITING
I never thought about using track changes, it is a really very useful tip.
Texting and emailing in class can be used as a good writing activity, chain writing is really motivating for many students.
In one-to-one business classes my students usually bring their writing tasks to proofread or complete with the teacher to be properly written for work-related communication. I approach writing reports and emails by offering students relevant target language and tasks adopted to their working environment, which they consider really supportive and highly motivating.
READING ALOUD
I have been dealing with reading aloud a lot in my teaching.
On one hand a lot of students asked for reading aloud because they feel, as Penny mentioned in her talk, it’s part of their learning culture, they are used to it and like it. On the other hand, I clearly saw that reading aloud focuses on decoding and production rather than comprehension.
I decided to accept the request from the students to read aloud in some situations showing understanding of their needs and preferences. I do believe that sometimes students are right and the teacher should follow their requirements to be student centered. However, I do explain a lot what is happening when they focus on reading and not comprehension. I show the logic behind reading for gist and detail, how they read authentic texts in their work or native language.
Once gist and detail reading comprehension is completed, I focus on pronunciation and meaning of individual words.
I do reading aloud with some of students with the profile of being totally confused about pronunciation and meaning or with the ones who never experienced proper reading techniques in their learning before. I believe when improving reading skills the teacher needs to develop good learning habits. I have made this point before, once adults understand why they are doing certain activities and see the aim, they are willing to cooperate and enjoy learning more.
GUESSING MEANING FROM CONTEXT
Penny provided us with a spot-on example of how we were able to deal with guessing from context. I did like that part of the talk a lot, very good point, indeed.
I believe when the teacher knows the students well than he/she can identify which useful vocabulary from the text to teach.
However, some competitive students find it challenging to guess the meaning form context, first they identify if the word is negative or positive, they can define the word form, etc..
WRITING
I never thought about using track changes, it is a really very useful tip.
Texting and emailing in class can be used as a good writing activity, chain writing is really motivating for many students.
In one-to-one business classes my students usually bring their writing tasks to proofread or complete with the teacher to be properly written for work-related communication. I approach writing reports and emails by offering students relevant target language and tasks adopted to their working environment, which they consider really supportive and highly motivating.
Kindly ,
ReplyDeleteWhat about your writing development techniques with Ss of more advanced levels ..
I realise on reflection I do some reading aloud just about every day (5 hour class). Usually short texts - or even something we have worked on from the previous day so those that missed the lesson can get caught up a bit - review for others. I count doing a grammar exercise (Azar, McKay) without writing the answers "reading aloud". I do this for oral practice and pronunciation and to think about how to monitor grammar whilst speaking..and just for variety. I have 20 students on my register - number in seats varies every day.
ReplyDeleteKaterina, i too "believe" in the value of reading aloud - but I would not ask them to read a difficultt text, say, a newspaper article, without some vocabulary prep and maybe silent reading first. If the class is large I ask them to read to each other aloud in pairs, or threes as I cruise around (like a shark...) If we are reading in a large group I ask them to call on another student to avoid them anticipating which short paragraph or sentence they will read. (I try hard to give them time to decipher words - and on stopping their classmates from "promoting" each other! But not so much time that those that read fast get impatient.)
hehe - and I acknowledge I do it sometimes just to give myself a break....
Now what do you think about dictation? (I SOMETIMES do this also to give myself a little break!!! but I also think that students benefit from good old fashioned dictation....and they LOVE IT! Benefit ir not?)
First - yes, I think there is value to reading aloud, in the various situations you mention (also at the very early stages to check they've got the right pronunciation for the different letters!!), but I think the teacher needs to be aware that 'sight-reading' has significant disadvantages. Given that awareness: how and when you use reading aloud is up to you!
ReplyDeleteDictation - yes, I'm also in favor, as long as it doesn't devolve into a 'failure-oriented' test that just depresses students and doesn't teach them mu;ch. So I'd make sure they are well prepared and likely to succeed. Lots of variations... for example:
Giving them a worksheet with most of the words/letters filled in, and all they have to do is fill in the missing bits
Translation dictation: saying the word in L1, they write it down in L2
Completion dictation: dictating the beginning of a sentence (which includes a target word you want to practice) and then letting them complete any way they like - and share later.
And so on.
Have a look at a book called 'Dictation: New methods new possibilities' by Davis and Rinvolucri.
Penny Ur thanks
ReplyDelete