Addressing the Complex Nature o f Reading through Meaningful
3. through through though thorough borough thought
F ig u re 1. S a m p le W o r d - R e c c g " : E x e rc is e F o r m a t
7. Create incentives for students to read at hom e
8. Have students share and re c o m m e n d read
ing materials to classmates
9. Keep records o f the am o u n ts o f extensive reading c o m p le te d bv students
10. Seek out class sets o f texts (or at least gro u p sets) that evervone can read a n d discuss 11. Make use o f g rad e d readers, provided that
thev interest students, are attractive, create sufficient c h a llen g e , a n d offer a g o o d a m o u n t o f extensive rea d in g practice 12. Read interesting materials aloud to stu
dents on a consistent basis
13. Visit the school librarv regularlv a n d set aside time for browsing a n d reading
14. C reate a rea d in g lab a n d designate time for lab activities
T h e re are a n u m b e r of specific instructional practices to consider when engaging students in extensive reading. In-class extensive reading is most often carried out bv giving students 10-15 m inutes of silent reading time. D uring this time, students mav read a class reader: read a book or magazine of their choice while the teacher circu
lates to answer questions a n d offer assistance (free-reading): o r engage in sustained silent reading (SSR). In SSR. the teacher does not cir
culate; rath e r he or she reads silentlv th ro u g h o u t the entire SSR period, serving as a role m odel of an engaged reader. (The teacher should not grade papers o r plan future lessons d u rin g this time.) Students n e e d to see that teachers reallv do read a n d that thev enjov it. After an u n in te r ru p te d SSR period, the teacher a n d students should take a m inute or two to share ideas or make re c o m m e n d a tio n s a bout their reading.
Students may be asked to keep a simple log of what a n d how manv pages thev read so that a record of reading is built up over time. In SSR periods, th e re s hould be no evaluation, no instruction, a n d no interruptions.
Extensive reading, m uch like any new rou
tine, is e n h a n c e d when the teacher discusses the goals with students and helps students find inter
esting a n d re a d a b le m aterials. T h e t e a c h e r should recognize that ex te n d e d free-reading time or SSR mav generate resistance from certain stu
dents. Over a n u m b e r of sessions, with s u p p o rt
from the teacher, students will b e c o m e e nga ged a n d even look forward to extensive reading.
Teachers also n e e d to u n d e rs ta n d that extensive reading is n o t an occasional end-of-the-week, or end-of-the-dav “reward." It is f u n d a m e n ta l to the de v e lo p m en t o f fluent reading abilities. If p u r sued as an instructional goal, it must be d o n e consistentlv o r students will not believe the teacher's rationale.
Extensive reading at school should be c o u p led with extensive reading at hom e, with as m u ch rea d in g as students can be p e rs u a d e d to do. At a m in im u m , the books a n d magazines read at h o m e should be discussed in class, with r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s m a d e to o t h e r stu d e n ts.
T h e re should also be an o n g oing log o f what is read, how long the student read, a n d how manv pages were covered; this log should be checked regularlv bv the teacher. (See Dav and Bamlord 1998 for advice on prom oting extensive reading.) Student Motivation Motivation is a n o th e r kev to successful re a d in g , o n e th a t is tvpicallv ig n o re d in discussions of reading instruction.
T h e m is. Iron ev er, a significant bodv o f research that argues that motivation has an im p o rta n t im pact on rea d in g developm ent. Motivation is a com plex c o ncept with m anv associated notions (e.g.. interest, involvement, self-concept, sclf- efficacv). We discuss motivation he re (following G uthrie et al. 1999) as an individual trait, related to a person's goals a n d beliefs, that is observed th o u g h task persistence a n d positive feelings toward an activitv. T he kev idea for teachers is that motivation makes a real difference in stu
dents' reading developm ent, a n d teachers ne e d to consider how to motivate students to engage as activelv as possible with class texts and in extensive reading.
T h e re are a n u m b e r of wavs to develop pos
itive motivation to read. First a n d foremost, teachers should discuss the im p o rta n c e of read
ing a n d the reasons for different activities used in class. Second, teachers n e e d to talk a bout what in te rests th e m as r e a d e rs a n d why.
Students are often surprised to learn a b o u t what a n d whv their teachers like to read. Likewise, teachers s hould invite students to share interests with classmates. T hird, all class activities should be related to course goals to which students have
b e e n in tro d u c ed . F ourth, all rea d in g tasks (short a n d m ore extended) should have lead-ins (i.e., p rere a d in g activities) that develop initial interest.
Fifth, teachers ne e d to build their students' knowledge base so that students can m anage com plex ideas and develop a level of expertise on some topics. Sixth, teachers ne e d to select texts a n d adapt activities with students' reading abili
ties a n d the in h e re n t difficulties of the reading passages in mind. Seventh, teachers should n u r ture “a com m unin' of learners" a m o n g students, thcrebv e nsuring that students learn to relv on each o th e r cl’fectivelv while working through com plex tasks a n d associated reading materials.
Finally, teachers n e e d to look for wavs to h elp students e n c o u n te r "flow" in their reading.
Flow is a co n c e p t (developed bv the psvchologist Csikszentmihalvi [1990]) that describes optimal experiences. People e n c o u n te r flow w hen thev are e n g a g ed fullv in activities in which their growing skills m atch well with task challenges.
Commonlv, the tasks have w ell-defined goals, the m e a n s for d e t e r m i n i n g success are d e a t h u n d e rsto o d , a n d the achievem ent o f success is n o t east b u t is possible. People h a ti n g How expe
riences typicallv lose track of time, do not get distracted, a n d lose ant sense o f personal p r o b lems. Csikszentmihalvi has consistently f o u n d (across m any studies a n d h u n d r e d s o f in te r
views) that a prim arv wav to e n c o u n te r flow is bv b e c o m in g e nga ged in reading. Thus, flow expe
riences lead students to seek out rea d in g as an optim al expe rienc e , resulting in intrinsic m oti
vation to read regularlv.
Integrated-Skills Instruction In academ ic set
tings, a c o m m o n expectation of rea d in g is that it is used to e a r n out fu rth e r language- a n d c onte nt-le arning tasks, most topically in c o n n e c tion with writing activities, th o u g h listening a n d speaking activities m a t also be linked to reading.
A lth o u g h integrated-skills activities take on g re a te r significance as students move to h ig h er language proficiencv levels, a goal for EAP cur
ricula sho u ld be the use of rea d in g as a resource for integrated-skills tasks.
Taking reading a n d writing as a primary example, there are manv wavs in wTiich these skills can be integrated and serve the developm ent of
reading, writing, a n d academ ic skills. T h e m ost obvious a n d generic options — such as summ ary writing, re p o r t writing, a n d o u tlin in g — should n ot be downplavecl as too traditional. T h e r e is clear evidence that sum m ary writing a n d o u tlin ing. w hen taught well, improve b o th rea d in g a n d writing abilities (Grabe 2001). A n u m b e r of o th e r writing activities can be developed from rea d in g reso u rc es:
1. Students keep jo u rn a ls in which reactions to readings are r e c o rd e d a n d e la b o rate d u pon.
Teachers collect journals periodically a n d add com m ents.
2. Students keep double-entrv notebooks in which thev summ arize text ideas o f p articu
lar significance o n one side of the page. In later rereadings, students (and the teacher) write additional c om m ents on the opposite side o f the page.
3. Students write a simple response to some p ro m p t (e.g.. a minilecture, an object, a short video clip, a quick skim of the text to be read) to p re p a re themselves for the u p c o m in g reading.
4. Students create graphic organizers to id en tify m ain ideas from the text, restructure inform ation, or c o m pare c o n te n t from cari
ous texts. Students then write an explanation or critique o f the reading(s) based on the graphic organizer.
5. Students connect new texts to previously read texts through speed writes, graphic organ
izers, or discussions.
6. Students d e te rm in e the a uthor's point of view in a text a n d then a dopt a different p o in t of view (not necessarily opposing).
Thee develop the alternative p o in t of view th ro u g h an outline a n d consultation with o th e r resources, a n d th en write a critique of the text a n d the a u th o r's viewpoint.
7. Students m ake a list of ideas from the text, prioritize the list bv level o f im portance, get into groups a n d prioritize a g ro u p list, a n d th e n develop a visual re p re sen ta tio n of their response (in the form of, for example, a dia
gram. outline, o r figure) to be shared with classmates.
T h e re are additional reasons for centering EAP reading instruction within an integrated- skills framework. Aside from the authenticitv of integrated-skills activities for advanced students, inte g rate d activities o p e n up valuable o p p o r tu nities for extensive reading (du rin g which stu
d e n ts search for a d d itio n a l i n f o r m a t io n i . F u rth e rm o re , integrated-skills activities engage students in com plex tasks that c o m p le m e n t their academ ic goals a n d require strategic responses.
Finally, students inevitable learn a considerable a m o u n t of c o n n e cte d , c o h e re n t, a n d stimulating c o n te n t knowledge from com plex integrated tasks. T h e resulting masters of a topic a n d sense of expertise often motivate them to learn even more. T h e most logical extension, then, from a reading course with integrated-skills activities is a reading course cen te re d on a content- and language-learning foundation. In this wav. aca
demic reading instruction leads naturallv into various tvpes of content-based instruction.
C O N C L U S IO N
This chapter has outlined c o m ponents of effec
tive academic reading instruction. W h e n looking across the range of com ponents ivocabularv. flu- enev, strategies, graphic representations, exten
sive reading, etc.), a natural response might be to say that all of these ideas c annot possible lit into a reading course that is co h e re n t and focused. Yet.
over the past 20 vears. we have become firmlv con
vinced that all o f these com ponents can be draw n together coherentlv and effectivelv in an appro- priatelv d e v e lo p e d con te n t-b a se d instruction approach. (There is. wc must add. noth in g magi
cal about content-based instruction: it needs to be g ro u n d e d in the criteria discussed above, just like anv o th er program or course in reading.)
In a content-based a p p ro a c h to reading, one can assume that rea d in g m ultiple sources of inform ation will be the n o rm a n d that th ere will be many o p p o rtu n itie s for m eaningful extensive reading. Yocabularv instruction should grow in complexitv a n d th ere will be o n g o in g o p p o r tu nities to r e c e d e vocabularv as students explore sets of related c o n te n t material. Similarly, there will be m am occasions to rere a d texts for new tasks, for new inform ation, for comparisons, and
for c onfirm ing inform ation. F u rth e rm o re , stu
dents will have the chance to e x te n d com plex learning, e a r n o ut purposeful integrated-skills tasks, build expertise on a topic, a n d becom e m ore motivated. T h e m ore c o m plex language and c o n te n t learning that occurs in content- based classrooms will also o p e n tip o p p o rtu n itie s to discuss c o m p re h en s io n a n d focus on the strategies that students use to build c o m p r e h e n sion abilities. In brief, we see content-based instruction as providing the best foun d atio n for academ ic reading instruction if it is p la n n e d a n d carried out well (Stoller and Grabe 1997). It is likelv that the dev e lo p m en t of new wavs to engage students th ro u g h content-based instruc
tion will be a m ajor locus of advanced reading instruction for the com ing decade. (See Snow’s c h a p te r in this volume.)
Before closing this chapter, we would like to address briellv three other future directions for reading instruction. First, we see technology as growing in importance, and related issues as cen
tering on how to use technology to support read
ing development. At the m om ent, the options for computer-based reading instruction are n ot verv advanced: in most cases, thev involve little m ore than putting reading passages on the screen with a few tricks and gadgets. We expect that in the next live to eight vears. this situation will change, and com puter tec hnologies and instructional software will create new options for reading instruction.
Second, we have not addressed reading assessment in anv wav. but it is an issue that can
not be ignored. A lthough assessment m ight n ot be considered a direct c o m p o n e n t o f instruc
tion. it certainly should be. Teachers n e e d to know how to assess students' progress in addi
tion to assessing the effectiveness of various practices in a reading course. W hat works and what does not work should not rest only with a teacher's subjective ju d g m e n t but should be d e te r m in e d th ro u g h both formal a n d informal assessment procedures. (Good sources on r e a d ing assessment include Alderson 2000; Ham avan 1995. See also C ohen's c h a p te r in this volume.)
T h ird , in a d d itio n to assessing stu d e n t progress, teachers n e e d to evaluate course a n d teaching effectiveness. T h e most effective wav to d o this is th r o u g h tea c h e r-in itia te d inquiry
(i.e., a c tio n r e s e a r c h ) . T h r o u g h systematic reflection a n d data collection, teachers can investigate aspects o f their own rea d in g class
room s to improve fu tu re instruction. They can investigate aspects of rea d in g (e.g., rate, recog
nition, vocabulary, skimming) in relation to dif
f e re n t instructional tec h n iq u es or le a rn in g activities (e.g., the use of graphic organizers, strat
egy training, rereading) to determ ine their effec
tiveness, o r classroom materials to ascertain their appropriateness, or a range o f other issues. Action research provides teachers with a nonth re a te n in g m eans for exploring what works best in their own teaching contexts (Grabe a n d Stoller in press).
W h e th e r or n o t reading teachers design c o n te n t-b a se d courses, en g a g e in action r e search, o r use technology in reading classes in the future, we can be fairly certain that EAP instruction will c ontinue to be im p o rta n t for F2 students. F2 teachers, w h e th e r thev teach in ESL o r EFL settings, owe it to their students to make the m ost o f the time they have allotted for read
ing instruction. If teachers are obliged to use m a n d a te d materials, as most teachers are, thev should evaluate th em carefullv, keeping in m ind the complexities o f fluent rea d in g a n d effective reading instruction. T h e goal should be to aug
m e n t a n d improve m a n d a te d materials so that students have the fullest reading developm ent experience possible. For teachers who are in a position to create academic reading curricula a n d select materials on their own, this cha p te r provides m any of the “ingredients" nee d ed . It is tip to the teachers to put them togethe r to m eet s tu d e n ts’ reading needs. Regardless of setting, teachers must r e m e m b e r that students m ost often rise or fall to the level o f expectation of their teachers. Thus, teachers should set high expecta
tions for their students a n d assist them in achiev
ing those expectations by m eans of purposeful a n d principled reading instruction.
D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S
1. Flow has your conception o f reading changed since reading this chapter? Identify three ideas or concepts from the chapter that vou think are im portant a n d rank o rd e r them . Provide a rationale for vour decisions.
2. Consider the characteristics of a fluent FI reader (page 188) as the ultimate goal for an F2 reading curriculum. What instructional prac
tices would v ou incorporate into an F2 reading class to move vour students toward that goal?
What activities would vou assign to address each characteiistic or cluster of characteristics?
3. Reflect on vour own experiences in reading for academ ic purposes. W hich purposes for rea d in g have b e e n m ost im p o r ta n t for you?
W hat have vou d o n e to c o m p r e h e n d texts that have b e e n challenging for vou? What can v ou applv from v o u r experiences to your teaching?
4. C onsider the constraints that vou m ig h t face if vou were teaching re a d in g for academic purposes in an instructional setting o f your choice. W hat would vou do to maximize the effectiveness of vour rea d in g instruction?
5. In this chapter, Grabe a n d Stoller assert that there is a difference between facilitating the dev e lo p m en t of strategic readers a n d teach
ing r e a d i n g strategies. H ow w ould you explain the distinction thev are making?
6. W hat is the relationship between content- based instruction (CBI) a n d rea d in g devel
o p m e n t in F2 settings? H ow ca n CBI c o n trib u te to rea d in g developm ent?
S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S
1. Create a graphic organizer that depicts your current view of reading for academic purpose^
2. Select a short text (e.g., from a magazine newspaper, textbook) that m ight be o f inter
est to a class of F2 students.
a. Analyze the text from the perspective o:
these F2 students. W hat aspects o f the text m ight prove difficult to them?
b.
Identify 10-15 words in the text that m ig h t be unfam iliar to these students Place each word into one o f the following categories: + +, н— , — . How woulc vou in tro d u c e words falling into the + - category?
c. Design three postreading tasks that will oblige students to engage in careful read
ing. Each task should focus on a different
aspect of careful reading (e.g., recogniz
ing m ain ideas: analyzing support infor
mation. arguments, or details that explain the main ideas: inferencing; unraveling information in complex sentences: de te r
m ining author's attitudes: applying infor
mation). Be p re p a re d to explain the aim of each task that von design.
3. Select three L2 reading textbooks. Examine them carefully to determ ine their effective
ness. Do thev include motivating readings?
To what extent are the following aspects of reading covered: strategy development, fluency training, opportunities for rereading, graphic organizers, vocabulary building activ- ities, different purposes for reading, exercises on discourse organization and text structure, integrated-skills activities, pre-. during-, and postreading activities, etc.?
FU R TH ER R EA D IN G
A e b e r s o l d . J. A., a n d M. L. F ie ld . 1997. I m a m R e a d e r to R e a d i n g ’t e a c h e r : h u m s a n d S t r a t e g i c s j a r S e c o n a l L a n g u a g e C l a s s r o o m s . N e w W)rk: C a m b r i d g e L’n i v e r s m P res s.
. A n d e rs o n , X. 1999. E x p l o r i n g S e c o n d L a n g u a g e R e a d i n g : I s s u e s a n d S t r a t e g i e s . B o s to n . MA: I le i n l e X l i e i n l e .
Dav. R. R.. ed. 1993. New Vbns in Leaching Reading.
Alexandria, YA: TESOL.'
Oast R. R.. and J. Bamford. 1998. Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom. Xew York:
Cambridge University Press.
S i l b e r s t e i n . .8. 1994. Techniques and Resources in
l e a c h i n g Reading. X ew York: O x f o r d U n iv ersity P res s.
Urquhart. A. H.. and C. Weir. 1998. Reading in a Second Language: fhocess. Product and Practice.
Xew York: Longman.
W E B S IT E S
R e p o s i m i x t o r i n f o r m a t i o n o n e x t e n s i v e r e a d i n g : http: www.kyoto-su.ac.jp /inform ation/er /
I n v e n t o r y o f g r a p h i c o r g a n i z e r s , w ith m u l t i p l e links:
http: www.graphic.org goindex.html
http: w ww .sdcoe.kl2.ca.us/SCO RE/actbank/
torganiz.htm
http: www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/stu-dents learning lrigrorg.htm
http: www.macropress. com / lgrorg.htm
T e a c h e r g u i d e l i n e s f o r d e s i g n i n g g r a p h i c o r g a n i z e r s : http: "www.wm .edu/TTAC/articles/learning/
graphic.htm
U N I T I I D
Language Skills
Writing
T he ability to express one's ideas in writing in a second or foreign language and to do so with reasonable coherence and accuracy is a major achievement; many native speakers o f English never truly master this skill. Olshtain’s chapter shows how the teacher o f even beginning- level ESIT EFL students can provide practice in writing that reinforces the language the students have learned while teaching the mechanics of writing (e.g., the Roman alphabet, penmanship, spelling, punctuation, formats) right from the start. Knoll's chapter gives the reader a comprehensive overview o f current theo ry and practice in teaching writing to non-native speakers of English, with special focus on developing courses for teaching writing to these learners. Finally, Frodesens chapter explores the problematic area o f grammar (i.e„ accuracy) in writing, which plagues so many non-native speakers even after they have m ore o r less mastered the m ore global features o f written English such as organization and coherence,