Using a reading, listening or video text effectively

Martin Holmes

In “natural” reading, we:

deliberately seek out a text (we have a reason for reading it)

know what type of text to expect (we know the genre and style)

know the background and vocabulary seek something specific from the text (information,

enjoyment, enlightenment, etc.) ignore everything in it that doesn't interest us

Too often in the classroom, we:

present a text with no background or preparation

give unnatural reading tasks (e.g. comprehension questions covering all details)

A more natural approach involves:

pre-reading activities (schema activation) realistic while-reading tasks (possibly some post-reading tasks)

Purpose of pre-reading tasks:

Creating interest in the text, so that the student actively wants to read it

Providing background information about the topic Introducing, reviewing, or reminding the student of

relevant vocabulary Inducing, surfacing or activating an attitude or

point of view about the topic, which the student can then bring to bear on the text

Predicting the content of the text

Example pre-reading task:Mystery picture exercises

Purposes of while-reading tasks:

finding specific info (scanning) getting the gist (skimming) understanding/responding to the argument,

characters or events confirming/falsifying predictions simple enjoyment

Example while-viewing task:Adjective matching

Purposes of post-reading tasks:

confirming comprehension reviewing new/key vocabulary exploiting the text for other learning

objectives, such as speaking or writing practice

Example post-reading task:Concordancing

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