Teaching Intensive and Extensive EFL/ESL Reading Study Guide

TOPIC 028: COMPREHENSION OF THE TEXT (I)

  • General Definition of Comprehension Questions: After students read a passage, teachers typically check understanding through specific inquiries. These are dubbed "comprehension questions."
  • Primary Purpose: The objective is to verify whether learners have accurately interpreted and understood the text.
  • Pronominal Questions: These are questions beginning with specific interrogative pronouns or adverbs:
    • Who
    • What
    • When
    • Where
    • Why
    • How
  • Specific Examples of Pronominal Questions:
    • "What is a saccade?"
    • "How long does a fixation take?"
  • Skills Tested by Pronominal Questions:
    • Reading ability (comprehending the content).
    • Writing ability (because students must formulate and write out their answers).
  • Teacher Strategies to Ease Difficulty:
    • Requesting only one-word answers.
    • Instructing students to copy specific answers directly from the text.
    • Allowing students to provide answers in their first language (L1).
  • Commands as Question Substitutes: Sometimes teachers use prompts rather than questions, such as:
    • "Explain the three kinds of eye actions."
    • "Describe a fixation."
  • Yes/No Questions: These require only short, binary responses.
    • Examples:
      • "Does a fixation take longer than a jump?"
      • "Does every word get a fixation?"
    • Advantages: They are easy for students to answer and do not necessitate strong writing skills.

TOPIC 029: COMPREHENSION OF THE TEXT (II)

  • True/False Questions: Students determine the validity of a statement based on the provided text.
    • Example: "A good reader makes about 1010 fixations per second."
    • Response: The student writes "True" or "False."
    • Correcting False Statements: A variation involves having students correct false statements. This is highly effective for learning as it forces deeper processing of the information.
  • Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs): Students select the correct option from a list of possibilities.
    • Example Options for a Fixation:
      • a) takes about two-tenths of a second
      • b) is about one word long
      • c) is the opposite of a regression
      • d) is longer in Finnish than in English
    • Advantages: These are extremely easy to mark/grade.
    • Disadvantages: They are difficult to construct effectively. Distractors (wrong answers) must appear realistic to be effective.
  • Sentence Completion: Students supply missing words in a sentence. There are four distinct types:
    • Type 1: The sentence is a verbatim copy from the text.
    • Type 2: The missing words are found directly within the passage.
    • Type 3: The sentence is paraphrased (same meaning, different words).
    • Type 4: The missing words are not in the text; students must use their own vocabulary knowledge.
    • Example: "A skilled reader makes around ______ fixations per minute."
  • Information Transfer: This involves moving text data into a visual or organized format, such as:
    • Charts
    • Tables
    • Diagrams
    • Graphs
    • Benefit: Helps students organize information clearly.
  • Translation: Learners translate the text into another language.
    • Advantages: Demonstrates understanding with high clarity; identifies specific problem areas.
    • Disadvantage: Complicates results by testing translation skill alongside reading skill.
  • Précis (Summary Writing): A précis is a condensed version of the original text.
    • Standard Length: Usually about 14\frac{1}{4} (25%25\%) of the original length.
    • Content: Must contain only the core main ideas.
  • Summary by Deletion (Strategy by Chambers and Brigham):
    • Step 1: Remove sentences that only contribute extra details.
    • Step 2: Remove unnecessary clauses and phrases.
    • Step 3: Remove unnecessary words.
    • Step 4: Replace remaining words with the student's own vocabulary.
    • Step 5: Write the final summary neatly.

TOPIC 030: THE FOCUS OF COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (I)

  • Literal Comprehension: Understanding exactly what the author has written.
    • Process: Students find the answer directly stated in the text.
    • Example: Asking "What is the name of the writer?" when the name is on the page.
  • Drawing Inferences: Understanding implied information that is not explicitly stated.
    • Required Skills:
      • Identifying main ideas.
      • Grasping cause-and-effect relationships.
      • Deciphering the writer’s attitude/tone.
      • Analyzing relationships between different ideas.
    • Nature: Requires deeper cognitive processing than literal comprehension.
  • Using the Text for Other Purposes: Applying textual ideas to external contexts.
    • Applications:
      • Solving problems.
      • Comparing text experience to personal life.
      • Connecting ideas to outside knowledge.
      • Extending ideas beyond the constraints of the text.
  • Critical Response: Evaluation of the text (the highest level of comprehension).
    • Students must decide:
      • Is the information reliable?
      • Is the writing clear?
      • Do they agree with the propositions?
      • Is the provided evidence robust?
  • Bloom's Taxonomy Levels in Reading: Activities arranged from least to most cognitively demanding:
    1. Knowledge
    2. Comprehension
    3. Application
    4. Analysis
    5. Synthesis
    6. Evaluation
    • Rule: More difficult questions generally stimulate deeper learning.

TOPIC 031: COMPREHENSION OF THE TEXT (III)

  • Predicting the Passage: Before reading, students are given topic-related keywords.
    • Mechanism: Students guess the topic and the likely information to follow.
    • Benefit: This cognitively primes the brain for reading.
  • Pre-Reading Question Generation: Students create questions based on:
    • The title
    • The first sentence
    • The general theme
    • Accompanying pictures
    • Information from previous paragraphs
  • Prediction via the First Sentence:
    • Method 1 (Topic Type): Example sentence "For this recipe, it is better to use fish that will not break up easily." Prediction: The text is instructional (recipe) and will cover ingredients, steps, and results.
    • Method 2 (Relationship Prediction): Guessing connections (cause/effect, contrast, time sequence, explanation) for the next sentence.
    • Method 3 (Nouns): Identifying key nouns (e.g., "activity," "children") and predicting their further explanation.
  • Guess the Questions Activity:
    1. Teacher writes keywords on the board (e.g., "fixation," "jump," "time").
    2. Students read and try to guess what the comprehension questions will be.
    3. Teacher later reveals the actual questions. This gamifies reading.
  • Group Questions (Collaborative Strategy):
    1. Groups create questions based on the text.
    2. Exchange questions with another group.
    3. Answer the received questions.
    4. Mark each other's work to encourage participation.
  • Class Questions: For lengthy texts, each group is assigned one section for question creation; the whole class then discusses the collective questions.

TOPIC 032: STANDARDIZED READING PROCEDURES

  • Definition: Sets of strategies applicable to any text, teaching students a fixed process for reading.
  • Reciprocal Teaching (Palincsar and Brown): A process involving four strategies:
    1. Prediction: Guessing paragraph content.
    2. Questioning: Creating questions regarding main ideas.
    3. Summarizing: State important points briefly.
    4. Clarification: Explaining difficult components.
    • Implementation Process: Modeling (Teacher) rightarrow\\rightarrow Scaffolding (Group Practice) rightarrow\\rightarrow Independent Work.
  • CORI (Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction): Combines six specific strategies:
    1. Activating background knowledge.
    2. Asking questions.
    3. Searching for information.
    4. Summarizing.
    5. Organizing information graphically.
    6. Structuring stories.
    • Teaching Requirement: Scaffolding and modeling are essential; students should practice at least 3030 minutes daily.

TOPIC 033: VOCABULARY IN INTENSIVE READING

  • Main Principles:
    • Principle 1: Give massive attention to high-frequency words (the first 2,0002,000 English words and the Academic Word List).
    • Principle 2: Low-frequency words should be ignored or addressed very rapidly.
    • Principle 3: Specific vocabulary strategies (guessing from context, word parts, dictionary) must be practiced repeatedly.
  • Pre-teaching High-Frequency Words: Teachers focus on pronunciation, meaning, word parts, grammar, collocations, and usage prior to reading.
  • Post-reading Exercises: Matching meanings, creating word family tables, and discussing collocations.
  • During Reading Techniques: Teacher provides quick glosses or explains words on the fly.
  • Handling Low-Frequency Words: Ignore them, replace them with easier synonyms, or use a provided glossary; do not waste excessive class time.
  • Five Steps of Guessing from Context (Example: "Fixation"):
    1. Identify Part of Speech: (e.g., Fixation = noun).
    2. "What does what?" Analysis: Ask "What is fixation doing?" or "What is it?"
    3. Conjunction Relationships: Look for connections with surrounding ideas.
    4. Guess Meaning: (e.g., "focusing eyes" or "stopping briefly").
    5. Check Guess: Verify if the guess fits grammar, word parts, and the sentence logic.

TOPIC 034: GRAMMAR FEATURES IN THE TEXT (I)

  • Purpose: Grammar in intensive reading is taught to help learners understand difficult parts of a text, not just for the sake of abstract rules.
  • Principle 1 (High-Frequency Grammar): More attention should be given to frequent items like articles (a, an, the), pronouns, prepositions, and common verb forms.
  • Principle 2 (Low-Frequency Grammar): Rare structures (subordinate clauses, coordination) should be handled via strategies rather than exhaustive lectures.
  • Part of Speech Activity: Students identify words as Nouns (n.n.), Verbs (v.v.), Adjectives (adj.adj.), or Adverbs (adv.adv.).
    • Importance: Helps in guessing meaning, aids in dictionary usage (which is organized by part of speech), and prevents sentence misunderstanding.
  • The "What Does What?" Exercise: Helps students identify the Subject, Verb, and Object.
    • Example: "Children read their own books." Analysis: Children (What) rightarrow\\rightarrow read (does) rightarrow\\rightarrow books (what).
    • Utility: Vital when a sentence is complicated by lengthy clauses, nominalization (verbs becoming nouns), or complex word order.
  • Coordination Activity: Understanding connections made by "and," "but," or "or."
    • Process: Separate a complex sentence into simpler ones.
    • Example: "The Earth moves around the Sun and completes one circuit in 365365 days." Simplified: 1. The Earth moves around the Sun. 2. The Earth completes one circuit in 365365 days.

TOPIC 035: GRAMMAR FEATURES IN THE TEXT (II)

  • Simplifying Noun Groups: Long noun groups must be reduced to the "headword" (main noun).
    • Example: "Maximum number of letters that can be seen clearly in one fixation." Headword: "number."
  • Seven Post-Headword Modifiers:
    1. Preposition + Noun (e.g., points of interest).
    2. Relative Clause (e.g., planets which do not appear hostile).
    3. Verb + ing (e.g., a planet completing one circuit).
    4. Verb + ed (e.g., a lens manufactured to a formula).
    5. To + Verb (e.g., first contact lenses to enjoy wide use).
    6. Apposition (e.g., our satellite, the moon).
    7. Adjective (e.g., stars visible at night).
  • Sentence Simplification Strategy Steps:
    1. Identify reference words and their targets.
    2. Break coordination (and, but, or) into separate sentences.
    3. Find nouns and remove extra descriptors.
    4. Apply "What does what?" to identify the core Subject-Verb-Object.

TOPIC 036: COHESIVE DEVICES (I)

  • Definition of Cohesion: The logical and linguistic connections that link parts of a text.
  • Reference Words: Words that point back to previously mentioned items.
    • Examples: he, she, it, this, that, these, those, his, her.
  • Substitutes: Words that replace a previously used word.
    • Examples: so, one, ones, same, not.
  • Grammar Clues in Reference:
    • "Their" and "They" = Plural.
    • "He" = One male person.
    • "This" = Can refer to a noun phrase, a whole clause, or a previous sentence.
  • Ellipsis: Leaving out words because they are understood from the context.
    • Example: "Most words are fixated on, but function words much less often." (Missing: "are fixated on").

TOPIC 037: COHESIVE DEVICES (II)

  • Comparison Words: Signals for similarity or difference (e.g., same, similar, identical, equal, different, other, more, less, fewer).
  • Conjunction Relationships: Connectors (and, but, because, however, therefore, thus, while) reveal how ideas relate.
    • Benefit: Effects are often more significant than causes; conjunctions help signal upcoming information.
  • Lexical Cohesion: Using different words to refer to the same entity.
    • Example: Referring to "Thomas Telford" as "the baby," "the boy," or "their son."

TOPIC 038 & 039: GENRE FEATURES AND THE ROLE OF EXERCISES

  • Genre Features: Language elements working together for purpose (vocabulary, grammar, cohesion, formatting).
    • Prediction markers: Title, verb forms (present tense suggests description), and conjunctions (amplification signals).
  • Exercise Advantages:
    • Usable with any text.
    • Easy for teachers to prepare on a board.
    • Act like diagnostic tests for specific skills.
    • Errors can be analyzed to reveal weaknesses.
  • Fluency vs. Meaning-Focused Input: Students need both intensive study and massive practice with very easy texts to build speed and confidence.

TOPIC 040 & 041: INTRODUCTION TO EXTENSIVE READING (ER)

  • Core Concepts: Reading large amounts of easy, enjoyable material without pausing for grammar/vocabulary study. Main focus: Meaning and Enjoyment.
  • Strands of ER:
    1. Meaning-Focused Input: Text is mostly understood (95−98%95-98\% known words).
    2. Fluency Development: Text is extremely easy; reading is fast and smooth.
  • Why Planning is Necessary:
    • Reason 1: Reading requires many integrated skills (letter/word recognition, etc.).
    • Reason 2: Learning from ER is "Incidental" (indirect); therefore, it requires large quantities and repetition to ensure retention.
  • Recommended Volume: Roughly 500,000500,000 words per year. This equates to 2525 graded readers, 66 unsimplified novels, or 1.51.5 university textbooks.
  • Elley and Mangubhai Study (1981): Children reading 3030 minutes daily for 88 months showed 1515 months of language growth, proving ER efficiency.
  • Waring and Takaki (2003): Tested 2525 words after reading one graded reader. Recognition (15.3/2515.3/25), MCQs (10.6/2510.6/25), Translation (4.6/254.6/25). Lesson: Mastery requires continuous repetition.

TOPIC 042 & 043: VOCABULARY THRESHOLDS AND GRADED READERS

  • The 98% Rule (Hu and Nation, 2000): Ideally, only 22 unknown words per 100100 (98%k98\%k) allows best comprehension.
    • At 80%k80\%k: No learner understood adequately.
    • At 90−95%k90-95\%k: Only a few understood; most struggled.
  • Graded Readers: Simplified books with controlled vocabulary levels (e.g., Oxford Bookworms Levels 1−61-6, ranging from 400400 to 2,5002,500 total headwords).
  • Preference: Learner interest must be the priority. Interested learners read more.

TOPIC 044 & 045: MONITORING AND SUPPORTING ER

  • Recommended Frequency: One graded reader every 1−21-2 weeks.
  • Monitoring Tools:
    • Reading Record Forms: Tracking title, level, time, and comments.
    • Opinion Slips: Comments left inside books for other students.
    • Oral Book Reports: Introducing books to peers.
    • Reading Awards: Certificates for reading 55, 1010, or more books.
  • Supporting Activities:
    • Speed Reading: Training to reach the target of 250250 words per minute (many learners are below 100100).
    • Word Reports: Students explain meaning, usage, and word parts of words they collected.
    • Deductive vs. Inductive Guessing: Guessing meaning before or after looking at contextual clues.

TOPIC 046 & 047: SYSTEMATIC PROGRESS AND TEXT TYPES

  • Nation and Wang (1999) Guidelines:
    1. Read at least 11 reader per week.
    2. Read at least 55 books at one level before moving up.
    3. Read more books at higher levels to reinforce early vocabulary.
    4. Annual target: 15−3015-30 books.
  • Simplified vs. Unsimplified (Dracula Study):
    • Simplified Dracula: 7,9577,957 words, 98.6%k98.6\%k, 556556 word families (High success).
    • Original Dracula: 161,425161,425 words, 92.8%k92.8\%k, 5,6405,640 word families (High difficulty due to rare words like "solicitude" or "lugubrious").

TOPIC 048 & 049: SUPPORT METHODS AND THE ER PROGRAM

  • Glossing: Providing meanings in the margin (L1 or simple L2).
  • Computer-Assisted Reading: Websites like Tom Cobb's where clicking a word gives pronunciation and dictionary access.
  • Elaboration: Adding explanations inside the text (e.g., adding "bend of the shoulders" in parentheses next to the word "stoop"). This is nearly as effective as simplification.
  • Program Requirements: An ER program should be organized, compulsory, and long-term to produce significant proficiency gains.

TOPIC 050 & 051: ER CHARACTERISTICS AND GENRE

  • Alternative Names for ER: USSR (Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading), DEAR (Drop Everything And Read), SURF (Silent Uninterrupted Reading Fun), Book Flood Approach.
  • ER vs. Intensive Reading (IR):
    • ER: Large amounts, easy, student-centered, meaning-focused.
    • IR: Short texts, difficult, teacher-centered, language-focused.
  • SLA Levels: Beginners might start at i−2i-2 (material much easier than their current level) to build confidence.
  • Post-Reading Ideas: Design bookmarks, role-play, poster making, read favorite parts aloud, write letters to authors.

TOPIC 052-054: RELATIONSHIPS, BENEFITS, AND ISSUES

  • Student-Teacher Conferences: Short (55-minute) meetings to discuss progress.
  • Output Hypothesis (Swain, 1993): Input is not enough; students must produce language (speaking/writing) to notice their own gaps.
  • Interactionist View: Input plus interaction (speaking/writing) is the best path to learning.
  • Components of Fluent Reading:
    1. Large sight vocabulary.
    2. Large general vocabulary.
    3. Background knowledge.
  • Implementation Issues:
    • Overemphasis on IR/analyzing grammar.
    • Teacher-centered thinking (loss of control).
    • Syllabus time constraints.
    • Examination pressure (ER is rarely tested).

QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION (VU EXAM READY ANSWERS)

  • Q: What are the major forms of comprehension questions?
    • A: Pronominal, Yes/No, True/False, Multiple-choice, Sentence completion, Information transfer, Translation, and Précis writing.
  • Q: What is reciprocal teaching?
    • A: A procedure by Palincsar and Brown training learners in Prediction, Questioning, Summarizing, and Clarification.
  • Q: What is CORI?
    • A: Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction; includes activating background knowledge, questioning, searching for info, summarizing, graphic organization, and story structuring.
  • Q: What are the principles of vocabulary teaching in intensive reading?
    • A: 1. Focus on high-frequency words. 2. Handle low-frequency words quickly. 3. Repeated strategy practice (guessing/word parts/dictionaries).
  • Q: Explain the five steps of guessing meaning from context.
    • A: 1. Identify part of speech. 2. Use "What does what?" technique. 3. Look for conjunction relationships. 4. Guess meaning. 5. Check grammar and logic.
  • Q: What guidelines did Nation and Wang suggest for graded readers?
    • A: Read 11 book weekly, read 55 per level, read more at higher levels, target 15−3015-30 per year, move through levels gradually, and use direct study at early levels.
  • Q: Discuss the benefits of Extensive Reading.
    • A: Improves vocabulary/grammar/spelling, increases world knowledge, improves reading/writing skills, ensures enjoyment, builds a positive attitude, and develops a lifelong habit.