Techniques for Teaching Reading and Writing

Techniques for Teaching Reading
The teacher wants to produce students who, even if they do not have complete control of the grammar or an extensive lexicon, can fend for themselves in communication situations. In the case of reading, this means producing students who can use reading strategies to maximize their comprehension of text, identify relevant and non-relevant information, and tolerate less than word-by-word comprehension.
Focus: The Reading Process
To accomplish this goal, teachers focus on the process of reading rather than on its product.
 They develop students' awareness of the reading process and reading strategies by asking students to think and talk about how they read in their native language.
 They allow students to practice the full repertoire of reading strategies by using authentic reading tasks. They encourage students to read to learn (and have an authentic purpose for reading) by giving students some choice of reading material.
 When working with reading tasks in class, they show students the strategies that will work best for the reading purpose and the type of text. They explain how and why students should use the strategies.
 They have students practice reading strategies in class and ask them to practice outside of class in their reading assignments. They encourage students to be conscious of what they're doing while they complete reading assignments.
 They encourage students to evaluate their comprehension and self-report their use of strategies. They build comprehension checks into in-class and out-of-class reading assignments, and periodically review how and when to use particular strategies.
 They encourage the development of reading skills and the use of reading strategies by using the target language to convey instructions and course-related information in written form: office hours, homework assignments, test content.
 They do not assume that students will transfer strategy use from one task to another. They explicitly mention how a particular strategy can be used in a different type of reading task or with another skill.
By raising students' awareness of reading as a skill that requires active engagement, and by explicitly teaching reading strategies, instructors help their students develop both the ability and the confidence to handle communication situations they may encounter beyond the classroom. In this way they give their students the foundation for communicative competence in the new language. Teachers can help their students become effective readers by teaching them how to use strategies before, during, and after reading.

Before reading: Plan for the reading task
 Set a purpose or decide in advance what to read for
 Decide if more linguistic or background knowledge is needed
 Determine whether to enter the text from the top down (attend to the overall meaning) or from the bottom up (focus on the words and phrases)
During and after reading: Monitor comprehension
 Verify predictions and check for inaccurate guesses
 Decide what is and is not important to understand
 Reread to check comprehension
 Ask for help
After reading: Evaluate comprehension and strategy use
 Evaluate comprehension in a particular task or area
 Evaluate overall progress in reading and in particular types of reading tasks
 Decide if the strategies used were appropriate for the purpose and for the task
 Modify strategies if necessary
Strategies that can help students read more quickly and effectively include.
 Previewing: reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense of the structure and content of a reading selection
 Predicting: using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about content and vocabulary and check comprehension; using knowledge of the text type and purpose to make predictions about discourse structure; using knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing style, vocabulary, and content
 Skimming and scanning: using a quick survey of the text to get the main idea, identify text structure, confirm or question predictions
 Guessing from context: using prior knowledge of the subject and the ideas in the text as clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up
 Paraphrasing: stopping at the end of a section to check comprehension by restating the information and ideas in the text



Techniques For Teaching Writing
 Introduction
Students need to be personally involved in writing exercises in order to make the learning experience of lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach. The teacher should be clear on what skills he/she is trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area. Once the target skill areas and means of implementation are defined, the teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation. By pragmatically combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning.
 Choosing The Target Area
Choosing the target area depends on many factors; what level are the students? What is the average age of the students, Why are the students learning English, Are there any specific future intentions for the writing (i.e. school tests or job application letters etc.). Other important questions to ask oneself are: What should the students be able to produce at the end of this exercise? (a well written letter, basic communication of ideas, etc.) What is the focus of the exercise? (structure, tense usage, creative writing). Once these factors are clear in the mind of the teacher, the teacher can begin to focus on how to involve the students in the activity thus promoting a positive, long-term learning experience.
 Purpose Choosing The Target Area
Having decided on the target area, the teacher can focus on the means to achieve this type of learning. As in correction, the teacher must choose the most appropriate manner for the specified writing area. If formal business letter English is required, it is of little use to employ a free expression type of exercise. Likewise, when working on descriptive language writing skills, a formal letter is equally out of place.
 Planning In The Class
With both the target area and means of production clear in the teacher's mind, the teacher can begin to consider how to involve the students by considering what type of activities are interesting to the students: Are they preparing for something specific such as a holiday or test?, Will they need any of the skills pragmatically? What has been effective in the past? A good way to approach this is by class feedback, or brainstorming sessions. By choosing a topic that involves the students the teacher is providing a context within which effective learning on the target area can be undertaken.
Finally, the question of which type of correction will facilitate a useful writing exercise is of utmost importance. Here the teacher needs to once again think about the overall target area of the exercise. If there is an immediate task at hand, such as taking a test, perhaps teacher-guided correction is the most effective solution. However, if the task were more general (for example developing informal letter writing skills), maybe the best approach would be to have the students work in groups thereby learning from each other. Most importantly, by choosing the correct means of correction the teacher can encourage rather discourage students.
Have you ever walked into a classroom expecting students to be prepared and begin learning and instead found them looking at you like you are an alien from another planet for even expecting their rapt attention? Unfortunately, low expectations have become the norm for both teachers and students. Many teachers do not want to fight against the expectations that students have because realigning their thinking is both time consuming and difficult.
Students might come into your classroom with expectations of how you are going to act and what they will be expected to do. However, just because they harbor these beliefs does not mean that you have to conform to the mediocracy that has become much of teaching.
How do you do this you ask? By setting up an academic environment from the first day and always keeping high expectations. What this means is that you as a teacher have to make a committed effort to be consistent, fair, and firm.
Consistency means that you come into class on the first day of school and assume that learning begins that day. You let students know right away that they might play in other classrooms but not yours. And then you follow through! You do not come to class unprepared (you wouldn't expect your students to!) You instead come with a lesson that begins at the beginning of class and ends at the end. (Believe it or not, this seems foreign to some students and teachers). Further, you act the same every day. You might not feel the best or you might be having a bad day because of something going on at home or at work, but you do not change your demeanor or, more importantly, they way you handle discipline problems. If you are not consistent, you will lose all credibility with students and the atmosphere you are trying to create will quickly disintegrate.
Fairness goes hand in hand with consistency. Do not treat kids differently. Sure, you will have personal likes and dislikes for different students, however, never let this bleed into your classroom. If you are unfair, you will quickly lose students who will not trust you. And trust is paramount for an effective academic classroom.
What this means is that you need to help the students understand that what you say is what you mean. And you must also help the students see that you believe in their abilities. Tell the students you know that they can learn what you are teaching, show them by your rapt attention, and then reinforce this by praising authentic achievements.
Which brings up the point: do you really believe that your students can learn? Many teachers have become cynical over time, believing that their students just can't do it or that their lives get in the way. Hogwash! We are wired so that we can learn! With that said, obviously students need to have completed the prerequisites for a course. You can't teach calculus to someone who has just finished Consumer Math. My point here, however, is that you need to examine your attitudes because they bleed through into class. Try not to say phrases like," This is just too advanced," or "We just won't spend the time trying to learn this." While these might sound innocuous, instead they are just off putting.
Finally, this brings up to the term firm. Discipline in your classroom should never be about raised voices and confrontations. It should be about consistent application of established rules. Further, learning will occur in a safe environment if the teacher establishes from the beginning that they will be fair but firm.
We are representatives of our discipline. It is our responsibility to commit ourselves to teaching an academic course of study. It is a sad state that students are surprised when teachers come in and actually expect their students to learn - not just to regurgitate the facts that they read in a text. However, if we fail to create an academic environment, we leave students with the implicit knowledge that school and therefore learning is not that important or it is for the 'brains' of the school and not them.