Reading Skills

CDs, VCDs and Internet resources can be effective in arousing learners’ interest. Audio books provide very good models to assist learners to develop correct pronunciation and oral fluency. With teacher guidance, learners can choose and use multi-media resources for self-directed and independent learning.

• Learners need to speak with correct pronunciation so that other speakers of English can understand them. The use of phonics can help in this and should be introduced at the junior level. Phonetic symbols, however, should only be selectively introduced to learners at a much later stage since learners may confuse the symbols with the letters of the alphabet. For information about the learning and teaching of phonics, please refer to Section 4.7.

• Daily classroom interaction provides the most authentic situation in which learners can learn to speak English. The use of classroom instructions and explanations in English by the teacher, and the use of clarifying questions or requests for permission to do something by the learners are authentic pieces of communication. Classroom English can be simple and context-dependent, and so it is easy to understand. With the aid of a good teacher model and with appropriate guidance, encouragement and persistence, learners gradually develop the skills and the confidence to use English inside and outside the classroom for communication. Please refer to Section 3.2.6 for a discussion on the use of classroom English to facilitate learning. Examples of English for classroom interaction for teachers and learners are provided in Appendix 4.

To help young learners lay a strong foundation for lifelong learning, key reading skills must be developed at an early stage of learning. These include:

• understanding the basic conventions of written English;

• constructing meaning from texts; and

• locating information and ideas.

These skills enable learners to read with understanding, fluency, accuracy and enjoyment. In the process of developing these skills, they also acquire, apply and develop their knowledge of written symbols, letter-sound relationships and grammar, as well as develop skills in word recognition and contextual understanding from an early stage of learning. Details of the reading skills to be developed in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 can be found in Section 2.2.2.

Development of Reading Skills through Task-based Activities

Reading effectiveness depends on having a purpose for reading and previous knowledge. Task-based reading activities provide a purpose and a context for reading. Based on an understanding of the learners’

semantic, syntactic and graphophonic knowledge, teachers design or select activities to involve learners in reading for meaning. Learners acquire and practise specific reading skills before, during and after the reading process.

The following example serves to highlight how reading skills can be developed through task-based reading activities:

Task: Treasure Hunt

Learners read a story about a boy searching for his birthday gift at home.

They find out how the boy finds the gift on his birthday, by following a series of instructions written on cards and hidden in different places in the home. With support from the teacher, learners understand how to use imperatives and vocabulary items for giving instructions.

After reading the story, learners work in groups of five and prepare materials for a treasure hunt in the school hall. First, each group discusses and decides where to hide something considered valuable, e.g.

a password to play a computer game in the school, some “stickers” for free drinks at the school’s tuck shop. They work collaboratively and write a sequence of instructions on cards, which are then hidden in different locations in the school hall. To be able to include more directions than are given in the book, the learners also study common road signs and look up children’s word books. When all groups are ready, they start searching for the treasure hidden by other groups. To find the treasure, each group must work together to read, understand and follow the instructions. In the process, they practise specific reading skills at different stages of the task.

• When learners are reading the story, they come across familiar words in printed form. While reading, they practise the skills of constructing meaning from text. They use visual clues, context and knowledge of the world to work out the meaning of unknown words, e.g. Stop at the shelf and turn to page 5 of the book The Happy Prince.

They also learn to recognize the imperative pattern which is repeated throughout the instructions, e.g. Turn left. Take three steps forward.

• When learners are writing their instructions, they draft, revise and edit their work with a real-life purpose. In the process, they correct and improve their work by using strategies such as re-reading the story and asking for help from their peers or the teacher.

• When learners are hunting for the treasure, they read the instructions set by other groups. They locate specific information and recognize familiar words in printed form. They also see how grammar patterns are related to meaning when they recognize the recurrent use of imperatives for instructions, and when they infer the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues.

Development of Reading Skills in the School “Reading Workshops”

Teachers need to understand that learning to read is not an automatic

reading, reading skills are best developed in the context of reading real books and authentic materials. This prepares learners for learning to read on their own, and becoming lifelong learners. It is suggested in Section 3.2.1 that one of the major components of the school English Language curriculum should be a series of Reading Workshops conducted during English lessons. The following five effective teaching strategies can be adopted in the workshops for developing learners’

interests, skills and positive attitudes towards reading:

• storytelling

• reading aloud

• shared reading

• supported reading

• independent reading

These strategies help learners practise listening to, looking at, and deriving meaning from words, sentences and texts in the development of reading skills. They need not be carried out one at a time, nor in a strict sequence at different stages of learning although due to learners’

differences in cognitive development, experience of the world and psychological needs, more storytelling, reading aloud and shared reading may be done with learners in Key Stage 1 and greater teacher support is required. As learners become more mature in Key Stage 2, more supported reading and independent reading may be carried out and greater pupil input is required. Please refer to Appendix 5 for further discussion about each of these strategies.

Other Considerations for the Development of Reading Skills

• Different text types have their own particular textual structure, style, grammar features and vocabulary. Narrative texts, e.g. stories, fairy tales, rhymes and poems stimulate the learners’ imagination and are suitable reading materials for learners in primary schools.

Information texts such as expositions and notices also need to be introduced to learners at an early stage of learning, so that they learn to appreciate the value of reading for information.

EXEMPLARS 3 & 4 ELE KLA CG (P1-S3)

EXEMPLARS 2, 3 & 6

• It is important and necessary to help learners see connections between different subjects. Teachers need to choose some books that are related to other subjects, so that young learners have an opportunity to recognize concepts developed in other subjects and learn to read books for information about other subjects and topics that interest them. With careful preparation, teachers can sometimes introduce reading texts with interesting content that involve concepts or language, which at first sight might appear difficult to explain in English to young second language learners.

• The questions that the teacher sets for supported and independent reading must be carefully chosen to motivate learners and make them want to read for meaning. The following examples help to illustrate six types of questions which teachers may ask during or after learners have read the book This is Our House^∗. This is a story about a boy, George, who does not let anyone into a paper house in the playground. His friends teach him a lesson by getting into the house when he goes to the bathroom. The story has a happy ending because the children forgive George and they play together happily.

Example

− Knowledge ^♦ Where were the children?

− Comprehension ^♦ Why did Charlene say “This house isn’t for people with red hair.”?

− Application ^♦ Which other stories have a happy ending like this?

− Analysis ^♦ Why did George start to shout, cry and kick the wall when he came back from the bathroom?

− Synthesis ^♦ Can you use three words to describe George?

− Evaluation ^♦ Do you think George is right?

• Asking relevant and stimulating questions can help learners develop the skills for locating and interpreting information in a text, and help teachers find out whether learners have understood the text.

Challenging questions related to learners’ application, analysis,

EXEMPLARS 1 & 2