Getting the Most Out of Authentic Texts

If you’ve decided to bring in an authentic text to share with your students, what do you plan to do with it? You can use a text to meet a number of objectives, which include but are not limited to:

• Teaching text organization and comprehension of main ideas.

1. Scramble the paragraphs of a short article and have students work in pairs or small groups to reassemble the text.
2. Remove the title as well as any section headings. Challenge students to create a main title as well as suggestions for section headings. Compare their ideas to the original ones written by the author.
3. Present a gapped text. On the board write the 3-4 missing sentences from the article. Be sure that the sentences are removed from different paragraphs so that the main ideas/ subtopics are clearly different. Have students work with a partner to insert the sentences in the most appropriate places.

These kinds of exercises facilitate thinking in English and not simply about English.

 

• Teaching suprasegmentals.

1. Practice intonation patterns. Select an excerpt from a dialogue (play, film script, novel, etc.) that contains a good mix of sentence types (yes-no questions, wh- questions, sentences with a series of items, etc.) which are ideally said by different characters. First reading: The teacher reads and the students identify the pattern (e.g., rising intonation). Second reading: Place students in small groups of three or four and assign each member a pattern (e.g., Student A – rising, Student B – falling, Student C – rise fall). The sentences will be read in the order they are written, but all the sentences of a given pattern must be read by the same student. Third reading: The students will assume character roles, including a narrator if necessary.
2. Practice rhythm through thought groups. Select a short article or brief excerpt. As a class, mark appropriate places to pause. Read the text orally as a class and a second time in pairs, observing the noted thought groups.

These reading activities allow you to choose a highly appealing source, such as a popular film, a TV show, or a speech made by a celebrity. If the resources are available, you could compare a student reading to the original recording.

Related ideas can be found in my posts on paraphrasing and editing.

Teaching Real Life Skills: Reading Signs

Part of an ESL teacher’s job is to help the language learner better function in the host country. One important skill to have is reading signs. They’re everywhere, and the information they convey does not apply to drivers alone. Consider the simplest of signs: ENTRANCE ONLY, NO SMOKING, EMERGENCY EXIT: Alarm will sound.  Then there are more detailed signs about fines for trespassing, the danger of guard dog, lanes merging on a highway, etc.

Thankfully, there are alternatives to stealing public property, carting real signs into your classroom, and showing them to your students. Yahoo images has plenty of photos to select from. You can download and print out 10-12 signs for classroom use.  I recently discovered an interesting compilation of signs by Tana Hoban. See if your local library has this title available: I Read Signs. (Children’s Literature)

You can tie this reading activity in with a grammar lesson on modal verbs. As you show each sign to the class, provide a choice of two modal verbs (or modal-like expressions). Have them write their interpretation. Require them to write at least one sentence per sign, but the challenge is to write two.

 

EXAMPLE-

The sign reads: SLOW…CHILDREN AT PLAY

You provide two prompts: MUST / CAN’T

Possible interpretations by students: “You must drive slowly because children play on this street.” / “Drivers can’t go fast because there are children playing here.”

 

Teaching Practical Skills: How to Read Handwriting

A real challenge in language learning can be dealing with handwritten text. This is especially true for students whose languages use another alphabet or system of characters. Students may feel confident reading printed text, but their comfort level can significantly drop when the text is written by hand. Despite the fact that we live in the computer age and much of our written correspondence involves a keyboard, there are still times when we must read others’ handwriting. For instance, I still ask my husband (a native Russian) to help me read birthday cards and wishes for the New Year when Russian family and friends write to us. Sometimes I cannot read the most basic words because I can’t figure out the sender’s handwriting!

Here are two fun games that teach a practical skill: how to read handwriting.

GAME No.1 – Finding Common Ground [intermediate – advanced]

Have a few friends or acquaintances who are native English speakers handwrite a short text describing their personalities and/or lifestyles. Limit them to 5-7 lines.* Be sure to get a mix of printing and longhand. Compile and photocopy these texts. Distribute them to your students. Have them read the texts in pairs first. Then read them as a class, clarifying as needed. Students can then work in pairs again and discuss which text most closely describes their own personality or lifestyle.

*Model:                 I’m a very active person. I don’t like to sit at home, and if I am at home I’m probably trying to do at least two things at once. I come from a small family, but I have a large circle of friends. I love city life, and all that goes with it: theater, museums, and restaurants. I enjoy parties, too.

 

GAME No.2 – Proverbs as Discussion Starters [intermediate – advanced]

Ask a few native speakers to handwrite about ten proverbs of your choosing. Many native speakers naturally use a combination of longhand and printing, but you may need to ask your friends to avoid using all printed letters as the cursive letters tend to be the more challenging ones. Compile the proverbs, selecting the writing samples that are most difficult to read. Have students work in small groups. Assign two or three proverbs to each group. The students must read the proverbs and try to interpret them. After about ten minutes, bring the class back together. Each group must read their assigned proverbs and share their interpretations with the class. Allow for discussion and illustration of the proverbs.  As follow-up, you can ask each student to translate a proverb from his or her native language and write it out by hand. Post these handwritten proverbs for everyone to read. (Be sure to include the country of origin.)

 

Understanding the Challenge of Reading and Writing in English: A Quick Tip

Sometimes when we think of how to teach reading and writing to our students, we focus so much on higher level skills that we can forget about the more basic ones. We may be asking our students to scan for details or use parallel structure, but to comply with our instructions they must face challenges created by a foreign system of writing. If you’re in an ESL classroom, are you aware that some of your students may read and possibly write with vertical text? Do you know which languages use a right-to-left direction? And what about the different alphabets and complex characters that other languages use? Indeed, it can be challenging to read and write in English as a second language.

One way you can appreciate what it takes for your students to read and write in English is to have them write your name in their native languages. At one point in my classroom, I had such a list posted on the side wall. I got to see “Jennifer” written in Greek, Arabic, Korean, Telugu, and a number of other languages.  It served as a reminder to me to praise students’ skills in English. It may have helped build respect among classmates as well. I can add that on occasion the list was a great conversation starter…oh, and it also likely reminded forgetful students what my name was!

How to Bring the December Holidays into Your Classroom

December is here! It’s time to start thinking about how to weave holiday-related themes into your lessons. After all, learning a language implies learning another culture(s). From Washington, D.C. to London, people in English-speaking countries are looking forward to Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s Eve celebrations. How can you raise students’ awareness of these holidays?

• WRITING ACTIVITY: Letters to Santa.

Find out what students know about Santa Claus (a.k.a. Father Christmas). Is there such a figure in their culture? Explain how children in English-speaking countries often send a Christmas wish list to the North Pole. To teach the format of a personal letter, you can ask your students to write to Santa Claus. Take them through the steps of planning, writing, and revising.

• PRONUNCIATION GAME: Holiday tongue twisters.

Consider using holiday-related vocabulary to teach and practice minimal pairs. For example:

/k, g/ = Go get good, crisp Christmas cookies.

/f, v/ = Very fine fig pudding for everyone.

/t, d/ = Time to decorate the tree.

/s, z/ = Was it nice and cozy or super noisy on New Year’s Eve?

• ORAL PRESENTATIONS: Celebrating holidays around the world.

Students can speak for one or two minutes to the class. Possible topics:

1.       How does your family celebrate New Year’s Eve?

2.       What has been the most memorable Christmas for you?

3.       How do different countries celebrate Christmas? (Advanced students can do research online. Focus first on English-speaking countries. Then allow for other countries to be selected. Assign one country to each student.)

• ORAL READING: Holiday tales told in rhyme.

Stories told in rhyme are good for oral reading practice. Stress patterns are more easily felt in this genre. Try ’Twas the Night Before Christmas or Dr. Suess’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

• READING SKILLS: A holiday classic.

Advanced students can use the month of December to read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The complete work is available online. Allow for discussion, highlight vocabulary, and consider essay writing at the end.

• LISTENING/ CONVERSATION SKILLS: Holiday film session.

Choose a holiday film to watch in the month of December. Focus on developing listening and conversation skills. Some films, like It’s a Wonderful Life with James Stewart, serve as a great foundation for a grammar lesson. In fact, the High Intermediate book of Focus on Grammar  uses that film to teach unreal conditionals in Unit 24. Other holiday films with good speech models: While You Were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock and When Harry Met Sally with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. (The latter isn’t really a holiday film per se, but the big finish takes place on New Year’s Eve).

• CONVERSATION SKILLS: Holiday survey.

Have students work in pairs to create two or three questions. Then allow for a question-answer period, during which they talk to as many other classmates as possible. Put the original pairs back together to compare findings. Possible topics to assign to pairs:

o   Holiday foods/ dishes.

o   Holiday plans.

o   Holiday traditions.

o   Holiday gifts.

o   Holiday entertainment.

Six Ways for English Language Learners to Read a Text

You’re using a general English language textbook to teach your students, and the upcoming section is dedicated to reading.  After discussing  the customary warm-up questions that help students focus on the topic and tap into their relevant knowledge, the class must read a one-page text. The instructions simply state: Read. How do you interpret that? I’m not referring to the purpose (e.g., scanning for details, reading to make an inference), but rather the format: Will the text be read aloud or silently? Will the students read the passage together with you or by themselves? Let’s consider several formats and their respective benefits:

·         The teacher can read the text aloud. This format allows the students to focus on comprehension and hear the teacher’s oral reading as a model. The teacher can choose how fast or slow to read, and she can also pause when she feels it’s necessary to provide an explanatory note either on a lexical item or cultural reference.

·         The students can listen to an audio recording of the text. This format also allows students to focus on comprehension.  Audio CDs that accompany textbooks provide alternative speech models. For example, the teacher may be Australian and the narrator speaks North American English.  Students’ listening comprehension can improve through regular exposure to different dialects and accents.

·         The students can read the text aloud taking turns. This format increases student talking time and provides students the opportunity to develop their skill in oral reading. Furthermore, they become models for one another – not just in language but in attitude. Hearing one’s peers read in the target language can serve as encouragement. This is all the more likely when the teacher conscientiously creates a welcoming and supportive classroom atmosphere.

·         The students can read the text silently. This format allows students to focus on comprehension by not pressuring them to perform in front of their peers. Students are also given the freedom to work at their own pace and apply their own strategies. Some will read quickly once and then go back again to make sure they “got it”. Others will tread carefully, reaching deep for context clues when new words appear. In this format, the teacher must clarify if a dictionary or pocket translator can be used.

So which is best? The teacher should consider a combination of formats in order to achieve specific objectives. Students read for comprehension, they read to learn new information, they read to understand new vocabulary, and they read so that they can react personally to the text. Any given text also provides models for grammar, writing, and pronunciation. That said, a text can be and should be read multiple times. A second or third reading could allow for these additional formats:

·         The students can read aloud in chorus. This format allows for practice in oral reading. Performance anxiety should be reduced by the fact that everyone is reading aloud and focusing on their own speech so that it falls in pattern with the teacher’s.

·         The students can read aloud in pairs. This format allows for a balance between focusing on one’s own oral reading and listening to a peer read aloud. Students can support and correct their partners. A twist to this format comes in the exercise of retelling the text. The additional challenge makes students recall details, new vocabulary, and proper phrasing.

·         The students can read silently at home. As mentioned above, reading a text silently gives greater allowance for one’s individual pace. Done at home, reading really has no time limit. Also, the student is free to reflect on points of personal interest. If the text was read at least a couple of times in class, then by the time an independent reading is done at home, the student should feel at ease with the text. This final assignment can instill a sense of accomplishment.

Four Objectives of Reading in the ESL Classroom

A general English language program should focus on the four basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening in addition to providing instruction in grammar and vocabulary. How this is done varies from school to school, resulting in different levels of integration. Sometimes a single textbook is used because each chapter addresses multiple skills. Other times a separate book is used for each skill area. Whatever the material is, the main objectives for reading remain the same:

• Read to activate and reinforce other skills (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and writing). In the same way that oral dialogues, short compositions, and listening activities do, reading can put into practice grammatical structures, new lexical items, and elements of pronunciation. Reading can also offer good writing models.
• Reading to become a better reader. Reading is a skill in itself, and the advantage of working with adult language learners is that they are usually literate in their native language. This means that they are able to transfer advanced reading skills to the second language classroom.  Reading in English can activate and develop these skills, making the students better readers in both languages. Reading skills include: skimming, scanning, predicting, and reading for detailed comprehension.
• Read to develop critical thinking skills. This is important to address because when teaching English for general purposes, it can be easy to dismiss reading as an activity more suited for an academic environment. In all situations, critical thinking skills aid communication. From having a phone conversation to writing a business plan, people need to prioritize, make conclusions, draw comparisons, make inferences, etc. Reading can provide opportunities to utilize and sharpen such skills.
• Read for enjoyment.  Students should ideally discover not only the usefulness but also the pleasure of being able to read in a second language.

If these are the objectives of reading with English language learners, then what are the possible formats to do the reading? I’ll answer this question in my next posting.