Before the actual act of reading a text begins, some points should be regarded in order to make the process of reading more comprehensible. It is necessary to provide the necessary background information to the reader to facilitate comprehension. In addition, as stated by Lebauer (1998), pre-reading activities can lighten students' cognitive burden while reading because prior discussions will have incorporated. Teacher-directed pre-reading (Estes, 1999).
Some key vocabulary and ideas in the text are explained. In this approach the teacher directly explains the information the students will need, including key concepts, important vocabulary, and appropriate conceptual framework.
Some key vocabulary and ideas in the text are explained. In this approach the teacher directly explains the information the students will need, including key concepts, important vocabulary, and appropriate conceptual framework.
Interactive Approach (Estes, 1999)
In this method, the teacher leads a discussion in which he/she draws out the information students already have and interjects additional information deemed necessary to an understanding of the text to be read. Moreover, the teacher can make explicit links between prior knowledge and important information in the text.
Purpose of Reading
It is also necessary for students to become aware of the purpose and goal for reading a certain piece of written material. At the beginning stages this can be done by the teacher, but as the reader becomes more mature this purpose, i.e. awareness raising strategy-can be left to the readers. For instance, the students may be guided to ask themselves, "Why am I reading this text? What do I want to know or do after reading?"
One of the most obvious, but unnoticed, points related to reading purpose is the consideration of the different types of reading skills.
Skimming: Reading rapidly for the main points
Scanning: Reading rapidly to find a specific piece of information
Extensive reading: Reading a longer text, often for pleasure with emphasis on overall meaning
Skimming: Reading rapidly for the main points
Scanning: Reading rapidly to find a specific piece of information
Extensive reading: Reading a longer text, often for pleasure with emphasis on overall meaning
Intensive reading: Reading a short text for detailed information
The most frequently encountered reason as to why the four skills are all subsumed into one-intensive reading-is that students studying a foreign language feel the urge to look up every word they don't understand and to pinpoint on every structural point they see unfamiliar. To make students aware of the different types of reading, ask them about the types of reading they do in their first language.
The Type of Text
The reader must become familiar with the fact that texts may take on different forms and hold certain pieces of information in different places. Thus, it is necessary to understand the layout of the material being read in order to focus more deeply on the parts that are more densely compacted with information. Even paying attention to the year of publication of a text, if applicable, may aid the reader in presuppositions about the text as can glancing at the name of the author.
Steinhofer (1996) stated that the tips mentioned in pre-reading will not take a very long time to carry out. The purpose is to overcome the common urge to start reading a text closely right away from the beginning.
References
Estes T. H. (1999). Strategies for reading to learn. Available at www.reading strategies.
Lebauer, R. (1998). Lessons from the rock on the role of reading. Available at // langue.Hyper.Chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/t/t/98/lebauer.html
Steinhofer, H. (1996). How to read nonfictional English texts faster and more effectively. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 6, June 1996
