hnique to be adopted for the training of the pupil. One favours silent reading from the outset, the other oral reading.
Silent reading. The case for silent reading as both an end and a means might be stated as follows:
1. This is modern reaction from the traditional form of language lesson in which oral reading predominated. p> 2. Oral reading on traditional lines virtually converted a collective lesson into a series of short individual lessons.
3. Silent reading is claimed to be eye-as opposed to lip-reading. The eye movements are rapid and can skip across the written pages by concentrating on key words. p> 4. Silent reading keeps the whole class active and enables the teacher to assist the weaker pupils.
5. It enables the pupils to work at their respective paces and thus solves the difficulties of extreme types. p> 6. The practice of silent reading in class prepares the pupils for library on their own. p> 7. In introduces the pupils to the art of skimming.
8. Oral reading is a specific skill which it is not essential for all the pupils to acquire.
Oral reading. The arguments in favour of oral reading are:
1. Reading aloud is a form of speech prompted by written symbols; it is an aid to speech fluency, correct pronunciation and intonation.
2. If correct silent reading implies the application of a particular technique (eye movements over word-groups) the children must first be shown how achieve it by example.
3. The words on the printed page are inert symbols which come to life when read out by a good reader. The teacher's rending of a text is too valuable to be dispensed with. p> 4. As vocabulary is an important consideration, it ought to be presented to the ear as well as to the eye.
5. Concert reading (In the early stage) is an alternative means of achieving general activity. p> 6. Silent reading may be carried on at home, but the classroom is the only place for controlled oral reading.
7. Oral reading provides a means of testing comprehension and checks superficial study resulting from attention to content and not to details.
8. Intensive reading is more important than extensive reading in the early stages and for the greater part of the course, indeed. 'Skimming' is not a desirable habit, particularly for school-children.
Progressive stages. As reading is a skill for which the pupil must be trained, it is advisable to proceed in series of progressive stages with each serving as preparation for the next. The ultimate aim is free reading by pupil unaided by the teacher but with the occasional aid of the dictionary. The end, however, need not also be the means; the early stages may have objectives of their own differing from that of the ultimate aim.
There is a tendency to regard writing as synonymous with written composition, and proficiency in this skills as ability to discuss any topic in writing.
In the foreign-language course, however, the writing skill must be interpreted more broadly as the ability to represent words by means of written symbols.
Translating children's everyday uses of print into classroom practice. In the early 1970s, a generally accepted definition of reading seemed to be that it was the meaningful interpretation of written or printed symbols. At that time, researchers in reading moved away from curriculum research which compared methods in the teaching of reading to theory-based research which focused upon the process of reading (Gibson and Levin 1975). The emphasis in the field was upon the discovery of the underlying cognitive process of reading behavior as researchers struggled for recognition of their work as a legitimate scientific endeavor. Reading had become a complicated psycholinguistic process, a solitary effort which took place somewhere between the reader and text. In turn, learning to read in schools became a series of diagnostic events as the finding of theory-based research were linked with the criterion referenced testing movement of the 1970s and decade's strong desire for accountability.
A Writing Approach to - Reading Comprehension - Schema Theory in Action
In the elementary schools, many lessons designed to develop children's reading skills have their origins in basal-reader materials. In addition, some lessons have their beginnings in firsthand experiences. Working from a common experience, children dictate sentences that the teacher records; later they read what they have composed.
The almost exclusive reliance on basal readers and experience charts for teaching reading skills has an unfortunate outcome. Because stories and poems predominate in basal reading books and because expository pieces, when included in these texts, often lack the main and subheads that characterize conceptual and relationa...
