READING : Sub skillsMechanics of reading-Reading

problems-Kinds of readingTeaching elementary reading.

READING

One of the four-fold major language skills- other

skills are listening, speaking and writing.
The act of receiving meaning from the written form.
Lord Bacon: Reading maketh a full man.
By reading, the written/printed symbols are translated
to their oral symbols- meaning is extracted.
Reading and writing are interconnected.

SUB-SKILLS OF READING
Reading, according to John Murphy, has the following
sub-skills:

Recognizing the script of the language.

Reducing the meaning of the lexical items.

Understanding concepts.

Understanding communicative value.

Understanding relations.

Understanding explicit information.

Understanding implicit information.

Summarizing.

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Interpreting outside the text.

Distinguishing main ideas.
Selecting relevant ideas.
Transcoding to diagrammatic/tabular form.

A competent skilled reader(expert reader)

Reads 400-600 words per minute.

Responds to the precise meaning-infers the meaning
of new words without referring to a dictionary.
Imagines word pictures.
Feels emotional implications.
Understands author intentions and attitude.
Reads by meaningful phrases to understand oneself
and to let others understand.
Student knows which book is to be referred.

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Distinguishes fact and fiction.
Reading readiness is influenced by:
1) Physical
2) Social/environmental
3) Emotional/motivational
4) Mental/intellectual
5) Psychological

MECHANICS OF READING

Number of words read from one stop (fixation) to the

next is called eye span- slow reader has short eye
span and fast reader (voracious reader) has long eye
span.
By training, eye span can be enlarged.

METHODS OF TEACHING
The methods of teaching can be broadly classified into :
1)
Analytical Method- pays attention to the individual
letters and sounds called alphabetic method and
phonic method.
) Alphabetic method: traditional, systematic and
easy- the eye span will not increase.
) Phonic method: word is read in its constituent
phonemes-the students become more familiar with
sounds-understands that phonemes constitute
meaningful words-this method is difficult at the
beginning stage.

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2)

a)

b)
c)
d)

Synthetic Method: can be seen in three different

perspectives
The word text method/look and say method
The learners are shown real objects or pictures for
word that is introduced.
Words can be introduced through actions.
Word-meaning bond is created.
Not applicable for all words.

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a)
b)

a)
b)
c)

The phrase/sentence method

Reading of meaningful phrases.
Suitable for teaching in the situational approach.
Paragraph method/story method
Paragraph/story is the unit for reading.
Interesting for the readers.
There is lack of books.

READING PROBLEMS

The major reading problems

1) Faulty Reading Habits
) Finger pointing: In the early stages while
reading, children resort to finger pointing, so
would not that lose the line.
) It will reduce the speed of reading.
Large font and adequate spacing can be provided
in the reading material to avoid this tendency.
2) Spreading the Spit : The habit of touching the
finger on their tongue and spreading the spit on
the pages in order to turn them.

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3)

4)

5)

6)

Regression : the movement of the eyes forward and backward

while reading for the words/phrases already read.
This curtails reading speed.
Vocalization: a tendency to read word by word and not in
sense groups.
At higher levels, this tendency should be avoided as it reduces
the speed of reading.
Sub-vocalization: it also means whispering on the passage.
More prevalent in silent reading.
Absent-mindedness: a serious problem both in silent and loud
reading.
Teachers should make the classroom environment to get the
learners attention focused in reading and testing the
effectiveness of the reading skills by comprehension questions.

CAUSES OF READING
PROBLEMS
1)
)

2)
)

Interference of the first language.

They are in different linguistic levels.
i.e.., the two languages having different phonemic, lexical,
grammatical, idiomatic and contextual systems besides
suprasegmental features.
Defective Reading
It happens from the two sources- Ophthalmic and
Neurologic
Ophthalmic is due to the defective eye-sight like short
sight/long sight.
Neurologic defects include stammering and alexia.

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3)

4)

Problem of partial/total deafness also

impedes reading because speech sounds are
partial/total alien to the child with such defects.
Environmental Problems arise out of noisy and
dirty atmosphere as well as lack of infrastructural
facilities.

KINDS OF READING

Choral and
Individual

Loud and
Silent

Literal and
Interpretati
ve

Intensive
and
Extensive

Creative
and Critical

CHORAL AND INDIVIDUAL

READING

Choral reading involves a method in which students

read in unison as a group along with an adult.
It provides support and scaffolding-more reading
opportunity for each student.
Individual reading is where students choose and
select material for their individual consumption and
enjoyment.
It gives a student the right to be creative in what they
want to read.

LOUD AND SILENT READING

Loud reading means reading aloud-students are

enabled to read using stress, rhythm and intonation.
Students follow the model reading of the teacherdevelops confidence-improves speaking with
fluency.
It does not provide pleasure-may lose attention in
meaning- hindrance to others engaged in silent
reading.
Silent reading means reading something without
producing sound audible to others.

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It saves time and energy-enables to derive pleasure and gather

information.
It does not improve pronunciation-impedes immediate correction
of errors.
It is not suitable for beginners-does not make use of the auditory
memory.
Scanning, skimming and skipping are the three types of silent
reading.
Scanning: the learner goes quickly through a text to find a
particular piece of information.
Skimming: the reader glances through a text material to catch a
general idea/gist of it without attending to details.
Skipping: the learner reads a matter leaving out the unimportant.

INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE

READING

Intensive reading is a detailed study of linguistic and

literary aspects and collecting information from a prose
text with an immediate/not very remote purpose like
examination, lecture/critical activity.
It helps to extend vocabulary and self-study.
It develops the power of expression.
Extensive reading does not provide help for the students
from the teacher.
Students read independently for comprehension of the
subject matter.

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Four objectives of extensive reading according to

Thompson and Wyatt: intellectual, literary, linguistic
and recreational.
Learner gets minimum attention or no attention from
the teacher.
Concentrates more on the subject matter -increase in
vocabulary.

LITERAL AND
INTERPRETATIVE READING

Literal reading involves what the author is actually

saying.
Student needs to understand the idea and information
explicitly stated in the reading material.
Interpretative reading is about understanding what is
implied/meant.
It is done by drawing inferences, referring to prior
knowledge, attaching new learning to old information,
making logical steps, educated guesses and reading
between the lines.

CREATIVE AND CRITICAL

READING

Creative reading involves novel concepts which the

student must creatively understand in order to
comprehend the text.
Readers must attempt the text into their backgrounds.
Critical reading is where the student uses some
external criteria from his experience in order to
evaluate the quality, values of writing, the authors
reasoning, simplifications and generalizations.

TEACHING ELEMENTARY
READING
Three stages can be analyzed in the acquisition of
second language.

Recognition stage where the student will find that

sounds, orthography, alphabet, structure, lexis,
syntax etc., are all strange-he will pronounce the
word introduced by the teacher.

The student recognizes the word on the blackboard.

A bond between the sound-word and object in the

new language.

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Structuring age where the student recognizes the

difference between the syntax of the word in mothertongue and the second language.
Reads each letter and then word by word.
Students become familiar with domestic words and
short speech.
Interpretation stage which develops at high school
or even later.

METHODS ADOPTED IN THE

ELEMENTARY STAGE

Atomistic method which is traditionally in vogue.

Pronouncing each letter by name of a word and
then reading it.
Phonic/syllabic method where the sound of each
letter is made and then the word is pronounced.
Gradually, the student is introduced to word
method, sentence method and story method.
The preparatory reading can be started in the
preliminary stage, using a number of objects,
pictures and their names.