ASSIGNMENT

READING : Sub skills-Mechanics of reading-Reading problems-Kinds of reading-Teaching elementary reading.

1One 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.

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.

SUB-SKILLS OF READINGContinuation...

Interpreting outside the text.Distinguishing main ideas.Selecting relevant ideas.Transcoding to diagrammatic/tabular form.

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.A competent skilled reader(expert reader)Distinguishes fact and fiction.Reading readiness is influenced by:PhysicalSocial/environmentalEmotional/motivationalMental/intellectualPsychologicalContinuation

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. MECHANICS OF READINGThe methods of teaching can be broadly classified into :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.

METHODS OF TEACHING2) Synthetic Method: can be seen in three different perspectivesThe word text method/look and say methodThe 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.

ContinuationThe phrase/sentence methoda) Reading of meaningful phrases.b) Suitable for teaching in the situational approach.Paragraph method/story methodParagraph/story is the unit for reading.Interesting for the readers.There is lack of books.

ContinuationThe major reading problems Faulty Reading HabitsFinger 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.

READING PROBLEMSRegression : 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.

continuationInterference 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 ReadingIt 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.

CAUSES OF READING PROBLEMSProblem 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.

continuation KINDS OF READINGChoral 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. CHORAL AND INDIVIDUAL READINGLoud reading means reading aloud-students are enabled to read using stress, rhythm and intonation.Students follow the model reading of the teacher-develops 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.

LOUD AND SILENT READINGIt 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.

ContinuationIntensive 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.INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE READINGFour 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.ContinuationLiteral 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.

LITERAL AND INTERPRETATIVE READINGCreative 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.CREATIVE AND CRITICAL READINGThree 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.

TEACHING ELEMENTARY READINGStructuring age where the student recognizes the difference between the syntax of the word in mother- tongue 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.ContinuationAtomistic 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.METHODS ADOPTED IN THE ELEMENTARY STAGE