...Extensive Reading: Why? and How? Timothy Bell timothy [at] hsc.kuniv.edu.kw Kuwait University ------------------------------------------------- Abstract An extensive reading program was established for elementary level language learners at the British Council Language Center in Sanaa, Yemen. Research evidence for the use of such programs in EFL/ESL contexts is presented, emphasizing the benefits of this type of input for students' English language learning and skills development. Practical advice is then offered to teachers worldwide on ways to encourage learners to engage in a focused and motivating reading program with the potential to lead students along a path to independence and resourcefulness in their reading and language learning. ------------------------------------------------- Introduction: The Reading Program An extensive reading program was established at the British Council Language Center in Sanaa, Yemen. An elementary level class of government employees (age range 17-42) was exposed to a regime of graded readers, which was integrated into normal classroom teaching. Students followed a class reader, had access to a class library of graded readers, and had classes in the British Council library, which gave them access to a collection of 2000 titles. Questionnaires were used to examine students' reading interests, habits and attitudes, both prior to, and following the program. The class library contained 141 titles in the published readers of some major publishers...
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...weaknesses in his reading especially with fluency and comprehension. I had no idea that I was eventually going to be tutoring him. As it turned out, my cooperative teacher wanted me to work with this student. Originally, my cooperative teacher wanted me to work with another one of her students but, she later changed her mind on account of, the original student is frequently absent and spends a great deal of time making up assignments. Additionally, my cooperative teacher provided me with valuable background information on my student. Furthermore, through the background information that I was provided I learned that my student occasionally has a difficult time concentrating on his work. His AR level is 2.6-3.6. He is particularly eager to learn, but he frequently rushes through the class assignments. My cooperative teacher has also informed me that Alex is a part of the Jubilee program and he also receives support and intervention from the...
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...reading and studying focusing on print and online materials ISBN 1-256-09222-3 Keys to Effective Learning: Study Skills and Habits for Success, Sixth Edition, by Carol Carter, Joyce Bishop, and Sarah Lyman Kravits. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. c h a p t e r 7 hanh never had trouble keeping up with her high school reading assignments, but after four weeks of college she is already snowed under. With midterms coming in two weeks, she stays awake at night thinking about how much she has to learn. It seems as if all the reading she has done this term—particularly what she has read on the computer—has gone in one side of her brain and out the other, so she feels she has to start at the beginning. She has the sense that the way she is reading may be a problem, but it worked for her in the past, so why change now? In this chapter . . . you explore answers to the following questions: HOW can SQ3R help you own what you read? p. 190 WHAT improves reading comprehension? p. 200 HOW do you customize a text with highlighting and notes? p. 205 HOW can you read online materials effectively? p. 208 ISBN 1-256-09222-3 © Shutterstock Keys to Effective Learning: Study Skills and Habits for Success, Sixth Edition, by Carol Carter, Joyce Bishop, and Sarah Lyman Kravits. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. Habit for Success ask questions Questions are the backbone of learning. They help...
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...(Post graduate) Language Testing Testing Reading Comprehension Prepared by : Ahlam Alghrarri Supervised by : Dr. S. Balhoug Spring 2012 1.1 Introduction Reading is one of the major skills involved in language learning, usually conceived of a solitary activity in which the reader interacts with the text in isolation, and is a most important activity in any language class, not only as source of information and pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one`s knowledge of the language; such reading presented to the student is designed primarily to strengthen one`s control of the oral /aural skills. Readings are generally based on the grammatical structures and lexical items, and content of the material is regarded as acquiring culture by comprehending the content of the text. Reading comprehension is the process of deriving meaning from a connected text. It involves word knowledge (vocabulary) as well as thinking and reasoning. Therefore, comprehension is not a passive process, but an active one. The reader actively engages with the text to construct meaning. This active engagement includes making use of prior knowledge. It involves drawing inferences from the words and expressions that a writer uses to communicate information, ideas and viewpoints, which can be done by testing the reader his comprehension that is what this paper will discuss. 1.2 What is reading? It is one of main skills of language system...
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...March 21, 2012 Effects of the Transition to a Visual Culture Lucinda Whitfield Western Governor University The world has begun to move to a culture full of visual images, this transition has even had an impact on literature and has shaped our world into a visual culture. In this paper, the writer will investigate the effects of visual literacy on society. Visual images are observed in many facets of global society. Vast amounts of information today is embedded in forms of media that does not solely rely on linguistics causing the new digital generation to have a need to develop new types of literacy skills. Messages that were once conveyed through literary texts are now communicated through other forms of media that are enhanced or supported by visual images. The emergence of a growing visual culture has led to a steady decline in literary culture and has several underlying effects. Mirzoeff argued (1998) “the visual culture defines and delimits the post-modern present in that the culture that we call postmodernism is best imagined and understood visually, just as the nineteenth century was classically represented in the newspaper and the novel” (p.5). Understanding what is seen versus what is read will likely continue to be an important acquired and needed skill for people of all ages. Several trends are believed to be contributors for the need to attain new literacy skills. In a time of reality television, movies, video gaming, and digital billboards, it is rare...
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...ARTICLES Motivating and engaging students in reading Jenna Cambria John T. Guthrie LJjdvcrsLiv û", J ou can certainly ignore motivation if you choose. But if you do, you maybe neglecting the most important part of reading. There are two sides to reading. On one side are the skills which include phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, vocabulary, and simple comprehension. On the other side is the will to read. A good reader has both skill and will. In the "will" part, we are talking about motivation to read. This describes children's enjoyments, their wants, and their behaviors surrounding reading. A student with skill may be capable, but without will, she cannot become a reader. It is her will power that determines whether she reads widely and frequently and grows into a student who enjoys and benefits from literacy. So we think you should care about motivation because it is the other half of reading. Sadly, it is the neglected half. Y What is motivation? Many teachers think of a motivated reader as a student who is having fun while reading. This may be true, but there are many forms of motivation that might not be related to fun and excitement. What we mean by motivation are the values, beliefs, and behaviors surrounding reading for an individual. Some productive values and beliefs may lead to excitement, yet other values may lead to determined hard work. We talk about three powerful motivations that drive students' reading. They operate in school and out of school, and...
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...[pic] JPPSS ELA COURSE GUIDE 2011-2012 ENGLISH I The JPPSS Instructional Sequence Guides are aligned with the LA Comprehensive Curriculum. JPPSS Implementation of Activities in the Classroom Incorporation of activities into lesson plans is critical to the successful implementation of the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum. The Comprehensive Curriculum indicates one way to align instruction with Louisiana standards, benchmarks, and grade-level expectations. The curriculum is aligned with state content standards, as defined by grade-level expectations (GLEs), and organized into coherent, time-bound units with sample activities and classroom assessments to guide teaching and learning. The units in the curriculum have been arranged so that the content to be assessed will be taught before the state testing dates. While teachers may substitute equivalent activities and assessments based on the instructional needs, learning styles, and interests of their students, the Comprehensive Curriculum should be a primary resource when planning instruction. Grade level expectations—not the textbook—should determine the content to be taught. Textbooks and other instructional materials should be used as resource in teaching the grade level expectations...
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...[pic] [pic] Barnes and Noble Classic Editions Honors/Pre-AP Sophomore English Summer Reading Assignment 2013: Frankenstein Dear Students and Parents: Welcome to the Basha High School’s Honors/PreAP English program for 10th grade. Our goal is to prepare students for the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition program by exposing them to a variety of reading selections all the while developing the skills to recognize cultural and historical influences on literature. As part of the program, summer reading is required. The assignment based on the reading is due Monday August 5, 2013. If you have questions about the assignment, please contact the following honors 10 teacher by email: Ms. Audra Police at police.audra@cusd80.com . Directions for your literary exploration: Part 1 – Reading the book As you read the summer novel, highlight interesting, important or confusing passages; take notes in the margins about topics and questions you may have; this is called annotating. If the book is not yours and you do not plan to write in it, you can strategically annotate on sticky notes or type your notes. Just highlighting is not enough. We will be looking for evidence that the book was read in its entirety and that you understood the book. You will be graded on your effort to mark the text. While you are not required to annotate every page, use the guidelines below to help you: • Important plot events • Words unfamiliar or unusual – Look...
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...Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff Mikko Allen D. San Miguel Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Abstract In Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff, a low speed means higher accuracy and a high speed means lower accuracy. This principle is applied in terms of reading. It is predicted that when people read faster, they tend to be less accurate about what they read. This is tested by compelling subjects, to read faster. The subjects were asked to read faster than average, by increasing the target number of lines they were required to read. Also, they were asked to cross-out all the letter e’s that they see as they go through a reading material. Most of the results are consistent with the prediction. When subjects read faster, they committed more mistakes and when they read slower, they were able to commit less. However, other findings are inconsistent with this prediction. For example, even when the subjects were not required to read faster than average, they were still unable to gain a higher score in correctly crossing-out the letter e’s that they came across. Introduction Is a job done fast, a job done inaccurately or can a job be done both fast and accurate? Individuals attempt to perform well in both factors (Zimmerman, 2011). Everyone wants a job well done in a minimum amount of time. For example, it would be amazing if a repairman can fix a broken phone properly in less than the average time it usually takes; this is beneficial to both parties. The client saves more time than usual. Similarly...
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...Many define reading as the mere examination of text. If I were to define “reading” as the sustained perusing of text that is usually, but not always, associated with the printed word, “the hours spent prowling the Internet are [indeed] the enemy of reading”. (RICH 2008) Opponents contend that spending time on the Internet improves literacy in terms of the ability to read and write. The material available online is diverse, presenting different points of views on a topic quite unlike most books. The Internet also encourages writing with websites urging users to share their opinions and comments. Thus, opponents assert that the time devoted to Internet surfing enhances literacy for we are able gather considerably more information and practice our skill of reading and writing. However, opponents seem to neglect the fact that “many youths spend most of their time on … activities that involve minimal reading at best.”(RICH 2008) Furthermore, they do not take into account the final and perhaps most important facet of “literacy”: the ability to think critically about the text. Most adopt “skim-reading”, a rapid scanning of text to pick out the main ideas, which weakens our capacity for the kind of deep reading required for critical thinking. The Internet may serve up more knowledge than a book can but as Sven Birkerts contends, “we know countless more “bits” of information… [but] we know them without a stable sense of context” (Birkerts 1994). With little time taken to chew on and...
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...College of Education Zuba. Abuja email: rosemaryochanyaogbodo@yahoo.com Abstract The problem most students have that contributes to their poor performance in tests and examination is lack of proper study habit. For an excellent performance, there is need for the student to form good study habit. A student, who wants to study well, needs to choose a suitable place for his studies. Where to study is as important as what to study and how to go about studying. Productive study habits require learners to prepare personal time-table for themselves allocating a certain length of time for a particular subject, depending on how difficult each subject is. Different methods of studying are well explained here. Key Words: Counselling, Study habits, Reading habits, Education Introduction In School, high academic performance has been attributed to students‟ effective study habits. This is the reason why the teacher tries to adopt many techniques to help the students to learn. There will be a brief explanation of the topic, followed by the need for planning effective study habit programme. A description of the typology of study habits will be supported by recommendation for techniques of effective study habits. The counsellor‟s role in the formation of study habits will form the concluding section. The learner‟s Dictionary has defined study as a “mental effort to obtain knowledge “. This means that studying is an art of learning which helps the individual not only to acquire knowledge but also...
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...EDU 2120: ASSESSMENT OF READING FINAL EXAM MARVIN ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENTS TO BE GIVEN: 1. Developmental Reading Assessment 2. Silent Reading Comprehension Test B 3. Word Meaning Test I believe the above assessments would be helpful in identifying and understanding some of Marvin’s difficulties with reading. The Developmental Reading Assessment assesses not only decoding, but also allows the instructor to observe and assess the reading strategies and miscues of a reader (i.e., omissions, repetitions, substitutions, etc.). Marvin states that his only strategies for reading unfamiliar words are “breaking the words down” and “asking”. Administering the DRA can help to see if Marvin is displaying any use of other strategies that maybe he is not aware that he is using. The DRA also allows for the assessment of fluency and comprehension. Since, Marvin believes that his main reading problem is comprehension, this is a good way to check if he has correctly assessed himself. The Silent Reading Comprehension Test is an alternate method of assessing Marvin’s comprehension skills. This test will be able to give the instructor an idea of Marvin’s instructional reading level. And finally, a Word Meaning Test could be administered to give an idea of Marvin’s vocabulary development. SUGGESTED READING PROGRAM According to Marvin’s educational history, he has been mostly exposed to instruction that included closed tasks, limited choices in what...
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...My Student Survival guide to distance learning. By Roel Maldonado Index Introduction………………………………. Using Educational Resources…………… Upholding Academic Honesty…………….. Setting and Achieving Goals……………… Managing Time Wisely……………………. Fostering Reading Comprehension and Retention…………………………………… Applying Personality and Learning Styles……………………………………….. Often when a person recognizes that in order to earn what they are worth and secure their dreams they are going to first have to secure additional skills and or education. Juggling a career and family while attending college, is difficult to say the least. Just being a college student is a challenge in itself especially at my age. Whether it is through distance learning or the traditional face-to-face way, you, as a student, are completely on your own and have no one watching over you to make sure you complete your studies. You have to have the motivation and determination to succeed. Thankfully, University of Phoenix and its Instructors have provided us with a plethora of information and tools designed to help their students succeed. This is my student survival guide for distance learning. This guide is designed to assist the busy student by compiling the essential methods and resources I have learned. Using Educational Resources ...
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...Helpful Hints for ACADEMIC MODULE BY GARRY ADAMS & TERRY PECK Practice Tests and Hints for IELTS Listening • Reading • Writing • Speaking fully updated for new IELTS Speaking Test format 101 Helpful Hints for IELTS PUBLISHER'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The publishers are grateful for permission to use copyright material. We would like to acknowledge the original sources of text material listed below. Permission has been sought to reproduce all material whose source could be identified. Information that will enable the publishers to rectify any error or omission in subsequent editions will be welcome. The nine Band Score descriptions on page 12 are reproduced from The IELTS Handbook, a joint publication of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, The British Council, and IDP Education Australia: IELTS Australia. The reading passage "Regional Student Survey" on page 97, is adapted from The ELICOS Student Contextualised - Facts & Figures by Ms. CM. Bundesen, with permission of the author. AUTHORS' ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to acknowledge the support of the following people: Bruce Bell, HelenkaPiotrowski, Laurent Seibert, Andrew Thomas (Sydney English Language Centre), and Soon-Young Yoon. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Terry Peck and Garry Adams have extensive IELTS coaching experience, both having been involved in implementing and designing IELTS coaching programmes. Terry Peck was an IELTS examiner for a number of years in Sydney, Australia. AVAILABLE...
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...The fourth day of observation, the children had to read their required books from school again. I went from child to child and asked if they wanted to read to me their books and most of them said yes. I sat and listened to them read and would help them sound out words that they didn’t know. There were many times when I would stop the child and ask them questions about the reading. Sometimes the child had no clue what the answer was which told me that they weren’t comprehending what they were reading. I would have them go back and we would re-read the pages to find the answer to my questions. A lot of times I would ask the child if they read the book yet or not and if they haven’t then I’d have them make predictions. They seemed to like...
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