How to teach reading effectively

INTRODUCTION
 Experience is a work that you have from doing your work many times . During a long time you do your work , you overcome bad things , improve them and make them better and better. Then , whenever you do that work ,you always use the method you have used before and get a good result . The method you use to make your work better is considered an experience of your own.
Teachers always try to find the best methods to teach their students . I do , too . I have many experiences during my life of teaching , such as experiences in teaching Listening , experiences in teaching speaking, experiences in teaching reading and experiences in teaching writing .
In this material , I will tell you my experiences in teaching reading . I myself think the followings are the best experiences of my own . But each person has different points of view . Anyway, I hope my experiences will be supported and all of you are certain to help me make my experiences better and better after reading my experiences .
PART 1
I. REASONS OF CHOOSING THIS TOPIC .
Reading skill is one of the most important skills to language learners . The purposes of learning English are to learn how to listen , speak , read and write English well . Englins is an international language . It is a means to communicate with other people in the world . Many books are written in English .So how to help readers understand information written in English in books, newspapers , magazines ,etc is more important . If students have a good reading skill, they can easily understand the information written in English well . 
To English teachers , helping students drill their reading skill is more important because it is one of the four skills in teaching English . Moreover , teachers have to teach students reading skills so that they can understand the knowledge in English books and in English tests . 
To students , about 30 percent or even more than 30 percent of the exercises in their English tests are to test their reading skills .So if students have a good reading skill , they can easily complete their English tests well.
Moreover,people said that “A good reader make a good writer”. If students are good at reading, of course , they are good at writing, speaking, and listening.
In conclusion , how to teach students to be good at reading skills in English is very important. And my ideas above are the reasons why I have spent most of my time studying the topic : ” How to teach reading effectively ? “.
II. TASKS OF THE TOPIC.
( WHAT TASKS DOES THIS TOPIC SOLVE ? )
 In this topic , I focus on the following contents :
 1.The ways to read texts .
 2.Sub-skills in teaching reading .
 3.Principles of teaching reading .
 4.Steps for presenting a reading text .
 5.Some purposes of reading texts .
 6.Techniques of teaching reading .
 7.Main skills of reading .
III . METHODS TO RESEARCH THIS TOPIC . 
 First of all , I use the knowledge of methods I have learnt at University .
Secondly , I read many methodogical books to get the knowledge of the methods to teach reading . 
Moreover , I learn many experiences from my colleagues .
With all the knowledge I have collected , I use them in teaching my students reading skills. After that , I choose the methods which are suitable for my students . this means that I choose the methods which make my students good at reading skill . 
 I use these methods many times and then they become my own experiences . Now I am writing my own experiences in teaching reading in this material .
 IV .THE PLACE AND THE TIME TO RESEARCH THIS TOPIC .
During a long time teaching English at Tan Ninh secondary school , I am experienced in teaching reading skills.
 I have researched this topic for over 4 years . ( from 2014 up to now ) .
PART 2 THE RESULTS
A . THE SITUATION OF LEARNING READING IN ENGLISH OF THE STUDENTS AT TAN NINH SECONDARY SCHOOL AT PRESENT .
 * Students get acquainted with many kinds of reading exercises , and they do reading exercises well.
 * Students have a lot of skills and methods in doing reading texts and their reading skill is becoming better and better . 
 * Students have many pleasures in reading periods .
 * Students read English texts more fluently and they can easily understand the contents of the English texts . 
 * Students can do many reading exercises in the reference books by themselves at home .
 * Students enjoy reading periods .
 * When my students take part in examinations , they all get good results at reading .
 * Students have a lot of abilities in doing reading exercises and they do reading texts carefully 
 *Students’English pronunciation is better .
 B .SOLUTIONS TO SOLVE THE CONTENTS IN THIS TOPIC .
 I . The ways to read English texts :
There are many ways to read English texts .
1.Reading aloud : 
 The purpose of reading aloud is to communicate someone’s information written to other people such as reading newspapers , news , letters , passages , messages ,etc 
In teaching foreign languages , reading aloud has fewer effects to the development of students’reading skill, but It mainly helps students practice pronunciation , intonation , stress or reading for announcing something .
2. Silent reading :
When we want to read in order to understand something or to get information , we often read silently . It means that we only look at the words and understand them in our mind .
3. Intensive reading : including two kinds of reading .
* Reading for details or research .
* Reading for analysis .( in order to learn the language ) .
4.Extensive reading : including three kinds :
* Reading for pleasure .
* Scanning .
* Skimming .
II . READING SUB-SKILLS:
There are some main reading sub-skills that I often drill my students .
Reading for recognizing words and their meanings in the text .
Reading for understanding sentences or paragraphs in the text .
Scanning .
4. Skimming .
5. Predicting the content of the sentences or texts .
6. Guessing the meanings of the new words from contexts .
7. Using dictionaries for reading .
8. Inferring meaning .
9. Reading for total comprehension .
10. Critical reading .
11. Outlining .
12. Paraphrasing .
13. Summarizing .
14.Timed reading .
15. Strip stories ( ordering exercises ) .
16. Clozing .
III . PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING READING :
When teaching a reading text , It is benificial to state a purpose for reading a given text . Tell the students why they are reading the text . It is to skim for the main ideas ? It is to scan for specific information ? It is for critical reading ? The purpose of reading task should be stated to the students before they read 
Prepare the students to read by introducing the topic of the passage .
Before the students read the text , have them read questions about it before hand to help them focus on the meaning .
Do not pre-teach vocabulary unless necessary .
Have the students read silently without whispering the words or moving their lips . This will help them read more quickly and focus on the more important words .
Discuss difficult vocabulary after reading the text .If they do not understand certain words by guessing from context , help them by explaining the meaning, by definition or example .
When discussing the answers to comprehention questions , be sure to refer back to the text often .
Finally , remember to focus on developing the skills of the readers . The purpose of teaching reading is not only to help the students understand the context for that day , but also to help them learn to read effectively for themselves . To do this ,they must develop many sub-skills of reading like skimming , scanning , predicting , guessing from context and reading for total comprehension . 
IV. STEPS FOR PRESENTING A READING TEXT :
1.Give a brief introduction to get students thinking about the topic of the text .
2. Ask students to say more words they know about the topic .
3. teach some key words .
4. State a purpose for reading the text (skim , scan , read for total information , etc.
5.Write one or two guiding questions on the board to focus their attention . 
6. Tell the students how much time they have to read . Do not allow them much time , especially in skimming and scanning exercises .
7.Have the students answer the given questions about the text .
8.Present a follow-up activity .In this , the students can share their own opinions or discuss what else they know about the topic of the text . 
V .THE TWO KINDS OF READING TEXT .
There are many purposes of reading texts , but in this material I will mention two kinds of reading texts with two different purposes .
* The reading text in order to present the language .
* The reading text in order to teach students reading skills .
 HOW TO EXPLOIT THE TWO KINDS OF READING TEXTS :
1.Exploiting the reading text in order to present the new language :
- If the main aim of the reading text is to present the new language , the teacher’s work is to help students understand the text through presentation , explanation , and noticing students about the content as well as the new language in the text . Then the follow-up tasks are in order to check the students’understanding and the use of the new language .
 Followings are the basic steps to exploit the reading text in order to present the new language :
Introducing the text by using many different techniques such as telling stories , asking questions , revising previous lessons relating to the new lesson . 
 Introducing the content of the text ( using pictures if possible ) and introducing new words and structures . If the text is long , we can divide it into small paragraphs .
Practising asking and answering about the text , using the new language in the text .
Practising the new language in the context of the text and the content of the text . 
Consolidating , summarizing , building up the text , using the following exercises :
Rearrange the text in order .
Build up the text .
Retell the story with prompts given .
Retell each part orally .
Sum up the main ideas of the text , basing on the prompts given 
Read the text aloud in order to practice pronunciation , intonation .
Follow-up activities ( intergrate the 4 skills : listening , speaking , reading , writing).
2. Exploiting the reading text in order to develop students’reading skills:
In some reading texts in order to develop students’reading skills , teachers not only help students to understand the content of the text , but also give out some follow-up tasks in order to help students practice their reading skills .Those skills can help students read different passages with different purposes . In this kind of reading text , teachers do not present , introduce the content of the reading text , but the students themselves have to read the text and find out the content of the reading text . The role of the teacher is to help , prompt , guide ,give out suggestions ,and check the students’answers .
 The activities in order to develop students’reading skills are usually carried on with 3 stages :
-Pre-reading activities .
-While-reading activities .
-Post-reading activities .
a. Pre-reading activities :
The activities and the techniques at this stage are in order to reach the following purposes:
-Arouse interest ( gây hứng thú )
-Set up the context ( thiết lập ngữ cảnh ) 
-Create reasons for reading .
-Pre-teach structures , new words .
-Introduce briefly the topic ; content .
-Eliciting , guiding questions .
-Predict the text .
-Give expectation about the text .( nêu những điều muốn biết về bài đọc )
b. While-reading activities :
While-reading activities are exercises which are done while students are reading the text. Students can read the text many times and do these exercises . At this stage , students exploit the content of the text . Depending on the purpose and the content of each certain text , There will be different questions and different requirements . 
The followings are activities and techniques usually used at this stage:
-Find the word / sentence that says .
-Check / tick the correct answer .
-True-false 
-Complete the table 
-Fill in the chart 
-Make up charts / diagrams .
-Make a list of ..
-Matching 
-What does .. stand for ? / refer to ?
-What does . Mean ?
-Answer the questions on the text .
c . Post-reading activities :
After students read and do the exercises about the text , teachers go on giving some exercises that require the understanding of students about the total content of the text , relate to real life , consolidate the structures , and the new language in the text .
Followings are some kinds of exercises usually used at this stage :
- Arrange the events in order .
- Find the sentence that summarizes the paragraph / text .
- Give the tittle of the reading text 
- Give comments , opinions on the characters in the text 
- Discussion questions .
- Reproduce the text ( written or oral ) .
- Gap-filling .
- Rewrite the story from jumble sentences / words / visual cues .
- Role-play basing on the text 
- Make dialogues basing on the text .
- Guess the consequences / results of the story .
- Develop another story basing on the text .
- Personalized tasks . ( e.g : write / talk about your own school / family / town / story on ..) .
- Grammar practice and exercises ,etc ..
VI . TECHNIQUES OF TEACHING READING :
* Pre-reading techniques :
1. Ordering statements :
- From a story , the teacher jumbles the sentences in the story and then asks the students to put the sentences in the correct order. 
2. Jigsaw dictation :
Ex :- Draw a stadium and give some words about the players .
Ask the students to put the words ( the names of the players ) in the right places in the stadium to have a team in the field .
 3. Ordering pictures :
Ex : When students read a text about a christmas tree , the teacher gives some pictures about ornaments , colour lights , gifts , etc and a Christmas tree .Students have to put the pictures in the right positions on the Christmas tree .
4. Listen and draw :
Ex : When the students read a text about a farm , The teacher reads a discription about the things on the farm , students listen and draw the scenery on the farm .
5. True – false statement prediction :
Ex : when students read a text about a famous person , the teacher gives some information about that famous person such as : date of birth , place of birth , date of death , famous inventions . .Students have to guess whether that information is true or false .
6. Open-prediction :
Ex: when students read a text about the Tet holiday , the teacher gives some questions such as :
a..What do Vietnamese children do at Tet ?
b.Do children in England visit their relatives during the Tet holiday ?
c.What do people in Viet Nam prepare for Tet ?
-Students have to find out the information to answer these questions .
* While – reading and post – reading techniques :
1.True – false statements .
2. Yes-no questions .
3.Right or wrong ( v ) or ( x ) .
4.Answers given : the teacher gives some answers and students have to make questions for those answers .
5.Wh – questions :
6.Multiple choice : Choose the best answer :A , B , C ,or D .
7.Gap – filling :
8.Grids and forms :
9.Role-play :
 10.Matching :
 11.Rewrite :
 12. Discussion :
 13.Songs and rhyms / songs on tapes .
* Beside the techniques I often use above, the followings are also techniques which are used in teaching reading.
DIY word order ; Tapped dictation; Write the text before you read it...
VII.MAIN SKILLS OF READING EFFECTIVELY
Skill 1: MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS
Almost every reading passage will have a multiple choice question about the main idea of a passage. Such a question may be worded in a variety of ways; you may, for example, be asked to identify the topic, subject, title, primary idea or main idea. It is relatively easy to find the main ideas by studying the topic sentences, which are most probably found at the beginning of each paragraph. 
Example: 
Basketball was invented in 1891 by a physical education instructor in Springfield, Massachusetts, by the name of James Naismith. Because of terrible weather in winter, his physical education students were indoors rather than outdoors. They really did not like the idea of boring, repetitive exercises and preferred the excitement and challenge of a game. Naistmith figured out a team sport that could be played indoors on a gymnasium floor, that involved a lot of running, that kept all team members involved, and that did not allow the tackling and physical contact of American style football.(1*)
* challenge:n, sự thách thức (to take up/ to accept a challenge). * to figure out:
* gymnasium:n, phòng tập thể dục. * tackling: chặn, cản đối phương đang dẫn bóng
* physical contact: sự va chạm lẫn nhau ( trong TDTT)
What is the topic of this passage?
 A. The life of James Naismith B. The history of sports
 C. Physical education and exercise D.The origin of basketball 
a) How to identify the question:
 - What is the topic of the passage? 
 - What is the subject of the passage?
 - What is the main idea of the passage? 
 - What is the author’s main point in the passage?
 - With what is the author primarily concerned? 
 - Which of the following would be the best title?
 - What is the message to the reader?
b) Where to find the answer: 
- The answer to this type of question can generally be determined by looking at the first sentence of each paragraph.
c) How to answer the question: 
1. Read the first line of each paragraph. 
2. Look for a common theme or idea in the first lines. 
3. Pass your eyes quickly over the rest of the passage to check that you have really found the topic sentence(s). 
4. Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices. 
Example : 
 	Most of the ice on the Earth, close to 90 percent of it, is covering the surface of the continent Antarctica. It does not snow very much in Antarctica, but whatever snow does fall remains and grows deeper and deeper. In some areas of Antarctica, the ice has perhaps been around for as much as a million years and now is more than two miles deep.(1*)
* Antarctica, n: cực Nam / * to cover, v: bao, che phủ
1. The main idea of the passage is that
A. the Earth is a cold planet 
B. most of the Earth's ice is found in Antarctica
C. it snows more in Antarctica than in any other place on the Earth
D. Antarctica is only two miles wide but is 90 percent ice
 2. The best title for the passage is
 	A. Snowfall in Antarctica B. The Icy Earth
C. The Cold, Cold Snow D. The Causes of Antarctica's Ice Pack
Skill 2: STATED DETAIL QUESTIONS
A stated detail question asks about one piece of information in the passage rather than the passage as a whole. The answers to these questions are generally given in order in the passage, and the correct answer is often a restatement of what is given in the passage this means that the correct answer often expresses the same idea as what is written in the passage, but the words are not exactly the same. 
Example: 
Flutes have been around for quite some time, in all sorts of shapes and sizes and made from a variety of materials. The oldest known flutes are, about 20,000 years old, they were made from hollowed-out bones with holes cut in them. In addition to bone, older flutes were often constructed from bamboo or hollowed-out wood.
 Today flutes are generally made of metal, and in addition to the holes they have a complicated system of keys, levers, and pads. The instrument belonging to well-known flautist James Galway is not just made of any metal, it is made of gold. (1*)
* flute,n: ống sáo / * a variety of Ns = many Ns /* hollowed-out bones: những khúc xương rỗng./ * in addition to, prep: = besides: bên cạnh/ * lever,n: đòn bẩy/ * pad,n: miếng đệm, lót.
 According to the passage, the oldest flutes:
 A. had holes cut