NEIL ANDERSON’S VIEW ON TEACHING READING
Neil Anderson is sharing his true belief that “reading is a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning. The goal of reading is comprehension”(68, 1-3). He identifies and explains seven key concepts related to second language reading. He also demonstrates familiarity with practical classroom techniques for teaching reading around the word ACTIVE.
When I was a 6th grader, my teacher taught reading comprehension following the steps:
1. Checked the previous lesson to know whether the students accomplish what she had taught or not. It was really good but sometimes it made the atmosphere so serious.
2. Began the new lesson by giving us a list of new words. Sometimes she asked us to give her the meaning of words. Then we repeated all the words after her.
3. Had the students to read aloud the reading passage after her ( word by word, phrase by phrase.....) . Then we had to read it aloud individually so that she could check our pronunciation.
4. Asked the students to translate the passage into Vietnamese in order that she could check our understanding of the whole passage.
5. Asked the students to do the comprehension exercises below the passage. After that she corrected any mistakes about spelling, ideas...
These activities were boring and repeated so many times that they were adopted unconsciously in our minds. That’s why when I became a teacher, it seemed hard for me to change the way of teaching reading for a long time. Luckily, I read this article and find out three important things that can change my ways of teaching: exploitation the reader’s background knowledge, silent reading and teach for comprehension.
Firstly, exploiting the vocabulary and general knowledge of the students is very important. It influences reading comprehension. By setting goals, asking questions, making prediction...I will be able to activate the student’s background knowledge significantly. Instead of giving all the words from the passage, I can cultivate vocabulary by giving students the key word and then ask them to add other vocabulary related to the key word. For instance, with the topic of history and advantages of the Red Cross, I can design the word web (Figure1) or I can activate prior knowledge by a blank anticipation guide (Figure2). I do believe that the students will be more active in intensive reading and more interested in extensive reading.
Secondly, reading is primarily a silent activity. To comprehend the passage, the students should not read it aloud because they will surely pay much attention to pronunciation, intonation, assimilation... Therefore they cannot get the whole picture of the passage. “Since comprehension is the goal of reading, your primary focus in the classroom should be on getting meaning from print. Make silent reading the goal in your classroom instead of using oral reading” (69, 31-33)
Last but not least, teaching for comprehension is as important as testing. I used to ask my students to read the passage and then give me the key to the questions but I really paid little attention to how they got the key. In fact, it was not enough for teaching reading. In my future teaching, beside asking the students comprehension questions after reading a passage, I will discuss with the class how to get comprehension; what strategies they use to comprehend during the reading process(skimming or scanning). When the readers learn and practice specific reading strategies day after day, the strategies will move from conscious to unconscious; from strategy to skill. That is what we, teachers, are expecting.
With seven key principles related to second language reading and a teaching system for reading called ACTIVE, Neil Anderson really gives us some food for thought. Setting goals for improving my ability of teaching reading and trying to achieve them will be a big challenge. However, I hope I will do it well.
