Reading in a second Reading in a second language, Reading language, Reading

Comprehension and Comprehension and Reading ProcessReading Process• Carolina Lima• Larah Santana• Larissa Ambrósio

Reading in a second Reading in a second languagelanguage

• Bottom-up models : the reader deals with letters, words, and sentences in rank order, each step depending on the preceding one . (Word recognition and lexical access)

• Top-down models:  the reader interrogates the text rather than processing it completely, getting meaning by comparing expectations to a sample of information from the text. (Integrating background Knowledge)

Reading Fluency and Vocabulary Reading Fluency and Vocabulary AcquisitionAcquisition Effective means of building reading fluency

are timed- and paced-reading activities, word recognition exercises,read-aloud group and pair work, re-reading activities, and extensive reading in and out of the classroom

Extensive reading - abundant exposure to printed materials at or just below a comfortable level of comprehension - is vital for the development of automaticity in low-level processing, providing as it does repeated exposure to frequent vocabulary items.

VocabularyVocabulary In order to read comfortably, skilled readers need to have

receptive mastery of 95% or more of the words in a text, recognizing them rapidly (Grabe & Stoller 2002:186)

Contrary to previous assumptions, good readers do not use context to infer meaning so often as less-skilled readers do; they do not need to, because they know the words 

guessing word meanings is a low-yield strategy: in Parry's (1991) study, L2 university students only guessed meanings correctly 50% of the time.

VocabularyVocabulary  How many words do L2 readers need to know? Hazenburg & Hulstijn (1996), in a careful study of L2 Dutch

university students and their reading needs, demonstrated that a minimum of 10,000 headwords was necessary to understand 90% of the vocabulary needed in university study in Dutch L2, proper names accounting for another 5%. 

How can we help university L2 learners to gain mastery of the 10,000 or so words they will need to become fluent L2 readers?

 Grabe & Stoller (2002:79) recommend focusing on the 2,000 to 3,000 most common words in a language 'as an essential foundation for word-recognition automaticity, and then [focusing] on vocabulary that is appropriate to specific topics and fields of study'. 

Higher level skillsHigher level skills The L2 reading comprehension threshold and

metacognitionEven skilled L1 readers fail to monitor their reading in L2

successfully until they have crossed the 'L2 reading comprehension threshold'. This is a well-documented phenomenon in which literate L1 readers do not transfer their higher-level reading comprehension skills to L2 until they reach a certain threshold of proficiency in the new language . It occurs somewhere in the intermediate proficiency range.

The value of translationTranslation, previously seen as an unhelpful strategy, has been

revalidated: Kern (1994) showed that, when reading difficult texts, skilled L2 readers used mental translation into L1 to help maintain concentration and to keep information active while addressing a textual problem.

Higher level skillsHigher level skills Background knowledgeBackground knowledge has an effect on comprehension. ‘It

has been shown that even across passages on the same general theme, which had identical structure and syntax and very similar vocabulary, the more familiar version is better recalled.‘ Giving L2 readers access to information about the L2 culture can be an important way of helping them with reading comprehension.

Text typesKnowledge about the rhetorical organization of various L2

text types will also influence comprehension. Different text types are organized differently, and fluent L1 readers know, often unconsciously, what sort of information to expect, and where it will occur, in each type.

Reading ComprehensionReading Comprehension Notions of reading comprehension have changed

dramatically over the decades. We have moved from a behavioral perspective, to a holistic or interactive approach. Practitioners of the interactive model view reading as a cognitive, developmental, and socially constructed task that goes beyond understanding the words on a page. In the past meaning was imbedded in the text, and the reader's job was to understand what was being transmitted via the words on the page. Current research views reading as a more dynamic process in which the reader "constructs" meaning based on information he/she gathers from the text.

Reading ComprehensionReading ComprehensionReading expert Katherine Maria (1990) defines reading

comprehension as:... a holistic process of constructing meaning from written text

through the interaction of (1) the knowledge the reader brings to the text, i.e., word

recognition ability, knowledge, and knowledge of linguistic conventions;

(2) the reader's interpretation of the language that the writer used in constructing the text; and

(3) the situation in which the text is read. (p. 14-15)

College-level reading is much more sophisticated than high school, and in a typical course load, students may encounter a plethora of literary genres that they are required to read, understand, and apply in a meaningful way. Comprehending these texts is crucial for academic success, yet in an average class, there will be little or no attention paid to the reading process or the strategy training that is so important to the learning tasks.

The role of metacognition in the The role of metacognition in the reading processreading process Metacognition is vital to academic success. When applied

to reading tasks, metacognition involves several elements: the ability to recognize errors or contradictions in text, the understanding of different strategies to use with different kinds of text, and the ability to distinguish important ideas from unimportant ones (Nist and Mealey, 1991). While research suggests that many college students lack metacognitive skills (Baker, 1985), intervention studies also indicate that college students can learn to monitor their level of text comprehension by employing a variety of strategies. Studies also show that college-age students are more motivatedto use strategies than younger, less experienced students.

Schema theory and reading Schema theory and reading comprehensioncomprehension Schema theory is based on the assumption that the

reader's prior knowledge directly impacts new learning situations. Schema theory is defined as na important concept in reading instruction. Reading theorists view schema theory as a "framework" that organizes knowledge in memory by putting information into the correct "slots," each of which contains related parts. When new information enters memory, it not only must be compatible with one of the slots, but it must actually be entered into the proper slot before comprehension can occur (Nist & Mealey, 1991).

Schema theory and reading Schema theory and reading comprehensioncomprehension According to reading specialist John McNeil (1992),

schemata are the reader's "concepts, beliefs, expectations, processes — virtually everything from past experiences that are used in making sense of reading. In reading, schemata are used to make sense of text; the printed word evokes the reader's experiences, as well as past and potential relationships" (p. 20). Reading teachers emphasize three types of schemata:

(1) knowledge of the concepts and processes that pertain to certain subject matter, i.e., science, math, humanities;

(2) general world knowledge i.e., social relationships, causes and effects;

(3) knowledge of rhetorical structures i.e., patterns, rules, structures for organizing text and cues to the reader. The strategies contained in this chapter are rooted in the principles of schema theory and metacognition and view reading as a dynamic process.

Understanding the Reader's Role Understanding the Reader's Role in thein the Comprehension ProcessComprehension Process Since reading is an interactive process that is dynamic and

constantly changing, each new task or assignment will alter the learning process, and challenge the reader to be active in her approach to the text. Developing readers are often challenged with the changing nature of reading tasks. They may also lack some of the strategies that expert readers employ as they read. Because of this, students should be encouraged to take an active role in their learning process. Likewise, instructors play an important role in preparing students for the task and can help students become more aware of the reading characteristics they bring to the task.

Reading StrategiesReading Strategies Skimming: olhada rápida (um passar de olhos) pelo texto para ter

uma idéia geral do assunto tratado. Scanning: localização rápida de informação no texto. Identificação do padrão geral de organização (gênero textual). Uso de pistas não-verbais (ilustrações, diagramas, tabelas, saliências

gráficas etc). Uso de títulos, subtítulos, legendas, suporte (ou portador) do texto. Antecipações do que vem em seguida ao que está sendo lido. Uso do contexto e cognatos. Uso de pistas textuais (pronomes, conectivos, articuladores etc.). Construção dos elos coesivos (lexicais e gramaticais). Identificação do tipo do texto e das articulações na superfície textual. Uso de palavras-chave para construir a progressão temática. Construção de inferências. Transferência de informação: do verbal para o não-verbal (resumos do que foi lido na forma de tabelas, esquemas ou mapas conceituais) (Fundamentado em Nunan, 1999. p.265-266).

Reading StrategiesReading Strategies