UNIVERSIDAD PERUANA DEL CENTRO

ESCUELA PROFESIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN

SEGUNDA EN ESPECIALIDAD EN: ENSEÑANZA DEL IDIOMA INGLÉS

UNIT 1
FUNDAMENTALS OF TEXT COMPREHENSION AND INTERPRETATION
Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning. It relies
on two, interconnected abilities: word reading (being able to decode the symbols on the page)
and language comprehension (being able to understand the meaning of the words and
sentences).
When we make sense of a text, however, we don’t just remember the exact words and phrases
we read. Rather, we form a mental model of what the text describes by integrating the sense of
the words and sentences into a meaningful whole, like a film that plays in our head.
Good comprehension is vital if reading is to have a purpose, if a reader is to engage with and
learn from a text and, ultimately, if a reader is to enjoy what they’re reading.
The fundamentals that comprise reading comprehension are assigning meaning to context clues
from previous knowledge, vocabulary, reasoning between facts and opinions, understanding
tone of the piece, assessing the intended purpose of the text, concentrating, and the ability to
translate what was read in the form of an argument.
Some of the abilities that readers must develop are the following:
o Integrate an information (cueing) system that includes meaning (semantics), structure
(syntax), visual (graphophonic), and pragmatics (schematic) to make meaning from text.
o Gain understanding by applying reading strategies of monitoring, searching, confirming,
cross-checking, rereading, and self-correcting.
o Employ comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading text using schema,
annotating, questioning, visualizing, drawing inferences, determining importance,
summarizing, and synthesizing.
o Use metacognition to monitor meaning and adjust strategies while reading.
o Notice and analyze the styles and techniques authors use to help readers construct
meaning
Session 1: Foundations of Textual Analysis
Objectives:
 Understand the different types of texts (narrative, descriptive, expository, and
argumentative).
  Identify the basic structure of a text: introduction, body, and conclusion.
 Recognize the main idea and supporting details.
Content:
 Classification of texts in English.
 Structural and organizational elements.
 Introduction to contextual vocabulary and connectors.
Methodology and Activities:
 Theoretical presentation using slides and examples.
 Guided reading of simple texts with exercises to identify the central idea and supporting
details.
 Pair work to compare findings and discuss differences.
Resources and Materials:
Exercises and readings available at: British Council: Reading
(https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading )
Adapted texts from various online support materials.

TYPES OF TEXTS
The most common text types that students will come across in their reading are the following:
Narrative text tells a story, and can be either fiction or nonfiction. Narrative texts typically have
a beginning, middle, and end, and they use characters, setting, and plot to create the story.
Example:
Learning how to ride a bike for the first time was a nerve-racking moment. I was about five years
old when my sister informed me that I was too old to still be riding a bike with training wheels.
My sister and I went outside and started to take the little wheels off my bike..etc.
Descriptive text creates a picture with words, using vivid language to describe people, places,
things, or events. Descriptive text can be found in a variety of genres, including essays and
poetry.
Example:
The sunset filled the sky with a deep red flame, setting the clouds ablaze. The waves rolled along
the shore in a graceful, gentle rhythm, as if dancing with the land.
Expository text explains or informs, by presenting facts, definitions, or processes in a clear and
concise way. Expository text can be found in a variety of genres, including textbooks, news
articles, and informational books for children — for example, visual encyclopedias and pictorial
information books such as the DK and National Geographic series.
Example:
Going to college can be expensive. First, college tuition and room and board can cost anywhere
from $2,000 to more than $10,000 per semester. Other expenses make going to college even
more expensive. For example, books typically cost between $100 and $500 each term.
Procedural or instructional text explains how to do something through step-by-step
explanations, often accompanied by numbered diagrams, illustrations, or photographs. Recipes
and how-to-build Playmobil® and Lego® kits are common examples.
Example:
The instructions on medications: Shake well before using, take 2 tablespoons before lunch, take
1 pill before bed .. etc
Argumentative or persuasive text tries to persuade the reader to agree with a particular point
of view, by using evidence, logic, and reasoning to support the claims. Argumentative text can
be found in essays, editorials, and speeches.
Example:
There are many better alternatives to animal testing. The food and drug administration has
stated that they support the development and use of animal testing alternatives. Moreover,
scientists have developed methods to test cosmetics and other personal products that are
faster, cheaper and more accurate.
Common text
Text type Purpose Features Examples
structures
Characters, setting,
plot, conflict, Description Picture books,
resolution. Cause and effect chapter books,
The text includes Chronology/sequ short stories,
Narrative Tells a story
description and a ence plays,
sequence of events Problem and biography and
unfolding over solution memoir.
time.
Vivid language,
sensory details.
Paints a Description
The text focuses on
Descriptive picture with Compare and Essays, poetry
providing details
words contrast
about a person,
place, object, or
 event using
sensory language.
Facts, definitions, Description
processes. Cause and effect
Textbooks,
The text often Compare and
news articles,
Explains or includes headings, contrast
Expository pictorial
informs subheadings, and Chronology/
informational
may use bullet sequence
books.
points or numerical Problem and
listings. solution
Step-by-step
instructions.
Recipes, user
Provides The text often
manuals,
Procedural or instructions includes diagrams Chronology/sequ
building kit
Instructional on how to do or illustrations to ence
instructions,
something help the reader
and DIY guides
follow the
instructions.
Evidence, logic,
reasoning.
Persuades the
The text includes Description
reader to
arguments, Cause and effect
adopt a Essays,
Argumentative provides evidence, Compare and
particular editorials,
or Persuasive and utilizes contrast
point of view speeches
rhetorical Problem and
or take a
techniques to solution
specific action.
influence the
reader’s opinion.
Taken from: https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/choosing-and-using-classroom-
texts/understanding-text-types
 TEXT STRUCTURE
What is text structure?
Text structure refers to the way authors organize information in text.
Text structure is the “skeleton” that gives a “shape” and organizes the ideas within a text.
Understanding how a text is organized makes it easier to understand the author’s meaning —
and helps students focus attention on key concepts and relationships, anticipate what is to
come, monitor their comprehension as they read, and summarize the central ideas.
Understanding text structure also helps students with their own writing.
Text structures can be taught by showing students examples of different text structures, using
graphic organizers, and by teaching signal words that are clues to the structures.
The 5 common text structures
Here are the most common text structures that young readers will encounter:
 Description
 Cause and Effect
 Compare and Contrast
 Chronology/Sequence
 Problem and Solution
Text signals
Text signals are clues to identifying the structure in a text — words or phrases that indicate what
kind of text structure a reader will encounter as they read. This can help readers understand the
purpose of the text and how the information is organized.
Text structures found in different text types
Narrative text is often the easiest for students to identify and understand. Most young readers
are familiar with the language of stories (sometimes called “story grammar”) which typically
includes the following components:
 Exposition: introduces the setting, characters, and conflict of the story.
 Rising action: introduces the challenges and obstacles that the characters face.
 Climax: the turning point of the story, where the conflict is resolved.
 Falling action: describes the aftermath of the climax, as the characters deal with the
consequences of their actions.
 Resolution: ties up any loose ends and brings the story to a close.
Narrative texts can include many of the common text structures: description, cause-effect,
chronology/sequence, and problem-solution.
Descriptive text mixes different text structures in creating a vivid, multi-sensory picture in the
reader’s mind. The most common text structures found in descriptive text are description and
compare-contrast.
Expository text can be more challenging for young readers than narrative text because it doesn’t
follow a typical sequence of events unfolding over time. Expository texts can also include all five
of the common text structures, requiring readers to identify which structure is being used and
for what purpose.
Procedural or instructional text typically uses the chronology/sequence text structure to
describe a step-by-step process.
Argumentative or persuasive text also mixes different text structures. The most common text
structures found in argumentative text are description, cause-effect, compare-contrast, and
problem-solution. Argumentative text usually follows this pattern:
 Claim: the main point of the argument — the statement that the author is trying to
prove.
 Reasons: the supporting statements that the author uses to prove their claim.
 Evidence: the data or information that the author uses to support their reasons.
 Counterclaims: the opposing arguments that the author addresses.
 Rebuttals: the responses that the author provides to the counterclaims.
Description
The description text structure describes or explains a topic, idea, person, place, or thing to give
the reader a mental picture.
Examples: A book about animals describes the different kinds of whales and their habitats or the
life cycle of frogs. A book about deserts describes the unique flora and fauna of that ecosystem.

Photographs of frogs in children's science book

Cover and page spread from Frogs by Seymour Simon (HarperCollins).

Signal words, phrases, and questions

 Characteristic Location Appearance Signal questions
for example in front of looks like What (things, people,
events, components or
steps) are describe?
for instance beside seems What does it look like?
such as near appears What does it do?
is like next to gives the appearance of How does it work?
Including on top of
illustrate below
behind

Cause and effect

The cause and effect text structure tells why something happened (cause) and what happened
(effect).
Examples: A book about weather shows how specific weather patterns can cause extreme
weather such as a blizzard or a hurricane. A book about volcanoes describes how eruptions occur
when an opening develops in the Earth’s crust and the molten (magma) is forced through the
crack.

Cover and pages from Volcanoes by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House)

Signal words, phrases, and questions
Signal Words or Phrases Signal Questions

because What happened?

as a result What caused it ti happen?

therefore Why did it happen?

consequently
 hence

thus

for this reason

fue to

Compare and contrast

The compare and contrast text structure examines the similarities and differences between two
or more people, events, concepts, and ideas.
Examples: A book about ancient Greece explains how the Spartan women were different from
the Athenian women. A book about moths and butterflies describes how they are similar and
how they are different.

Cover and pages from Butterflies and Moths by Nic Bishop (Scholastic)
Signal words, phrases, and questions
Compare Contrast Signal questions
like differ What is being compared?
alike but How are they the same?
both in contrast to How are they different?
also however
similar on the other hand
too unlike
just like
just as

Chronology/sequence
The chronology/sequence text structure describes items or events in order, or explains the steps
to follow.
Examples: A book about the American revolution lists the events leading to the war. A book
about bees explains how bees make honey.

Cover and pages from Liberty! How the Revolutionary War Began) by Lucille Recht Penner
(Random House)

Signal words, phrases, and questions

Signal Words or Phrases Signal Questions
first, second, third, etc. What happened first, next, last?
What order or sequence did the author tell you about
next the people, events, or steps?
then Do they have to happen in this order?
finally
after
before
during
while
when

Problem and solution

The problem and solution text structure sets up a problem or problems, explains the solution,
and then discusses the effects of the solution.
Example: A book about climate change explains what causes it and what we can do to reverse
the dangers.
Cover and page spread from What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet by Jess
French (DK Publishing).
Signal words, phrases, and questions
Signal Words or Phrases Questions and Answers Signal Questions
problem is who What is the problem here?
dilemma is what Why is this a problem?
solution is why Does the author describe a solution?
one solution is where Is anything being done to try to solve
the problem?
another solution is when What are some possible solutions?
to solve the problem how
in order to solve the which
problem
do you know

Basic steps in teaching text structure

Before reading
1. Choose the assigned reading and introduce the text to the students.
2. Introduce the idea that texts have organizational patters called text structures.
3. Introduce the following common text structures
During and after reading
1. Show examples of paragraphs that correspond to each text structure.
2. Examine topic sentences and other text signals that clue the reader to a specific
structure.
3. Model the writing of a paragraph that uses a specific text structure.
 4. Have students try to write paragraphs that follow a specific text structure.
5. Have students diagram these structures using a graphic organizer.
Additional tips for understanding text structure
 Pay attention to the title and headings. These often give clues about the text structure.
 Think about the purpose of the text. What is the author trying to communicate?
 Ask yourself questions. What are the main points of the text? How are the ideas
connected?

PARAGRAPH ORGANIZATION
What is a paragraph?
A paragraph develops ONE main idea through a series of related sentences. This main idea is
usually introduced in the first sentence of the paragraph, called the topic sentence. The idea is
then developed further through the sentences that follow.
A paragraph is usually around 250 words and consists of five or six sentences, although this can
vary depending on the purpose of the paragraph, and the length of the piece you are writing.
Paragraphs play an important role in writing because they provide a framework for organising
your ideas in a logical order. Using a clear structure for your paragraphs helps guide the reader
through your written work.

Paragraph Structure
A useful way of understanding paragraph structure is to think of it as a block that is divided into
three sections: the beginning, the middle, and the end.
A basic paragraph follows this structure:

Topic Sentence (TS) - the beginning

• Needs to state ONE idea clearly
• Useful Tip: Always put the most important information first!
Supporting Sentences (SS) - the middle
• Elaborates and explains the idea introduced in the topic sentence
• Provides evidence and examples
• Explains the evidence or example included - why is it relevant?
Concluding Sentence (CS) - the end
• Makes links: back to the main idea of the paragraph; back to research question or topic
of the assignment; to the next paragraph
When to start a new paragraph:
• Start new main points or new ideas in a new paragraph. If you have an extended idea
across multiple paragraphs, each new point within that idea should have its own
paragraph.
• Use a new paragraph to introduce a contrasting or different position. Use a clear topic
sentence to identify the main idea.
• If the paragraph becomes too long or the material is overly complex, you will need to
create a break to make your writing more readable. Try splitting long paragraphs into
two shorter paragraphs. This means you will need to write a new topic sentence at the
start of the new paragraph.
• Introductions and conclusions are usually written as separate paragraphs.

Session 2: Reading Strategies and Comprehension

Objectives:
- Apply reading techniques: skimming (rapid reading) and scanning (information search).
- Make inferences based on context.
- Expand vocabulary through contextual analysis.
Content:
- Techniques for intensive and extensive reading.
- Strategies for identifying main and secondary ideas.
- Practice in making inferences and deductions from texts.
Methodology and Activities:
- Practical group exercises to apply reading techniques.
- Guided discussion on interpreting selected text fragments.
- Summarization and paraphrasing activities in pairs or small groups.
Resources and Materials:
- Interactive materials and exercises available at:
- British Council: Reading (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading )
- PDF documents and online presentations with examples of texts and techniques.

READING TECHNIQUES
• Predicting: This strategy involves the ability of readers to get meaning from a text by making
informed predictions. Good readers use predicting as a way to connect their existing
knowledge to new information from a text to get meaning from what they read.9 Before
 reading, they may use what they know about an author to predict what a text will be about.
The title of a text may trigger memories of texts with similar content, allowing them to
predict the content of the new text.
During reading, good readers may make predictions about what is going to happen next, or
what ideas or evidence the author will present to support an argument. They tend to
evaluate these predictions continuously, and revise any prediction that is not confirmed by
the reading.
• Scanning: Students, like the rest of us, need to be able to do a number of things with a
reading text. They need to be able to scan the text for particular bits of information they
are searching for (as, for example, when we look for a telephone number, what’s on
television at a certain time or search quickly through an article looking for a name or other
detail). This skill means that they do not have to read every word and line; on the contrary,
such an approach would stop them scanning successfully.
• Skimming (Reading for gist): Students also need to be able to skim a text - as if they were
casting their eyes over its surface - to get a general idea of what it is about (as, for example,
when we run our eyes over a film review to see what the film is about and what the reviewer
thought about it, or when we look quickly at a report to get a feel for the topic and what its
conclusions are).
Just as with scanning, if students try to gather all the details at this stage, they will get bogged
down and may not be able to identify the general idea because they are concentrating too hard
on specifics.
Whether readers scan or skim depends on what kind of text they are reading and what they
want or need to get out of it. They may scan a computer ‘Help’ window to find the one piece of
information they need to get them out of a difficulty, and they may skim a newspaper article to
pick up a general idea of what’s been happening in the world.
• Reading for detailed comprehension: whether this entails looking for detailed information
or picking out particular examples of language use, should be seen by students as
something very different from the skills mentioned above.
• Inferring and interpreting information: the skill of inferring is closely related in the fields
of science and literacy. As a reading strategy, inferring requires readers to use prior
knowledge and the information stated in a text to draw conclusions. Whether you are
teaching inferring as a reading comprehension strategy or science process skill, it is
important to ensure that students have sufficient background knowledge of the concepts
being addressed. In both reading and science, students combine personal knowledge with
 evidence (from the text or from an object or event) to generate inferences. Students lacking
this background knowledge will struggle to make inferences, so taking the time to provide
experiences that build sufficient knowledge is critical.
• Deducing meaning from context: Guessing from context technique is the technique to find
the meaning of new word with the clues used in context. This technique is used to find the
meaning of new word through the relationship of the words around with some clues that
are provided in the context.
• Summarizing: This strategy involves the ability of readers to pull together, or synthesize
information in a text so as to explain in their own words what the text is about. Summarizing
is an important strategy because it can enable readers to recall text quickly. It also can make
readers more aware of text organization, of what is important in a text and of how ideas
are related. Effective summarizing of expository text may involve such things as condensing
the steps in a scientific process, the stages of development of an art movement, or the
episodes that led to some major historical event.
Effective summarizing of narrative text can involve such things as connecting and
synthesizing events in a story line or identifying the factors that motivate a character's
actions and behavior.
• Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing is another way of presenting ideas from source material in your
own words, but without the condensing that happens in a summary. It’s restating a passage
in simpler language. In order to paraphrase well, you must read the passage carefully,
understand the meaning of the passage, and rewrite the passage in your own words.
• Inferring attitude: When students use the strategy of inferring, they are making meaning
of the text. They are adding pieces that are not explicitly there, often sharing personal
opinions and forming interpretations.
• Drawing conclusions and opinions: Drawing conclusions refers to information that is
implied or inferred. This means that the information is never clearly stated. Writers often
tell you more than they say directly.
• Reflecting: Reading reflections are designed to encourage students to complete readings
before coming to class, to reflect more deeply on the content of the reading, to make
personal meaning from the meaning, and to develop their metacognitive skills for lifelong
learning.
Many students are perfectly capable of doing all these things in other languages, of course,
though some may not read much at all in their daily lives. For both types of students, we
 should do our best to offer a mixture of materials and activities so that they can practise
using these various skills with English text.

STRATEGIES FOR READING COMPREHENSION

For most second language learners who are already literate in a previous language, reading
comprehension is primarily a matter of developing appropriate, efficient comprehension
strategies. Some strategies are related to bottom-up procedures, and others enhance the top-
down processes. Following are ten suck strategies, each of which can be practically applied to
your classroom techniques.

1. Identify the purpose in reading.

How many times have you been told to read something yet you don’t know why you’re
being asked to read it? You did only a mediocre job of retaining what you “read” and
perhaps were rather slow in the process. Efficient reading consists of clearly identifying
the purpose in reading something. By doing so, you know what you’re looking for and
can weed out potential distracting information. Whenever you are teaching a reading
technique, make sure students know their purpose in reading something.
2. Use graphemic rules and patterns to aid in bottom-up decoding (especially for
beginning level learners).
At the beginning levels of learning English, one of the difficulties students encounter in
learning to read is making the correspondences between spoken and written English. In
many cases, learners have become acquainted with oral language and have some
difficulty learning English spelling conventions. They may need hints and explanations
about English orthographic rules and peculiarities. While you can often assume that one-
to-one grapheme-phoneme correspondences will be acquired with ease, other
relationships might prove difficult.
3. Use efficient silent reading techniques for relatively rapid comprehension (for
intermediate to advanced levels).
If you are teaching beginning level students, this particular strategy will not apply
because they are still struggling with the control of a limited vocabulary and grammatical
patterns. Your intermediate-to-advanced level students need not be speed readers, but
you can help them increase efficiency by teaching a few silent reading rules:
• You don’t need to “pronounce” each word to yourself.
• Try to visually perceive more than one word at a time, preferably phrases.
 • Unless a word is absolutely crucial to global understanding, skip over it and try
to infer its meaning from its context.
4. Skim the text for main ideas.
Perhaps the two most valuable reading strategies for learners (as well as native
speakers) are skimming and scanning. Skimming consists of quickly running, one’s eyes
across a whole text (such as an essay, article, or chapter) for its gist. Skimming gives
readers the advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main
topic, or message, and possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas. This gives
them a head start as they embark on more focused reading. You can train students to
skim passages by giving them, say, thirty seconds to look through a few pages of
material, close their books, and then tell you what they learned.
5. Scan the text for specific information.
The second in the most valuable category is scanning, or quickly searching for some
particular piece or pieces of information in a text. Scanning exercises may ask students
for names or dates, to find a definition of a key concept, or to list a certain number of
supporting details. The purpose of scanning is to extract specific information without
reading through the whole text. For academic English, scanning is absolutely essential.
In vocational or general English, scanning is important in dealing with genres like
schedules, manuals, forms, etc.
6. Use semantic mapping or clustering.
Readers can easily be overwhelmed by a long string of ideas or events. The strategy of
semantic mapping, or grouping ideas into meaningful clusters, helps the reader to
provide some order to the chaos. Making such semantic maps can be done individually,
but they make for a productive group work technique as students collectively induce
order and hierarchy to a passage. Early drafts of these maps can be quite messy—which
is perfectly acceptable.
7. Guess when you aren’t certain
This is an extremely broad category. Learners can use guessing to their advantage to
• guess the meaning of a word
• guess a grammatical relationship (e.g., a pronoun reference)
• guess a discourse relationship
• infer implied meaning (“between the lines”)
• guess about a cultural reference
• guess content messages
 Reading is, after all, a guessing game of sorts, and the sooner learners understand this
game, the better off they are. The key to successful guessing is to make it reasonably
accurate.
Teachers can help students to become accurate guessers by encouraging them to use
effective compensation strategies in which they fill gaps in their competence by
intelligent attempts to use whatever clues are available to them. Language-based clues
include word analysis, word associations, and textual structure. Nonlinguistic clues
come from context, situation, and other schemata.
8. Analyze vocabulary.
One way for learners to make guessing pay off when they don’t immediately recognize
a word is to analyze it in terms of what they know about it. Several techniques are useful
here:
a. Look for prefixes (co-, inter-, un-, etc.) that may give clues.
b. Look for suffixes (-tion, -tive, -ally, etc.) that may indicate what part of speech it
is.
c. Look for roots that are familiar (e.g., intervening may be a word s student
doesn’t know, but recognizing that the root ven comes from Latin “to come”
would yield the meaning “to come in between”).
d. Look for grammatical contexts that may signal information.
e. Look at the semantic context (topic) for clues.
9. Distinguish between literal and implied meanings.
This requires the application of sophisticated top-down processing skills. The fact that
not all language can be interpreted appropriately by attending to its literal, syntactic
surface structure makes special demands on readers. Implied meaning usually has to be
derived from processing pragmatic information, as in the following examples:
a. Bill walked into the frigid classroom and immediately noticed Bob, sitting by the
open window.
“Brrr!” he exclaimed, simultaneously eyeing Bob and the open windows, “It’s
sure cold in here, Bob”.
b. The policeman held up his hand and stopped the car.
c. Mary heard the ice cream man coming down the street. She remembered her
birthday money and rushed into the house … (Rummerlhart 1977, p.265)
Each of these excerpts has implied information. The requests in (a) is obvious only
if the reader recognizes the nature of many indirect requests in which we ask people
to do things without ever forming a question. We can´t be sure in (b) if the
 policeman literally (physically) stopped the car with his hand, but the assumption is
that this is a traffic policeman whose hand signal was obeyed by a driver.
Rummelhart’s classic example in (c) leads the reader, without any other context, to
believe Mary is going into the house to get money to buy ice cream until the last
few words are supplied “… and locked the door!”
10. Capitalize on discourse markers to process relationships.
Many discourse markers in English signal relationships among ideas as expressed
through phrases, clauses, and sentences. A clear comprehension of such markers can
greatly enhance learner’s reading efficiency.

INTENSIVE VS EXTENSIVE READING

DIFFERENT KINDS OF READING
We need to make a distinction between extensive and intensive reading. The term extensive
reading refers to reading which students do often (but not exclusively) away from the classroom.
They may read novels, web pages, newspapers, magazines or any other reference material.
Where possible, extensive reading should involve reading for pleasure – what Richard Day calls
joyful reading. This is enhanced if students have a chance to choose what they want to read, if
they are encouraged to read by the teacher, and if some opportunity is given for them to share
their reading experiences. Although not all students are equally keen on this kind of reading, we
can say with certainty that the ones who read most progress fastest.
To get maximum benefit from their reading, students need to be involved in both extensive and
intensive reading. Whereas with the former, a teacher encourages students to choose for
themselves what they read and to do so for pleasure and general language improvement, the
latter is often (but not exclusively) teacher-chosen and directed. It is designed to enable students
to develop specific receptive skills such as reading for gist (or general understanding - often
called skimming), reading for specific information (often called scanning), reading for detailed
comprehension or reading for inference (what is 'behind' the words) and attitude. (Harmer,
2007, p. 283)
Reading is a source of learning and a source of enjoyment. It can be a goal in its own right and a
way of reaching other goals. As a source of learning, reading can establish previously learned
vocabulary and grammar, it can help learners learn new vocabulary and grammar, and through
success in language use it can encourage learners to learn more and continue with their
language study. As a goal in its own right, reading can be a source of enjoyment and a way of
gaining knowledge of the world. As learners gain skill and fluency in reading, their enjoyment
can increase. (Nation, 2009, p.49)
EXTENSIVE READING
We have discussed the importance of extensive reading for the development of our students'
word recognition - and for their improvement as readers overall. But it is not enough to tell
students to 'read a lot'; we need to offer them a programme which includes appropriate
materials, guidance, tasks and facilities, such as permanent or portable libraries of books.
Extensive reading fits into the meaning-focused input and fluency development strands of a
course, depending on the level of the books that the learners read. When the books contain only
a few unknown vocabulary and grammar items, extensive reading provides the conditions for
meaning-focused input. Where the books are very easy ones with virtually no unknown items,
extensive reading provides the conditions for fluency development.
Understand the Goals and Limitations of Extensive Reading
Extensive reading is a form of learning from meaning-focused input.
During extensive reading learners should be interested in what they are reading and should be
reading with their attention on the meaning of the text rather than on learning the language
features of the text. Extensive reading can occur within class time (Elley and Mangubhai, 1981),
or outside class time. In their very useful survey of extensive reading, Day and Bamford (1998)
characterise extensive reading as involving a large quantity of varied, self-selected, enjoyable
reading at a reasonably fluent speed.
Find Your Learners’ Present Vocabulary Level
Extensive reading can only occur if 95 to 98 percent of the running words in a text are already
familiar to the learner or are no burden to the learner (Hu and Nation, 2000). Hu and Nation
investigated learners’ comprehension of a fiction text at different levels of known word density.
Where only 80 percent of the running words were known, no learners gained adequate
comprehension. Where 90 or 95 percent of the words were known, a few learners gained
adequate comprehension but the majority did not. The degree of comprehension was
predictable from the density of unknown words and the optimum density was 98 percent. That
is, no more than two words in every 100 running words should be unfamiliar to the reader.
This estimate is probably conservative because research with native speakers (Carver, 1994)
indicates that a density of 99 percent is preferable for meaning-focused input. If we relate these
densities to the vocabulary size needed to read an unsimplified fiction text, we find that learners
would need a vocabulary of 9,000 words to read novels written for adults (Nation,2006). The
clear message from this is that for learners of English to do extensive reading at the elementary
and intermediate stages of proficiency, it is essential that they read graded readers that have
been specially prepared for learners of English. It is only by reading such texts that learners can
have the density of known words that is essential for extensive reading.
•Extensive reading materials: one of the fundamental conditions of a successful extensive
reading programme is that students should be reading material which they can understand.
If they are struggling to understand every word, they can hardly be reading for pleasure
- the main goal of this activity. This means that we need to provide books which either by chance,
or because they have been specially written, are readily accessible to our students.
Specially written materials for extensive reading - what Richard Day and Julian Bamford call
language learner literature' (1998:61) - are often referred to as graded readers or simplified
readers. They can take the form of original fiction and non-fiction books as well as simplifications
of established works of literature. Such books succeed because the writers or adaptors work
within specific lists of allowed words and grammar. This means that students at the appropriate
level can read them with ease and confidence. At their best, despite the limitations on language,
such books can speak to the reader through the creation of atmosphere and/or compelling plot
lines.
INTENSIVE READING is usually accompanied by study activities. We may ask students to work
out what kind of text they are reading, tease out details of meaning, look at particular uses of
grammar and vocabulary, and then use the information in the text to move on to other learning
activities. We will also encourage them to reflect on different reading skills.
Intensive study of reading texts can be a means of increasing learners’ knowledge of language
features and their control of reading strategies. It can also improve their comprehension skill. It
fits into the language focused learning strand of a course. The classic procedure for intensive
reading is the grammar-translation approach where the teacher works with the learners, using
the first language to explain the meaning of a text, sentence by sentence. Used on suitable texts
and following useful principles, this can be a very useful procedure as long as it is only a part of
the reading programme and is complemented by other language-focused learning and by
extensive reading for language development and extensive reading for fluency development.
(Nation. I.S.P., 2009, P.25)
Such intensive reading usually involves translation and thus comprehension of the text. So, one
goal of intensive reading may be comprehension of the text. The use of translation makes sure
that learners understand, and when the learners do some of the translation themselves, it allows
the teacher to check whether they understand.
Intensive reading may also have another goal and that is to determine what language features
will get attention in the course. That is, the language features that are focused on in each text
become the language syllabus for the course. This has several positive aspects. First, the
language features are set in the communicative context of a text. The text can be used to show
how the language features contribute to the communicative purpose of the text and this can be
good preparation for subsequent writing activities. Second, choosing features in this way is likely
to avoid the interference between vocabulary items or grammatical features that can occur
when topic-centred syllabus design is used.
If intensive reading is to be done well, the major principle determining the focus of the teaching
should be that the focus is on items that will occur in a wide range of texts. The teacher should
ask “How does today’s teaching make tomorrow’s text easier?”. There are four ways of putting
this important principle into practice.
1. Focus on items that occur with high frequency in the language as a whole (see Table 3.1 for
examples). Such items will occur often in many different texts.
2. Focus on strategies that can be used with most texts (see Table 3.1 for examples).
3. Quickly deal with or ignore infrequent items.
4. Make sure that the same items and strategies get attention in several different texts.
Focus Items Strategies
Comprehension Questions types Predicting standardized reading
Question forms procedures
Sound-spelling Regular sound-spelling Spelling rules
correspondences Free/checked vowels
Vocabulary High frequency Guessing
vocabulary Noting and learning on cards
Underlying meanings of Word parts
words Dictionary use
Grammar and cohesion High frequency Dealing with sources of difficulty
grammatical features (clause insertion, what does
what? coordination, cohesion)
Information content Topic type constitutions Topic type
Genre Features that typify this Generalize to writing
type of text

Focuses in Intensive Reading

Intensive work on a reading text can focus on the following aspects. These will be looked at in
more detail in the rest of this chapter and in other chapters in this book.
1. Comprehension. Intensive reading can aim at understanding a particular text.
2. Regular and irregular sound-spelling relations. This can be done through the teaching of
phonics, through teaching spelling rules, and through reading aloud.
3. Vocabulary. Learners’ attention can be drawn to useful words, and the underlying meaning
and use of these words can be explained. Words from the text could be assigned for later study.
4. Grammar. Difficult grammatical features can be explained and analysed.
5. Cohesion. Learners can practise interpreting what pronouns refer to in the text, what the
conjunction relationships between sentences are, and how different words are used to refer to
the same idea.
6. Information structure. Certain texts contain certain kinds of information. Newspaper reports,
for example, can describe what happened, what led to the happening, what the likely effects
will be, who was involved, and when and where it happened. Learners can be helped to identify
these different kinds of information.
7. Genre features. The vocabulary, grammatical features, cohesive features and information all
contribute to the communicative effect of a text. Intensive reading can focus on how the text
achieves its communicative purpose through these features and what this communicative
purpose is.
8. Strategies. Intensive reading can be used to help learners develop useful reading strategies.
By working intensively on a text, learners can practise the steps in guessing from context, using
a dictionary, simplifying difficult sentences and taking notes. They can also receive training in
integrated packages of strategies. In this chapter, strategies are included in the sections on
comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and cohesion.

Intensive reading: the roles of the teacher

In order to get students to read enthusiastically in class, we need to work to create interest in
the topic and tasks. However, there are further roles we need to adopt when asking students to
read intensively:
• Organiser: we need to tell students exactly what their reading purpose is, give them clear
instructions about how to achieve it and explain how long they have to do this. Once we have
said You have four minutes for this, we should not change that time unless observation (see
below) suggests that it is necessary.
• Observer: when we ask students to read on their own, we need to give them space to do so.
This means restraining ourselves from interrupting that reading, even though the temptation
may be to add more information or instructions.
While students are reading, we can observe their progress since this will give us valuable
information about how well they are doing individually and collectively. It will also tell us
whether to give them some extra time or, instead, move to organising feedback more quickly
than we had anticipated.
• Feedback organiser: when our students have completed the task, we can lead a feedback
session to check that they have completed it successfully. We may start by having them compare
their answers in pairs and then ask for answers from the class in general or from pairs in
particular. Students often appreciate giving paired answers like this since, by sharing their
knowledge, they are also sharing their responsibility for the answers.
When we ask students to give answers, we should always ask them to say where in the text they
found the relevant information. This provokes a detailed study of the text which will help them
the next time they come to a similar reading passage. It also tells us exactly what comprehension
problems they have if and when they get answers wrong.
It is important to be supportive when organising feedback after reading if we are to counter any
negative feelings students might have about the process, and if we wish to sustain their
motivation.
• Prompter: when students have read a text, we can prompt them to notice language features
within it. We may also, as controllers, direct them to certain features of text construction,
clarifying ambiguities and making them aware of issues of text structure which they had not
come across previously

References
• Castillo, B. (2020) Intercultural approach and reading comprehension. Universidad
Nacional de Trujillo. Trujillo. Peru.
• Douglas Brown, H. (2000) Teaching by Principles. An interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy. 2nd Edition. Longman-Pearson. England.
• Harmer, J. (2010) How to teach English. Pearson Education Limited. England
• Harmer, J. (2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching. 4th Edition. Pearson-
Longman.
• Nation, (2009) Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing. Routledge. New York.
• Paragraph organization (2025)
• https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/writing-paragraphs/structure
For further information visit
• https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/comprehension/teaching-text-structure
• https://youtu.be/qSGX34Zf82c
• https://youtu.be/yid-Cgs1Kcg
• https://peda.net/jyvaskyla/kieku/oma_aidinkieli/ojat/grades-7-to-
9/o7tetptpndiaart/text-types-
pdf2:file/download/8ef73ffacc9f2eb54fe3b5bb4b255eba8ea2e598/text%20types.pdf
 PRACTICE
Pre-int/Intermediate Reading Text

Wild weather

What is happening to our weather?

What is ‘extreme’ weather? Why are people talking about it these days? ‘Extreme’ weather is an
unusual weather event such as rainfall, a drought or a heat wave in the wrong place or at the wrong
time. In theory, they are very rare. But these days, our TV screens are constantly showing such
extreme weather events. Take just three news stories from 2010: 28 centimetres of rain fell on Rio
de Janeiro in 24 hours, Nashville, USA, had 33 centimetres of rain in two days and there was record
rainfall in Pakistan.

The effects of this kind of rainfall are dramatic and lethal. In Rio de Janeiro, landslides followed,
killing hundreds of people. In Pakistan, the floods affected 20 million people. Meanwhile, other
parts of the world suffer devastating droughts. Australia, Russia and East Africa have been hit in the
last ten years. And then there are unexpected heat waves, such as in 2003 in Europe. That summer,
35,000 deaths were said to be heat-related.

So, what is happening to our weather? Are these extreme events part of a natural cycle? Or are
they caused by human activity and its effects on the Earth’s climate? Peter Miller says it’s probably
a mixture of both of these things. On the one hand, the most important influences on weather
events are natural cycles in the climate. Two of the most famous weather cycles, El Niño and La
Niña, originate in the Pacific Ocean. The heat from the warm ocean rises high into the atmosphere
and affects weather all around the world. On the other hand, the temperature of the Earth’s oceans
is slowly but steadily going up. And this is a result of human activity. We are producing greenhouse
gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. This heat warms up the atmosphere, land and
oceans. Warmer oceans produce more water vapour – think of heating a pan of water in your
kitchen. Turn up the heat, it produces steam more quickly. Satellite data tells us that the water
vapour in the atmosphere has gone up by four percent in 25 years. This warm, wet air turns into
the rain, storms, hurricanes and typhoons that we are increasingly experiencing.

Climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer says that we need to face the reality of climate change. And
we also need to act now to save lives and money in the future.

Read the article and choose the correct option.

1 The article says extreme weather is ...
a becoming more common.
b not a natural occurrence.
c hard for scientists to understand.
2 According to the article, extreme weather is a problem because ...
a we can’t predict it.
b it affects places where lots of people live.
c it’s often very destructive.
3 Extreme weather can be caused by ...
a satellites above the Earth.
b water vapour in the atmosphere.
c very hot summers.
Read the article again and choose the correct option.
4 Why was the rain in Nashville considered to be an extreme event?
a There was a lot of rain over a long time period.
 b It doesn’t usually rain in Nashville.
c There was a lot of rain in a short time.
5 What happened after the extreme rain in Rio de Janeiro?
a There were major floods.
b There were many deaths.
c Millions of people were affected.
6 What caused many deaths in 2003?
a a period of hot weather
b floods that followed a bad summer
c a long drought
7 Which of these things is the basis of normal weather patterns?
a green-house gases.
b human activity.
c El Niño and La Niña.
8 Where does atmospheric water vapour come from?
a the land
b the ocean
c greenhouse gases
9 We can use satellites to ...
a change where storms will happen.
b trap greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
c measure changes in atmospheric water vapour.
10 According to Michael Oppenheimer ...
a we don’t understand extreme weather events.
b we can limit the effects of extreme weather.
c we can stop climate change.

CLOZE
Read the following text excerpt and choose the best alternative to fill in the blanks.
Trotty Veck and his daughter Meg
“Trotty” seems a strange name for an old man, but it was given to Toby Veck (1) _____ he was
always going at a trot to do his (2) _____; since he was a ticket porter or messenger and his job
was to take letters and messages for people who were in a hurry to send them by post, which in
those days was neither so cheap (3) _____ so quick as it is now.
He did not earn very much, and had to be out in all weathers and all day long. But Toby was of
a (4) _____ disposition, and looked on the bright side of everything, and was grateful for any
blessing (5) _____ came in his way; and so was happier than many people who never knew what
it is to be hungry or in want of comforts. His
greatest joy was his dear, bright, pretty daughter Meg, who (6) _____ him dearly.
One cold day, near the end of the year, Toby (7) _____ a long time for an errand, trotting up and
down in his usual place near the church, and trying hard to keep himself warm, when the bells
chimed twelve o’clock, which made Toby think (8) _____ dinner. […] He went on trotting up and
down, and never noticing (9) _____
was coming near him. “Why, father, father,” said a pleasant voice, and Toby turned to find his
daughter’s sweet, bright eyes. “Why, sweetie,” said he, kissing her and squeezing her blooming
face between his hands, “What’s up? I didn’t expect you today, Meg.” “Neither did I expect to
come, father,” said Meg, nodding and
smiling. “(10) _____ here I am! And not alone, not alone!” …
Adapted from Dickens, C. (1929). Dickens’ stories about children.
1. 6.
a) so a) loved
b) due to b) wanted
c) because c) called
2. 7.
a) errands a) has waited
b) aims b) is waiting
c) facilities c) had been waiting

3. 8.
a) or a) of
b) nor b) on
c) and c) in
4. 9.
a) gloomy a) who
b) cheerful b) which
c) bland c) when
5. 10.
a) that a) also
b) who b) but
c) where c) then

Maria’s students are going to participate in a reading session. She has brought the following
text:

A travel guide to Thailand

Whether you’re traveling to the islands or the mountains of Thailand, you’re likely to spend at
least one night in its capital city on the way. Bangkok might be noisy and polluted but it’s also
an exciting city with plenty of things to see and do. Why not make it a longer stay?
________________________________________
The Khao San Road was a famous traveler spot even before Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the
film “The Beach” stayed there. But it’s noisy, not very pretty and not very Thai. For something
more authentic, Phra Kanong offers an alternative place to stay, with its fantastic street markets
where every day Bangkok people eat, work and live. It’s not as convenient for the main tourist
sites, but it has a Skytrain station so you can be at the Grand Palace in 20 minutes.
________________________________________
Bangkok’s traffic can be a nightmare. Sure, you can easily take a taxi – if you want to spend hours
stuck in traffic jams – but there are two much better ways to get around the city. To explore the
temples and historical sites, catch an express boat river taxi or a longtail boat along the Chao
Phraya River and the canals. For the modern part of the city, the Skytrain is a fast, cheap way to
travel from the river to the shopping malls and nightlife of Sukhumvit, and the famous Chatuchak
street market.
_________________________________________
The simple answer is: everywhere! Thai street food is among the best in the world, and for
around $5 you can eat a filling and delicious meal. Some food stands have little plastic seats
where you can sit and eat and they cook the same dish over and over, like fried chicken on rice
or Pad Thai noodles. Head for Chinatown – Yaowarat Street – and choose whatever looks most
interesting from the many excellent Chinese and Thai restaurants and food stands.
_________________________________________
After you’ve seen the main sites like the Giant Buddha at the temple of Wat Pho and the
spectacular Grand Palace, and shopped at Chatuchak market, check out the snake farm and
watch the live snake show. You can even touch a snake yourself if you want to!
Adapted from https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/intermediate-b1/a-travel-guide

1. After using the text to develop the students’ skimming skills, Maria writes the following
subheadings on the board:
• Where to stay
• How to get around
• Where to eat
• What to do
Then she provides each student with a copy of the text and tells them to read it individually.
Next, she asks the students to choose one subheading for each paragraph. They have to write
the subheadings on the lines at the beginning of each paragraph.
Which of the following skills is the teacher trying to reinforce?
a) Ordering.
b) Categorizing.
c) Paraphrasing.
2. Then Maria writes the following questions on the board:
• What means of transport can you catch in Thailand?
• Which place has a Skytrain station?
• What places can you see in Thailand?
Next, she asks the students to read the text again to answer the questions.
What does Maria want her students to achieve with the activity presented?
a) She wants her students to infer meaning from the text.
b) She wants her students to reflect on the content of the text.
c) She wants her students to retrieve information from the text.

3. After the students have read the text, Maria gives them the following instructions: “In groups,
express the ideas you’ve come up with after reading the text.” Here is what Alejandra, one of
her students, expressed:
“In Peru, we have beautiful tourist places, too. For example, my city is a tourist place
because there are beautiful churches, amazing landscapes and waterfalls, too. People
like to go to those places to get some relax.”
 Which of the following reading skills is evident in Alejandra’s thought?
a) Summarizing.
b) Contextualizing.
c) Inferring information.

Pablo wants his students to work on their reading skills through a text titled “Interesting facts of
chocolate,” so he has planned the following activities:
1. As first step, Pablo wants to activate the students’ schemata on the topic “facts of chocolate.”
Which of the following activities is most appropriate to carry out?
a) The teacher gives each student the first paragraph of the text. Then he asks the students
to think about the possible content of the following paragraphs.
b) The teacher shows two bars of different chocolate brands. Then he asks the students to
say which chocolate brand they prefer and explain the reasons for their choice.
c) The teacher writes “What do you know about chocolate?” in the center of the board.
Then he asks the students to go to the board and write some ideas to answer the
question.

2. In a further step of the lesson, Pablo provides the students with the text and does the
following:

• First, the teacher asks the students to read the text individually to look for the

following information:

- Three benefits of chocolate

- Two countries where cacao grows

- Four kinds of chocolate

- Three ways to prepare chocolate

• The students highlight the information in their texts and compare their answers in
pairs.

Which of the following skills is the teacher trying to promote?

a) Scanning.
b) Skimming.
c) Contextualizing.