Dear FLE 324 members,
You need to comment on the approach to teaching reading by Macalister (2011), which is uploaded on METUONLINE,the degree of its applicability in the Turkish context and the extent to which it can be applied to the Turkish context effectively, the potential challenges of this approach for the EFL learners and EFL teachers.
(YOU NEED TO CHOOSE ONLY ONE OF THE OPTIONS (OPTION 01 OR OPTION 2)
In fact, approach to reading in English classes in Turkey is like that; teacher enters the classroom, teachs probable unknown words, asks students to read the tect and answer the comprehension questions.After that,teacher asks students' answers, evaluates or corrects them and that's all. Namely, most teachers give importance only to intensive reading; however, it is not enough as Macalister says as well. Another issue that he mentions is that comprehension questions are overemphasized, so how to read is not taught to students. I think he is right because students try to just find answers for the comprehension questions and they do not focus on the whole text or they do not use some techniques such as skimming, scanning, etc. as they don't know how to use them. For example, Williams (1986: 45) argued that ‘using a text does not necessarily equal teaching reading’, a point also well made by Nation (1979: 85, original emphasis), who has suggested that ‘although they may have a role to play in practising reading, the various forms of reading comprehension questions are unsuitable for teaching learners to read’ and discussed activities he considered more suitable. Furthernore, materials, techiques changes according to purpose of reading.
ReplyDeleteMacalister suggests these conditions for meaning-focused input:
M – there is a focus on meaning
I – the texts and tasks interest the learners
N – there is new learning
U – for understanding; the input is understandable, activities help understanding
S – tasks are stress-free or, at least, designed to reduce stress for the learners.
Macalister offers some alternatives to comprehension questions. For instance, information transfer (Palmer 1982), which requires learners to transform language input into a different form such as a diagram, plan, or table. When using non-fiction texts, information transfer is also a useful way of raising awareness about topic types (Johns and Davies 1983). I think that is more effective way of reading and comprehending what you read, and this should be applied in Turkish context because it encourages students to read with more attention and think on it instead of just reading to answer comprehension questions. Moreover, the activity cycle can be effective for reading classes as well. It is seen challenging in the article, but I think that if it will be good for students, teacher should know how to cope with these challanges. It gives importance to students' opinions and this makes students more participative.
P:S: The article is about extensive reading when we look at its tittle, but it is more related to intensive reading.
While dealing with reading in classrooms, generally the teacher makes the students read the given text straightforwardly, s/he does not provide any step or framework for the students so as to make them learn how to read the reading passage or how to deal with the relevant aspects asked to be improved. As Macalister supports reading activities are not based on just reading the passage, answering the comprehension questions and giving feedback to the students answers, but it is more than this intensive readings and extensive reading is also a way to make the students improve their reading skills because when the students read extensively, they are not bored of the rules of reading text and comprehension questions. Macalister supports that comprehension questions are overemphasized and even though the teachers spend so much time on answering those question, the questions and answers do not help the students to learn how to read and approach a reading passage. In my opinion, he is absolutely right about this issue because while the students are answering the comprehension questions, they just focus on the answers in the text, I remember from my own experiences when I was a child, I used to find the answer in the text and wait for the teacher to give me right to answer it, so it did not work, it just saved the moment, but our aim is not to answer the question, but to make the students acquire the reading skills with those questions. Macalister suggests four strands for balanced language teaching programme, different from reading, writing, listening and speaking. Those four strands are namely meaning-focused input, language-focused learning, meaning- focused output and fluency development. The input strand focuses on listening and reading skills while output strand focuses on writing and speaking skills. Macalister suggests four conditions which are needed to be met for meaning- focused input as MINUS;
ReplyDeleteM- There is a focus on meaning
I-the texts and tasks interest the learners
N-there is new learning
U-for understanding (the input is understandable and the activities are understandable)
S-tasks are stress-free (designed to reduce stress for the learners)
Three of these conditions help to form comprehension questions as Macalister suggests; meaning, new learning and understanding. However, before to decide these conditions, the teacher should consider a very important aspect of the reading activity; the goal of reading lesson. S/he should always explain the aim of all the activities, even all parts of it. LIST is an abbreviation showing the particular means of the goals of a lesson;
L-language
I-ideas
S-skills
T-text
For example, when a teacher give an activity related to newspapers, the new learning according to MINUS is a Text goal. I think it is a good way to serve reading passages because the students will perform successfully when they know the aim of the activity and they comprehend the reading passage in a given and aimed context. In terms of extensive reading these techniques are also applicable in terms of giving a reading passage according to interests of the students and relevant to the aim of the lesson.
Teaching reading in EFL classrooms means much more than simply making the students read assigned texts and do relevant exercises after this reading activity owing to the fact that it is one of the most prominent skills in the target language. It requires much more effort and formal instruction on the side of the teacher as other aspects of language. When a teacher only distributes the reading passages and wants the students to read it, the students may read it in silence. After that, they may answer the comprehension questions and do other exercises. However; even if all of their answers are correct, this does not mean that this teacher teaches his/her students reading in such an obsolete way because the students may only read the relevant parts so as to answer the questions or they may daydream while looking at the passage and the teacher may not realize the fact. This situation shows that a teacher may not teach the students anything new and beneficial because of these classical techniques. However, as it is said in the article written by Macalister (2011), the teacher should look for an answer to this question “How does today’s teaching make tomorrow’s text easier?”. This means that if the students learn new techniques, vocabulary, rules or any other pragmatic aspects of the target language through the assigned reading activities, this means “teaching reading” in the literal sense for the teacher in fact. He also states that the importance of comprehension questions is quite overemphasized. Personally I agree with this idea because as far as I know from my own experiences, the students do not like such questions and they only find their answers. They do not need to read the text carefully and try to comprehend it with all its significant points and details. Sometimes they even do not get the gist and skip the passage immediately. Therefore, this activity-oriented techniques bring about the rearing of incompetent readers who do not utilize skimming, scanning and these kind of useful strategies in the target language.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, the four strands are suggested: meaning-focused input, language-focused learning (such as vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling), meaning focused output and the fluency development. Macalister (2011) indicates “inputs” as reading and listening, “outputs” as writing and speaking like receptive and productive language skills. He forms an abbreviation in order to show the conditions of meaning-focused input as MINUS:
M – there is a focus on meaning
I – the texts and tasks interest the learners
N – there is new learning
U – for understanding; the input is understandable, activities help
understanding
S – tasks are stress-free or, at least, designed to reduce stress for the learners.
Moreover, he develops another mnemonic as LIST (L- language, I- ideas, S- skills, T- text) in order to explain the goals and reasons of each reading activity. He also supports that in the course of reading classes, the attention should be on meaning rather than any other function of the target language. Otherwise, every reading lesson can suddenly convert into a grammar lesson.
I support all these opinions of the author and I also think that in Turkish EFL environment, the issues are the same. This means that the possible solutions will be the same as he suggests. I find quite useful and easy to integrate his suggestions into our reading classrooms. Furthermore, I think bringing authentic materials which are interesting and enjoyable to read is one of the most important issues in teaching reading. Otherwise, reading can be like a nightmare for the students and they do not feel motivated to complete any tasks about it.
In this article, Macalister argues that intensive reading most of the teachers make use of in language classes and the comprehension questions that follow it do not necessarily mean that learners learn how to read. For this to be accomplished, Macalister suggests some conditions for meaning-focused input and four points to consider for the goals of a lesson.
ReplyDeleteTo start with the conditions, Macalister summarizes them as follows:
M - there is focus on MEANING
I - texts&tasks INTEREST the learners
N - there is NEW LEARNING
U - input is UNDERSTANDABLE
S - tasks are STRESS FREE
When I consider these conditions in the context of Turkish classes, I see that not all of them are paid attention and accomplished all the time. Similar to Macalister's argument, students are given the text, provided with the knowledge of some vocabulary items and expected to answer some comprehension questions. Although there is usually focus on meaning, the texts and tasks are not always interesting for the learners, nor they are stress free. Therefore, I doubt there is always 'new learning' in reading lessons conducted in schools in Turkey. However, I believe that these five conditions are not difficult to managed with a little more consideration.
Knowing the goal of a lesson, on the other hand, is necessary in that it helps teachers define the route of the lesson and provides meaning-based learning. 'LIST', therefore, is helpful in considering goals:
L - language
I - ideas
S - skills
T - text
Once language, ideas, skills and text goals are defined and paid attention, they show a positive change that is reflected in the 'new learning' condition.
It seems to me that this methos is quite easy and appropriate to implement in Turkey, since these goals and conditions are universal in language learning and they do not require so much specific or uniques resources. Thus, with sufficient knowledge and consideration, every lanugage teacher can make use of these ideas easily.
Teaching reading does not mean giving the students a reading text, asking them some comprehension questions about the text and expecting them to answer, giving feedback by correcting their mistakes and teaching them some vocabulary items which may be unknown. When all these steps are completed, it does not mean that reading is taught. Teaching reading is a difficult process which has many important principles and considerations. Teachers must be aware of the progress that students are making and adjust instruction to the changing abilities of students. It is also important to remember that the goal of reading is to understand the texts and to be able to learn from them. Reading is a skill that will empower everyone who learns it. They will be able to benefit from the store of knowledge in printed materials and, ultimately, to contribute to that knowledge. Good teaching enables students to learn to read and read to learn. Reading is generally realized through intensive reading methods and this is the common point almost all the language students in Turkey. In intensive reading, the reading material is generally provided by the teacher, because it is the teacher’s choice it does not appeal the students most of the time, and the texts may be too difficult for the students to comprehend and read successfully by themselves. Such a reading activity is unavoidably paper focused and does not contribute to the students’ knowledge. So as to facilitate the reading process and give students a clear sense of what they are reading the teachers should provide appropriate materials and quide the process not only with comprehension questions but also through practicing reading such as role plays, discussions on the text and so on. Students can become easily frustrated when they do not understand what they are reading and as a result, they become demotivated. A teacher needs to design and teach different strategies in order to help students close the gaps in their understanding. The ultimate challenge for the teacher knows exactly which strategy is useful and most beneficial to teach, since each student needs different strategies. The idea of a balanced language teaching programme has its origins in the proposal that a programme should be thought of in terms of four strands rather than the four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking (Nation, 2007 in Macalister, 2011). The four strands are meaning-focused input, language focused learning, meaning-focused output, and fluency development. Macalister suggests that in order to qualify an activity certain conditions need to be met and these conditions for meaning-focused input are subsumed under the abbreviation MINUS:
ReplyDeleteM – there is a focus on meaning
I – the texts and tasks interest the learners
N – there is new learning
U – for understanding; the input is understandable, activities help understanding
S – tasks are stress-free or, at least, designed to reduce stress for the learners.
He also mentions another abbreviation named LIST in order to explain goals because we should consider that there must be a reason behind each and every task or activity.
L – Language
I – Ideas
S – Skills
T – Text
Understanding and applying four strands framework encourages teacher to pay regard to meaning because whatever the goal is, the leading consideration must be meaning. In terms of meaning implementation, comprehension questions have a notable place if there is an ideas goal and the monitoring has a place in.
I believe that the situation in the EFL classes of Turkey is more or less same. Teaching reading is a total misconception. Instead of insisting on intensive reading with obsolete methods, we should reinforce extensive reading which motivates students to read and learn in the direction of their own interests. Instead of asking them to read a text without purpose, we should provide them a valid reason which motivates them to read. We should focus on the meaning; the input and the activities should be understandable otherwise they can feel that they will fail because they are unable and so lose their interests and motivation. If we take the Macalister’s article into consideration, which explains the problems in reading teaching and generates legitimate solutions, we can carry out more reliable and effective reading classes in which students learn without getting bored and losing their interests on reading.
ReplyDeleteTeaching reading is an important thing. It is not just giving the text and asking the students to read the text. However; today’s teachers do the reading lessons just like that. Moreover, in our country, it is simpler than that because there is no reading lesson in our schools. Teachers just give a piece of reading text or a paragraph, and then ask some comprehension questions and that’s it. In schools, an average reading lesson is conducted like this: at first the teacher gives the meanings of difficult words, then asks students to read the text, and then they altogether do and answer the comprehension questions. However; a reading lesson isn’t so simple. Firstly, a teacher should teach to students how to read a reading passage. According to Macalister; in order to teach the learners how to read, there needs to be focus on developing skills and strategies. These skills and strategies will help learners’ future reading via recognizing conjugation relationships such as cause-effect, guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words from their context, and predicting likely content. A language should be taught in terms of four strands, not via four skills like reading, writing, listening and speaking. The four strands are meaning-focused input, language-focused learning, meaning-focused output and fluency development. Language-focused learning and meaning-focused input are the most important ones. According to Macalister; there are some conditions for the meaning-focused input which is abbreviated as MINUS:
ReplyDeleteM – there is a focus on meaning
I – the texts and tasks interest the learners
N – there is new learning
U – for understanding; the input is understandable, activities help understanding
S – tasks are stress-free or, at least, designed to reduce stress for the learners.
Teachers should think about each condition in detail and try to find a solution to it. After reading the text, comprehension questions come. Comprehension questions are important becaheuse teachers evaluate whether the students understand the text or not. Thus, comprehension questions should be prepared carefully. Preparation of comprehension questions needs skill and creativity, so teacher should be careful about these questions. In Turkey, comprehension question parts aren’t prepared very carefully. They are either too easy for the students or too hard that students can’t understand the questions properly. The other problem about reading lessons in Turkey is that the students’ proficiency level is low. Teacher can’t find suitable reading texts to the level of the students. Thus, reading lessons can’t be applied to our system.
n this article, Macalister suggests that the learning process should be in order and this order should be start wıth reading the text, learning the vocabulary and comprehend the text.
ReplyDeleteTo start with the conditions, Macalister summarizes them as follows:
M - there is focus on MEANING
I - texts&tasks INTEREST the learners
N - there is NEW LEARNING
U - input is UNDERSTANDABLE
S - tasks are STRESS FREE
When we look at the education system in Turkey, the new learning, understandable, stress free and some other components are valid. We can encounter with them. However, the interest issue is a dilemma for our education system. Lots of texts are written by not being interested in the topic. This causes to diminish the interest and enthusiasm of the students to the lesson. I think, this should be improved.
Knowing the goal of a lesson, on the other hand, is necessary in that it helps teachers define the route of the lesson and provides meaning-based learning. 'LIST', therefore, is helpful in considering goals:
L - language
I - ideas
S - skills
T - text
Pn this theory, the goals and skills are integrated. I think it can be a good idea because to learn these skills is universal and not changing according to the nato or something else. It dependso n the cognitive development.