16. Developing reading skills
17. Developing writing skills.
18. Placement test
19. Diagnostic test
20. Multiple choice test
21. Achievement test
22. Formative assessment
23. Summative assessment
24. Types of test
25. Types of reading
. Reading as one of skills, ways and approaches to teaching reading
Reading is one of the important skills of a foreign language that is aimed to be taught to students in EFL courses. Also it is not an easy course to comprehend for the foreign language students because reading is a complex process. Reading “Reading” is the receptive skill in the written mode. It can develop independently of listening and speaking skills, but often develops along with them especially in societies with a highly-developed literary tradition. Reading can help build vocabulary that helps listening comprehension at the later stages, particularly. In other words, reading is the process of looking at a series of written symbols and getting meaning to them. When we read, we use our eyes to receive written symbols (letters, punctuation marks and spaces) and we use our brain to convert them into words, sentences and paragraphs that communicate something to us. Reading can be silent (in our head) or aloud (so that other can hear). Reading is an important way to of gaining information in language learning and it is a basic for a language learner. Therefore reading skills refer to the specific abilities that enable a person to read with independence and interact with the message. Reading is therefore a highly valuable skill and activity, and it is recommended that English learners try to read as much as possible in English. Moreover, reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to construct or derive meaning. Like all language, it is a complex interaction between the text and the reader which is shaped by the reader’s prior knowledge, experiences, attitude and language community which is culturally and socially situated. To sum up, reading process requires continues practice, development, refinement, creativity and critical analysis.
Scanning as a kind of reading
Scanning It is a quickly reading a text to get the gist of it. Scanning is a technique that often use when looking up a word in the telephone book or dictionary. The students search for key words or ideas. Scanning involves moving eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words and phrases. Scanning is also used when the reader first find a resource to determine whether it will answer the questions. Once you’ve scanned the document, you might go back and skim it. When scanning, the students look for the author’s use of organizers such as numbers, letters, steps, or the words, first, second, or next. They look for words that are bold faced, italics, or in a different font size, style, or color. Sometimes the author will put key ideas in the margin. It's useful to scan parts of texts to see if they're going to be useful to you: -the introduction or preface of a book -the first or last paragraphs of chapters -the concluding chapter of a book.
Skimming as a kind of reading
Skimming is sometimes referred to as gist reading. Skimming may help in order to know what the text is about at its most basic level. You might typically do this with a magazine or newspaper and would help you mentally and quickly shortlist those articles which you might consider for a deeper read. You might typically skim to search for a name in a telephone directory.Skimming is one of the tools you can use to read more in less time.Skimming refers to looking only for the general or main ideas, and works best with non-fiction (or factual) material. With skimming, your overall understanding is reduced because you don’t read everything. You read only what is important to your purpose. Skimming takes place while reading and allows you to look for details in addition to the main ideas.
Critical reading as a kind of reading
Critical reading is the process of reading that goes beyond just understanding a text. Critical reading involves:
* carefully considering and evaluating the reading
* identifying the reading's strengths and implications
* identifying the reading's weaknesses and flaws
* looking at the 'big picture' and deciding how the reading fits into the greater academic context (the understandings presented in other books and articles on this topic)
Critical reading means that a reader applies certain processes, models, questions, and theories that result in enhanced clarity and comprehension. There is more involved, both in effort and understanding, in a critical reading than in a mere "skimming" of the text. What is the difference? If a reader "skims" the text, superficial characteristics and information are as far as the reader goes. A critical reading gets at "deep structure" (if there is such a thing apart from the superficial text!), that is, logical consistency, tone, organization, and a number of other very important sounding terms.Critical reading involves using logical and rhetorical skills. Critical reading often involves asking questions about the reading. In particular, you are examining the strengths and weaknesses of the reading's argument.
Reading for thorough comprehension as a kind of reading
Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning. An individual's ability to comprehend text is influenced by their traits and skills, one of which is the ability to make inferences. If word recognition is difficult, students use too much of their processing capacity to read individual words, which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read. There are a number of approaches to improve reading comprehension, including improving one's vocabulary and reading strategies.
Simply put, reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading. Reading comprehension is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before, during and after a person reads a particular piece of writing.
Reading comprehension is one of the pillars of the act of reading. When a person reads a text he engages in a complex array of cognitive processes. He is simultaneously using his awareness and understanding of phonemes (individual sound “pieces” in language), phonics (connection between letters and sounds and the relationship between sounds, letters and words) and ability to comprehend or construct meaning from the text. This last component of the act of reading is reading comprehension. It cannot occur independent of the other two elements of the process. At the same time, it is the most difficult and most important of the three. There are two elements that make up the process of reading comprehension: vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension.
Silent reading as a kind of reading
Reading silently improves students’ understanding because it helps them concentrate on what they are reading, rather than the pronunciation of individual words. When we read silently, we can form mental pictures of the topic being discussed. Also, we do not need to read one word at a time. When you encourage your students to read silently, you are helping them develop the strategies they need for reading fast, and with better comprehension. This is called reading efficiency, and it will help your students to read any text with maximum attention to meaning.
Silent reading also helps develop the skills of reading for a purpose, as the focus is on understanding the content without the additional burden of having to pay attention to pronunciation.
Reading out loud as a kind of reading
Read Aloud is a strategy in which a teacher sets aside time to read orally to students on a consistent basis from texts above their independent reading level but at their listening level.
Reading aloud is a wonderful tool to help you learn to read smoothly and build fluency skills, continuity and confidence. I encourage students of all ages to read aloud. Not only will this help you comprehend what you are reading, it will also allow you to listen back for your voice. Hearing your voice will assist you in identifying your unique writing voice. Learning to read aloud with confidence and clarity reaps many benefits.
Benefits of Read-Alouds
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