Communicative approach

Communicative approach

by rina agustina

 

The communicative approach is based on the idea that learning language successfully comes through having to communicate real meaning. When learners are involved in real communication, their natural strategies for language acquisition will be used, and this will allow them to learn to use the language.

Example
Practising question forms by asking learners to find out personal information about their colleagues is an example of the communicative approach, as it involves meaningful communication.

In the classroom
Classroom activities guided by the communicative approach are characterised by trying to produce meaningful and real communication, at all levels. As a result there may be more emphasis on skills than systems, lessons are more learner-centred, and there may be use of authentic materials.

communicative approach: A set of principles about teaching including recommendations about method and syllabus  where the focus is on meaningingful communication not structure, use not usage. In this approach, students are given tasks to accomplish using language, instead of studying the language. The syllabus is based primarily on functional development (asking permission, asking directions, etc.), not structural development (past tense, conditionals, etc.). In essence, a functional syllabus replaces a structural syllabus. There is also less emphasis on error correction as fluency and communication become more important than accuracy As well, authentic and meaningful language input becomes more important. The class becomes more student-centered as students accomplish their tasks with other students, while the teacher plays more of an observer role.
In recent years, some authors have combined an emphasis on lexis with the communicative approach to suggest a lexical approach to language learning and teaching.

A word of caution: every ESL textbook claims to be based on the communicative approach. Whether they are infact or not is another question.

pendekatan komunikatif
Pendekatan komunikatif didasarkan pada gagasan bahwa bahasa belajar berhasil datang melalui harus berkomunikasi arti sebenarnya. Ketika peserta didik terlibat dalam komunikasi nyata, strategi alami mereka untuk akuisisi bahasa yang akan digunakan, dan ini akan memungkinkan mereka untuk belajar menggunakan bahasa.
contoh
Mempraktekkan bentuk pertanyaan dengan meminta peserta didik untuk mengetahui informasi pribadi tentang rekan-rekan mereka adalah contoh dari pendekatan komunikatif, karena melibatkan komunikasi yang berarti.
Di dalam kelas
Kegiatan kelas dipandu oleh pendekatan komunikatif ditandai dengan mencoba untuk menghasilkan komunikasi yang berarti dan nyata, di semua tingkatan. Akibatnya mungkin ada lebih menekankan pada keterampilan daripada sistem, pelajaran yang lebih berpusat pada peserta didik, dan mungkin ada penggunaan bahan otentik.
pendekatan komunikatif: Satu set prinsip-prinsip tentang mengajar termasuk rekomendasi tentang metode dan silabus di mana fokusnya adalah pada komunikasi meaningingful tidak struktur, gunakan bukan penggunaan. Dalam pendekatan ini, siswa diberi tugas untuk menyelesaikan menggunakan bahasa, bukan mempelajari bahasa. Silabus didasarkan terutama pada pengembangan fungsional (meminta izin, menanyakan arah, dll), bukan pengembangan struktural (past tense, conditional, dll). Pada dasarnya, silabus fungsional menggantikan silabus struktural. Ada juga kurang menekankan pada koreksi kesalahan sebagai kefasihan dan komunikasi menjadi lebih penting daripada ketepatan Selain itu, masukan bahasa otentik dan bermakna menjadi lebih penting. Kelas menjadi lebih berpusat pada siswa sebagai siswa menyelesaikan tugas mereka dengan siswa lain, sementara guru memainkan lebih dari peran pengamat.
Dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, beberapa penulis telah menggabungkan penekanan pada lexis dengan pendekatan komunikatif untuk menyarankan pendekatan leksikal untuk belajar bahasa dan pengajaran.

Sebuah kata dari hati-hati: setiap buku ESL mengklaim didasarkan pada pendekatan komunikatif. Apakah mereka infact atau tidak adalah pertanyaan lain.

Grammar-translation method

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The grammar-translation method is a method of teaching foreign languages derived from the classical (sometimes called traditional) method of teaching Greek and Latin. In grammar-translation classes, students learn grammatical rules and then apply those rules by translating sentences between the target language and their native language. Advanced students may be required to translate whole texts word-for-word. The method has two main goals: to enable students to read and translate literature written in the target language, and to further students’ general intellectual development.

Contents 1 History and philosophy 2 Principles and goals 3 Method 4 Materials 5 Reception 6 Influence 7 Notes 8 References

History and philosophy

The grammar-translation method originated from the practice of teaching Latin. In the early 1500s, Latin was the most widely-studied foreign language due to its prominence in government, academia, and business.However, during the course of the century the use of Latin dwindled, and it was gradually replaced by English, French, and Italian. After the decline of Latin, the purpose of learning it in schools changed. Whereas previously students had learned Latin for the purpose of communication, it came to be learned as a purely academic subject.

Throughout Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, the education system was formed primarily around a concept called faculty psychology. This theory dictated that the body and mind were separate and the mind consisted of three parts: the will, emotion, and intellect. It was believed that the intellect could be sharpened enough to eventually control the will and emotions. The way to do this was through learning classical literature of the Greeks and Romans, as well as mathematics.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, an adult with such an education was considered mentally prepared for the world and its challenges.

At first it was believed that teaching modern languages was not useful for the development of mental discipline and thus they were left out of the curriculum.^{[citation needed]} When modern languages did begin to appear in school curricula in the 19th century, teachers taught them with the same grammar-translation method as was used for classical Latin and Greek.^[1] As a result, textbooks were essentially copied for the modern language classroom. In the United States of America, the basic foundations of this method were used in most high school and college foreign language classrooms.

Principles and goals

There are two main goals to grammar-translation classes. One is to develop students’ reading ability to a level where they can read literature in the target language. ^[2] The other is to develop students’ general mental discipline. As V. Mallison put it:

When once the Latin tongue had ceased to be a normal vehicle for communication, and was replaced as such by the vernacular languages, then it most speedily became a ‘mental gymnastic’, the supremely ‘dead’ language, a disciplined and systematic study of which was held to be indispensable as a basis for all forms of higher education.^[3]

The main principles on which the grammar translation method is based are the following:

1. Translation interprets the words and phrases of the foreign languages in the best possible manner.
2. The phraseology and the idioms of the target language can best be assimilated in the process of interpretation.
3. The structures of the foreign languages are best learned when compared and contrast with those of first language.

Method

Grammar-translation classes are usually conducted in the students’ native language. Grammar rules are learned deductively; students learn grammar rules by rote, and then practice the rules by doing grammar drills and translating sentences to and from the target language. More attention is paid to the form of the sentences being translated than to their content. When students reach more advanced levels of achievement, they may translate entire texts from the target language. Tests often consist of the translation of classical texts.

There is not usually any listening or speaking practice, and very little attention is placed on pronunciation or any communicative aspects of the language. The skill exercised is reading, and then only in the context of translation.

Materials

The mainstay of classroom materials for the grammar-translation method is the textbook. Textbooks in the 19th century attempted to codify the grammar of the target language into discrete rules for students to learn and memorize. A chapter in a typical grammar-translation textbook would begin with a bilingual vocabulary list, after which there would be grammar rules for students to study and sentences for them to translate.^[1] Some typical sentences from 19th-century textbooks are as follows:

The philosopher pulled the lower jaw of the hen.
My sons have bought the mirrors of the Duke.
The cat of my aunt is more treacherous than the dog of your uncle.^[4]

Reception

The method by definition has a very limited scope. Because speaking or any kind of spontaneous creative output was missing from the curriculum, students would often fail at speaking or even letter writing in the target language. A noteworthy quote describing the effect of this method comes from Bahlsen, who was a student of Plötz, a major proponent of this method in the 19th century. In commenting about writing letters or speaking he said he would be overcome with "a veritable forest of paragraphs, and an impenetrable thicket of grammatical rules."^[5]

According to Richards and Rodgers, the grammar-translation has been rejected as a legitimate language teaching method by modern scholars:

[T]hough it may be true to say that the Grammar-Translation Method is still widely practiced, it has no advocates. It is a method for which there is no theory. There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it or that attempts to relate it to issues in linguistics, psychology, or educational theory.^[6]

Influence

The grammar-translation method was the standard way languages were taught in schools from the 17th to the 19th century. Despite attempts at reform from Roger Ascham, Montaigne, Comenius and John Locke, no other methods gained any significant popularity during this time.

Later, theorists such as Vietor, Passy, Berlitz, and Jespersen began to talk about what a new kind of foreign language instruction needed, shedding light on what the grammar translation was missing. They supported teaching the language, not about the language, and teaching in the target language, emphasizing speech as well as text. Through grammar translation, students lacked an active role in the classroom, often correcting their own work and strictly following the textbook.

The grammar-translation method is still in use today in hybrid forms in many different countries, including many parts of India.

Notes

1.      ^ ^{a b} Richards & Rodgers 2001, p. 4.

2.      ^ Richards & Rodgers 2001, p. 5.

3.      ^ V Mallison, cited in Richards & Rodgers 2001, p. 4.

4.      ^ Titone 1968, p. 28, cited in Richards & Rodgers 2001, p. 4.

5.      ^ Bahlsen, Leopold (1905). The Teaching of Modern Languages. Boston: Ginn & Co. p. 12.

6.      ^ Richards & Rodgers 2001, p. 7.

References

• Chastain, Kenneth. The Development of Modern Language Skills: Theory to Practice. Philadelphia: Center for Curriculum Development,1971.
• Rippa, S. Alexander 1971. Education in a Free Society, 2nd. Edition. New York: David McKay Company, 1971.
• Richards, Jack C.; Rodgers, Theodore S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Rivers, Wilga M. Teaching Foreign Language Skills, 2nd Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.

Metode Grammar-terjemahan
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Metode tata bahasa-terjemahan adalah metode pengajaran bahasa asing yang berasal dari klasik (kadang-kadang disebut tradisional) metode mengajar Yunani dan Latin. Di kelas tata bahasa-terjemahan, siswa belajar aturan tata bahasa dan kemudian menerapkan aturan-aturan dengan menerjemahkan kalimat antara bahasa target dan bahasa asli mereka. Mahasiswa tingkat lanjut mungkin diperlukan untuk menerjemahkan seluruh teks kata demi kata. Metode ini memiliki dua tujuan utama: untuk memungkinkan siswa untuk membaca dan menerjemahkan sastra yang ditulis dalam bahasa target, dan untuk pengembangan intelektual umum siswa lebih lanjut '.
Isi
• 1 Sejarah dan filsafat
• 2 Prinsip dan tujuan
• 3 Metode
• 4 Material
• 5 Penerimaan
• 6 Pengaruh
• 7 Catatan
• 8 Referensi

Sejarah dan filsafat
Metode tata bahasa-terjemahan berasal dari praktek mengajar Latin. Pada 1500-an awal, Latin adalah bahasa asing yang paling banyak dipelajari karena menonjol dalam pemerintahan, akademisi, dan business.However, selama abad penggunaan Latin berkurang, dan itu secara bertahap digantikan oleh Inggris, Perancis, dan Italia. Setelah penurunan Latin, tujuan pembelajaran di sekolah-sekolah berubah. Padahal sebelumnya siswa telah belajar bahasa Latin untuk tujuan komunikasi, ia datang untuk belajar sebagai subjek murni akademis.
Seluruh Eropa pada abad 18 dan 19, sistem pendidikan dibentuk terutama di sekitar konsep yang disebut psikologi fakultas. Teori ini ditentukan bahwa tubuh dan pikiran yang terpisah dan pikiran terdiri dari tiga bagian: kehendak, emosi, dan intelek. Ia percaya bahwa kecerdasan dapat diasah cukup untuk akhirnya mengendalikan kehendak dan emosi. Cara untuk melakukan ini adalah melalui pembelajaran sastra klasik dari Yunani dan Romawi, serta matematika. [Rujukan?] Selain itu, orang dewasa dengan pendidikan semacam itu dianggap menyiapkan mental untuk dunia dan tantangan.
Pada awalnya diyakini bahwa mengajar bahasa modern tidak berguna bagi pengembangan disiplin mental dan dengan demikian mereka dibiarkan keluar dari kurikulum. [Rujukan?] Ketika bahasa modern itu mulai muncul dalam kurikulum sekolah di abad ke-19, guru mengajar mereka dengan metode tata bahasa-terjemahan yang sama seperti yang digunakan untuk klasik Latin dan Yunani [1] Akibatnya, buku pelajaran pada dasarnya disalin untuk kelas bahasa modern.. Di Amerika Serikat, fondasi dasar metode ini digunakan di sekolah yang paling tinggi dan perguruan tinggi kelas bahasa asing.
Prinsip dan tujuan
Ada dua tujuan utama untuk kelas tata bahasa-terjemahan. Salah satunya adalah untuk mengembangkan kemampuan siswa membaca ke tingkat di mana mereka dapat membaca literatur dalam bahasa target. [2] Yang lain adalah untuk mengembangkan disiplin umum mental siswa. Sebagai V. Mallison mengatakan:
Ketika sekali lidah Latin tidak lagi menjadi kendaraan normal untuk komunikasi, dan digantikan seperti itu oleh bahasa daerah, maka yang paling cepat menjadi 'jiwa senam', yang amat bahasa 'mati', sebuah studi disiplin dan sistematis yang diselenggarakan sangat diperlukan sebagai dasar untuk semua bentuk pendidikan tinggi. [3]
Prinsip-prinsip utama yang metode terjemahan tata bahasa didasarkan adalah sebagai berikut:
1. Penerjemahan menafsirkan kata-kata dan frase dari bahasa asing dengan cara terbaik mungkin.
2. The kata dan idiom bahasa target terbaik dapat diasimilasikan dalam proses penafsiran.
3. Struktur dari bahasa asing sebaiknya dipelajari ketika dibandingkan dan kontras dengan bahasa pertama.
Metode
Kelas tata bahasa-terjemahan biasanya dilakukan dalam bahasa asli siswa. Aturan tata bahasa dipelajari secara deduktif, siswa belajar aturan tata bahasa dengan menghafal, dan kemudian berlatih aturan dengan melakukan latihan tata bahasa dan menerjemahkan kalimat dari dan ke bahasa target. Lebih banyak perhatian diberikan pada bentuk kalimat yang diterjemahkan daripada konten mereka. Ketika siswa mencapai tingkat yang lebih maju dari prestasi, mereka mungkin menerjemahkan seluruh teks dari bahasa target. Tes sering terdiri dari terjemahan teks-teks klasik.
Tidak ada biasanya setiap praktek mendengarkan atau berbicara, dan sangat sedikit perhatian ditempatkan pada pengucapan atau aspek komunikatif bahasa. Keterampilan dilakukan adalah membaca, dan kemudian hanya dalam konteks penerjemahan.
Bahan
Andalan bahan kelas untuk metode tata bahasa-terjemahan buku teks. Buku teks di abad ke-19 berusaha untuk menyusun tata bahasa dari target bahasa ke aturan diskrit bagi siswa untuk belajar dan menghafal. Sebuah bab dalam buku tata bahasa-terjemahan khas akan dimulai dengan daftar kosakata bilingual, setelah itu akan ada aturan tata bahasa bagi siswa untuk belajar dan kalimat bagi mereka untuk menerjemahkan [1] Beberapa kalimat khas dari buku teks abad ke-19 adalah sebagai berikut.:
Filsuf menarik rahang bawah dari ayam.
Anak-anak saya telah membeli cermin dari Duke.
Kucing bibi saya lebih berbahaya ketimbang anjing pamanmu. [4]
Penerimaan
Metode menurut definisi memiliki lingkup yang sangat terbatas. Karena berbicara atau jenis output kreatif spontan hilang dari kurikulum, siswa sering gagal berbicara atau bahkan menulis surat dalam bahasa target. Sebuah kutipan penting menggambarkan pengaruh metode ini berasal dari Bahlsen, yang adalah seorang mahasiswa Plotz, pendukung utama metode ini pada abad ke-19. Dalam komentar tentang menulis surat atau berbicara ia mengatakan ia akan diatasi dengan "hutan sesungguhnya dari paragraf, dan rumpun tak tertembus aturan gramatikal." [5]
Menurut Richards dan Rodgers, tata bahasa-terjemahan telah ditolak sebagai metode pengajaran bahasa yang sah oleh para sarjana modern:
[T] hough mungkin benar untuk mengatakan bahwa Metode Grammar-Translation masih dipraktikkan secara luas, ia tidak memiliki pendukung. Ini adalah metode yang tidak ada teori. Tidak ada literatur yang menawarkan alasan atau pembenaran untuk itu atau mencoba untuk menghubungkannya dengan isu-isu dalam linguistik, psikologi, atau teori pendidikan. [6]
Mempengaruhi
Metode tata bahasa-terjemahan adalah cara standar bahasa yang diajarkan di sekolah-sekolah dari 17 ke abad ke-19. Meskipun upaya reformasi dari Roger Ascham, Montaigne, Comenius dan John Locke, ada metode lain yang diperoleh setiap popularitas yang signifikan selama ini.
Kemudian, teori seperti Vietor, Passy, ​​Berlitz, dan Jespersen mulai berbicara tentang apa jenis baru pengajaran bahasa asing yang dibutuhkan, mencurahkan cahaya pada apa terjemahan tata bahasa yang hilang. Mereka didukung mengajar bahasa, bukan tentang bahasa, dan mengajar dalam bahasa target, menekankan pidato serta teks. Melalui terjemahan tata bahasa, siswa tidak memiliki peran aktif di dalam kelas, sering mengoreksi pekerjaan mereka sendiri dan ketat mengikuti buku teks.
Metode tata bahasa-terjemahan masih digunakan sampai sekarang dalam bentuk hibrida di berbagai negara, termasuk banyak bagian di India.

Reading comprehension

Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a writing.
Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly.^[1][2] 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.
Many educators in the USA believe that children need to learn to analyze text (comprehend it) even before they can read it on their own, and comprehension instruction generally begins in pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten.^{[citation needed]} But other US educators consider this reading approach to be completely backward for very young children, arguing that the children must learn how to decode the words in a story through phonics before they can analyze the story itself.^{[citation needed]}
During the last century comprehension lessons usually comprised students answering teachers' questions, writing responses to questions on their own, or both.^{[citation needed]} The whole group version of this practice also often included "Round-robin reading", wherein teachers called on individual students to read a portion of the text (and sometimes following a set order). In the last quarter of the 20th century, evidence accumulated that the read-test methods assessed comprehension more than they taught it. The associated practice of "round robin" reading has also been questioned and eliminated by many educators.^{[citation needed]}
Instead of using the prior read-test method, research studies have concluded that there are much more effective ways to teach comprehension. Much work has been done in the area of teaching novice readers a bank of "reading strategies," or tools to interpret and analyze text.^[3][4] There is not a definitive set of strategies, but common ones include summarizing what you have read, monitoring your reading to make sure it is still making sense, and analyzing the structure of the text (e.g., the use of headings in science text).^{[citation needed]} Some programs teach students how to self monitor whether they are understanding and provide students with tools for fixing comprehension problems.^{[citation needed]}
Instruction in comprehension strategy use often involves the gradual release of responsibility, wherein teachers initially explain and model strategies. Over time, they give students more and more responsibility for using the strategies until they can use them independently. This technique is generally associated with the idea of self-regulation and reflects social cognitive theory, originally conceptualized by Albert Bandura.^{[citation needed]}

Teaching reading comprehension

The U.S. National Reading Panel conducted a comprehensive literature search on teaching reading comprehension. They concluded that (1) vocabulary knowledge, (2) reading comprehension instruction based on reading strategies, and (3) practices were critical to effective reading comprehension teaching.^{[citation needed]}
One strategy for reading comprehension is the technique called SQ3R. This stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. In order to get an understanding of the text, you should survey the chapters. This consists of quickly looking at the title, headings and any subheadings. Look at any end of chapter questions as well. While surveying, you ask questions about the topics you have scanned, such as, "What did my teacher say about this chapter?"^{[citation needed]}
The next thing is to begin reading. In a chapter book, you would read the majority of the words. In a textbook, just read quickly for the key words. There are words seen in the chapter questions, teacher made questions and in the titles or subtitles of the chapter.^{[citation needed]}
After reading a portion or section of the book, recite what you have read out loud. By orally summarizing what you just read it helps to cement the content in your memory.^{[citation needed]}
The last technique is top review what you have read again. By writing down key facts from the chapter and reviewing it, you will better understand the information. You can also check the website "Study Guides and Strategies" [1]

Vocabulary

Several theories of vocabulary instruction exist, namely, one focused on intensive instruction of a few high value words, one focused on broad instruction of many useful words, and a third focused on strategies for learning new words.^{[citation needed]}
The idea of focusing intensely on a few words was popularized by Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown, and Linda Kucan in their book for teachers called Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction (2002).^{[citation needed]} They argued that words occur in three "tiers," the lowest (tier 1) being common words such as eat and fish, the top (tier 3) being very content-specific words such as photosynthesis and geopolitical. The tier 2 words were what they considered general academic vocabulary, words with many uses in academic contexts, such as analyze and frequent. Beck et al.^{[citation needed]} suggested that teachers focus on tier 2 words and that they should teach fewer of these words with greater intensity. They suggested that teachers offer multiple examples and develop activities to help students practice these words in increasingly independent ways.^{[citation needed]}
The method of focusing of broad instruction on many words was developed by Andrew Biemiller. He argued, contra Beck et al.,^{[citation needed]} that more words would benefit students more, even if the instruction was short and teacher-directed. He suggested that teachers teach a large number of words before reading a book to students, by merely giving short definitions, such as synonyms, and then pointing out the words and their meaning while reading the book to students (Biemiller & Boote, 2006).^{[citation needed]} The method contrasts with the Beck et al. approach by emphasizing quantity versus quality. There is no evidence to suggest the primacy of either approach.^{[citation needed]}
The final vocabulary technique, strategies for learning new words, can be further subdivided into instruction on using context and instruction on using morphemes, or meaningful units within words to learn their meaning. Morphemic instruction has been shown to produce positive outcomes for students reading and vocabulary knowledge, but context has proved unreliable as a strategy and it is no longer considered a useful strategy to teach students. This conclusion does not disqualify the value in "learning" morphemic analysis" - prefixes, suffixes and roots - but rather suggests that it be imparted incidentally and in context. Accordingly, there are methods designed to achieve this, such as Incidental Morpheme Analysis (Manzo, Manzo, Thomas, 2004, p. 163-4)^{[citation needed]}.

Reading strategies

Before the 1980s, little comprehension instruction occurred in the United States (National Reading Panel, 2000)^{[citation needed]}. Palinscar and Brown (1984)^{[citation needed]} developed a technique called reciprocal teaching that taught students to predict, summarize, clarify, and ask questions for sections of a text. The technique had positive outcomes. Since then, the use of strategies like summarizing after each paragraph have come to be seen as effective strategies for building students' comprehension. The idea is that students will develop stronger reading comprehension skills on their own if the teacher gives them explicit mental tools for unpacking text (Pressley, 2006)^{[citation needed]}.
There are a wide range of reading strategies suggested by reading programs and educators. The National Reading Panel identified positive effects only for a subset, particularly summarizing, asking questions, answering questions, comprehension monitoring, graphic organizers, and cooperative learning. The Panel also emphasized that a combination of strategies, as used in Reciprocal Teaching, can be effective.^{[citation needed]}
Today, most reading comprehension programs teach students explicit reading strategies using teacher direct instruction with additional student practice.
Comprehension through discussion involves lessons that are "instructional conversations" that create higher-level thinking opportunities for students. The purpose of the discussions are to promote critical and aesthetic thinking about text and encourage full classroom involvement. According to Vivian Thayer,^{[citation needed]} class discussions help students to generate ideas and new questions. (Goldenberg, p. 317)^{[citation needed]}
There are specific comprehension strategies that some teachers are now using in the classroom. A great resource for elementary teachers on these specific comprehension strategies is to go to the "Into the Book" website [2]. There you will find songs, book lists, posters, and activities to teach these specific strategies.
First, teach students about prior knowledge. On one of the posters from the Into the Book website, it explains that "Prior knowledge is using what you already know to help understand something new." To help students comprehend and learn from a specific reading material, they can access their prior knowledge on a subject to help them relate to the subject that they are learning at the moment.^{[citation needed]}
Making a connection is when a student can relate a passage to an experience, another book, or other facts about the world. Making connections will help students understand what the author's purpose is and what the story is about. You can use connections with any fiction or non-fiction text that you read.^{[citation needed]}
Questioning is another strategy that will greatly benefit a student. Dr. Neil Postman has said, "All our knowledge results from questions, which is another way of saying that question-asking is our most important intellectual tool" (Response to Intervention).^{[citation needed]} There are several types of questions that a teacher should focus on: remembering; testing understanding; application or solving; invite synthesis or creating; and evaluation and judging. Teachers should model these types of questions through "think-alouds" before, during, and after reading a text.^{[citation needed]}
Visualization is when a student can create a picture or movie in their mind while reading text. Use terms like "mental image" and asking sensory questions will help students become better visualizers. Another way of looking at visualization, is to think about bringing words to life.^{[citation needed]}
Into the Book's website explains that inferring means to "figure out what it really means from clues in the text." Inferring is difficult for students. For the younger students, one suggestion is to have your class become book detectives. Explain that detectives use what they already know along with using clues from the book to help "solve" the mystery.^{[citation needed]}
Summarizing is a comprehension strategy that also needs to be taught. Summarizing is telling what is important about the text. A summary might include the answers to who, what, where, when, why, and how. You can have students summarize any text that you are using the classroom.^{[citation needed]}
Evaluation is about making judgments on what you read and then explaining why you made those judgments (Into the Book). Some activities to help with evaluating can be as easy as having a small group book talk or having students rate a book. Evaluating non-fiction texts can be done by using a criteria checklist (i.e. table of contents, index, titles, headings, etc.) to help students rate a text.^{[citation needed]}
Synthesizing is putting the pieces together to see them in a new way (Into the Book). Students will take what they already know about a subject along with their reflections from the book to create their own interpretation and ideas about a certain text.^{[citation needed]}
Putting all of these "tools" together will give your students a toolbox of strategies to help them with reading comprehension. For more reading activities, you can check out these websites: [3]
Reading different types of texts requires the use of different reading strategies and approaches. Making reading an active, observable process can be very beneficial to struggling readers. A good reader interacts with the text in order to develop an understanding of the information before them. Some good reader strategies are predicting, connecting, inferring, summarizing, analyzing and critiquing. There are many resources and activities educators and instructors of reading can use to help with reading strategies in specific content areas and disciplines. Some examples are graphic organizers, talking to the text, anticipation guides, double entry journals, interactive reading and note taking guides, chunking, and summarizing.

Professional development for teachers

The National Reading Panel noted that comprehension strategy instruction is difficult for many teachers, particularly because they were not taught this way and because it is a very cognitively demanding task. They suggested that professional development can increase teachers' willingness to use reading strategies but admitted that much remains to be done in this area.^{[citation needed]}

Reading difficult texts

Some texts, like in philosophy, literature or scientific research, may appear more difficult to read because of the prior knowledge they assume; they may assume the tradition from which they come, or assume having read a text which the author is criticizing or parodizing. Such knowledge is assumed rather than restated, for economic reasons, for saving time and space.
Philosopher Jacques Derrida, whose texts are considered difficult even by fellow scholars, explained that "In order to unfold what is implicit in so many discourses, one would have each time to make a pedagogical outlay that is just not reasonable to expect from every book. Here the responsibility has to be shared out, mediated; the reading has to do its work and the work has to make its reader."^[5]

See also

• Directed listening and thinking activity
• Reading comprehension for special needs

References

1. ^ Adams, Marilyn Jager (1994). Beginning to read: thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-51076-6.
2. ^ Marilyn Jager Adams (1994). Beginning to read: thinking and learning about print. Google Books.
3. ^ Pressley, Michael (2006). Reading instruction that works: the case for balanced teaching. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 1-59385-228-2.
4. ^ Michael Pressley (2006). Reading instruction that works: the case for balanced teaching. Google Books.
5. ^ Jacques Derrida (1987) Heidegger, the Philosopher's Hell, interview by Didier Eribon for Le Nouvel Observateur issue of November 6–12, republished in Points: Interviews 1974-1994 (1995) pp.187-8