Reading

-----------
Reading is a complex skill involving a number of simultaneous operations. In India,
English is taught as a second language mainly on academic grounds. Moreover, it is
a 'library language'. As a library language, it helps a student to get an access
into the modern scientific and technological world. The skill of reading is of
unique importance in the life of a person.

Sub-Skills of Reading
-----------------------------
A learner who can read should possess the following sub-skills:
- Recognize and understand the meaning of the words, phrases and sentences
- Read aloud with correct pronunciation and proper intonation
- Guess the meaning of unfamiliar words contextually
- Desirable silent reading habit
- Should be able to distinguish between lexical meaning and contextual meaning
- Should be able to make summary of the passage read
- Should be able to deduce the meaning with different punctuation marks.

Types of Reading
------------------------
The main purpose of reading is comprehension, i.e. understanding the meaning of
words and relationship between ideas. Generally, there are two types of reading
used in Indian schools and by the Indian learners i.e. reading aloud with adequate
production of voice, and silent reading is in which sound is not produced.

Loud Reading :- Loud reading is a type of reading conventionally practised for

reading in India. Higher pitch and voice production for uttering words and
sentences are considered as loud reading. It also helps learners to understand the
content in a better way, especially in the case of the poor power of attention.
Loud reading is also known as oral reading. It is introduced after two months after
the student has learnt to read his textbook. It teaches the student to read with
correct pronunciation, articulation, intonation, stress and rhythm. It enables the
student to read with expression.
The Objective of Loud reading is as following :
i. To enable students to read with correct pronunciation, articulating, intonation,
stress and rhythm.
ii. To test the students, knowledge of speaking words, phrases and sentences.
iii. To enable students to read with expression.
iv. To prepare students for effective silent reading.
Advantages :-
- The students learn to read properly.
- They develop the skill of speech and can learn elocution.
- Mistakes in pronunciation, articulation, stress are corrected at an early stage.
- The various ensure organs such as ears, eyes, and mouth are trained
simultaneously.
- The students learn by imitation, which is a natural method of learning.
Disadvantages :- The disadvantages of this method are that some students may not
enjoy reading aloud. It does not help deep understanding of the text. In later
life, silent reading is preferred. Some students become used to reading aloud and
cannot become extensive reader. The other student of the class are distracted when
one student is reading aloud, thus only a few students get the benefit of this.

Silent Reading :- Silent reading is a type of reading mostly practised by the

mature readers. Here production of high pitch and voice is not required, rather an
utterance of sound and words are kept unheard by others. It is helpful for fast
reading and a better understanding of the concept. This is the very important type
of reading. Along with the ability to read aloud, the children may be encouraged to
read silently. Most of the reading done at the higher stage of learning should be
of this kind only. The purpose of silent reading is to encourage the students to
read with comprehension. Silent reading is sometimes considered as recreational
reading or independent reading as in silent reading something is read in a relaxed
mood and only a single individual remains concerned about it. Reading silently
improves students’ understanding because it helps them concentrate on what they are
reading, rather than the pronunciation of individual words.
The Objective of Silent reading is as following :
i. To help you read faster
ii. To improve understanding
iii. To help you ignore words you don’t need
iv. To allow you to reread
v. To help you read whole words at once
vi. To move quickly to the information you need
vii. To involve all the students
viii. To give a good model
ix. To stop you moving your lips
x. To help your listening comprehension
Advantages
i. It saves time and energy.
ii. It develops the ability to read with interest.
iii. In later life it has immense value because it is used in public places and
higher classes.
Disadvantage
i. It cannot be checked whether student is reading or not.
ii. The mistakes done by students during silent reading cannot be corrected.
iii. Sometimes students cannot understand some parts of the passage, but they
cannot take help of teachers.

====================
Intensive Reading
------------------------
Intensive Reading occurs when the learner is focused on the language rather than
the text.
Intensive reading is aimed at mastering the structures and vocabulary apart from
reading for comprehension. The pupils have more opportunities to learn the aspects
of the language through intensive reading. If properly carried out, even non-native
speakers of English may develop themselves better users of English than the native
speakers of English in writing. Intensive reading can also be done in the absence
of the teachers. So, by spending more time on intensive reading, one may get
language skills in English. And, the only practicable means of learning a foreign
language as a second language is through intensive reading. The intensive reading
has some prerequisites like, the readers should be able identify the words and
sentences spoken orally and acquire sufficient speed in reading.
The main aims of Intensive reading are as follows :
1. Give the pupils control over essential vocabulary meant for actual use.
2. Give the pupils insight into the idiom and usage of the language in the
question.
3. Help the pupil in learning functional grammer.
4. Acquaint the pupils with essential structures and patterns.
5. Improve the general expression of the pupil in the target language.

Extensive Reading
------------------------
Extensive reading is reading as much as possible, for your own pleasure, at a
difficulty level at which you can read smoothly and quickly without looking up
words or translating to English as you go. In other words, instead of spending a
half hour decoding a tiny part of one book (also known as intensive reading), you
read many simpler books that are at or slightly below the level at which you read
fluently. This lets you get used to reading more complex sentences with ease,
reinforces the words you already know and helps you learn new words from context.
Contrary to intensive reading, in extensive reading, the teacher does not explain
each word, idiom, phrase or sentence. He does not analyse the subject matter, and
the pupils are not carried through each bit of the reading material. Extensive
reading is a non-detailed study of the reading book. Here, one has to concentrate
on the content material or the subject matter rather than on language. It involves
only comprehension of the given passage or a story or an essay and is related to
the over-all meaning or central idea of the given material.
The main aims of Extensive reading are as follows :
1. The over-all general grasp of the language.
2. The enlargement of pupil's sphere of knowledge.
3. The development of pupil's interest in reading and helping him develop a general
reading habit.
4. Establishing cultural contacts with great minds.
5. Training students to read directly and fluently in the foreign language for his
own enjoyment.

Teaching Reading For Comprehension

----------------------------------------------------
It is matter of common experience that much of the reading work that is done at the
school level remains half way because the pupils never get to comprehend the
material given for reading. When the new reading books are placed in the hands of
the pupils of the lower classes, they are curious to open them and know about the
content and pictures and illustrations that are given there. It is this curiosity
which the teacher of a foreign language can exploit to the fullest advantage.
One can be said to have read with comprehension if, at the finish of the reading
material, one knows the new words, understands the use of new structures and gets
at the general meaning, hidden behind the material, the comprehension of which is
desired.

Reading comprehension involves understanding the meaning of :

(i) New content words that the writer gradually introduces
(ii) New grammatical structures
(iii) New concepts or special references
(iv) Relationship to ideas.

Reading comprehension has following difficulties :

(i) The presence of unfamiliar words is the first difficulty. The context in which
the new words occur is of great importance
(ii) The presence of unfamiliar structures poses another difficulty for the reader.
(iii) Special reference to places, processes, objects, events etc. previously
unknown to the pupils go unnoticed, rather intentionally ignored.

The major aims of reading with comprehension are :

1. To enable the pupils to retain the over-all meaning of the material read.
2. To enable the students to understand the meanings of new words, phrases and
idioms for future use.
3. To enable the pupils to understand grammatical peculiarities and grasp the new
structures.
4. To enable the students to be able to answer some intelligent questions on the
reading material meant for testing comprehension.
5. To develop pupils' interest and taste for independent reading.
6. To prepare way for supplementary reading.
Conclusion
---------------
Reading is one of the most popular learning activities among all language skills,
because most of the time learners use their visual sense, and reading is the
immediate follow-up activity of visual experiences. Therefore, reading is no more
considered a passive activity rather an active process of reading comprehension.
Prior knowledge of the language, grammar and vocabulary are core to reading
comprehension. Inference and prediction of words and its meanings in the texts are
important for a learner to understand the writing in a complete sense. In another
word, encoding and decoding of the written text by the reader which is intended by
the author/writer is called reading in the real sense.