Date:26/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/26/stories/2006052621510500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Making reading a pleasure

Staff Reporter

Traditional English textbooks can kill all the joy, says expert from U.S. Traditional English textbooks can kill all the joy, says expert from U.S.

Chennai: Most English lessons in textbooks are followed by a comprehension exercise to test the skill of a student but this can kill the joy of reading, says Richard R. Day, an English language teaching trainer.

"Death by comprehension" is the droll phrase that Prof. Day uses to describe the tedious exercise that is present in every beginner's textbook. While comprehension can test students' ability to read a passage very carefully, it does not encourage them to read more on their own, he says.

Prof. Day, who is with the Department of Second Language Studies in the University of Hawaii, was in Chennai on Thursday for a discussion with about 50 English teachers and trainers on teaching how to read.

"At the beginner and intermediate levels, I strongly support extensive reading where students are encouraged to read easy and interesting books of their choice," says Prof. Day. He urged teachers to compile a mini-library of suitable books, chosen by the students.

Rather than give comprehension questions, Prof. Day recommends exercises such as `timed repeated reading and writing'. Students are instructed to skim a book they have read, write about it for two minutes and read what they wrote. This process is repeated three times to evaluate how much students have understood and what improvements they make on their first attempt.

Reaching out for a dictionary every time you come across a difficult word may not be the ideal way to improve vocabulary, according to him. He believes that students must learn to infer meanings from the context rather than disturb the pace of reading. To know the actual meanings, they can later make vocabulary cards or keep a vocabulary journal for new words.

The professor also tells teachers to ensure that their students know to scan a text for information they require and skim a text to get the general idea. The interactive session, held at M.O.P Vaishnav College, was organised by the U.S. Consulate-General in South India and the English Language Teachers' Association of India. An online resource, of which Prof. Day is a co-author, is available at www.nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl.