4.Follow up activities

-do a role play based upon the text;

-have a discussion based upon the theme of the text;

-write a letter to the author or a book review;

-share a personal anecdote on the same subject;

-select a function from the text and practice it;

-write response journals. Students write a summary of the article and then their opinions of it;

-display the information in another form (e.g. chart);

-write an alternative ending to the story.

Working with the text for teaching reading

It is desirable that texts for reading should meet the following requirements:

-be interesting and have something new for learners;

-be easy enough for comprehension;

-be clearly organized;

-have support in the form of titles, pictures, maps;

-contain structures and vocabulary familiar to the students;

-fit the level of students.

As reading, like listening, is a productive skill there are many similarities between the guidelines for using a listening and a reading text. In dealing with the text there are the following stages: pre- reading, while-reading, post- reading, follow- up.

10. The importance of teaching listening. Stages in teaching listening

Listening is important for developing speaking skills, for managing a successful conversation, for listening to the radio and TV, for understanding foreigners. Listening is an important way of picking up structures and vocabulary. Materials for teaching listening are: radio and television programs; announcements in the airports, stores, etc; speeches and lectures; telephone recordings.

Listening comprehension is difficult for learners because they should discriminate speech sounds quickly, retain them while hearing a word, a phrase or a sentence and recognize this as a sense unit. Learners should overcome the following difficulties:

-They can’t differentiate between the sounds and words(walked-worked, east-west, put on-put off). Grammar can also cause difficulties;

-Unknown words may be a sudden barrier causing students to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the speech;

-The content of the text should be taken into consideration. The most easy texts are simple narrative texts where events are described in the order in which they occurred, and if they have an informative title. Monologic speech is easier for the learners.

-The voice of the speaker influences comprehension;

-Poor recordings, bad acoustics, outside factors don’t allow students to concentrate;

-Learners can’t control the speed of the speaker and can’t get things repeated;

-Students have some established learning habits that they should understand everything in the English language. Because of this students are worried if they fail to understand a particular word or phrase when they are listening.

Stages in teaching listening.

Pre-listening

At the pre-listening stage some preparatory work for listening is done. The aim of this work is to assist with comprehension and motivate students to want to listen. Pre-listening activities may include:

1. look at the pictures and the title and make guesses;

1. look at the new vocabulary;

2. list ideas about;

3. list possibilities;

4. make a note of what you expect to hear;

5. answer the questions;

6. listen to the opening and predict what will happen next.

The choice of pre-listening activities depends on the ability of the class, the material available, the time available, the nature and content of a text for listening.

While-listening

At the while-listening stage students develop the skill of eliciting messages from spoken language. Activities are done during the time students listen to the text. They may include:

1. tick things, people, dates, etc on your list;

2. make a list of…;

3. fill in the chart;

4. take notes on…;

5. find words which mean…;

6. decide whether each statement is true or false;

7. complete the information in the paragraph;

8. match the picture to what is said;

9. follow the route on your map;

10. draw a picture;

11. carry out actions.

Post-listening

Post-listening activities are done after listening is completed. Some post-listening activities are extention of the work done at the pre-listening and while-listening stages. They can be much longer because at this stage students have time to think, to discuss, to write. Post-listening activities may include:

1. open-ended questions;

1. true/false questions;

2. multiple choice questions;

3. fill in the gaps in the summary;

4. put the events in the correct order;

5. put the pictures in the correct order;

6. complete the chart;

7. complete the paragraph;

8. paraphrase;

9. summarize;

10. solve the problem;

11. discuss…;

12. role-play;

13. write a letter or a composition.