10.2. Definition of reading

Reading is mental automatic processing of a written text into meaningful information the result of which is immediately influenced by readers' past ex­perience, language background and cultural framework. [5, 263]

Current research generally views reading as an interactive, sociocognitive process involving a text, a reader, and a social context within which the activ­ity of reading takes place [54, 152]. Our expectation and intent when we read is to make meaning, to comprehend what we read [52, 230].

A teacher of a foreign language should differentiate between the terms "read­ing", "sounding reproduction of a text in print" and "technique of reading" be-Cause each of them presupposes specific teaching and training of learners.

Sounding reproduction of a text is a process of sounding translating the uraphical form of a text into its auditiory form. Very often in language in­unction sounding reproduction of a text doesn't presuppose readers' looking for information. It is often carried out in order to train learners in pronunciation. The main difference between reading and sounding re-production of a text is that reading is a cognitive process while sounding i ('production of a text is not.

Technique of reading is learners' mastering sound-motor— spelling anc image relationships, pronunciation, grammatical and lexical regularities' peculiarities of written language and principal stylistic differences of the Ian guage [46, 94].

10.3. Comparison of reading skills of fluent readers and beginning readers. Tasks in teaching reading

Automatic processing of a written text into personal meaningful informa­tion can be effected only by a fluent reader. For teachers of foreign language: mental operations, actions, skills, inner states and abilities of fluent and be­ginning readers are worth analyzing for it can help in defining what tasks ir teaching reading are to be suggested to learners. Below peculiarities and read­ing skills of fluent and beginning readers are described comparatively.

Cognitive interest and personal mental intent that make readers read

For fluent readers it is natural to display their cognitive interests while reading. That's why with them a teacher must act according to the following methodological postulate: the more tasks on satisfying personal mental intent and cognitive interest are suggested to students, the better readers in a foreign language they will be.

In teaching beginning readers, these are also factors of great importance. How­ever, little ones are rather suppressed by the difficulties of the graphic images of words and texts. In the process of teaching reading they are usually pedagogically constrained and their mental efforts in most cases have the aim of acquiring only the ability to translate letters into sounds without any account of the meaning.

Nevertheless, beginning readers should also carry out cognitive tasks. Cognitive tasks in reading words can be given to little ones still during the process of formation in them sound-letter relationships, e.g.:

When reading aloud the columns of words below raise vour hand when you read a word denoting an animal.

Door,	cup,	cat,
bed,	lion,	fly,
crocodile,	Zoo,	home,
table,	happy,	box,
chimp,	girl,	dance

Only after initial sound-letter relationships are formed, then cognitive tasks on the contents of the text are to be given to beginners immediately before reading. They will arouse their personal intention to read the text and can also satisfy their cognitive needs, e.g.: What's wrong with the poem ? Correct it: Spring is white. Summer is yellow. Autumn is bright. Winter is green.

Skill of phonetically correct sounding reproduction

Fluent readers actualize this skill only when difficulties in understanding arise. Little ones, on the contrary, resort to sounding reproduction of a text each time they try to read.

Tasks and exercises on phonetically correct sounding reproduction of a text are to be a must for teaching foreign languages in a secondary school both at the beginning and advanced stages. Below there are given some tasks.

For beginning readers

1. Look at the picture and listen to the text. Memorize what it is about. [This picture was taken from 13, 79]

I

Fig. 19 Summer

ihis is summer. The children are playing at animals. We can see a horse, a . lump, a cat and a fish. Horses can jump. Chimps can climb. They also like to i / <>ok at the fish. Can the fish climb the tree ? No, it can't, the fish can swim

2. Answer the questions:

1. Who is ahorse?

2. Can the horse swim ?.

3. Where are Bob and Ted?.

etc.

3. Listen to the text again.

4. Listen to the text and then imitate the announcer and read parts of the text after him.

Thisissummer. Thechildren are play ing at animals We can see a horse,

a chimp, a cat and a fish Horses can jump. Chimps can climb ,

They also like to swing Look at the fish. Can the fish climb?. No, it

can't. The fish can swim

Exercises on imitating words and sounds can also be suggested to the little ones.

For fluent readers

1. Listening to the announcer, mark pauses, stresses and tones in your written copies of the text.

2. Imitating the announcer repeat the parts of the text after him/her. Try not to violate the tempo of reading.

3. Read parts the text aloud in turn with the announcer.

Exercises on imitating words and sounds can also be suggested to the little ones.

Skill of comprehending a text in print without its sounding reproduction

Generally flueat readers read texts with no sounding reproduction. They can resort to it only if any problems with comprehension arise.

Just the other way with beginning readers. They are made to spare much ef­fort to reproduce written speech in a phonemically and prosodically correct way, using proper tones, stresses, tempo and pauses. Beginners even do not try to un­derstand the text without sounding reproduction, because untill sound-motor-spelling and image relationships become automatic, they aren't able to do it.

Class-room teaching practice proves that before training students in read­ing proper, i.e. without sounding reproduction of the text, tasks and exercises on formation of sound-motor-spelling and image relationships are to be suggested to learners in a rather substantial number.

At the same time, such tasks are to be carried out even with fluent readers each time the text to read contains words whose sound-letter images can cause difficulties.

Skill of recognition of word by its first two or three letters

This skill is characteristic of a fluent reader. Reading activities of begin­ners in most cases is accompanied by frequent regressive movements of the

eyes: their foreign language competence in reading is still so limited that they are not able to identify words only by the first letters of words [2, 270]. And these are regressive movements of the eyes which help a beginning reader to reproduce written language aloud.

A fluent reader has no need to return to the beginning of a word or sen­tence a great number of times for the mental skill of recognition of words by their first letters has already been developed.

Tasks to achieve and maintain high level of automaticity of recognising of a word by the first two letters are to be regularly suggested to learners of the begin­ning and intermediate stages. Below there are some of them.

1. A number of words will be shown to you. The time of the demonstration of each word is very short, not more than a second or two. Try to repeat each

of the words.

2. A number of words will be shown to you. The time of the demonstration of each word is very short, not more than a second or two. Try to write each of

the words. Among the words demonstrated in such a way there should be the following

ones:

1. words containing reduction of vowels: distance, content, remembrance,

sentiment, inheritable, inheritance, etc.;

2. words opening with letter-combinations having traditional spelling: know­ ledge, knitting, knives, writing, wrestling, automation, autumn, August,

etc.;

3. words having traditional spelling and pronunciation: daughter, culture,

neigbour, friction, etc.;

4. words of one unit or lesson.

Ability to form hypotheses or predictions about contents of text

This kind of ability helps fluent readers to a large extent to cope with dif­ficulties of the text. At the beginning stage of teaching foreign languages this ability is not yet well developed in learners. The earlier it can be developed the easier is the process of mastering reading.

It means that besides teaching children sound-letter relationships, at the beginning stage there should be suggested to learners tasks based on immedi-

ate actualization of their past knowledge and personal experience connected with the contents of the text. Surely, such tasks are not to be frequent not to overburden the children. Sometimes these tasks are to be combined with those in fluent comprehension of syntactic structures and semantic informa­tion of the text, e.g.:

Read the text and be ready to answer the following questions:

Is the child who lives in this room a girl or a boy ? How old is the child?

How many children come to the birthday party? Which is the season: summer, spring, autumn or winter?

This is a room. This is a child's room. To-day the child has a birthday party. There are many presents in the room and a birthday cake on the table. In the cake we see seven candles .A big new doll sits on the table. There are five chairs around the table. The toys on the New Year tree are very beautiful.

Skill of grasping rather extensive bits or units of information

This is a natural way of reading for fluent readers. They usually read grasp­ing not less than two sentences at a time.

Beginning readers spare much effort to acquire the habit of accepting en­larged units of information containing not one but two or three syllables or two or three words at a time. In the course of time they develop the ability to accept and pronounce syntagmas and word combinations.

To overcome this kind of difficulty limitations of the time of reading are to be included into the assignments to find some meaningful distinctions between the words or utterances suggested in written, as well as into the tasks to find some meaningful information in the text.