This article is devoted to the formation of reading literacy. The purpose of the article is to describe the main stages, objectives of reading literacy.
Keywords : reading literacy, stages.
Reading literacy is the basic direction of functional literacy. Whatever task the student receives, you need to READ this task first.
The development of reading literacy is a very relevant and most in-demand area. All schools in the country are working in this direction, preparing students for All-Russian tests, and graduates for Basic and United State Exams.
Reading literacy is the ability to understand and use texts, reflect on them, read in order to achieve one's goals, expand knowledge and opportunities, and participate in the life of society.
An important component of the English lesson is the student's independent work with the text.
The formation of reading literacy in foreign language lessons involves working on the development of the following competencies in students:
— the ability to find and extract the necessary information from the text, i.e. orientation in the content of the text (the ability to determine the main topic, general purpose or purpose of the text; choose from the text or come up with a title; formulate a thesis expressing the general meaning of the text; explain the order of the parts contained in the text; find the required information in the text, etc.);
— the ability to integrate and interpret information, i.e. the ability to transform the text using new forms of information presentation: formulas, graphs, diagrams, tables; compare and contrast information of a different nature contained in the text; find arguments in the text in support of the theses put forward, etc.;
— the ability to comprehend and evaluate what is read in the text, that is, to respond to the content of the text; to evaluate the statements made in the text based on their ideas about the world; to find arguments in defense of their point of view, etc.;
— the ability to use information from the text (to solve practical problems).
Most students cannot identify keywords and identify the main idea of the text, and, as a result, choose a title for this text, they cannot read diagrams and interpret the information given in tables, that is, they are unable to transfer knowledge and skills from one area to another. As a result, when performing tasks in the Reading section at the exams, the object of control of which is the ability to understand the main content of the read text, establish structural and semantic connections in the read text, fully and accurately understand the content of the read text, students make numerous mistakes. Consequently, the results of the Unified State Exam show that school graduates have an insufficient level of reading literacy, which in the future may have a negative impact on further education, work and social relations.
The main stages of working with the text in the formation of students' reading competence are:
— Pre-text (Pre-reading).
— Text (While-reading).
— Post-text (Post-reading).
1. Pre-text (Pre-reading)
The objectives of this stage are:
— creating a reading motive;
— development of forecasting skills;
— activation of background knowledge and removal of language difficulties
At this stage of reading, the following groups of exercises can be distinguished:
— Exercises for correlating a word with a topic
— Exercises for understanding the lexical and thematic basis of the text
— Exercises in working with the title of the text
— An exercise in recognizing internationalisms
1. Exercises for correlating a word with a topic.
— Fill in the gaps in the sentence with one of the specified words.
— Find and replace the words in the sentence that do not fit the meaning.
— In each group of words, find the one with the most common meaning.
— For each group of words, find one that does not belong to this group in meaning.
— Name the word with which all the words of this thematic series are associated.
2. Exercises for understanding the lexical and thematic basis of the text.
— Read the supporting words and phrases of the text and name its topic.
— Write down the keyword of the title and make a diagram, filling it with associations.
— Take a look at the photo and select from the list of words those that are suitable to describe the situation depicted on it.
— Familiarize yourself with the new words and phrases (which are given with the translation) and, without reading the text, tell us what it may be about.
— Arrange the words and phrases that define the content of the text in the sequence of events.
3. Exercises in working with the title of the text.
— Read the title and tell me what (whom) you think will be discussed in the text.
— Translate the title and answer the questions:
— By which word of the title can we determine that we are talking about...?
4. An exercise in identifying internationalisms.
— Find in the second column the translation for each word from the first (without a dictionary), based on the graphic image of the words.
— Emphasize international words in these statements, determine their meaning in your native language and in a foreign language.
— Divide the entire list of words into two columns: internationalisms and «false friends of the translator», having previously read the following phrases.
2. Text (While-reading) strategies.
They are aimed at understanding the text and forming its interpretation in the reader, thinking during reading about what and how the student reads and how well he understands what he reads. At this stage, the teacher can offer students:
— find answers to the suggested questions;
— confirm the correctness or falsity of the statements, or identify what is not mentioned in the text;
— make suggestions in order;
— find matches;
— complete a multiple choice task;
— choose the appropriate title for each of the paragraphs;
— guess the meaning of a word or words from the context, which of the proposed translations of the word most accurately reflects its meaning in this context;
— fill in the missing information
— while reading the text, fill in the table
3. Post-text (Post-reading) strategies
They are necessary to check reading comprehension and serve as a means of controlling the formation of semantic reading skills and the possible use of the information received in the future. At this stage, the teacher may suggest to students:
— identify new things from the text they have read
— express your opinion about what you have read;
— refute or agree with the statements;
— to prove or characterize something;
— make a plan of the text, highlighting its main thoughts;
— retell/summarize the content of the text;
— tell the text on behalf of the main character;
— insert missing words or expressions into the text;
— make a cinquain.
The use of such tasks in English lessons contributes to the development of functional literacy of students, reading literacy and comprehensive mastering of the main types of speech activity by students, as well as develops creative thinking, teaches students to be attentive and thoughtful towards the text. The formation of functional literacy by means of a foreign language is the key to the successful application of a foreign language in various fields of activity, the development of the student as a successful personality and his further self–development.
References:
- The Federal State educational standard of basic general education, approved by Order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation dated May 31, 2021 No. 287.
- The educational system «School 2100". Pedagogy of common sense/ed. by A. A. Leontiev. M.: Balass, 2003 p.35
- Butenko, A.V., Khodos, E. A. Critical thinking: method, theory, practice: An educational and methodical manual.: MIROS, 2002.
- Verbitskaya, M. V., Makhmuryan, K. S., Simkin, V. N. Methodological recommendations for teachers prepared on the basis of an analysis of typical mistakes of participants in the 2018 Unified State Exam in foreign languages [Electronic resource] // Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science: Internet portal.
- Danuta Gryca, Poland, Joana Sosnovska, Poland, Russel Whitehead, UK, Zsuzsanna Nytro, Hungary, Danica Gondova, Chech Republic, Victor N.Simkin, Russia, CvetankaBozanic, Croatia, Oxford Exam Excellence. Preporation for secondary school exams — Oxford University Press, 2012.
