The role of reading in the process of foreign language teaching



As reading is one of the most important means of obtaining information and it has a significant place in the life of an educated person, this article deals with the role of reading in the process of teaching the foreign language.

Key words: foreign language learning, reading, extensive reading, intensive reading, scanning, skimming

Learning a foreign language contributes to the development of cognitive functions of the human psyche. In the process of mastering a foreign language practicing different memorization techniques, formed philological thinking, expand knowledge of reality. Especially reading helps to develop all these skills.

At the initial stage of learning reading comes to master the technique of reading aloud, and only to some extent, self-reading. Teaching reading is learning first letters correlating with certain sounds, and then learning to relate the sound image of the word with the visual (i.e. called the subject). Thus, it allows you to articulate specific content (context) in the form of phrases, sentences, more common expression. Reading is closely connected with the pronunciation of human skills, which help to form the fugitive reading technique.

Reading plays a major role in the process of learning a foreign language. It is always directed to the perception of the finished voice message (and not on its creation), to receive information, so it is considered to be receptive types of speech activity. The peculiarity of reading is that the evaluation of the success of its implementation is subjective and is reflected in the satisfaction of reading with the result — achieved a degree of completeness and accuracy of understanding.

Reading is the purpose and means of learning a foreign language. The goal of reading instruction is to give students the ability to read a foreign language, which is one of the practical purposes of studying of this discipline.

When learning to read should allocate some of these views:

Extensive reading is informative reading, in which the subject of attention of the reader becomes the voice of the work (book, story, and article) without having to install certain information. While reading the basic communicative task confronts the reader it is to extract from the text of the main, the information contained herein. Usually this type of reading is determined by the degree of automated, technical skills in students.

Intensive reading implies a very full and clear understanding of all the information, as well as its critical reflection. This thoughtful reading, suggest a focused analysis of the content read by relying on linguistic and logical connection text. Its task is also the formation of trainee skills without the assistance of others to overcome difficulties in understanding a foreign language. The subject of «study» at the same time as reading the information contained in the text, but not the language material. The degree of completeness of understanding is 100 % accurate and is expected to (adequate) understanding of the information.

Skim reading involves getting a general idea of readable material. Its purpose is to provide a very general idea of the topic and the range of issues addressed in the text. It is cursory, selective reading. This kind of reading requires reading from a fairly significant amount of linguistic material. The time allowed for viewing is determined by the rate of 1–1.5 pages per minute.

Scan reading is aimed at reading newspapers and literature to study foreign languages. Its main objective is to find the text of well-defined data (facts, features, digital characteristics, indications) rapidly. It is focused on finding specific information in the text. When reading the extraction of semantic search of information does not ask discursive action and there are automated. Such a reading, as well as the viewing, requires a sense of direction in the logical and semantic structure of the text, to choose from it the necessary information on a particular issue, to choose and combine the information of several texts on specific issues. [2, p.90]

Features of reading as a speech activity make it a very effective learning tool. Its positive role is particularly pronounced in mastering the language material: the mnemonic activity that accompanies the process of reading provides the memorization of linguistic units, both studied and new for the pupils. Therefore, in the advanced stages of learning to read texts serves as a way to expand vocabulary.

Teaching reading should be a training speech activity. Compliance with this provision is very important as it not only creates the correct orientation of the students, but also contributes to more rapid development of the necessary skills in a foreign language. Features of reading as a means of learning often leads to the fact that in practice it is mostly used in this function: the texts are intended to familiarize with the new language material, to paraphrase, answers to questions, etc. Learning to read should be built as a cognitive process. The specificity of reading a speech activity is that it is used in solving the problems of the cognitive plan. In addition, training should be structured so that the reading caused mental activity of students, accompanied by the decision of specific mental tasks requiring interpretation in the text of the facts, their comparison, grouping, etc. [3, p.59]

Teaching reading in a foreign language should be based on the existing experience of the students read in their native language. The identity of the process of reading in different languages is the basis for transfer is already available to mature students reading techniques in their own language in a foreign reading. One of the main conditions of such a transfer is the corresponding ratio of students to read on a foreign language. Though reading refers to receptive types of speech activity, it requires a series of flow reproductive nature of the operations, which are most clearly traced in the interior and in the pronunciation of the action prediction mechanisms. External manifestation of the presence of the necessary automatism is a high reading speed and ability to learn to read at different speeds (read flexibility). This requires special attention to the development of reading speed. This method of teaching reading helps to control the formation, on the one hand, the technical skills of trainees, process-read material, as defined in this speed regime promotes clotting within them analytical operations. Thus, both species are read communication activity is to extract information contained in the text, to the extent necessarily.

Reading is carried out on mechanisms of mastering oral linguistic material in stages: first mastered reading words, then — read structures and their gradual expansion, then — a combination of different types of structures and, finally, reading short texts, with a gradual increase in the volume and complexity of the content.

With abundant reading the accumulation of the necessary vocabulary, this is absorbed and used in reading. Now it should go to the question of practical training in reading in high school, what techniques should be guided reading lesson to become entertaining and effective. Consider this question on an example of any type of text. While making the task text should not be split into parts, so as not to disturb the complete picture of the product, but in the course of work the teacher can divide the exercises into two separate lessons on your own. Jobs created by the text, divided into two parts: a separate assignments for homework and assignments of students to work in the classroom. A lesson is given time to check the home exercises, but with a certain interpretation. The exercises included in the homework of students associated with the work on vocabulary, pronunciation, translation and grammar. Be sure to present the task to prepare expressive reading certain passages and literary translation, as well as in the learning of the proposed passage by heart. The last task is necessary for the accumulation of material in the speech of students and instilling in them the ability to feel a foreign language. In drawing exercises for classroom activities need to consider the type of speech activity (reading and speaking) that is, focus on verification of general and detailed understanding of the text, as well as speaking. The latter include those tasks that begin with the words: describe, comment, compare, etc. Initially, the entire slave notes begin with, which you need to select language, that is, to make an active vocabulary for students to broaden and deepen their vocabulary. Vocabulary material from the literature on home reading is taken on the basis of the general principles of selection of lexical material by relying on the existing minimum vocabulary of students. These principles include the following:

‒ principle of compatibility, i.e. the ability to combine words with a lot of words;

‒ thematically principle, that is, the importance of words to express the necessary concepts,

‒ stylistic-principle (unlimited) i.e. the ability of words used without stylistic limitations;

‒ grammatical principle, which are selected on the basis of mainly words that can carry grammatical sentence function. [1, p. 34]

Dividing the active vocabulary is based on a theme for the oral speech, which is intended to cover, as far as possible, complete the proposed speech situations that may arise in the course of the speech communication. While compiling the active vocabulary it is useful also to include in addition the new and partly familiar material (new meanings ​​and new usage of lexical units, lessons with a different meaning, a different use or other compatibility) already familiar lexical material, the need for frequent repetition of which is associated with the presence in it of special language difficulties, that arise when speaking or understanding. It’s necessary to mention the fact that if the home reading is entered in the initial stage of training, the lexical material for selected books must be reduced to the necessary minimum, which is achieved by eliminating all the words and expressions that are not necessary in the first place to achieve the learning objectives.

The handout does not include the word, although being communicative and valuable, but not related to the learned topic at a particular stage of learning, phraseological combinations which are equivalent to the words and synonyms etc. in their function. Filling the vocabulary of students goes in stages, at an advanced stage of training its expansion can occur not only due to the introduction of new lexical units (i.e. breadth), but also due to the inclusion of unknown meanings or lexical-semantic variants of the familiar words, synonymous and increase antonymous series, series of expansion of native equivalents of words, adding derivatives and compound words to jacks of single rooted vocabulary, replenishment the vocabulary with phraseological units.

References:

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2. Гальскова Н. Д. Современная методика обучения иностранным языкам. Пособие для учителя.– М.: АРКТИ, 2004.–192с.
3. Ляховицкий М. В. Методика преподавания иностранных языков Методическое пособие.- М.: Дрофа, 2006.- 369 с.
4. Мильруд Р. П., Гончаров А. А. Теоретические и практические проблемы обучения пониманию коммуникативного смысла иноязычного текста // ИЯШ, 2003, № 1.