Предтекстовые упражнения в процессе обучения чтения.
статья по английскому языку ( класс) на тему

Предтекстовые

         упражнения

    в процессе

         обучения чтения.

Обучение чтению – базовая основа          обучения иностранному языку.

Существуют две основные концепции чтения: чтение как непосредственное понимание фактов, изложенных в тексте. И с этой точки зрения Предтекстовые упражнения в основном нацелены на снятие языковых трудностей, т. е. объяснение значений трудных слов и сложных структур. в то время как вторая концепция ориентирована на подход к чтению прежде всего как к

мыслительному процессу, при

котором понимание достигается

путем успешного и

активного участия читающего(1).

процесс мышления при активном чтении начинается еще до непосредственного чтения. особую роль в понимании прочитанного играют наши ассоциации. часто ученики понимают и слова, и структуры предложений, используемых в тексте, но не могут получить полного представления об основных идеях. Поэтому не всегда целесообразно использовать традиционные методы снятия только лингвистических трудностей.(2)

Предтекстовые упражнения дают возможность помочь учащимся понять конечную цель, предпосылки для понимания и первичного усвоения материала. Кроме того, при правильно выстроенной системе предтекстовых упражнений учащиеся смогут активизировать и эффективно использовать уже накопленные знания и личный опыт, участвуя непосредственно в процессе восприятия информации, творчески обрабатывая ее. Они становятся активными участниками  мыслительного процесса.

Предтекстовые упражнения могут быть самыми разнообразными, включая рисунки, Mind Maps, таблицы.

я хочу предложить вашему вниманию некоторые Pre-reading Tasks, которые я применяю на своих уроках.

Brainstorming and Mind Map

Используя знания учащихся, составляем Mind Map, а затем эти знания расширяем и уточняем или исправляем при помощи критического прочтения текста, используя один из приемов критического мышления «Пометки на полях».

Фрагмент урока:

Think for one minute and remember all the information you know about colours. Then, draw a Mind Map of the information. You shouldn't write whole sentences - just some words or phrases: anything about colours that comes to your mind.

Pupils draw a Mind Map:

Now, mark the text using the following symbols:

•  ? if you want to know more about          this fact;

• + if this information is familiar to you;

• D if this information is new;

• - if your ideas don't correspond to the ideas given in the text.

     After reading the text we'll correct our Mind Map if necessary or just add some information to it.

(Text" Colours" www.onestopenglish.com)

Prediction from the title and the subheadings of the article

  a)Read the title of the text. Guess what it is about.

  Sample answer. The article is about one of the largest and most popular shops in Britain.

   b) Look at the headings. What do you think we'll learn about while reading the text?

   How did it all begin?

   What are the best-selling goods?

   Why is M&S so successful?

    Sample answer. We'll learn:

    - about the history of the shop;

    - about the goods that are the most popular with its customers (clothes, footwear, tableware, furniture, food and many other things);

    - that they have cafes and restaurants, comfortable and cosy nooks, and polite shop assistants.

c)The following people, places, and things are mentioned in the article. What do they have to do with Marks & Spencer? They appear here in the same order as they do in the text.

  1) Princess Diana 2) £ 10 million 3) a Polish immigrant 4) shoelaces 5) Spain 6) Paris and Newcastle 7) jumpers 8) chiropodists

  Now read the article quickly and discuss the list again.

                MARKS & SPENCER

              Britain's favourite store

   Marks & Spencer (or M&S) is Britain's favourite store. Tourists love it too. It attracts a great variety of customers, from housewives to millionaires. Princess Diana, Dustin Hoffman, and the British Prime Minister are just a few of its famous customers.

   Last year it made a profit of £ 529 million, which is more than £ 10 million a week.

                 How did it all begin?

   It all started 105 years ago, when a young Polish immigrant, Michael Marks, had a stall in Leeds market. He didn't have many things to sell: some cotton, a little wool, lots of buttons, and a few shoelaces. Above his stall, he put the now famous notice: Don't ask how much — it's a penny.

   Ten years later, he met Tom Spencer, and together they started Penny Stalls in many towns in the north of England. Today there are 564 branches of M&S all over the world

— in America, Canada, Spain, France,

Belgium, and Hungary.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

        What are the best-selling goods?      

   Surprisingly, tastes in food and clothes are  international. What sells well in Paris sells  just as well in Newcastle. Their best-selling

clothes are:

      • jumpers, bras, and knickers (M&S . famous for its knickers!) for women;

      •shirts, socks, pyjamas, dressing gowns, and suits for men;

      •underwear and socks for children;

      • and in their grocery store, fresh chickens, bread, vegetables, and sandwiches. Chicken Kiev is internationally the most popular prepared food.

              Why is M&S so successful?

      The store bases its business on three principles: good value, good quality, and good service. Also, it changes with the times -once it was all jumpers and knickers. Now it's food, furniture, and flowers as well. Moreover, top fashion designers advise on current clothing styles.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

     But perhaps the most important key to its  success is its happy, well-trained staff. Conditions of work are excellent. There are company doctors, dentists, hairdressers, and even chiropodists to look after the staff, and all the staff can have lunch for under 40p!

          Prediction from the title of the story

           ("Gretel" by Hal Porter)

     Predict what the title of the story "Gretel" might mean (whether it's a girl, a woman, sb's sister).

     What questions come to mind? Pupils should come up with questions and the teacher will write them on the blackboard (use question words).

      Look at the title and say what questions come to mind.

       - Who is Gretel?

       - Has she got any relatives?

       - What does she do?

       - How old is she?

       - What kinds of problems does she have?

       - What do her friends like to do?

       - What does she like to do (her hobbies)? Now we will work in pairs. One student

will read the paragraph up to the indicated point. Another student will follow the written form or just listen, then tell the first student what he heard in his own w6rds; read

the last paragraph in the same manner, but change the roles, reading from the indicated point.

What have you learned from just the first and last paragraph? Were the questions answered? Were other questions raised?

Discuss the questions and write down new questions.

Gretel

by Hal Porter

Hal Porter (1911-1984) - Australian short story writer, novelist, dramatist and poet.

"I am here. I am Marcus. May I come in?"

"I am here," said the voice within.

I turned the handle. The door was locked. This horrified me. Doors in the country were not locked except in the most unorthodox circumstances. Inside doors were never locked. The handle of a large iron key I had never seen before protruded from the brass-rimmed keyhole. I turned it. I opened the door. I fell in love.

Seated with upright but graceful decorum on a low armless cedar chair was the most exquisite being I had, or have since, seen. It was a girl of my age. Her dress was of yellow velvet, the immediate yellow of a sunflower. Her long straight hair, in an era when all hair seemed clipped or cropped, curled or marcelled, was to me the miracle of the miracle. It fell like a shawl of light over her shoulders. It was the hair of Rapunzel, of all immolated princesses, of all the children lost in the snow or woods of ballads. Her hands and arms and face were whiteness without name. Above her head, on the barred skylight, lay fallen petals of almond blossom. How grey their white. On the girl's lap sat a large doll dressed as she was. It wore a necklace of white beads.

With dark eyes, behind the surface of which were extra shadows, she watched me watching her. She did not move. Then, at last, her lips moved.

   "I am Gretel", she said.

I told her again that I was Marcus.

   "I am Gretel. She is Gretel." She touched the doll's flaxen poll.

   "A good idea," I said. "And dressed like you! But she has beads." I remembered my manners. "I'm sorry you've been sick. How soon will you be better?"

She did not answer, but continued to look at me, as I did at her. My love could find no

words. Then inspiration came. I remembered that, among a handful of necklaces tossed to my sisters by mother, there was a white china one. "I have a present for you," I said. How else express love, at twelve? How else at ninety, or ever? "I'll get it. I'll be back." Although blinded, I was wide awake to the need for chicanery. I locked the door. If mother should escape Miss Stanway before I had decorated my idol with stolen gewgaws, the sin of disobedience would not be discovered. I ran to the front veranda. Mother was still enmeshed in Miss Stanway's tough net of scandal. I stole the white necklace. I returned to the last room.

Gretel and Gretel sat as when I had first seen them, beneath the skylight ruled across by bars, and littered with the petals of spring. I held up the necklace, and smiled and smiled like a dog.

And she smiled.

There are no words to describe how this addition of beauty to a beauty already overwhelming affected me.

Possible Sentences

Look through the key words and guess what the text is about:

Make pairs from these words.

Make up possible sentences with these words.

Now read the text. Which of the sentences are correct? Compare and correct the sentences.

(Text "Drowning in Money" www.onestop-english.com)

  It's All in the Title

   Look at the title of the text and guess what problems are raised in the text. Draw the front cover as you imagine it.

   Sample answers. The problem of whale hunting, the price of whale meat, environmental problems.

(Text" Savouring the Whale" www.onestop-english.com )

       Four comer tasks

       Фрагмент урока:

   Teacher: Now you'll have to make your first choice. There are plenty of important plants in the world, but we have only four in the four corners of our classroom. They are a pine tree, bamboo, a birch tree and an oak tree. Now, pick one of the corners according to the tree that you think is the most important.

   My favorite plant is a rose. I also think that it is important because it can raise your spirit, you can make tasty jam from it, it's a symbol of Britain and it is closely connected with its history. Now, prove your choice in the same manner.

   Sample answers. Pine tree. It can be used to build houses; it can help keep warm; we can make furniture from it.

   Bamboo. We can build houses from it; we can make ski sticks from it; we can eat bamboo shoots that come from it.

   Birch. It's a symbol of Russia; it can help keep you warm; we can make different things from it; we can get juice from it.

   Oak. We can make furniture from it; we can get nuts from it.

Teacher: All these plants are important. But today we'll read the text entitled "Bamboo".

(Text "Bamboo" www.onestopenglish.com )

        Anticipation the Answers

       Write "agree" or "disagree" for each statement.

        1) The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan is the longest bridge in the world.

        2)The "wobbly bridge" is in Paris.

        3)'Suspend' means to turn something upside down.

        4)The Romans used wood to make bridges.

        5)The three main types of bridges are the beam, the arch and the suspension bridge.

        6)'Resonance' means a sound in something caused by a similar sound from another object.

        7)'To burn your bridges' means to do something that makes it impossible to return to the previous situation.

         8)'It's all water under the bridge' means that something happened in the past and is now forgotten or no longer important.

           Be ready to prove your choice.

           Read the text, then compare your answers with the facts from the text.

(Text "Bridges" www.onestopenglish.com)

     Preview the Illustrations in the Text

Before reading the text, describe the picture.

   Sample answer. It is a shop. There, you car buy many different things, including vegetables, fruit and clothes. There was the burglar in the shop, and the salesman called the police; the police came and arrested the burglar.

   Do you have a better idea of what the text is about now?

   Sample answer. Yes — it's about a salesman and a burglar.

   Read the text to find out whether our guess was Correct or not.