Reading and the Teaching of L2 Reading

✍ Scribed by David E. Eskey

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 73 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1056-7941
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1949-3533.2002.tb00060.x

✦ Synopsis

The procedure is quite simple. First, you arrange the items in separate piles. Of course, one pile may be sufficient, depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run, this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first, the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but, then, one never can tell. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually, they will be used once more, and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life. (p. 400) When told that the subject is washing clothes, however, readers can apply that knowledge to a second reading of W hat is reading? How do you teach someone to do it, especially in a second or foreign language? These are very large questions that, of course, cannot be addressed in much detail in a single article. However, as the Chinese say, the longest journey begins with one step, and I hope that this brief overview of these issues will help current and prospective ESL reading teachers take a new or first step in the right direction.