Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing Using a framework based on principles of teaching and learning, this guide for teachers and teacher trainees provides a wealth of suggestions for help- ing learners at all levels of proficiency develop their reading and writing skills and fluency. By following these suggestions, which are organized around four strands—meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development—teachers will be able to design and present a balanced program for their students. Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing, and its companion text, Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking, are similar in format and the kinds of topics covered, but do not need to be used together. Drawing on research and theory in applied linguistics, their focus is strongly hands-on, featuring • easily applied principles, • a large number of useful teaching techniques, and • guidelines for testing and monitoring. All Certificate, Diploma, Masters and Doctoral courses for teachers of English as a second or foreign language include a teaching methods com- ponent. The texts are designed for and have been field tested in such programs. I. S. P. Nation is Professor of Applied Linguistics in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series Eli Hinkel, Series Editor Nation • Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing Nation/Newton • Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking Kachru/Smith • Cultures, Contexts, and World Englishes McKay/Bokhosrt-Heng • International English in its Sociolinguistic Contexts: Towards a Socially Sensitive EIL Pedagogy Christison/Murray, Eds • Leadership in English Language Education: Theoretical Foundations and Practical Skills for Changing Times McCafferty/Stam, Eds • Gesture: Second Language Acquisition and Classroom Research Liu • Idioms: Description, Comprehension, Acquisition, and Pedagogy Chapelle/Enright/Jamison, Eds • Building a Validity Argument for the Text of English as a Foreign Language Kondo-Brown/Brown, Eds • Teaching Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Heritage Students: Curriculum Needs, Materials, and Assessments Youmans • Chicano-Anglo Conversations: Truth, Honesty, and Politeness Birch • English L2 Reading: Getting to the Bottom, Second Edition Luk/Lin • Classroom Interactions as Cross-cultural Encounters: Native Speakers in EFL Lessons Levy/Stockwell • CALL Dimensions: Issues and Options in Computer Assisted Language Learning Nero, Ed. • Dialects, Englishes, Creoles, and Education Basturkmen • Ideas and Options in English for Specific Purposes Kumaravadivelu • Understanding Language Teaching: From Method to Postmethod McKay • Researching Second Language Classrooms Egbert/Petrie, Eds • CALL Research Perspectives Canagarajah, Ed. • Reclaiming the Local in Language Policy and Practice Adamson • Language Minority Students in American Schools: An Education in English Fotos/Browne, Eds • New Perspectives on CALL for Second Language Classrooms Hinkel • Teaching Academic ESL Writing: Practical Techniques in Vocabulary and Grammar Hinkel/Fotos, Eds • New Perspectives on Grammar Teaching in Second Language Classrooms Hinkel • Second Language Writers’ Text: Linguistic and Rhetorical Features Visit www.routledgeeducation.com for additional information on titles in the ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing I. S. P. Nation First published 2009 by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2009 Routledge, Taylor & Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nation, I. S. P. Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing / I. S. P. Nation. p. cm.—(ESL & applied linguistics professional series) Includes bibliographical references. 1. English language—Study and teaching—Foreign speakers. 2. English language—Rhetoric— Study and teaching. 3. English teachers—Training of. I. Title. PE1128.A2N345 2008 428.2′4—dc22 2008011762 ISBN10: 0–415–98967–1 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–98968–X (pbk) ISBN10: 0–203–89164–3 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–98967–1 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–98968–8 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–89164–3 (ebk) “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. ISBN 0-203-89164-3 Master e-book ISBN Contents Preface ix 1 Learning to Read in Another Language 1 Learning to Read in the First Language 2 Learning to Read in Another Language 5 Principles for Teaching Reading 6 2 Learning to Recognise and Spell Words 9 Prerequisites for Formal Reading Instruction 9 Phonics and the Alphabetic Principle 13 The Role of Phonics in a Reading Programme 14 Spelling: Productive Phonics 15 Learning to Spell 18 Spelling and Meaning-focused Input 18 Spelling and Meaning-focused Output 18 Spelling and Language-focused Learning 19 Designing a Focused Spelling Programme 22 3 Intensive Reading 25 Focuses in Intensive Reading 27 Features of a Good Intensive Reading Exercise 28 Are Comprehension Questions Good Reading Exercises? 29 Comprehension of the Text 32 The Focus of Comprehension Questions 34 Standardised Reading Procedures 37 Vocabulary 37 Grammar Features in the Text 40 v Cohesive Devices 44 Genre Features 47 Handling the Exercises 48 The Role of Teaching Exercises 48 4 Extensive Reading 49 Understand the Goals and Limitations of Extensive Reading 50 Find Your Learners’ Present Vocabulary Level 51 Provide Plenty of Interesting and Appropriate Reading Texts 52 Set, Encourage and Monitor Large Quantities of Extensive Reading 53 Support and Supplement Extensive Reading with Language-focused Learning and Fluency Development 54 Help Learners Move Systematically Through the Graded Reader Levels 55 Simplified and Unsimplified Texts 57 Other Ways of Supporting Extensive Reading 58 The Extensive Reading Programme 60 5 Reading Faster 61 The Nature and Limits of Reading Speed 62 The Nature of Fluency Development 64 The Nature of Fluency Development Activities 65 Increasing Oral Reading Speed 66 Increasing Careful Silent Reading Speed 68 Increasing Silent Expeditious Reading Speed 70 Frequently Asked Questions About Reading Speed 71 6 Assessing Reading 75 Motivating 75 Measuring Achievement 77 Diagnosing Problems 79 Measuring Reading Proficiency 83 Issues in Making and Using Reading Comprehension Tests 91 7 Helping Learners Write 93 Principles for Teaching Writing 93 Designing Tasks 95 Experience Tasks 96 Bringing Tasks Within the Learners’ Experience 96 Making Sure Learners have the Experience to do a Task 97 Shared Tasks 98 Guided Tasks 100 Independent Tasks 109 Using the Four Kinds of Tasks 110 vi • Contents 8 The Writing Process 113 The Parts of a Writing Programme 113 Meaning-focused Writing 113 The Parts of the Writing Process 114 Considering the Goals of the Writer and Model of the Reader 115 Gathering Ideas 117 Organising Ideas 119 Ideas to Text 119 Reviewing 119 Editing 120 Diagnosing Control of the Parts of the Writing Process 123 Diagnosing from the Written Product 123 9 Topic Types 127 The Topic Type Hypothesis 127 Topic Types and Writing 130 Topic Types and Reading 131 Limitations of the Topic Type Approach 134 10 Responding to Written Work 137 Motivating 137 Improving the Quality of Writing 138 Measuring Proficiency in Writing 146 Conclusion 149 Appendix 1 Spelling and Pronunciation—Points of Correspondence 151 Appendix 2 A List of Conjunction Relationships 161 References 163 Index 169 Contents • vii Preface This book (and its companion book Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking) is intended for teachers of English as a second or foreign lan- guage. It can be used both for experienced teachers and for teachers in training. In its earlier forms this book has been used on graduate diploma and Masters level courses, and with teachers in training. The book has two major features. First, it has a strong practical emphasis—around one hundred teaching techniques are described in the book. Second, it tries to provide a balanced programme for developing the skills of reading and writing. It does this by using a framework called the four strands. These are called strands because they run through the whole course. They are the strands of meaning-focused input, meaning- focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development. In a well-balanced language programme covering the four skills of listen- ing, speaking, reading, and writing, each of the four strands should have roughly equal amounts of time. The organisation of the book largely reflects these four strands. I have attempted to write the book using clear and simple language. Wherever possible, technical terms have been avoided. However, in a few cases, with terms such as phonics, topic type, and extensive reading, technical terms have been used and explained in the text. This book thus does not require any previous knowledge of second language acquisition theory or language teaching methodology. Chapter 1 compares first and second language reading. The first six chapters look at reading, and the last four at writing. Chapters 2 and 3 focus on beginning reading. Special attention is given to phonics and there ix is a very useful related appendix of spelling–sound correspondences. Chapters 4 and 5 look at extensive reading and fluency. Chapter 6 looks at assessing reading, paying particular attention to the reasons for testing. Chapter 7 presents a range of ways for supporting writing and Chapter 8 examines the writing process. Chapter 9 has relevance for both reading and writing. It looks at topic types which describe the kinds of information contained in different kinds of texts. Chapter 10 examines a range of ways that can be used to respond to written work. As a result of working through this book, teachers should be able to design a well-balanced reading and writing course which provides a good range of opportunities for learning. The teacher’s most important job is to plan so that the learners are learning useful things, so that the best condi- tions for learning occur, and so that they are getting a balance of learning opportunities. This book should help teachers do this. Wherever possible, the ideas in this book are research based. This is reflected in the principles which are described at the end of Chapter 1 and which are referred to throughout the book. The idea which lies behind these principles is that it is not a wise idea to follow closely a particular method of language teaching, such as communicative language teaching or the direct method. It is much more sensible to draw, where possible, on research-based principles which can be adapted or discarded as new research evidence becomes available. There are many people who should be thanked for their help in the production of this book. Eli Hinkel gave me a great deal of very suppor- tive encouragement to get me to offer the book for publication. Mary Hillemeier and Naomi Silverman of Taylor & Francis were similarly enthusiastic and took away a lot of the burden of publication. The reviewers of the book before it was published provided many helpful and frank comments which led me to see the book through others’ eyes. I am very grateful for this. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my own teachers, H.V. George and Helen Barnard, who were also my mentors and colleagues. They were both great teachers and wonderful people, and their legacy is reflected in the very large number of grateful students who remember and apply their teaching. Both this book and its companion volume, Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking, were largely written and used in teacher training courses before they were offered for publication. There was thus a lot of input from the teachers who were studying on these courses. I would feel that the book’s purpose has been achieved if, as a result of reading it, teachers learn some new techniques and activities, under- stand why these activities are used, and see how they fit into the larger programme. x • Preface Teaching English and training teachers of English are challenging but very rewarding professions. I have been involved in them for a very long time and they have given me a great deal of enjoyment. I hope that this enjoyment is apparent in the book and that it will help readers gain similar enjoyment. Preface • xi CHAPTER 1 Learning to Read in Another Language In the companion volume to this one, Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking (Nation and Newton, 2009), the four strands of a language course are described. The basic idea behind the four strands is that, in a well- balanced language course, equal time is given to each of the four strands of meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learn- ing, and fluency development. Meaning-focused input involves getting input through listening and reading where the learners’ focus is on understanding the message and where only a small proportion of language features are outside the learners’ present level of proficiency. In a reading and writing programme, extensive reading is likely to be the major source of meaning-focused input. Meaning-focused output involves the learners producing language through speaking and writing where the learners’ focus is on others under- standing the message. Meaning-focused output occurs when learners write essays and assignments, when they write letters, when they write a diary, when they send email and text messages to each other, and when they write about their experience. Language-focused learning involves deliberate attention to language features both in the context of meaning-focused input and meaning- focused output, and in decontextualised learning and teaching. In the reading and writing programme, language-focused learning occurs in intensive reading, when learners consult dictionaries in reading and writ- ing, when they get language-focused feedback on their writing, when they deliberately learn new vocabulary for receptive or productive use, 1 when they practise spelling, when they concentrate on learning to write or form written letters of the alphabet, and when they study grammar and discourse features. There are lots of ways of making language-focused learning a part of the course, but a teacher needs to be careful that this does not take up more than 25 percent of the total course time. Fluency development is often neglected in courses, partly because teachers and learners feel that they should always be learning something new. Fluency development involves making the best use of what is already known. The best-known kind of fluency development is speed reading where learners focus on increasing their reading speed while still maintain- ing good comprehension. For speed reading courses to work well with learners of English as a second or foreign language, the reading material needs to be well within the learners’ level of proficiency. There should be little or no unknown vocabulary or grammatical features in the speed reading texts. Writing fluency also needs to get attention in a well-balanced course, especially where learners need to sit a written test as part of academic study and where they have to write under time pressure. These four strands of meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development need to take up roughly equal time in a language course. As we shall see, there are many ways of getting this balance, and the way this is done depends on local conditions, teacher preferences, the way the classes are divided up and scheduled, and timetabling constraints. What is important is that over a period of time probably no greater than a month or two, there is a roughly equal amount of time given to each of these four strands, and that the necessary conditions exist for the strands to occur. In this book, this idea of the four strands will be applied to goals as diverse as learning to spell, learning to write, and becoming fluent in reading. The first six chapters of this book focus largely on reading, and the next four on writing, although links will be made between these skills and also with the skills of listening and speaking. This is a lot to cover in such a small number of chapters, so this book should be seen as a practical over- view of what can be done in the reading and writing programme. There are long traditions of research into reading and writing and this research is drawn on particularly to justify certain teaching and learning procedures. Let us now look at a beginner learning to read. Learning to Read in the First Language People learn to read their first language in a wide variety of circumstances. The following description is of a fortunate child in a fortunate country where reading is well prepared for and well taught. An excellent account of 2 • Learning to Read in Another Language