Preliminary Assumptions

Reading is one of the four language skills taught in language learning. they can be put together according to input-output:

• Input: it can be considered as a silent learning. it includes reading and listening.
• Output: in terms of production those are speaking and writing.

Reading reinforces the other skills, though it cannot substitute them: it isn't really enough to ask the students to read a short text or a passage from a book. We can help the students develop the other skills by asking them questions such as: Did you like i? how do you feel about the end? or by asking them to put an end to the story (if left unended).

it is really important to choose appropiate texts,  from the point of view of the content as well as the difficulty, the level of our students and the length.

Once we have choosen the text we have to work with it.

In order to show you how to do it, I have taken the following case study from Michelle Maxon's "teaching English as a foreign Language":

✓ Class Profile: 10 adult Italian students in Italy. 90-minute evening class.

✓ Level: Intermediate.

✓ Materials: TV schedule for one evening in English. Extra board pens.

✓ Problems: Pronunciation errors (pronouncing each letter). Drilling needed as students are daunted by the idea of reading long texts in English; focus on scanning.

✓ Lesson aims: To practise scanning in a reading text; to revise and increase vocabulary connected with TV programmes.

The sections of the lesson proceed as follows:

1. Warm-up (6 minutes):

Show pictures of characters from famous TV shows, made in English-speaking countries, shown round the world (The Simpsons, Friends, and so on). When students recognise one or two, divide the class into teams and hold a quiz to find out how many characters they can identify.

Pre-reading task (15 minutes):

Ask each student to find ten words associated with TV shows from their notes or general knowledge and then ask them to write the vocabulary on the board, trying not to duplicate any of the words.

Have extra board markers ready for this.

Have the whole class examine the board and identify any words they’re unfamiliar with. As the words came from the students themselves, if any problems arise they can ask each other for explanations.

Get suggestions from the class on how to organise the words into categories. Make sure that the students are able to pronounce the words by drilling them thoroughly. You can also indicate which part of speech (noun, verb, preposition and so on) each word is.

Add any necessary words that haven’t come up but that you want to pre-teach.

Figure 10-1 shows one category on the board.

TV Vocabulary

TV People

actor/ækt

cast/ka:st/, (collective noun for actors) ‘a star-studded cast of actors’

contestant/k n

tries to win

a show where other people are guests. ‘Jonathan Ross is the host of the chat

show and his guest is Clint Eastwood’.

host/h st/(male) (n+v), hostess/h 'stes/(female) (n) a person who presents

'test nt/(n), a person who takes part in a quiz/game show and presenter/pr and he is good at explaining the election’

‘zent /(n), ‘John smith is the presenter of that political programme

When the students have built up the vocabulary and copied it into their notebooks, give each one a copy of the TV schedule.

3. Skim (8 minutes):

Ask the students to look at the text quickly on their own and answer three questions. Make sure that the students are aware of the time limit though (2 minutes perhaps), so they don’t get sidetracked.

• How many TV channels are there?

• Does each channel broadcast 24 hours a day? If not, when are they off air?

• Does each channel broadcast the news? How often? Put the students in pairs to compare their answers and then have a

short feedback session with the class.

4. Scan (30 minutes):

Now have the class to look at the text in more detail.

Have them find programmes that match the interests and routines of particular classmates: ‘Is there any football on TV after 9 p.m. for Giovanna?’ This is a nice way to personalise the activity and it also encourages the class to make up their own questions.

If the students attach no comment to a particular programme, small groups can discuss what kind of show it may be, based on the title and time of broadcast: ‘Property ladder is on once a week at 7 p.m. and lasts for 50 minutes. The name of the presenter is Sarah Beeny. What kind of programme do you think it is? Why?’

Other scan questions you can use may be:

• When can I watch a modern film that’s suitable for children?

• Which channel is best for music lovers?

• Are the soap operas shown at the same? Which ones do you think are the most popular? Explain.

• Name someone who is:

A chat show host

A newsreader

A cartoon character

ATV chef

Comparing answers in pairs or small groups is useful for students.

Have a class feedback session afterwards to check the answers and correct any vocabulary and grammar errors you’ve noted.

5. Follow-up (15 minutes):

Some of the programmes on the TV schedule are also shown in Italy. Have a class discussion on how culture affects the way programmes are made and presented in Italy.

Ask whether there should be more or fewer foreign programmes on local television. Have students form two lines, each person facing a partner. The purpose is to role-play one side of an argument. So, in this case the students in line A argue the case for more foreign TV shows, and the students in line B argue for fewer.

After two or three minutes the students in line B can all move along to form new partnerships in the line. Then they can argue again with new points to consider.

6. Homework (5 minutes):

Students can write an essay in four paragraphs on the same argument. Show students how to organise the text – introduction, the argument for more foreign shows, the argument for fewer and a conclusion.

7. Cooler (6 minutes more or less):

Have the students play hangman using the names of international celebrities. Make sure that they pronounce all the letters correctly or they lose points.