[etni] Fw: re: extensive reading
- From: "Ask Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 06:36:52 +0200
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Patricia Reifen" <patriciareifen@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ask@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2003 11:06 PM
Subject: RE: [etni] Fw: extensive reading
Dear Etniers,
I have tried not to become involved with the discussion on extensive reading
since I am under the impression that whatever others say, each teacher will
work according to his/her own theories because that is what s/he is
comfortable with. This refers especially to those who have been in the
system for many years.
However, Andrew wrote a comment that says it all:
"As regards extensive reading, my understanding was that the aim of the
programme was to enhance our students’ appreciation of literature and
encourage them to enjoy reading. Unfortunately, it is often perceived as a
means to an end – the book report. How can anyone enjoy reading when they
know that as soon as they finish the last page, there is a task looming just
around the corner? And it doesn’t matter how varied/ interesting/
stimulating the choice of tasks may be…"
And this comment of course, is the essence of the whole discussion.
Everyone - students and teachers - hate book reports. My students hate
doing them and I hate marking them.
My solution is therefore, to have a one page, often multiple choice,
questionaire book report.
HOWEVER, my belief is that the most imortant part of the extensive
reading program is the discussion I have with a class BEFORE asking them to
bring in the book of their choice. (I teach high school) I tell them that
we all know that a teacher has no way of checking if a book has been read or
not and that we all know how to watch a movie, read the back of the cover
etc. This of course, brings nods of heads and general agreement. Every
kid in his/her time has copied someone else's book report or watched a movie
instead. The point is to convince the students that reading will improve
their English without their even realizing it. "Trust me on this one kids!"
How to do this? Easy - chose a book you are going to ENJOY reading -
for girls probably a love story and for boys the X Files or such like.
Remember Krashen's theory of reading? That's what I believe in.
Personally, I hate the stage books since all the magic has been taken out of
them (ask the kids which kinds of words create the magic). I recommend
"Sweet Valley High", Beverly Hills, best sellers and even comics. Any
trashy books with lots of conversation are the best kind to look for. I
believe that good literature should be read in one's mother tongue (how else
can we enjoy the story) until we have reached such a level in a second
language.
Furthermore, don't touch books in English that were written more than
thirty years ago - the language is just too different. One book I do talk
about is 'Catcher in the Rye' (they study it in literature). I tell them
that I had to read it secretly because it was banned when I was at school
and that the dirty language and slang does not translate well into Hebrew.
Then of course, many of them WANT to read it in English. I tell them to
skip over the words they don't understand. No one rushes to look up a
word s/he doesn't know unless he really feels s/he wants to. How many of
us looked up words while reading Charles Dickens or other greats of
literature! We need to create book lovers - in any language. And to do
that we need to create a love of reading. And to do that we must first
begin with trash, which is easy to read - lots of conversation and hardly
any adjectives and adverbs (Goodness - just like the stage books!). If
you want them to enjoy literature in English - read to them. I promise you
they will listen if you read theatrically.
I have done this for several years now and it does work. Students who
didn't believe found themselves not being able to put down a book in
English. I tell them to put the book by their bed, read a page every night
before sleeping (in order not to lose the thread of the story) and to bring
the books to school once a week when we have a reading session. It's
not the book report that makes them want to read but the belief of the
teacher and the belief in themselves that they can actually do it.
Now I'm done,
Patricia
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