[etni] Re: Reading for Punishment
- From: michele ben <benfam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: golomb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,ETNI Discussion List <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 07:16:00 +0200
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Hi List,
golomb wrote:
> Forced reading is not pleasurable. What has happened is that many students
> have come up with very creative ways of cheating on book tasks and have
> become masters in deception.
> I sincerely believe in encouraging reading, but first the students must be
> readers in their native tongue.
> I have overcome some of the problems by letting my students choose any level
> they feel comfortable with. I would rather they read honestly at a low level
> than cheat at a high level.
> Nina
I agree. But, on the other hand, kids today don't read at any level in any
language. Therefore, I think it is extremely important to have the kids read
books in English - and some
class time should be spent reading. The article by Krashen that was linked to
the ETNI and one the first rticle in the ETAI Forum magazine clearly show that
reading is essential for
true language acquisition. My Hebrew and English (native) are almost equal in
level, even though I almost never read for pleasure in Hebrew. But that's
because I read very quickly in
English and at a regular pace in Hebrew. However, our kids need to be able to
read in English to function in life. Even the weak ones who need to be able to
read basic instructions or
signs just to go abroad or buy a product from abroad. I have had many pupils
say that they don't enjoy reading but they are happy they were made to read in
English because in the end
they enjoyed the books. I have one pupil in the 8th grade who likes a genre -
fantsy science fiction - that doesn't really exsit in Hebrew and he reads in
English. The funny thing is
that his active language is not that great and he tends to misunderstand words
but whatever he understands from the books and context he seems to enjoy so why
not? And the weak ones are
really pround of themselves after they finish a book in English, even if it is
just a 9 page adapted reader with two sentences on a page. Reading is not
punishment. It is a present
that we should make every effort to convince our pupils to accept.
Michele
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