Techniques the Teacher Uses for Teaching Speaking

There are two forms of speaking: monologue and dialogue. Since each form has its peculiarities we should speak of teaching monologue and teaching dialogue separately.

In teaching monologue we can easily distinguish three stages according to the levels which constitute the abil­ity to speak: (1) the statement level; (2) the utterance level; (3) the discourse level.

1. No speech is possible until pupils learn how to make up sentences in the foreign language and how to make state­ments. To develop pupils' skills in making statements the following procedure may be suggested:

Pupils are given sentence patterns to assimilate in connec­tion with situations.

The sentence pattern is filled with different words. Thus pupils can express various thoughts. For example:

Ican see a....

Pupil: I can see a blackboard.

Teacher (pointing to the boy): He likes to play hockey.

Pupil: I don't like to play hockey.

When pupils are able to make statements in the foreign language within grammar and vocabulary they have assimi­lated their speech may be more complicated. They should learn to combine statements of various sentence patterns in a logical sequence.

2. Pupils are taught how to use different sentence patterns in an utterance about an object, a subject offered. First they are to follow a model, then they do it without any help.

T e а с h e r: Say a few words about it. (He points to an object.)

Pupil: This is a pencil. The pencil is green. It is on the table. I like the pencil.

Or Teacher points to a boy.

Pupil: This is a boy. His name is Sasha. He lives in Gagarin Street.

Get information and sum up what you have learnt from your classmates.

Teacher: She cut her finger.

Pupil: Who cut her finger?

Class: Ann.

—When did she cut it?

—Yesterday.

—What did she cut it with?

—With a knife.

—Why did she cut her finger?

—Because the knife was sharp.

Pupil: Yesterday Ann cut her finger. She cut it with a knife. The knife was sharp.

This exercise is useful both for developing dialogic and monologic speech.

Therefore the pupil's utterance involves 2—4 sentences which logically follow one another. At this stage pupils learn to express their thoughts, their attitude to what they say using various sentence patterns. Thus they learn how to put several sentences together in one utterance about a subject, an object, etc.

3. After pupils have learned how to say a few sentence-in connection with a situation they are prepared for speaking at discourse level. Free speech is possible provided pupil-have acquired habits and skills in making statements and in combining them in a logical sequence. At this level pupil< are asked to speak on a picture, a set of pictures, a film-strip, a film, comment on a text they have read or heard, make up a story of their own; of course, this being done within the language material (grammar and vocabulary) pupils have assimilated. To help pupils to speak the teacher supplies them with "what to speak about". The devices used for the purpose are: visual aids which can stimulate the pupil's speaking through visual perception of the subject to be spoken about, including a text read; audio aids which can stimulate the pupil's speaking through auditory perception of a stimulus; audio-visual aids when pupils can see and hear what to speak about.

The three stages in developing pupils' speaking should take place throughout the whole course of instruction, i.e., in junior, intermediate, and senior forms. The amount of exer­cises at each level, however, must be different. In junior forms statement level is of greater importance as a teaching point.

Rule for the teacher: In teaching monologue instruct pupils how to make statements first, then how to combine various sentences in one utterance and, finally, how to speak on a suggested topic.

We have already spoken about the linguistic characteris­tics of dialogue. Some more should be said about its structure.

A dialogue consists of a series of lead-response units. The significant feature of a lead-response unit is that the response part ma)', and usually does, serve in its own turn as a fresh inducement leading to further verbal exchanges,

i. е., lead -------- response -------- inducement ------ response.

A response unit is a unit of speech between two pauses. It may consist of more than one sentence. But the most characteris­tic feature of a dialogue is that the lead-response units are closely connected and dependent on each other. The lead is relatively free, while the response depends on the first and does not exist without it.

—Where is the book?

—There, on the shelf.

In teaching dialogue we should use pattern dialogues as they involve all features which characterize this form of speaking.

There are three stages in learning a dialogue: (I) receptive; (2) reproductive; (3) constructive (creative).

1.Pupils "receive" the dialogue by ear first. They listen to the dialogue recorded or reproduced by the teacher. The teacher helps pupils in comprehension of the dialogue using a picture or pictures to illustrate its contents. They listen to the dialogue a second lime and then read it silently for better understanding, paying attention to the intonation. They may listen to the dialogue and read it again, if necessary-.

2.Pupils enact the pattern dialogue. We may distinguish -three kinds of reproduction:

Immediate. Pupils reproduce the dialogue in imitation of the speaker or the teacher while listening to it or just after they have heard it. The teacher checks the pupils' pronuncia­tion, and intonation in particular. The pupils are asked to learn the dialogue by heart for homework.

Delayed. After pupils have learned the dialogue at home, they enact the pattern dialogue in persons. Before calling on pupils it is recommended that they should listen to the pattern dialogue recorded again to remind them of how it "sounds".

Modified. Pupils enact the dialogue with some modifi­cations in its contents. They change some elements in it. The more elements (main words and phrases) they change in the pattern the better they assimilate the structure of the dialogue:

—Will you help me. sonny?

—What shall 1 do,.Mother?

—Will you bring me a pail of water?

—Certainly 1 will.

The use of pictures may be helpful. Besides pupils use their own experience while selecting the words for substitu­tions.

The work should not be done mechanically. Pupils should speak on the situation. As a result of this work pupils master the structure of the pattern dialogue (not only the contents), so they can use it as a model for making up dialogues of their own, that is why pattern dialogues should be carefully selected, The first two stages aim at storing up patterns in pupils' memory (or expressing themselves in different situations. of course within the topics and linguistic material the sylla­bus sets for each form.

3. Pupils make up dialogues of their own. They are given a picture or a verbal situation to talk about. This is possible provided pupils have a stock of patterns, a certain number of phrases for starting a conversation, joining in, etc. They should use those lead-response units they have learned in connection with the situation suggested for a conversation. At the third stage the choice of stimuli is of great impor­tance, as very often pupils cannot think what to say, though they know how to say this or that. Therefore audio-visual aids should be extensively utilized.

Rule for the teacher: In teaching dialogue use pattern dialogues; make sure that your pupils go through the three stages from receptive through reproductive to crea­tive, supply them with the subject to talk about.

In teaching speaking the problem is what form of speech to begin with, and what should be the relationship between monologue and dialogue. This problem may be solved in dif­ferent ways. Some methodologists give preference to dialogic speech in teaching beginners, and they suggest that pupils learn first how to ask and answer questions which is mostly characteristic of a dialogue, and how to make up a short dialogue following a model. Others prefer monologic speech as a starting point. Pupils are taught how to make statements, how to combine several sentences into one utterance in connec­tion with an object or a situation offered.

These approaches to the problem are reflected in school textbooks now in use. A. D. Starkov and R. R. Dixon in their text­books prefer to begin with dialogic speech. They start by teach­ing pupils how to ask various types of questions. For example: The book is on the desk. The book isn't under the desk. Is the book on the desk? Yes, it is. (No, it isn't.) Is the book or the desk or under it? It's on the desk. Where's the book? It's on the desk. (Fifth Form English. Teacher's Book.)

I see a pen.

I see a desk.

Pete sees a desk and a pen.

As to the relationship between monologue and dialogue, it should vary from stage to stage in teaching speaking in schools. In the junior stage (5—6 forms) dialogic speech, the one which allows the teacher to introduce new material and consolidate it in conversation, must prevail. In the interme­diate stage (7—8 forms) dialogue and monologue must be on an equal footing.

In the senior stage (9—10 forms) monologic speech must prevail since pupils either take part in discussion and. there­fore, express their thoughts in connection with a problem or retell a text read or heard. To sum it up both forms of speech (monologue and dialogue) should be developed side by side with preference for the one which is more important for pupils' progress in learning a foreign language at a certain stage.

PREPARED AND UNPREPARED SPEECH

Pupils' speech in both forms may be of two kinds: pre­pared and unprepared, it is considered prepared when the pupil has been given time enough to think over its content and form. He can speak on the subject following the plan made either independently at home or in class under the teacher's super­vision. His speech will be more or less correct and sufficiently fluent since plenty of preliminary exercises had been done before.

In schools, however, pupils often have to speak on a topic when they are not yet prepared for it. As a result only bright pupils can cope with the task. In such a case the teacher trying to find a way out gives his pupils a text which covers the topic. Pupils learn and recite it in class. They reproduce the text either in the very form it was given or slightly transform it. Reciting, though useful and necessary in language learn­ing, has but little to do with speech since speaking is a crea­tive activity and is closely connected with thinking, while reciting has to do only with memory. Of course pupils should memorize words, word combinations, phrases, sentence pat­terns, and texts to "accumulate" the material and still it is only a prerequisite. The main objective of the learner is to be able to use the linguistic material to express his thoughts This is ensured by the pupil's ability to arrange and rearrange in his own way the material stored up in his memory. Conse­quently, while assigning homework it is necessary to distin­guish between reciting and speaking so that the pupil should know what he is expected to do while preparing for the les­son — to reproduce the text or to compile a text of his own. His answer should be evaluated differently depending on the task set. If the pupil is to recite a text, the teacher evaluates the quality of reproduction, i. е., exactness, intonation and fluency. If the pupil is to speak on a subject, the teacher evaluates not only the correctness of his speech but his skills in arranging and rearranging the material learnt, i. е., his ability to make various transformations within the material he uses while speaking. The teacher should encourage each pupil to speak on the subject in his own way and thus devel­op pupils' initiative and thinking.

The pupil's speech is considered unprepared when, without any previous preparation, he can do the following:

— Speak on a subject suggested by the teacher. For exam-
le, winter holidays are over and pupils come back to school.
they are invited to tell the teacher and the class how each

of them spent his holidays. Pupils in turn tell the class where they were, what they did, whether they had a good time, and so on.

—Speak on the text read. For example, pupils have read two or three chapters of "William". The teacher asks a pupil to give its short summary or to tell the class the contents of the chapters as if the other pupils have not read them.

—Speak on the text heard. For example, pupils listened to the text "Great Britain" (there is a map of Great Britain on the wall). The teacher asks them (in turn) to come up to the map and speak on Great Britain. While speaking pupils can use the information they have just received or appeal to their knowledge about the country.

Discuss a problem or problems touched upon in the text read or heard. For example, pupils read about education in Great Britain. After the teacher makes sure that his pupils understand the text and have a certain idea of the system of education in Great Britain, he arranges a discussion on the problem. He asks his pupils to compare the system of education in Great Britain and in our country. The teacher stimu­lates pupils' speech either by questions or through wrong statements.

—Have an interview with "a foreigner". For example, pupils are studying the topic "London". The teacher may arrange an interview. One of the pupils is "a Londoner". The classmates ask him various questions and express their opinions on the subjects under discussion.

—Help a "foreigner", for example, to find the way to the main street or square of the town; or instruct him as to the places of interest in the town. This may be done directly or with the help of "an interpreter".

There are, of course, other techniques for stimulating pupils' unprepared speech. The teacher chooses the tech­niques most suitable for his pupils since he knows their apti­tudes, their progress in the language, the time he has at his disposal for developing speaking skills, the concrete mate­rial at which pupils are working.

In conclusion it should be said that prepared and unpre­pared speech must be developed simultaneously from the very beginning. The relationship between prepared and unpre­pared speech should vary depending on the stage of learning the language. In the junior stage prepared speech takes the lead, while in the senior stage unprepared speech should prevail.

 

EVALUATING PUPILS' SPEECH HABITS

Pupils' speech habits may be evaluated in two ways:

(1)constantly, during every lesson when pupils perform various exercises in hearing and speaking and the teacher has an opportunity to watch every youngster working (in a group of 20 pupils the teacher can pay attention to everyone);

(2)regularly, after finishing a lesson (a unit of the textbook), a topic studied. The teacher may conduct a quiz. He may ask pupils to retell the text heard, to speak on a picture, to talk on a situation, in other words, to perform all oral activities possible in this particular form, with this group of pupils, within the language material and the topic covered.

The former may or may not result in assigning pupils marks for their speech activities. The latter results in eva­luating speech activities of those pupils who are called on to speak.

 

MISTAKFS AND HOW TO CORRECT THEM

It is natural while learning a foreign language that pupils make mistakes. They make mistakes in auding when they misunderstand something in a text. They make mistakes in speaking when pupils mispronounce a word, violate the order of words in a sentence, misuse a preposition, an article, use wrong intonation, etc. The teacher's main aim is to prevent pupils' errors. There is a good rule: "Correct mis­takes before they occur." In other words, careful teaching re­sults in correct English, i. е., pupils make very few mis­takes. However, they make them, and the problem is how to correct pupils' errors.

If a pupil misunderstands something when auding the teacher should do his best to ensure comprehension. He sug­gests that the pupil should either listen to the sentence again; if he does not understand it properly the teacher or the classmates help him to paraphrase the sentence or trans­late it, or see it written. The latter often helps if pupils do not get used to hearing, if they are eye-learners. As far as speaking is concerned it is the teacher who corrects pu­pils' mistakes. It is a bad habit of some teachers to ask pu­pils to notice mistakes when their classmate is called in front of the class to speak.

This is due to the following reasons. Firstly, pupils' atten­tion is drawn, not to what the classmate says, but to horn he says it, i. е.. not to the content, but to the form. If we admit that the form may not always be correct, then why should we concentrate pupils' attention on the form? Moreover, when pupils' attention is centered on errors, they often do not grasp what the classmate says, and that is why they cannot ask questions or continue the story he has told them.

Secondly, the pupil who speaks thinks more about how to say something instead of what to say. No speaking is possible when the speaker has to concentrate on the form. He makes more errors under this condition. More than that, he often refuses to speak when he sees the classmates raise their hands after he has uttered his first sentence. This does not encourage the learner to speak.

Accordingly when a pupil is called to the front of the class to speak, the class is invited to follow what he says so that they may be able to ask questions or to go on with the story when he slops.

There is a great variety of techniques at the teacher's disposal. He selects the one that is most suitable for the occasion.

1. If a pupil makes a mistake in something which is fa­miliar to him, it is preferable to correct it at once. But in order not to confuse the pupil and stop his narration the teacher helps the child with (he correct version.

Pupil: My mother get up at 7 o'clock.

Teacher: I see, your mother gets up earlier than you.

Pupil: Yes, my mother gets up at 7.

2. If a pupil makes a mistake in something which he has not learned yet the teacher corrects his mistakes after he has finished speaking.

Pupil: She first visited us in 1960. She is a good friend of ours since.

The teacher gives the correct sentence: She has been a good friend of ours since.

If many pupils make the same mistakes, for instance, in prepositions (go in instead of go lo), articles (the Moscow instead of Moscow, or Volga instead of the Volga), in tense forms (the Present Continuous instead of the Present Indefinite) the teacher makes note of them and gets the pupils to perform drill exercises after answering questions.

The teacher should not emphasize incorrect forms in any way or they will be memorized along with the correct ones. for instance: Books is. Do you say "books is"? You shouldn't say "books is". What should you say? (books are)

 

Recommended Literature:

Программы средней школы. Иностранные языки (Устная Речь).

Хэгболдт П. Изучение иностранных языков. М.«1963, с. 91, 109-115.

Общая методика обучения иностранным языкам в средней школе. Под ред. А. А. Миролюбова, И. В. Рахманова,.М.,1967, гл. III.

Уайзер Г. М, Климентенко А. Д. Развитие устной речи на англий­ском языке. М., „Просвещение", 1972.

 

Questions for Discussion:

1.Not all oral exercises mean speaking. Comment upon this state­ment.

2.Compare different approaches lo teaching speaking and deter­mine which is mast justifiable.

3.What are the reasons for pupils' poor comprehension of the target language when spoken?

4.Why is it so difficult to teach speaking in artificial conditions?

5.What can be done to overcome the obstacles and despite them to succeed in teaching oral language?

Activities:

1.Suggest a situation suitable аor a dialogue with appropriate lead-response units.

2.Choose subjects (or objects) for pupils to speak about.

3.Analyse one of the lessons in a standard textbook and show how the teacher may develop pupils' speaking abilities in dialogue and mono­logue.

4.Chose a text for teaching auding. Give a detailed description of pupils' proposed activity and techniques for checking comprehension.

 

Chapter IX Teaching Reading

READING AS AN AIM AND A MEANS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Reading is one of the main skills that a pupil must acquire in the process of mastering a foreign language in school. The syllabus for foreign languages lists reading as one of the lead­ing language activities to be developed. It runs: "To read, without a dictionary, texts containing familiar grammar ma­terial and no more than 4—6 unfamiliar words per 100 words of the text the meaning of which, as a rule, should be clear from the context or familiar word-building elements (in the eight-year school). Pupils are to read, with the help of a dictionary, easy texts containing familiar grammar material and 6—8 unfamiliar words per 100 words of the text (in the ten-year school)." Therefore reading is one of the practical aims of teaching a foreign language in schools.

Reading is of great educational importance, as reading is a means of communication, people get information they need from books, journals, magazines, newspapers, etc. Through reading in a foreign language the pupil enriches his knowledge of the world around him. He gets acquainted with the coun­tries where the target language is spoken.

Reading develops pupils' intelligence. It helps to devel­op their memory, will, imagination. Pupils become accus­tomed to working with books, which, in its turn facilitates unaided practice in further reading. The content of texts, their ideological and political spirit influence pupils. We must develop in Soviet pupils such qualities as honesty, devotion to and love for our people and the working people of other countries, the texts our pupils are lo read must meet these requirements. Reading ability is, therefore, not only of great practical, but educational, and social impor­tance, too.

Reading is not only an aim in itself, it is also a means of learning a foreign language. When reading a text the pupil reviews sounds and letters, vocabulary and gram­mar, memorizes the spelling of words, the meaning of words and word combinations, he also reviews grammar and, in this way, he perfects his command of the target language. The more the pupil reads, the better his reten­tion of the linguistic material is. If the teacher instructs his pupils in good reading and they can read with sufficient fluency and complete comprehension he helps them to ac­quire speaking and writing skills as well. Reading is, there­fore, both an end to be attained and a means to achieve that end.

THE CONTENT OF TEACHING READING

Reading is a complex process of language activity. As it is closely connected with the comprehension of what is read, reading is a complicated intellectual work. It requires the ability on the part of the reader to carry out a number of mental operations: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduc­tion, comparison.

Reading as a process is connected with the work of vis­ual, kinesthetic, aural analyzers, and thinking. The vis­ual analyzer is at work when the reader sees a text. While seeing the text he "sounds" it silently, therefore the kines­thetic analyzer is involved. When lie sounds the text he hears what he pronounces in his inner speech so it shows that the aural analyzer is not passive, it also works and, finally. due to the work of all the analyzers the reader can under­stand thoughts. In learning to read one of the aims is to minimize the activities of kinesthetic and aural analyzers so that the reader can associate what he sees with the thought expressed in reading material, since inner speech hin­ders the process of reading making it very slow. Thus the speed of reading depends on the reader's ability to establish a direct connection between what he sees and what it means. To make this easier to understand it may be represented as follows: visual --- thoughts analyzer, kinesthetic --- aural analyzer.

There are two ways of reading: aloud or orally, and si­lently. People usually start learning to read orally. In teach­ing a foreign language in school both ways should be developed. Pupils assimilate the graphic system of the target language as a means which is used for conveying informa­tion in print. They develop this skill through oral reading and silent reading.

When one says that one can read, it means that one can focus one's attention on the meaning and not on the form: the pupil treats the text as a familiar form of discourse and not as a task of deciphering. "The aim of the teacher is to get his pupils as quickly as possible over the period in which each printed symbol is looked at for its shape, and to arrive at the stage when the pupil looks at words and phrases, for their meaning, almost without noticing the shapes of the separate letters."' A good reader does not look at letters, nor even at words, one by one, however quickly; he takes in the meaning of two, three, or four words at a time, in a single moment. The eyes of a very good reader move quickly, taking long "jumps" and making very short "halts". We can call this ideal reading "reading per se". Reading per se is the end to be attained. It is possible provided:

(1)the reader can associate the graphic system of the language with the phonic system of that language;

(2)the reader can find the logical subject and the logi­cal predicate of the sentences:

The man there is my neighbour. There were many people in the hall. It was difficult for me to come in time.

(3) the reader can get information from the text (as a whole).
These are the three constituent parts of reading as a pro­cess.

1.As a means of teaching reading a system of exercises is widely used in school, which includes: graphemic-phonemic exercises which help pupils to assimilate graphemic-phonemic correspondence in the Eng­lish language;

2. structural-information exercises which help pupils to carry out lexical and grammar analysis to find the logical subject and predicate in the sentences following the struc­tural signals;

3. semantic-communicative exercises which help pupils to get information from the text. The actions which pupils perform while doing these exer­cises constitute the content of teaching and learning reading in a foreign language

The logical subject — логический субъект, то. о чем идет речь, о чем говорится в высказывании; the logical predicate — логический предикат, или смысловое сказуемое, то новое, о чем говорится в выска­зывании, что передает смысловую информацию.

SOME DIFFICULTIES PUPILS HAVE IN LEARNING TO READ IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Reading in the English language is one of the most dif­ficult things because there are 26 letters and 146 graphemes which represent 46 phonemes. Indeed the English alpha­bet presents many difficulties to Russian-speaking pupils because the Russian alphabet differs greatly from that of the English language. A comparison of the two languages shows that of the 26 pairs of printed letters (52 — it we consider capital and small letters as different symbols) only 4 are more or less similar to those of the Russian al­phabet, both in print and in meaning. These are К, к, М, T. 31 letters are completely new to pupils. These are b, D, d. F, f, G, g, h, L, 1, I, i, J, j, N, n, Q, q, R, r, S, s, t, U, u, V. v, W, w, Z, z. The letters А, а, В, С, е, Е, е, Н, О, о, P, p, Y, y, X, x occur in both languages, but they are read differently. They are, therefore, the most difficult letters for the pupil to retain. Obviously in teaching a pupil to read English Words, much more attention should be given to those letters which occur in both languages but symbolize entirely different sounds. For example, H, p... (Pupils often read How as [nau]. Therefore, in presenting a new letter to pupils the teacher should stress its peculiarity not only from the standpoint of the English language (what sound or sounds it symbolizes) but from the point of view of the Russian language as well,

It is not sufficient to know English letters. It is neces­sary that pupils should know graphemes, how this or that vowel, vowel combination, consonant, or consonant combi­nation is read in different positions in the words {window, down).

The teacher cannot teach pupils all the existing rules and exceptions for reading English words. Nor is it necessary to do so. When learning English pupils are expected to assim­ilate the following rules of reading: how to read stressed vowels in open and closed syllables and before r, how to read ay, oo, ou, ow, the consonants c, s, k, g; ch, sh, th, ng, ck and tion, ssion, ous. The rules are not numerous, but they are important to the development of reading.

Pupils should learn the reading of some monosyllabic words which are homophones. For example: son — sun; tail —tale; loo —two; write - right; eye—I, etc.

At the very beginning, the pupil is compelled to look at each printed letter separately in order to be sure of its shape. He often sees words and not sense units. For instance, he reads: The book is on the desk and not (The book is) {on the desk).

The most difficult thing in learning to read is to get in­formation from a sentence or a paragraph on the basis of the knowledge of structural signals and not only the meaning of words. Pupils often ignore grammar and try to understand what they read relying on their knowledge of autonomous words. And, of course, they often fail, e. g., the sentence He was asked to help the old woman is understood as Он по­просил помочь старушке, in which the word he becomes the subject and is not the object of the action. Pupils some­times find it difficult to pick out topical sentences in the text which express the main ideas.

To make the process of reading easier new words, phrases and sentence patterns should be learnt orally before pu­pils are asked to read them. So when pupils start reading they know how to pronounce the words, the phrases, and the sentences, and are familiar with their meaning.

Consequently, in order to find the most effective ways of teaching the teacher should know the difficulties pupils may have.

HOW TO TEACH READING

The teacher can use the whole system of exercises for developing pupils' ability to read which may be done in two forms — loud and silent.

Reading aloud. In teaching reading aloud the following methods are observed: the phonic, the word, and the sentence methods. When the phonic method is used, the child learns the sounds and associates them with graphic symbols —letters. In the w о г d m e t h о d a complete word is first presented to the child. When several words have been learnt they are used in simple sentences. (This method is used in the Fifth Form English by Л. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon and in teaching English as a mother tongue in England.) The sentence method deals with the sentences as units of approach in teaching reading. The teacher can develop pupils' abil­ity to read sentences with correct intonation. Later the sentence is split up into words. (This method is utilized in the Fifth Form Englislh by S. K. Folomkina, E. I. Kaar.) The combination of the three methods can ensure good reading.

Pupils are taught to associate the graphic symbols of words with their meaning already learned orally. All the analyzers are at work: visual, auditory, kinesthetic. The leading role belongs to the visual analyzer. It is necessary that the graphic symbols (images) of words should be fixed in the pupils' memory. In teaching English in schools, how­ever, little attention is given to this. Pupils are taught how "to sound" words rather than how "to read" them. They often repeat words, combination of words without looking at what they read. They look at the teacher. The teacher does not realize how much he hinders the formation of graph­ic images (symbols) in the pupils' memory by teaching to read in this way.

Reading in chorus, reading in groups in imitation of the teacher which is practised in schools forms rather ki­nesthetic images than graphic ones. The result is that pu­pils can sound the text but they cannot read. The teacher should observe the rule "Never read words, phrases, sentences by yourself. Give your pupils a chance to read them." For instance, in presenting the words and among them those which are read according to the rule the teacher should make his pupils read these words first. This rule is often violated in school. It is the teacher who first reads a word, a column of words, a sentence, a text and pupils just repeat after the teacher.

Teaching begins with presenting a letter to pupils, or a combination of letters, a word as a grapheme. The use of flash cards and the blackboard is indispensable.

Flash cards when the teacher uses them allow him:

(a)to present a new letter (letters);

to make pupils compose a word (several flash cards are distributed among the pupils, for example, p, я, e; they compose pen):

(c)to check pupils' knowledge of letters or graphemes;

(d)to make pupils recollect the words beginning with the letter shown (p — pen, pencil, pupil, etc.);

(e)to make pupils show the letter (letters) which stand for the sound [oul, la:, lei], etc.

When teaching reading the teacher needs a set of flash cards at hand. If the teacher uses the blackboard instead he can write printed letters on it and pupils can recollect
the words they have learnt orally which have this or that letter, compose a word

The same devices are applied for teaching pupils to read words, the task being different, however:

(a)pupils choose words which are not read according to the rule, for example: lake, plane, have, Mike, give, nine;

(b)pupils are invited to read the words which they usu­ally misread:

yet _ let cold — could

form — from called — cold

come — some wood — would

does — goes walк — work

(c) pupils are invited to look at the words and name the
letter (letters) which makes the words different:

though — thought since — science

through — though with — which

hear — near content — context

hear — hare country — county

(d)pupils in turn read a column of words following the key word (see: A. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon, Fifth Form Eng­lish, Pupil's Book);

(e)pupils are invited to pick out the words with the graph­emes oo, ow, ea, th,...

In teaching to read transcription is also utilized. It helps the reader to read a word in the cases where the same grapheme stands for different sounds: build, suit, or words which are not read according to the rule: aunt, colonel.

In modern textbooks for the 5th form transcription is not used. It is given in the textbooks for the 6th and the 7th forms. Beginning with the 6th and the 7th forms pupils learn the phonic symbols so that they are able to read The teacher determines what texts (or paragraphs) and exercises pupils are to read aloud. unfamiliar words which they look up in the word-list or a dic­tionary.

All the exercises mentioned above are designed lo de­velop pupils' ability to associate the graphic symbols with the phonic ones.

The structural-information exercises are done both in reading aloud and in silent reading. Pupils are taught how to read sentences, paragraphs, texts correctly. Special atten­tion is given to intonation since it is of great importance to the actual division of sentences, to stressing the logical pred­icate in them. (Marking the text occasionally may be helpful.

At an early stage of teaching reading the teacher should read a sentence or a passage to the class himself. When he is sure the pupils understand the passage, he can set individ­uals and the class to repeat the sentences after him, reading again himself if the pupils' reading is poor. The pupils look into the textbook. In symbols it can be expressed like this: T — Class — T — P, — T — P. — T — P„ — T — Сlass (T — teacher; Сlass -— class; P — pupil).

This kind of elementary reading practice should be car­ried on for a limited number of lessons only. When a class has advanced far enough to be ready for more independent reading, reading in chorus might be decreased, but not elim­inated: T —Class —P, P; P„.

When the pupils have learned to associate written sym­bols with the sounds they stand for they should read a sen­tence or a passage by themselves. In this way they get a chance to make use of their knowledge of the rules of reading. It gives the teacher an opportunity to see whether each of his pupils can read. Symbolically it looks like this: P1P3P,, T (S) С (S — speaker, if a tape recorder is used).

Reading aloud as a method of teaching and learning the language should take place in all the forms. This is done with the aim of improving pupils' reading skills.

In reading aloud, therefore, the teacher uses:

(a)diagnostic reading (pupils read and he can see their weak points in reading);

(b)instructive reading (pupils follow the pattern read by the teacher or the speaker);

(c)control reading or test reading (pupils read the text trying to keep as close to the pattern as possible).

 

 

MISTAKES AND HOW TO CORRECT THEM

In teaching pupils to read the teacher must do his best to prevent mistakes. We may, however, be certain that in spite of much work done by the teacher, pupils will make mistakes in reading. The question is who corrects their mis­takes, how they should be corrected, when they must be corrected.

Our opinion is that the pupil who has made a mistake must try to correct it himself. If he cannot do it, his class­mates correct his mistake. If they cannot do so the teacher corrects the mistake. The following techniques may be sug­gested:

1.The teacher writes a word (e. g., black) on the black­board. He underlines ck in it and asks the pupil to say what sound these two letters convey. If the pupil cannot answer the question, the teacher asks some of his classmates. They help the pupil to correct his mistake and he reads the word.

2.One of the pupils asks: What is the English for „чер­ный". If the pupil repeats the mistake, the "corrector" pro­nounces the word properly and explains the rule the pupil has forgotten. The pupil now reads the word correctly.

3.The teacher or one of the pupils says: Find the word „черный" and read it. The pupil finds the word and reads it either without any mistake if his first mistake was due to his carelessness, or he repeats the mistake. The teacher then tells him to recollect the rule and read the word correctly.

4.The teacher corrects the mistake himself. The pupil reads the word correctly. The teacher asks the pupil to explain to the class how to read ck.

5.The teacher tells the pupil to write the word black and underline ck. Then he says how the word is read.

There are some other ways of correcting pupils' mis­takes. The teacher should use them reasonably and choose the one most suitable for the case.

Another question arises: whether we should correct a mis­take in the process of reading a passage or after finishing it. Both ways are possible. The mistake should be corrected at once while the pupil reads the text if he has made it in a word which will occur two or more times in the text. If the word does not appear again, it is better to let the pupil read the paragraph to the end. Then the mistake is corrected.

A teacher should always be on the alert for the pupils' mistakes, follow their reading and mark their mistakes in pencil.

Silent reading. In learning to read pupils widen their eyespan. They can see more than a word, a phrase, a sen­tence. The eye can move faster than the reader is able to pronounce what he sees. Thus reading aloud becomes an obstacle for perception. It hinders the pupil's comprehension of the text. It is necessary that the pupil should read silently. Special exercises may be suggested to develop pupils' skills in silent reading. For instance, "Look and say, read and look up." (M. West) To perform this type of exercises pupils should read a sentence silently, grasp it, and reproduce it without looking into the text. At first they perform such exercises slowly. Gradually the teacher limits the time for the pupils' doing the exercises. It makes them read (aster and faster. All this lead to widening their eyespan.

Teaching silent reading is closely connected with two problems:

(1)instructing pupils in finding in sentences what is new in the information following some structural signals, the latter is possible provided pupils have a certain knowledge of grammar and vocabulary and they can perform lexical and grammar analysis;

(2)developing pupils' ability in guessing.

Pupils should be taught how to find the logical predicate in a sentence. The teacher may ask his pupils to read a text silently and find the words conveying the new information in the text according to their position. There are some sig­nals which may be helpful in this respect. These are — the Passive Voice (The doctor was sent for); the indefinite article (A man came up to me); the construction "It is /was /was not difficult for him to finish his work in time), etc. Grammar and lexical analyses help pupils to assimilate structural words, to determine the meaning of a word proceeding from its position in the sentence, to find the meanings of unfa­miliar words, and those which seem to be familiar but do not correspond to the structure of the sentence (e. g., / saw him book a ticket). Pupils' poor comprehension often results from their poor knowledge of grammar (syntax in particular). The teacher should instruct pupils how to work with a diction­ary and a reference book so that they can overcome some difficulties independently. Although in school the teacher often applies grammar and lexical analyses, however, he often does it not with the aim of the "actual division" or.parsing of the sentence and belter comprehension of the sen­tence or of the text, but with the aim of checking or revision of his pupils' knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. This does not mean that the teacher should avoid grammar and vocabulary analyses for revision. However, much more attention should be given to leaching pupils how to carry out the actual division of sentences to get information from the text. Here are a few examples of structural-information exercises:

— Read the following sentences and guess the meaning of the words you don't know.

— Read the sentence An idea struck me and explain the use of the indefinite article.

—Find the logical predicates in the sentences with the words alone, even, so.

—Read the text. Stress the words conveying new in­formation in each sentence.

E. g., I have a bag. The bag is black. It is a new bag. I like my new bag.

—These sentences are too complicated. Break them into shorter sentences.

—Find the sentence which summarizes the paragraph.

—By what words is the reader carried from sentence to sentence in this paragraph?

—What is the significance of the tense difference?

—What is the effect of the series of repetitions in the paragraph?

To read a text the pupil must possess the ability to grasp the contents of the text. The pupil is to be taught to compare, to contrast, to guess, and to foresee events.

One of the most frequently used methods by which chil­dren attack new words is through the use of picture clues.

The use of context clues is another word-getting technique. The pupil discovers what a new word is when that particular word is needed to complete the meaning of the sentence.

In teaching pupils to read much attention should be given to the development of their ability to guess. One of the best ways to develop this skill is to give the pupil the text for acquaintance either during the lesson or as his homework. He can read it again and again. "Before questions" may be helpful. They direct the pupil's thought when he reads the text. If the work is done during the lesson, the teacher can direct his pupils in guessing new words.

The teacher instructs pupils how to get information from the text. Semantic-communicative exercises are recommended. They are all connected with silent reading. These may be:

—Read and say why Jack does not take the apple (5th form textbook).

—Read. Find answers to the following questions (6th form textbook).

—Read the text. Find the words which describe the room.

—Read the text. Say what made the Prime Minister leave the country (Newspaper).

—There are two causes of the strike. Find them in the text (Newspaper).

—There are three main features of the substance men­tioned in the text below. Find them (Popular Science).

—The author describes his hero with great sympathy. Find in what words he expresses his attitude (Fiction).

—Read the text and prove that... is a kind woman.

—Read the text and find arguments to prove that...

The three types of exercises are distributed differently depending on the stage of teaching. In the 5—6th forms graphemic-phonemic and structural-information exercises should prevail. In the 7—10th forms structural-information and semantic-communicative must be mostly used; the latter should prevail.

Pupils perform graphemic-phonemic exercises reading them aloud. The teacher uses individual, group, and full class reading. He checks the pupil's reading by making him read aloud.

Pupils perform structural-information exercises by read­ing them aloud and silently. The teacher uses individual, group, and full class reading when pupils read sentences, paragraphs of the text aloud, and when the aim is to teach pupils correct intonation in connection with the actual di­vision of sentences. He checks the pupil's reading asking him to read aloud.

The teacher uses mass reading when pupils read sentences, paragraphs of the test silently, the objective may be dif­ferent: either to widen their eyespan or to find new information. The teacher checks the pupil's silent reading by asking him to reproduce a sentence or a paragraph; through partial reading of a sentence or a clause: through the pupil's interpreting the text; by utilizing true-and-false statements, questions and answers, and, finally, translation.

Pupils perform semantic-communicative exercises reading the text silently. If the work is done during the lesson the teacher uses mass reading. He checks his pupils' compre­hension by asking the pupils individually. The techniques the teacher uses to check pupils' ability to get information from the text may be different. The choice depends on the stage of teaching; on the material used; on pupils' progress.

In the junior stage the following techniques may be sug­gested:

—Read and draw.

—Here are the questions. Find the answers in the text. (Before-questions are given.)

—Find the following sentences in the text. (The teacher gives Russian equivalents.)

—Correct the following statements which are not true to fact.

—Translate the sentences (the paragraph) beginning with the words (The teacher reads the words.)

—Recite the text.

—Read the sentences you find most important in the text.

Some of the assignments may be done in writing. In the intermediate and senior stages the following tech­niques may be recommended.

—Answer the questions. (All types of questions may be used. However, why-questions are desirable.)

—Tell your classmates what (who, when, where, why)...

—Read the words (the sentence or the paragraph) to prove or to illustrate what you say.

—Find the words (sentences) from which you have got some new information for yourself.

—Read the paragraph (paragraphs) you like best, and say why you like it.

—Translate the paragraph when (where, why, etc.)...

—Translate the text. (This may be done both orally and in written form.)

—Write a short annotation of the text. (This may be done either in English or in Russian.)

The choice depends on the material used. If the text is easy, i. е., if it does not contain unfamiliar words and grammar ileitis (as is the case in the junior form) the teacher uses those techniques which are connected with speaking, with the active use of vocabulary and sentence patterns. Similar techniques may be used in intermediate and senior stages if the text is not difficult for the class. The teacher asks his pupils a few questions to test their understanding. The interrogation should be carried out brisk­ly. The teacher passes from pupil to pupil without wail­ing if a particular pupil has not got his answer ready. For the most profitable results of this work speed is essential. It ensures that all get a chance to answer. With books open one of the pupils asks a question or a number of questions and another answers. The teacher asks the pupils to retell the text. One pupil begins retelling the text, another con­tinues. Each pupil says a few sentences. The teacher asks the first group of pupils to be ready to say everything they know-about X, the second group — everything they know about J, the third group — about Y, and so on. The teacher arranges a discussion on the text read by pupils in class or at home.

The work must be carried out in a way which will be of interest to pupils and develop not only their reading ability but their aural comprehension and speaking abilities as well.

If the text is difficult, i. е., if it contains unfamiliar words and grammar items, and pupils must consult a diction­ary or a reference book to understand it the techniques the teacher uses should be different, as the pupils read Hip text not only to get information but to improve their knowl­edge of the language and intensive work is needed on their part. The intensive work may be connected with:

(a)lexical work which help's pupils to deepen and enrich their vocabulary knowledge;

(b)grammar work which helps pupils to review and systematize their grammar knowledge and enrich it through grammar analysis;

(e) stylistic work which helps pupils to become acquaint­ed with stylistic use of words and grammar forms (inver­sion, tense-usage, etc.);

(d) content analysis which helps pupils to learn new con­cepts quite strange to Russian-speaking pupils. For instance, the Houses of Parliament, public schools, etc.

The exercises are mostly connected with recognition on the part of the learners, namely, find... and read; find... and analyse...; find... and translate: read those sentences which you think contain the main information; answer the questions, etc. The choice also depends on pupils' progress. If pupils are orally skilful, the techniques the teacher uses are to be those connected with conversation. If pupils are poor in speaking the techniques the teacher uses should be those of recognition, translation, retelling in the mother - tongue, etc.

Unfortunately, some teachers have a tendency to test instead of teach during classroom work and they often con-tine themselves to reading and translating the text. This is a bad practice. Pupils are tested and not taught. Moreover, the procedure becomes monotonous, and the work is inef­fective. A pupil who has been called on to read and received a mark will not usually listen to his classmates.

The methods and techniques suggested above will help the teacher to teach pupils reading as the syllabus requires.

Recommended Literature:

Программы начальной и средней школы. Иностранные языки (Чтение).

Хэгболдг П. Изучение иностранных языков. М., 1963. с. 92—109.

Уэст М. Обучение английскому языку в трудных условиях. М., 1966. с. 30-40.

Кузьченко О. Д., Ротова Г. В. Учебное чтение, его содержание и формы. — „Иностранные языки в школе", 1970, № 5.

Общая методика обучения иностранным языкам в средней школе. Под ред. А. А. Миролюбива. И. В. Рахманова. М., 1967, гл. IV.

Вайсбурд М. Л. Синтетическое чтение на английском языке в V— VIII классах средней школы. М., 1969.

 

 

Questions for Discussion:

2.1. Compare different standpoints on various approaches to reading. Which approach do you find justifiable"' Give several arguments to confirm your statement The only way to teach reading is by making the pupil himself read and not by his listening to and repeating someone else's reading. Discuss the problem in order to define the sequence in which reading should be taught.

3.Why must the text be considered a whole unit and should no; be taken in pieces when silent reading is being taught?

4.The ratio between silent reading and reading aloud should vary in favour of silent reading from form to form. How should this be re­flected on working with the text in class? Confirm your statement will: some examples.

5.Reading as a form of language activity should teach the pupil to overcome difficulties by applying to the dictionary, handbook, gram­mar book, etc., during solitary work. Why is it so important, beginning at the intermediate stage, to teach pupils to use the dictionary and other reference books?

6.The texts pupils read are different by nature. How does this in­fluence the techniques used while working at a text?

Activities:

1.Prepare a set of flash cards for teaching oral reading of the words you choose. Use a standard textbook.

2.Analyse one of the lessons in Pupil's Book and Teacher's Book and show how reading is taught.

3.Choose a text from a standard textbook and prepare some assignments developing silent reading.

4.Name a text for intensive work which will require the use of the dictionary and describe the procedure of working with the text.

 

 

Chapter X Translation

Before considering the role and the place of translation in foreign language teaching it is necessary to state what is meant by "translation". By translation we mean the trans­mission of a thought expressed in one language by means of another language. In this way translation ensures compre­hension between peoples speaking different languages. In order to transmit a thought from one language into another, one must understand this thought in the language from which one is to translate it and find equivalents to express it in the other language. Therefore translation is a complicated process; it requires the ability to think in both languages.