Dual Skills Approaches to Reading Instruction: Reading-Writing Reading-Listening Reading Speaking

1. Dual Skills Approaches to Reading Instruction: Reading-Writing Reading-Listening Reading Speaking

2. Melvin R. Andrade, Ed.D. Sophia Junior College, Japan, and Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan E-mail: m-andrad@jrc.sophia.ac.jp A Working Paper Presented at the 20th World Congress on Reading, 26 July 2004, Shangri-la Hotel, Manila

3. Intended audience • Teachers of EFL/ESL reading skills at the intermediate level. Applicable to middle and high school, and college programs. • Curriculum planners of such reading programs.

4. Purpose • To present a model of how multiple skills can be integrated in the reading class • To review examples of how textbooks actually combine skills to teach reading

5. Contents Overview • Difference between a discrete EFL/ESL "reading class" and an EFL/ESL "integrated skills" class • How purpose, level, ability and other variables affect the amount of time devoted to reading, writing, speaking, and listening • Appropriateness of certain skill combinations: reading-writing vs. reading-listening vs. reading- speaking • Examples and analysis reading textbooks for non-native learners from the viewpoint combining skills

6. Background 1 • Classroom reading activities fall into two broad categories, an inputphase and an output phase, and these in turn can be further classified into socially interactive and independent activities: Learners listen to their teacher read a story aloud. They read silently. They respond to comprehension questions orally and in writing. They discuss what they read.

7. Background 2 • Although reading is by definition an encounter with written language, reading instruction necessarily involves multiple skills and modalities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). While numerous possibilities exist for combining the four basic language skills in a reading class, the focus always remains on developing independent readers who can get meaning from the printed page.

8. Pedagogical issues • The interdependence of skills in the reading class raises a number of questions, both practical and theoretical, of interest to classroom teachers and researchers. In reading classes where the goal is to develop skillful independent readers, some questions needing to be considered are the following:

9. １. What is the difference between an EFL/ESL “reading class”and an EFL/ESL "integrated skills" class?

10. 2. In a "reading class," how do purpose, level, ability and other variables affect the amount of time devoted to reading, writing, speaking, and listening?

11. 3. Are certain combinations of skills more appropriate than others: reading-writing vs. reading-listening vs. reading- speaking?

12. The present ongoing study considers these and other questions primarily within the context of second- and foreign-language reading classes at the intermediate level, although the findings to a large extent can apply to first-language classes as well.

13. Model Building To answer the questions above, a two-part model was constructed. The first part, Fig. 1, presents an analysis of course formats for teaching English skills (EFL/ESL). The second part, Fig. 2, presents an analysis of language input-output in dual-skill combination courses, which is the principal focus of this study.

14. All skills are taught in the same course: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Pronunciation, etc. Perhaps best for lower- and middle- ability learners, but also possible with upper-ability learners. Figure 1: Course Formats for Teaching EFL/ESL Skills 1-1 Integrated Skills Course

15. Each course emphasizes one skill area (although other skills are included to some extent): Pronunciation Listening Speaking Reading Writing Perhaps best for (1) middle- and higher-ability learners, and (2) English majors who need in-depth practice in all skills. Courses may include both intensive learning for mastery and extensive learning for fluency. Courses may be narrow (one topic area) or broad (covering many topics) in scope. Figure 1: Course Formats for Teaching EFL/ESL Skills 1-2 Discrete General Skills Courses

16. Each course emphasizes one particular skill in a skill area. Examples: Letter writing Reading newspapers Rapid Reading English for Travelers Vocabulary Development Perhaps best as elective courses for middle- and higher-ability learners, but can be taught at multiple levels. Figure 1: Course Formats for Teaching EFL/ESL Skills 1-3 Discrete Specific Skills Courses

17. Each course emphasizes two particular skills combined either as receptive-receptive, productive-productive, or receptive-productive depending on the purpose and level of the course: Listening & Speaking Listening & Reading Listening & Writing Reading & Speaking Reading & Writing Writing & Speaking Application . . . Figure 1: Course Formats for Teaching EFL/ESL Skills1-4 Two-Skill Courses

18. . . . These combinations may be most suitable for teaching certain specialized skills for middle- and upper-ability learners. Perhaps they are not suitable for lower-ability learners. Examples:Listening & Speaking → Conversational skillsListening & Reading → Drama, poetryListening & Writing → Note-taking for lecturesReading & Speaking → DebateReading & Writing → Research reports, lettersWriting & Speaking → Public speaking

19. A variant of the integrated skills course focusing on one subject area and normally taught entirely in English. The emphasis is on the use and learning of English rather than on mastery of the subject. Most suitable for middle and upper ability learners. Courses are counted as English courses (practical seminars) not subject matter courses (history, science, etc.) Figure 1: Course Formats for Teaching EFL/ESL Skills1-5 English Skills Through Content Learning

20. Figure 2. Analysis of Language Input-Output in Dual-skill Combination Courses Refer to handout (OHP).

21. Application of the Model Based on this model, the next phase of the study involves the content analysis of actual textbooks to answer the following four questions:

22. 1. What kinds of listening, writing, and speaking activities are included as part of the reading lesson? 2. Which of these supporting skills are emphasized, and how closely are they related to the text?

23. 3. What theoretical or pedagogical position do they reflect? 4. How do reading textbooks intended for an international audience differ from those intended for a specific linguistic-cultural group (in this case, Japanese learners of English)?

24. Materials • A variety of recent and legacy materials are being examined including reading textbooks for EFL/ESL learners in general (U.S. and international editions) and textbooks produced in Japan for Japanese learners. Integrated skills textbooks and content-based textbooks are also being included. A working list appears in the reference section.

25. Data analysis • The content analysis involves categorizing and tallying the different types of pre- and post-activities associated with each reading task in relation to the reading skills being focused on . . .

26. . . . The analysis distinguishes between task-type (e.g., multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank) and task purpose (e.g., identifying the main idea, drawing an inference) . . .

27. . . . In the case of integrated-skills textbooks, the entire flow of the lesson is examined. In addition to the analytical scheme proposed above, there are numerous taxonomies of reading tasks that this study draws on (e.g., Hadley, 2001, p. 206).

28. Partial Preliminary Results • Overall and not surprisingly, the range of tasks across textbook types is similar. The predominating tasks are multiple-choice questions, true-false questions, matching tasks, fill-in the blank, and open-ended questions. • There is great variation, however, among individual textbooks in the number and variety of activities.

29. Generally speaking, reading textbooks for Japanese learners tend to emphasize grammar and vocabulary practice, and focus on identifying main ideas and details. Further, the number of pre- and post-activities appears to be less than in readers for international learners .

30. In particular, pre-reading activities - to activate or build background knowledge, - to encourage predicting, or - to set a purpose for reading are frequently absent.

31. However, more recently published books for Japanese learners are showing both a greater number and more variety of activities.

32. In contrast to stand-alone reading textbooks, integrated-skills textbooks show considerable variation in the placement, length, and handling of their reading skills component. Some books place the passage at the beginning and others at the end, of the lesson, and the numberand variety of learning tasks vary widely.

33. The role of the passage in the lesson also shows variation; that is, whether it is used: 1. to introduce the lesson, 2. to consolidate the lesson, 3. to serve as amodel for grammar and vocabulary practice, 4. to serve as aprompt for speaking activities, or 5. to build upbackground knowledge for a listening activity.

34. Further results: (abbreviated)

35. References Available on the handout or by e-mail: m-andrad@jrc.sophia.ac.jp end