SOME STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING READING EFICCIENCY

Reading Theories
As guardian of phonics,Professor Chall was often viewed as a bottom-up theorist, that is, one who emphasized the ability to decode or put into sound what is seen in a text. Other bottom- up theorists included Gough (1972), LaBerge and Samuels (1974). The bottom-up model was firmly in place when I learned to read. Teachers emphasized decoding skills and spent almost no time helping emerging readers recognize what they, as readers, brought to the information on the page.

The top-down model of reading does just that, focusing on what the readers bring to the process (Goodman, 1967; Smith, 1971,1982). The readers sample the text for information and contrast it with their world knowledge, helping to make sense of what is written. The focus here is on the readers as they interact with the text. For those reading theorists who recognized the importance of both the text and the reader in the reading process, an amalgamation of the two emerged-the interactive approach. The interactive model (Rumelhart, 1977; Stanovich, 1980) stressed both what is on the written page and what a reader brings to it using both top-down and bottom-up skills.

Chall, who actually took a more interactive stance in the great debate, served on a blue ribbon panel that helped create Becoming a Nation of Readers in 1985. These reading theorists and practitioners described skilled reading as constructive-that is, the reader constructs meaning from and makes sense of the printed page. The panel also described skilled readers as fluent, strategic, and motivated. Moreover, they suggested that skilled readers practice, develop, and refine their reading over their lifetime.

More than a decade and a half later, these descriptors still illustrate the reading process for skilled readers. I'd like to apply these tenets to a reading lesson, and I have divided the lesson into before, during, and after reading.

Before Reading
Skilled reading is constructive
The notion of constructing knowledge refocuses the locus of control in the reading process on the reader. It is not enough for readers to decode the information from the text, but rather they must bring to mind their own world knowledge and worldview. It demands that the teachers activate their students' schema -- that is, help students recognize the knowledge that they already have about the topic of a text. This would be akin to the building of a foundation in the process of construction.

Activating knowledge about a topic is particularly important for second language readers whose world knowledge often far exceeds their linguistic skills. Teachers need to provide opportunities for all readers to think, write, or discuss what they know about the topic of the reading. In addition, teachers need to focus the students' attention on features of the text that can aid in building a scaffold for what they will read: titles, photographs or illus-trations, and if appropriate, the actual structure of the text. (For example, a newspaper is structured a certain way that facilitates skimming, scanning, and locating specific information; a textbook uses chapter titles and subheads to organize topics and concepts.)

Skilled readers are strategic
Teachers can help students recognize the great variation inherent in the reading process and to understand that we do not read each piece of writing in the same way. For example, quite different skills are needed to locate and read the list of show times for a new film in the newspaper than to read a journal article on cell properties. Teachers can serve as guides to the variety of skills and processes used in reading. They can pose questions to help students reflect on their reading processes: Why are we reading this particular text? What information do we need to glean from it? How closely do we need to read? It is important to help ESOL readers, who may not have even basic literacy in their first language, to understand differences among texts and to vary the reading skills they use.

Skilled readers are motivated
This descriptor focuses the teacher of reading on the selection of material. Obviously, selecting relevant and interesting material for readers is key to their engagement in the process. But teachers can improve student motivation by creating classroom opportunities for sustained silent reading (SSR). In-class SSR, widely used in public schools, can also be part of an adult reading program. This type of reading had been shown to be effective for ESOL readers (Pingreen and Krashen, 1993; Mason and Krashen, 1997).

Class time during which students are allowed to choose their own reading material should beonsistently scheduled. Over time, teachers can create a class library with popular material. Double copies would be helpful so that students with similar interests can discuss the same book or article. The class library can be filled with newspapers and magazines as well as novels and adult literature.

Top of Page

During Reading
Skilled readers are fluent
Fluency in reading is a balance between the skillful decoding and ongoing comprehension. This fluency assumes that the decoding of most words the reader encounters is automatic. Readers have only a limited amount of cognitive energy to use during the process. If they spend most of their time on decoding, then they have no energy left for connecting the ideas of the text to make meaning. Therefore, being fluent demands that readers have internalized decoding and can focus conscious energy on comprehension. Decoding can be particularly problematic for second language learners because they often have a very limited oral based lexicon.

A number of exercises can help readers improve their automatic processing skills. These include identification exercises, matching words, identifying parts of words, and flash cards for sight words. (Editor's note: See Lee Haller's article for examples of reading exercises.)

Making It Concrete: Using Post-its
To improve top-down skills, ESOL teacher Judy Powers has her students use post-it notes to mark a text as they are reading. The notations on the post-its include: asking a question, answering a question, creating a mental picture, expressing opinion, connecting to life, and connections to reading. These "notes" could include key information, a new vocabulary item, interersting descriptions, or whatever focus seems appropriate. Although students read on their own, they review their reading process by using post-its, also making their reading a more active process.

I remember once helping a student who was studying a chapter in an introductory text for a college course. I asked him how he learned the materials. He responded that he read the chapter through. I asked what he did next, and he responded that he read the chapter a second time. I then asked if he took notes and he said no. I suggested that he examine the headings throughout the chapter and notice the differences in font size and shape. I then explained that these headings could serve as a guide for his notetaking. He looked at me in amazement and said, "What a good idea!"

This type of direct explanation of what you, yourself, do as a proficient reader is often very helpful for your students: using graphic cues, note-taking, rereading, and summarizing paragraphs or sections. Having students read the summary at the end of a textbook chapter first, for example, provides a good overview. It can help create a schema for students as they approach the beginning of the chapter.

Think Aloud Protocol
Modeling your own reading process might also serve your students. You could choose a text that the whole class might be reading and go through a public think-aloud. In other words, tell the students what you are thinking as you read a text for the first time. I would suggest that you practice on a text to prepare yourself. However, as you share your own process with the students, you should use an unfamiliar text to make the task more authentic.

After Reading
The typical postreading exercise tends to focus on comprehension exercises. I would suggest that rather than short answer or multiple choice exercises, readers might be asked to think about a visual representation of the text: a folded paper with pros and cons; a Venn diagram with traits and similarities; a web map with several different ideas connected by arrows.

Bloom's Taxonomy
Post reading activities and questions should also take into account the six-level hierarchy of skills that Bloom suggests in his taxonomy. The first level is knowledge, which includes recall or recognition of information. The next level, commonly used in post-reading tasks, is comprehension, where the reader might explain, describe, or rephrase a text. The next four levels focus on the following:

■application, where the reader applies the information learned in the text;
■analysis, where the reader would make inferences or derive generalizations;
■synthesis, where the reader combines several ideas; and
■evaluation, where the reader judges the value or importance of a text.

PRACTICE DAILY AT HOME
Reading well is a skill and, like any skill, it wanes and flourishes, depending upon how actively you practice it. Increasing your eye span, and thereby your absorption rate, will improve your comprehension and make the act more meaningful and enjoyable.
Practice daily: 15 to 30 minutes of reading a day, with understanding, at your best speed, will strengthen your capacity and rate. Average speeds: The average person will read easy to light material at 250-300 words per minute (wpm); will read medium to difficult material at 200-250 wpm; and will read difficult material at 100-150 wpm.
Finding your reading speed: Take an average page of material, count the number of words in a line, multiply them by the number of lines on the page (omitting headings), and you have the number of words on the page. With a watch that has a sweep second hand, find the number of minutes and seconds it takes you to read the entire page with understanding. Divide your time into the number of words, and you'll have your rate of speed; e.g. if you read 440 words in one minute and 45 seconds (150 seconds), you read four words a second, or 240 words per minute.

Question yourself on the material and review it. If you are missing important details, then you are probably going too fast. Don't get discouraged. Keep at it.
Read three or four articles a day for a few weeks. Use the same length and kind of material, pushing yourself, but checking constantly for comprehension. Note your speed so you can check your progress. The Exponent is good for this purpose.
Read more difficult materials in vocabulary, style and content. Follow the same procedure as above. You'll find your reading ability greatly improved through this process in 6- 8 weeks. Reach the 300 words per minute level on easy material, and you'll be reading as well as the average reader. Continue reading at least a
half an hour a day. You'll find your proficiency and enjoyment increasing and you'll be maintaining a skill that will continue to bring you a lifetime of satisfaction.

INFORMATION FOUND ON:
www.cla.purdue.edu/asc/documents/suggestions_for_i_re.pdf

SOME STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING READING EFICCIENCY

Top-Down & Bottom-Up

Exercise To Improve Reading Efficciency

COHESIÓN Y COHERENCIA

Suggestions For Improving Reading Efficiency