What Are the Knowledge and Skills Required in the Reading Process - Essay Example

? Reading Process Reading Process What are the knowledge and skills required in the reading process? Reading and writing are not natural practices in the society but they are acquired as one grows. Discovery of writing led to the need to read. This has posed a serious challenge to many people irrespective of the level of their ability to understand and reason. In order to read effectively, there are various skills and knowledge that every reader need to have. The reader should be able to turn a written code into a speech that brings a certain meaning (Wolf, Bowers & Biddle, 2000). This involves three phase process which consists of translating writings into a sound and then into a meaning. The silent symbols acquired through vision need to be transformed correctly to their expected meaning (Wolf, Bowers & Biddle, 2000). This is the first skill that a reader should possess. In order to read appropriately, the reader should be able to translate the symbols into words very fast because reading is handled by short memory in the brain (Diane, 1997). This makes the reader make a phrase. A group of meaningful phrases make sentences which forms an idea. Cognitive limitations cause difficulty in reading as readers translate sight to words much slowly which may make it difficult to produce the desired meaning (Diane, 1997). The reader should be able to detect and isolate basic sound units. This helps the readers to know phonemes associated with certain letters or words (Adams, 1994). They should tell clearly which letter, group of letters or words produce a certain phoneme. This ability tells how easily a learner can read (Adams, 1994). For the readers to appreciate and work with phonemes appropriately they should understand that their language can be broken down in to phonemes. This leads to easy integration of the senses and sound which is a key in the reading process (Walker, 2003). Sight is the sense that is widely applied in the reading process. This helps the reader to evaluate the correctness of her/her reading as she/he proceeds. The reader should as well be able to sequence visual and audio (Stothard, 1994). The visual information taken for any word should be applied for the same word. Also the reader should be able to follow the texts in a systematic manner. This entails moving from left to right and following a sentence at a time (Stothard, 1994). Reading is difficult for someone who finds it hard to apply sequence appropriately because there is definitely a problem of converting symbols from one form to another correctly and with the desired speed (Walker, 2003). Using valid examples, briefly explain what guided and free writing tasks are. In writing, both free and guided writing are important in developing writing skills among the learners (Rivers, 1968). Guided writing is a form of writing whereby the instructors or the teachers help learners to write (Lori, 2007). This entails showing learners how to start writing, draft a text, revise a text and correct mistakes. The instructor aids the writing process by giving the writers the basis of writing as well as correcting them so as to write the way he/she expects (Lori, 2007). There are varieties of materials that help the learners to write. The instructor provides a material to guide in writing. This may include dictating repeatedly what the writers are going to write (Myles, 2002). The instructor may also give material that the learners are going to copy. This form of writing also entails instructors going around the class to individual student or to group of students telling them how and what to write as well as correcting them repeatedly whenever they make mistakes (Myles, 2002). The instructor may also give graphics or video clips to guide the learners write. Learners in this case are required to write what they have already encountered. For instance they can be required to write about a story they have already read. They can as well be required to write a story based on a scene of a movie they have watched (Myles, 2002). The instructor corrects the learners as they write or after they have written. The learners may also be required to copy a written material. On the other had free writing is a form of writing in which learners write about what they think at that moment of writing. There are no guidelines about what should be written (Elbow, 1973). The instructors may say what to be written but they do not keep on repeating. Writers can put down anything regardless of whether it makes sense or not. The learners can repeatedly write a single word or a single phrase. The instructor may see what the learners have written but does not subject it to correction (Elbow, 1973). In this form of writing learners are required to write for some defined period of time without being told what to write and without being guided on what to write. It is much complicated form of writing compared to writing when guided. The correctness of the text is not considered as the learners write whatever they desired. Writing imaginative essays is classified as one of the free writing (Rivers, 1968). In this case learners put down anything in their mind irrespective of whether it makes sense or not. State the differences between intensive and extensive listening Intensive and extensive readings are the two types of reading that are used alternately depending on the objective of reading. Intensive reading is applied where the reader want to understand every bit of a text, word by word while extensive reading is applied where the reader want to get a general knowledge (Rhea and Baenen, 2007). Intensive reading is used in reading texts that need seriousness such as academic materials. It is used effectively where understanding the content of a given text is necessary. This applies to all examinable readings as well as applied readings (Rhea and Baenen, 2007). The readers are required to be keen in this form of reading as they are required to apply what they learned in solving problems later. On the other hand extensive reading is applied in reading for pleasure (Su-Su, 2011). The readers are interested in getting general knowledge. The understanding of word after a word is not vital as long as the reader has a clue of the content of the given text (Su-Su, 2011). It is used in cases such as reading of novels, magazines and the likes. The knowledge obtained is not applied anywhere. What are the benefits and limitations of extensive listening? Extensive reading has a lot of advantages. The learners are able to study by themselves even outside the classes. It makes it possible for the learners to assess their knowledge in the language involved (Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998). The students are exposed to variety of vocabulary as they are able to read a lot of contents within a very short time. Extensive reading can be used as a fun hence it encourages the readers cover a lot of content (Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998). The learners are exposed to variety of information and ideas hence they are likely to be more informed. It is a relief to the teachers as it saves them extra work of examining the students (Iwahori, 2008). Although many learners would prefer extensive reading, it has some limitations as it does not develop reading speed which cultivates good understanding of a language. It also, encourages laxity among the readers because they are not examined (Iwahori, 2008). This makes the lazy students continue being lazy. The learners are as well not regulated hence there is a big gap between the readers’ coverage as they read different contents (Bell, 2001). The readers are no able to show their comprehensive skills which are determinants of understanding level. In addition, extensive reading encourages forgetfulness as the readers pay little attention to the contents of the text (Bell, 2001). This makes it not to be preferred where contents mastery is important. List of References Adams, M. J, 1994, Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print, Bradford Books, New York. Bell, T., 2001, Extensive reading: Speed and comprehension. The Reading Matrix, 1. Retrieved from http://www.readingmatrix.com/archives/archives_vol1_no1.html Diane, M., 1997, Why Our Children Can’t Read and What We Can Do About It: A Scientific Revolution in Reading, Free Press, New York. Elbow, P., 1973, Writing Without Teachers, Center for Learning, Teaching, Communication, and Research, New York. Iwahori, Y., 2008, Developing reading fluency: A study of extensive reading in EFL, Reading in a Foreign Language, vol. 20, no. 1, Lori D. O., 2007, Guided Writing Practical Lessons, Powerful Results Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Myles, J., 2002, Second Language: the Writing Process and Error Analysis in Student Texts, Queen's University, New York. Rhea, A and Baenen, N., 2007, Project iris: Intensive reading intervention study, a three-year follow-up, Chicago University Press, Chicago. Rivers, W.1968, Teaching Foreign Language Skills, Chicago University Press, Chicago. Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., & Griffin, P, 1998, Preventing reading difficulties in young children, National Academy Press, Washington: DC. Stothard, S., 1994, The nature and treatment of reading comprehension difficulties in children, Free Press, New York. Su-Su H., 2011, Extensive reading for undergraduate learners: multimodal text vs. linear text, Department of Teaching and Learning, Washington State University, Washington. Walker, B., 2003. The cultivation of student self-efficiency in reading and writing: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, Reading and Writing Quarterly vol. 19, no. 2, 173-187. Wolf, M., Bowers, P., & Biddle, K., 2000, Naming-speed processes, timing, and reading: A conceptual review, Journal of Learning Disabilities, vol.33, pp. 387-407. Read More