Teaching reading and writing to young learners

Instructor: Nguyen Thi Hoai Minh, M.A in TESOL * Natural language acquisition * listening speaking reading writing Why teach reading and writing? Many children show interest and enthusiasm in reading and writing help to reinforce oral language give children real sense of achievement provide visual language open up opportunities for record keeping help link school learning with use of English outside class. * * Problems with reading English Letters and sound correspondence is not at all direct and consistent. Example: “enough” 	“though” “height”	“weight” “know”	“how” * Learn reading as first language 1. Letter-sound correspondence patterns (phonics) Words with same onset Ex: pretty princess, a present for the prince bricks and brooms, brushes and bracelets Words with same rime / rhyme Ex: My friend Mike Rides his bikes Down the drive 	Whenever he likes. * Learn reading as first language 2. Whole word method – rote learning remember words as visual images used for irregular words Ex: donut, focus	Mc Donald * Teaching reading in EFL classes Disadvantage: Non-native children: have low oral proficiency are not familiar with wide range of songs, rhymes, and stories in English  phonics training should be meaningful * Teaching reading in EFL classes Advantages: Non-native children: have experience with reading in their first language have potential useful reading strategies  recognizing points of similarity: spelling, comparing sounds and letters * Teaching reading in EFL classes Steps: * Reading words Reading phrases & sentences Reading texts Reading activities with younger children Introduce written words label objects make posters with commonly used phrases play with letter cards / magnetic letters  to help children make the links between spoken and written forms * Reading activities with younger children Reading games / activities at word levels Word snap / dominoes Hang man Simple puzzles * Reading activities with younger children Reading games / activities at higher levels jumbled phrases / sentences gap-filling activities (combined with writing) supportive techniques: reading while listening, reading and completing a task * Reading activities with older children Practice reading sub-skills: Skimming: reading for main ideas Scanning: reading for specific information  reading for meaning entails exercises to check comprehension Introduce the use of dictionaries *