Narrow Reading - A tool for L2 learners !

Schmitt & Carter (2000) discuss, in their article The Lexical Advantages of Narrow Reading for Second Language Learners, the importance of reading in order to learn a language and master the various subsystems of that language. As it is literally impossible to teach every single word to language learners, developing tools and resources in order to master vocabulary is, therefore, a necessity for all students. One solution to facilitate the process is to use reading in the classroom as an essential complement of explicit teaching of vocabulary words. As mentioned in various articles of Krashen (1981, 1989), students should be exposed frequently to authentic texts and to topics which they already have a basic knowledge of. Thus, reading gradually becomes easier and acquisition of additional vocabulary words is progressively done as the student reads on the topic. Newspaper articles are an interesting way to help student acquire vocabulary. Topics are often motivating and the vocabulary is usually simple and recurrent, thus facilitating the reader’s task. Narrow reading, that is to say the process which implies reading several articles on the same topic, is a powerful tool to ease the reading. Implementing this technique to the syllabus is important. Facilitating reading helps students develop intrinsic motivation toward the task. If the task is easy but challenging, they will be more likely to try again. Another advantage of reading several texts which cover the same or closely-related topics is the recurrent presence of key [vocabulary] words.

Strategy: Describe the authors’ point of view (Response Journal Guidelines for Students)

Keven Doyon-Lacasse

The Lexical Advantages of Narrow Reading for Second Language Learners

In the article The Lexical Advantages of Narrow Reading for Second Language Learners (2000), Schmitt and Carter argue that reading is very important to learn a language. They first mention that teachers cannot teach all the necessary words for an effective language use. As a solution, they explain how reading can be an essential complement to the explicit teaching of vocabulary. In order to acquire new words, students should be repeatedly exposed to recurrent topics and vocabulary. It is also important that this should be done through authentic texts such as newspapers and magazines. Because these mediums may be too difficult for beginners, the authors suggest using narrow reading as a way to ease learners into authentic texts. They explain that narrow reading implies the readings of different texts related to the same topic. This method is advantageous because readers become familiar with the topic and with the recurrent vocabulary (key words). Next, the authors aA brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource.pproach narrow reading from three perspectives: using corpus analysis to explore the benefits of narrow reading, learners’ reactions to narrow reading, and incorporating narrow reading into the syllabus.

Strategy: Describe the authors’ point of view (Response Journal Guidelines for Students)

Karine Ledoux

Literature-based ESL for secondary school students, Custodio & Sutton, 1998.

Keven Doyon-Lacasse / 908-186-900

Response journal guidelines for students

Strategy: Make connections with your own experience. What does the reading make you think of? Does it remind you of anything or anyone?

Discussion:

Reading about literature-based instruction as well as content-based instruction and historical fiction made me think back to my high school days. When I was in grade 10, I was introduced to a more literature-based type of instruction. Before that year, I had been taught by three teachers who were giving ESL classes in order to fill their schedule, that is to say that they were not language professionals, but rather music and fine arts teachers. During that school year, my new ESL teacher had decided to push me harder and to introduce me to some novels that were actually mentioned in the Custudio’s article. She had also introduced me after Christmas to some famous fiction-writers’ novels, such has David Gemmel’s “Waylander” and others. I recall improving significantly during that school year, both in terms of advanced reading comprehension and vocabulary acquirement. Whereas others read penguin books, reading historical fiction has helped me acquire vocabulary related to several school and non-school subjects: geography, science, language arts, martial arts, medieval era, etc. To me, it is obvious that literacy promotes development and acquisition of life skills and that content-based instruction is much more efficient that a more traditional approach. That teacher was differentiating her ESL content for me because she knew that I was much stronger than the rest of students from the ESL class. When I saw her again during my 3^rd practicum in Beauce, I made sure to thank her for that.

Example of prompts and guiding questions for the response process (p.46)

Strategy: Guiding question: What did you find interesting/important/surprising?

            In this text, what I found the most surprising is the interesting description of using theme-based units in high school. As a student, I used to hate unit-based classrooms because I quickly get tired of talking about a topic. I hate going over and over again over a topic. As a student teacher, I tended so far to avoid using a theme-unit based approach with my high school students because I, myself, am not comfortable with that teaching method. I rather cover several topics with a main common idea in a more socio-constructivist type of classroom. Reading about it, though, made me think about several units which I could prepare while using multicultural novels. I think that this part of Custodio and Sutton’s article is one of the most important parts. As they describe how multicultural novels can be used in order to cover historical elements as well as religious and culture differences, the authors opened a door to various other types of units which could be built using these same novels. I find it interesting as well that they discuss the difficulties that we, as language teachers, have to acquire novels to work with in our classrooms. It is true that these books are expensive and that they must be replaced regularly. I plan on working with my students to find a way to acquire some novels that will really interest them as well as buy some that will help me cover specific topics such has homosexuality and segregation.

Mistaken Identity, by Norah McClintock

Sixteen year old Zanny Dugan isn’t sure anymore. Terrible things are happening in her life — things like murder and suicide — and she can’t figure out why. Now it turns out her father isn’t who she thought he was. And if your father is a stranger, then who are you? Zanny’s dead set on finding the answer — even if it seems the whole world doesn’t want her to know the truth.

Scholastic Canada Ltd., 1995

Literature-based ESL for secondary school students, Custodio & Sutton, 1998.

In the article Literature-Based ESL for Secondary School Students, Brenda Custodio and Marilyn Jean Sutton argue that literature based-instruction develops literacy skills and prepare secondary-level second-language learners for mainstream classrooms. They mention that the advantages to a literature-based approach are the following: it promotes literacy development, provides language models, and integrates language skills. They also argue that one way to achieve literature-based instruction with middle school students is to use historical fiction as a vehicle to explore the required content of the curriculum. At the high school level, they suggest using theme-based instruction built around young adult literature.

Strategy : Describe the author’s point of view. (From course notes)

I am experiencing something similar to that in my English Literary Cultural Contexts course. This course is mainly about the history of British English. We acquire knowledge about historical facts and events through the reading of short novels and poems. For example, we learned about the Black Pest through Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year, the slavery through Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and the labour in Victorian England through Engels’ The condition of the working class in England. I find that method of learning very efficient because I can remember the story I have read as opposed to a lesson in which the teacher is giving important dates that I won’t remember the following week.

Strategy : Establishing a personal connection with the text phase. (From the MELS)

by Karine Ledoux

Test !