Working with reading comprehension in large, mixed-ability teen classes presents significant challenges for teachers. We all know that understanding written and graphic texts is crucial for teenagers as they work towards proficiency in English. However, unlike in their first language, where they naturally use a wide range of techniques to handle written texts, language learners often need explicit instruction on strategies when working with texts in English.
Raising awareness of and fostering these strategies helps language learners gradually tackle increasingly complex texts and tasks, eventually leading them to become proficient readers. As teachers, we sometimes sideline reading activities in class due to time constraints, choosing to assign them as homework instead. While learners can often do these tasks independently, we’ll only be able to help them develop effective reading strategies in English – or transfer strategies from L1 – through consistent focus in class.
4 common problems
Class time, therefore, is one of the challenges in developing reading strategies with teens. Additionally, I’ve identified four other common problems while talking with teachers over the years:
- “My students get stuck with unknown words. They believe they need to understand every single word in the text.”
- “I feel that my students don’t have enough background knowledge about the topic of the texts they have to read.”
- “Reading texts in coursebooks are too long! My students give up reading them before they reach the end.”
- “My teen students get lost while reading the text. They find it hard to focus.”
Challenges 1 and 2 have always been around, but challenges 3 and 4 have been made worse by the effects of COVID-19. Most students worldwide experienced disruptions in their education during the pandemic, affecting their reading development in general, and reinforcing the need to address reading strategies in the classroom.
The complexity of reading
Moreover, we must recognize that reading is a complex process – often taken for granted. When we set our eyes on any text with the purpose of reading it, our brains perform a series of, including:
- Decoding letters and figuring out how they’re combined;
- Recognizing these combinations as words;
- Connecting the words to our lexical knowledge;
- Using grammar to understand how the relationship between words in a sentence;
- Connecting sentences to make sense of the whole text.
Although it’s complex, the reading process is remarkably fast: efficient readers process between 250 and 300 words per minute in their first language. However, we do much more than decoding letters and understanding text as we read – we infer implicit information, activate background knowledge, and rely on images and layout clues to build comprehension. These are strategies that learners typically have in their first language but may struggle to apply when reading in English.
Why you should teach reading strategies
Given the constraints of class time and the assumption that students can usually handle reading tasks on their own, it’s fair to ask ourselves, ‘Do I need to teach reading strategies’? According to research literature, the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ Studies show that language learners can benefit greatly from the explicit teaching of reading in class, which helps them learn or transfer strategies from their first language to become efficient readers in English (Watkins, 2017).
In my webinar ‘Strategies for Success: Empowering Teen Students in Reading Classes’, which you can watch here, I explore these topics more extensively, including an insightful distinction between ‘skills’ and ‘strategies.’ I also share practical ideas for raising awareness and teaching reading strategies in class, drawing on reading texts and tasks from Global Changer, a series for lower secondary students I co-authored for Cambridge.
Teaching reading strategies is key to helping teen learners become proficient language users. Although time constraints and teaching contexts pose considerable challenges when dealing with reading, we shouldn’t overlook tasks and strategies in our classes. With consistent work, we can close the gap between reading strategies in students’ first language and English, making a real impact on their journey to becoming confident, independent readers.
References
Duffy, G. (2016). Explaining Reading: A resource for explicit teaching of the Common Core Standards. New York: The Guilford Press
Nutall, C. (1996). Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Oxford: Macmillan
Sawchuk, S. Reading Comprehension Challenges and Opportunities, in Charts. Available at: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/reading-comprehension-challenges-and-opportunities-in-charts/2024/01
Thornbury, S. (2006) An A-Z of ELT. Oxford: Macmillan
Watkins, P. (2017) Teaching and Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press