Adapting Text for Reading - TESL #0130 - Unit 2

The 'Great Adapter'

Finding the 'perfect' text to use for your lesson is likely not going to happen  because of the infinite number of variables in any given context; from the age of students, social sensitivities, interest levels and background knowledge, to the readability itself. I can see how important it will be to become a great adapter!  Below are some of the way in which one might approach adapting reading texts for different learners. This information was taken from the TESL#0130 - Reading and Vocabulary course and pertains to a reading text used for exploring reading adaptation called "Laughter and the Brain", Brown and Lee (pp. 417)  

1. Know your audience - The need to know your audience is critical when selecting texts to teach reading. Who are your students?  What do they find interesting?  What are they sensitive to?  Understanding that not every text can be adapted to suit every situation is crucial.  Lack of interest and topics that evoke negative emotions can be detrimental to the learning process, especially in beginner settings.  

2. Adapting the Text - the text itself could be adapted by changing out some of the more difficult vocabulary using a tool like Snappy Words.  The app Readable could also be used to identify long sentences for adaptation, complex grammar and sentence structures allowing one to swap them out for simpler structures.  The text could be adapted visually by boldfacing vocabulary words, or underlining the medical terms etc.  

3. Adapting a Lesson - Due to the large amount potentially new vocabulary words, priming the students for reading this text would be helpful.  Encouraging students to scan and skim the text for grammar and unknown vocabulary would be important to get a sense of where the class is at as well as prime the students to access whatever knowledge they may possess about the topic.  If there is an accompanying video, that would also help to prime students for the topic and give a great visual to link vocabulary and meaning.  Because this text is complex, it may be helpful to split exercises into 2 sessions.  Perhaps concentrating on vocabulary and the main idea in the first session and tackling grammar and more complex ideas like connotation in a second session.