Reading - #TESL0130 - Unit #1 - Reflection - Just Read it!

Just Read: 

The biggest take away message I got from the first unit reading is that, as usual, things are much more complicated than one might think.  The concept of reading, while at the onset, may seem like a simple symbol deciphering task, is actually so much more complex, especially when the goal is gaining a full understanding of what is written.    Some things to consider when thinking about reading skills:

Content Schemata: includes what we know about people, the world, culture, the universe 

Formal Schemata: includes what we know about the language and discourse structure, 

Fluency:  Fluency is a combination of reading rate and comprehension. This means that while one may be able to read the text correctly, they must also understand the text in order to be fluent in reading.   

Affect and Culture:  The learning of reading strategies has been shown to increase self esteem, thus, also boosting ones ability to learn.

Second Language Literacy:  consideration also needs to be made for those students that are not literate in their native language.  Both bottom-up and top-down learning strategies are used for adult literacy training.

Brown, D. & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (Rev. 4th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.

      Now, having taken some language classes of my own, as an adult learner of a second language, reading becomes both a language skill in and of itself, but also a strategy to help with practice of other language skills, such as listening ( using text to assist with listening) and speaking (for pronunciation, sentence structure etc.)  

      Reading is an essential skill and strategy for learning a second language.