Authentic Reading Tasks:

Why and How?

Nizar IbrahimATEL Conference

18/5/2013

Reading in real-life is a complex, meaning making act. Yet, in reading classes, we do not engage students in this act. L2 reading instruction isolates strategies from real-life situations in which they are used and provides strategy practice and reading for pedagogical purposes only. The table in the next slide illustrates the difference between the purposes in L2 reading classes and authentic purposes for reading.

Purposes for reading classes versus purposes for real-life reading

In class we read to In real-life, we read to

Fill in different types of graphic organizers. Decide on which product to buy, which university to join, which meal to order etc...

Fill in the blank. Follow instruction.

Skim a text. Skim a newspaper to choose an article for detailed reading, or skim different texts to select the appropriate one for a specific purpose.

Scan a text. Use ideas and information in writing brochure, a pamphlet, a manual, an advertisement etc...

Read aloud in turn and answer questions. Give a presentation; read the news on TV; advertise etc…

Learn about new scientific, social, historical and other topics.

Study materials required at schools and universities.

Select main ideas and supporting details. Select ideas to be used in a research paper, a report, a book etc...

Paraphrase and summarize. Summarize, paraphrase, analyze and synthesize to rite a research paper, a report, a news analysis article etc...

Answer comprehension questions. Think critically about ideas and take a stance.

Match Read for enjoyment (poetry, jokes, plays etc.).

Generating Authentic Reading Tasks

Can we use authentic situations in generating authentic reading tasks?

Sure we can when we think differently about teaching this skill. The following questions help teachers to generate transactional, intellectual, or aesthetic reading tasks.

Generating Authentic Reading Tasks

Can the ideas and information in a text be transferred to another format? Example: Using them to write a letter; using the ideas from texts about animals to write a brochure about a zoo.

Can students assume roles around the text? Example: A journalist interviewing the author; participants in a court.

Can the text be used in projects (report, presentation)? Can the text be read aesthetically (poetry reading)? Does the text incur emotions or opinions? Can the text be critically analyzed? Can the ideas in the text be transformed into a creative format

(i.e.poetry)?

A Balanced Approach

The argument for authentic purposes in reading does not exclude the use of pedagogical questions and activities that require students to demonstrate text comprehension or knowledge acquisition, but it constitutes a call for a judicious use of Comprehension questions, multiple choice items, fill-in activities and other similar ones. This use should be based on a clear vision of the aims these activities serve. They aim to:

Train students on identifying relationships among ideas through the use of discourse markers and key words.

Train beginners on strategies like skimming, scanning, identifying main ideas and supporting details etc...

Train students on summarizing and paraphrasing. Help students to know and acquire new concepts and words. Train students on doing large-scale tests.

A Balanced Approach

The ultimate goal for reading instruction is to allow students to read for authentic purposes independently. Thus, students should be given opportunities to engage in authentic reading tasks which require connected, meaningful reading and should receive the pedagogical support to help them master the sub skills of reading. When students master a certain sub skill, training on this sub skill should be reduced and more authentic tasks should be provided.

A Balanced Approach

The following illustrates the process of designing lessons that balance between authentic tasks and pedagogical activities around a text about space exploration.

Major objective: Intensive reading.

Supporting objective:

Asking and answering questions about the text.

Task: News reporters interviewing some explorers.

Situation: Have not read about the topic before; have not asked similar questions before.

Support: Pre-reading background information and vocabulary activities; modeling the

questioning and answering process.

Method: Pair work; participants prepare to do the interview without using the text.

Major objective: Synthesizing ideas from different texts.

Supporting objectives:

Skimming; scanning; close reading.

Task: Using ideas from different texts to make a TV report.

Situation: Familiar with TV reports; know many words about the topic; have some experience with

synthesis.

Support Needed: Feedback on synthesizing appropriate ideas.

Method: Group work.

Major objective Critical analysis.

Supporting objectives

Close reading of parts of the text; comparing ideas from different texts and synthesizing

them.

Task: Analyzing the implications of cost, time spent and results of space exploration at the social,

economical and political levels and comparing them to money spent on social welfare.

Situation: Haven’t done this kind of analysis before.

Support needed: Modeling analysis during the discussion through activities like looping.

Method: Analysis in a whole-class discussion; taking notes; writing an analysis paragraph

individually.

The next three slides present a number of authentic reading tasks and project around three different texts. The first one gives information about ants. The second discusses symptoms of disappointment as well as ways of avoiding it and presents three anecdotes to support its points. The third one is a short story titled “The necklace”.

Ants: Tasks and projects

Design a picture book about ants, using the ideas in the text.

Transform the information in the text into different monologues in which different ants talk about themselves and about their enemies.

Use the information in the text to create a drama in which ants are the actors.

Disappointment: Tasks and projects

Use the ideas and examples in the text to write a pamphlet instructing people about dealing with disappointment.

Search for other texts about disappointment and use them to present in a conference about the topic. Groups will present about different aspects of disappointment in class. The idea might be done at school level and many students from many classes might participate.

Students read the text without the solutions it provides and suggest solutions. Students might work in pairs. One member plays the role of one character in

the text and the other is a councilor. The patient tells his/her story to the councilor who helps the patient in dealing with the problem.

Critical analysis of the text. A class discussion can be conducted around the following questions:1. What conditions for disappointment does the text highlight?2. Are there other conditions that the text does not emphasize?3.On whom does the text place responsibility for dealing with disappointment? Are there other people or institutions responsible for preventing disappointment? What role can they play?4. Is it possible to prevent causes for disappointment or are these causes inevitable?

The Necklace: Tasks and projects

Suppose you were the one who lost the necklace. Write a letter to your friend explaining what happened and suggesting to buy a new one for her.

Suppose you replaced the necklace and you worked hard to pay the debt before you told you friend. Write a letter to your friend telling her that the necklace is a replaced one as well as about the hardships you suffered.

Students work in pairs. One is a journalist and the other is a family member who lost the necklace. The journalist interviews the family member about the hardships the family suffered and the causes of these hardships.

Students transform the events in the story into a newspaper article about the hardships the family suffered.

Critical analysis: Students discuss the following questions:1. Is the image that the text presents about the woman and her husband a

realistic one? Why? 2. Why does the text emphasize a few traits of the characters? 3. If you were in the woman’s shoes, what would you say about how she is presented in the text? 4. what does the text imply about the reasons for the woman’s dissatisfaction

with her life and about her dreams? Why does the writer emphasize these reasons? What are the reasons that the text does not highlight? Why aren’t they

highlighted?5. Does the wife have the right to dream the way she does?6. Why would such an incident turn things upside-down? Can you think of

factors that created this thin line between happiness and misery other than the woman’s enjoyment of the moment?

After analyzing the text critically, students write the story from a different perspective.

At the end of a presentation in a conference,a participant commented:“The ideas are interesting but they are

inapplicable in class.”

Presenter: “Have you tried them out in your class?”

Participant: “No, but they need a lot of changes in teaching.”

Presenter: How can you reach this conclusion before you put the ideas into systematic application and evaluation? Change requires a clear vision, courage and patience.”

Thank you