Reading Activities in Foreign-Language Textbooks:

How to Avoid the Four Classic Mistakes

by Lauren McCombs, textbook editor
Every foreign language textbook has reading passages, accompanied by questions and
activities to help guide students. But not all reading passages are effective. At the same
point in the semester or term, one French textbook has students reading a simple passage
about how to make a simple ham and cheese sandwich, while another presents an excerpt
from Le Petit Prince. What causes such different texts to be featured?
The writer of the second textbook understandsas all textbook writers should
the importance of stretching students to new heights. Stephen Krashens famous i + 1
hypothesis holds that second-language learners can understand input that is a full step
above their own productive level1. Reading passages shouldnt be too easy.
Of course, effective textbooks dont just throw complicated texts at students without
providing support. Instead, these textbooks guide students through reading passages with
carefully planned, empowering activities. Pre-reading activities prepare students to meet
the challenges of a higher-level text and motivate them to tackle it. Further activities train
students to consider the text globally before they look at specifics and help them attain new
linguistic knowledge. Post-reading activities then show students how to discuss the text
with their classmates.
Textbook writers who understand how to create effective pre- and post-reading
activities can incorporate more challenging and fulfilling reading passages into their books.

For a summary of Krashens theory, see Christian Faltis, A Commentary on Krashens Input Hypothesis,
TESOL Quarterly 18.2, June 1984: 352357, accessed online 01 December 2014:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3586705

However, there are four classic mistakes that prevent reading activities from truly
empowering foreign-language learners: oversimplifying the text, neglecting a task-based
approach, encouraging the urge to translate every word, and skipping the post-reading
activities. Lets discuss how to overcome each of these challenges.

Mistake #1: Oversimplifying the Text

This first mistake is classic: textbook writers choose an appropriately challenging text, but
then remove all of its challenges. They simplify the tenses, replace new words with
synonyms, and define whole phrases in glosses or endnotes. These efforts waste time and
dont help students become more proficient in the target language. I would even argue that
dumbing down a text is unfair to foreign-language learners. Most students dont join a
language-learning program to be presented with inauthentic, simplified texts. French
students want to read what real French people are reading! And, with the appropriate
activities, they can. Because I believe that students are capable of more than what is often
expected of them, I suggest the following:
1. Dont give too many translations in the margins. Glosses are necessary only if the
word is not a cognate, if it is not made reasonably clear by context, and if it is vital to
understanding the text.
2. Dont simplify verb tenses. Studies have shown that students arent actually
confused by tenses that they havent learned yet. Sometimes including a note about
the unfamiliar tense in the pre-reading activities will be sufficient to prepare
students.
3. Instead of simplifying the text, simplify the task associated with it.

Mistake #2: Neglecting a Task-Based Approach

The most detrimental mistake a textbook writer can make is to send students into the
battlefield (a reading assignment) without a mission. Imagine being confronted with a
paragraph of what looks like gobbledygook, but being armed with only these instructions:
Read this passage and lets see what you get from it. What would you get from it? Typical
students would get very little: they would stare at all the foreign words and feel lost.
Now imagine that, instead, the instructions say, Read this text to identify what the
main character, Rose, wants from her brother. Now the student isnt responsible for
understanding every wordonly the main idea. With a specific task to complete, a student
of any level can pull the vital information out of a text. Having a task lessens the students
processing demands, thus allowing for more in-depth processing.2 Completing tasks
increases students confidence, making the reading more enjoyable and the student more
motivated to continue learning.
For non-fiction reading samples, the best tasks are related to real-world functions.
Examples include choosing the best hotel for a vacation, deciding which movie to watch, or
finding out what the weather will be like next week. In real life we read to inform our
decisions, not just to see what we get from the text. For fiction reading samples, like
excerpts from books and plays, the best preliminary tasks help students mentally map out
the sequence of events in the story.
Of course, simply finding out what Rose wants from her brother, as in the example
above, isnt enough reason to read a page of text in a foreign language. That task should be
2

Klaus Brandl, Communicative Language Teaching in Action: Putting Principles to Work, Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2008 (335).

followed by several others, each one digging deeper into the reading than the last.
Depending on the length and complexity of the reading, the average passage should be
accompanied by about four tasks. But beware the mistake of combining tasks, requiring
students to look for everything theyre supposed to learn at once. Good tasks are separate,
since students can generally handle no more than two at a time.

Mistake #3: Encouraging the Urge to Translate Every Word

When they read, foreign language learners naturally want to understand every word, and
they tend to rely far too heavily on dictionaries. Most experts know that running to a
dictionary for every unfamiliar word prevents students from developing deductive
reasoning skills, patience, and self-efficacy. However, what many curriculum designers
dont realize is that students bad habits are often a product of the way they are taught.3
When students are asked to identify specific details the first time they look at a text, they
want to translate every word. If, instead, students begin with global reading activities that
paint an overall picture of the text, they learn that they can understand a reading passage
without knowing every single word.
Global reading activities are the hardest type to create because even language
experts are accustomed to focusing on specifics when they read. Here are some tips. First,
resist the urge to ask questions with answers that are found in only one line of the text.
Such questions require students to read with a close attention to detail, which they should
do until after theyve gotten the big picture. Instead, ask questions that focus on the main
idea of each paragraph. If students can answer the questions after only skimming the text,
3

Brandl p. 335, citing Swaffar, J., K. Arens, and H. Byrnes, Reading for Meaning: An Integrated Approach
to Language Learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1991.

then the questions are global. I have three favorite ways to check for global
comprehension:
1. Ask students to create a subtitle for each paragraph. If the students arent ready to
create with the language to such an extent, have them match the correct subtitle to
each paragraph from a list of possibilitiesand dont forget to include a few
incorrect possibilities.
2. Have students fill in a chart that illustrates a general outline of the narrative.
Example: the history of high-waisted pants
Decade

In (+) or out ()

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

3. For a shorter text, ask students to choose the texts main idea from a list of options.
Only after students have demonstrated a global understanding of the text can they
be asked to pick out and discuss specific details.

Mistake #4: Skipping the Post-Reading Activities

Some textbooks dont require students to do anything with what they have read. Reading
passages with no follow-up leave students (and teachers) wondering, Why read a passage if
youre not going to let it evoke new ideas and challenge old ones? Or if youre not going to
discuss how you feel about it with your classmates? Or if youre not going to incorporate
the new vocabulary words into your working memory? Students need more than a pat on
the back for completing foreign-language reading passages. To validate a reading

assignment, textbooks should create a bridge between comprehension and communication.

Post-reading activities are the perfect way to transition students from reading to talking.
Effective post-reading activities encourage students to employ vocabulary and ideas
from the text, to practice circumlocution, and to work on answering open-ended questions.
One effective way to develop open-ended questions is to ask students to compare the
reading to their own culture, opinions, or experiences. Ask, What would you do in this
situation? Would you have reacted the same way as the main characterwhy or why not?
Comparison questions not only create valuable opportunities for discussions of culture, but
also help students feel that the passage was worth reading and be able to recall it later.
Post-reading activities should not stray far from the main ideas of the text, since students
with limited foreign-language experience perform better in more restricted contexts.

Conclusion
Foreign language teachers clamor for textbooks that allow their students to engage with
complex texts in meaningful ways. By providing the proper support, we can empower
students to read difficult foreign-language texts. The students lack of experience in the
language need no longer hinder themeffective reading activities open up a whole new
world for foreign language learners, guiding them through experiences that might
otherwise be inaccessible. Remember the four mistakes that keep reading activities from
being effective:
1. Oversimplifying the text
2. Neglecting a task-based approach
3. Encouraging the urge to translate every word

4. Skipping the post-reading activities

Working from the belief that students are interested in and capable of understanding
authentic language texts, textbook writers can prepare todays generation of language
learners for real cross-cultural communication.