DEVELOPING READING COMPREHENSION / SKILLS

Dr. Shrikant S. Ukhalkar

Member, Board of Studies
Any language acquisition comprises of four skills namely Listening,
Speaking, Reading and Writing. As we know Listening and Reading are
receptive skills and Speaking and Writing are productive skills. When we talk
about developing the receptive skills we focus on different ways and means
through which the learner can be acquainted more and more with the target
language to enable him/her to receive the language as it is being used. In other
words we call this exposure to the language which is to be acquired.
How to acquaint the learners with the language?
One of the answers to this question lies in the intentional introduction of
Activity method in English Readers for Std IX and Std X. The principle of
minimum language input with maximum language work is observed in these
coursebooks. Choosing an appropriate and potential input and exploring it to
draw out from it a number of opportunities through which the learner will find
language element to be acquired easily and comfortably and more importantly
with pleasure, has been the idea behind introducing the Activity method.
What is Activity method?
As the name suggests, Activity method is doing certain meaningful activity in
the language and with the language. It is interacting with the text, its form,
content, language, vocabulary, grammar, message, etc. Simply, it is learning by
doing.
Activities have the following advantages:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

They can be done individually or in a group,

They are meaningful,
They are multi-skilled i.e. involving many skills at a time.
They give scope to cooperative learning,
They are focused on learning output,
They allow sharing, interacting with co-learners,
They are democratic as everyone is free to participate,
They give scope to doing something, revising it, finalizing it before
acquiring,

9. They involve multi-tasking,

10. Instructional technology can be used in activities.
11. They make the learners interact with the text again and again.
What are the Activities for developing Reading Comprehension / Skills?
In order to achieve the objectives, many activities are incorporated in the
coursebooks English Reader for Std IX and X. Look at the following activities
which are spread up in the coursebooks:
1. Complete the sentences by choosing the correct alternative,
2. Fill in the blanks with correct information from the passage,
3. State whether the following statements are True or False,
4. State which of the following statements about ------------- are correct,
5. Correct the following statements if necessary,
6. Arrange the following events in order,
7. Complete the following table of information/facts,
8. Match the pairs,
9. Complete the following Flow-chart,
10. Choose the correct reason for the statement,
11. Find from the passage following facts,
12. Find the odd man out,
13. Rewrite the sentences by correcting the words which are underlined,
14. Supply them following information,
15. Point out the sentences from the passage to justify the following,
16. Complete the table of comparison,
17. Complete the table of cause and effects,
18. Read the passage and complete the following note,
19. Complete the following web about........,

20. Complete the following diagram.

How to conduct the activities in the classroom?
A teacher has many options to conduct/carry out these activities in the
classroom. They are:
1 Conduct the activities under his supervision and guidance,
2. Conduct all the activities in the classroom,
3. Conduct some activities in the classroom while give some as
homework,
4. Ask the students to do the activities on their own,
5. Make the activities suitable to his/her situation,
6. Simplify and/or easify the activities,
7. Replace/ add his own activities,
8. Distribute the activities in groups to be done simultaneously to save
time,
9. Provide support (pictures, clue words, dictionary, references, giving
hints, giving support activity, etc)
10. Link-up the activities to similar activities which are previously done.
Are not the activities time-consuming?
No. Initially the activities seem to be a time consuming. However as the
students get acquainted with such sort of learning experience they do the
activities quick and more comfortably. Awareness of self-achievement, positive
participation of the students lead to successful and smooth conduct of the
activities.
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