Teaching students strategies for reding comprehension in the gcse examination

PART A - INTRODUCTION I Rationale of choosing the theme The reading comprehension section in the general education examination contains two passages of approximately 200-450 words each A reading passage is usually followed by seven to eight questions Most students who take the final examination say that they are unable to finish all the questions There are many reasons why they can not complete this part in the exam First, they not have strategies for reading comprehension and are not well trained to cope with the types of reading comprehension questions Second, time is limitted so they can not complete all the questions Therefore, students need to make the most efficient use of their time in this section to get highest score Third, they don’t know how to deal with the words they don’t understand,and have not got enough vocabulary to understand the passage Being a English teacher, helping students master their reading skills is very important because it is one of the four skills in teaching English Moreover, teachers have to teach students this skill so that they can understand the knowledge in English book and high score in the exam To students , about 30 percent or even more than 30 percent of the questions in the final exam are to test their reading skills So students have a good reading skill , they can easily complete the test well Moreover, it is said that “ A good reader makes a good writer” so students are good at reading of course, they are good at wrting, speaking, and listening In sum, how to teach students to solve reading skills is very essential and it is a challenging that requires the efforts of both teachers and learners From the reasons mentioned above, I choose this theme for my research II The aims of the study Firstly, studying this strategy helps me to find some solutions to prolems of reading Understanding how students deal with reading passage can be great help to teachers who teach reading as a skill The knowledge of a proper reading approach will give me more confidence in making my lessons better organised and easier for my sudents to learn Secondly, studying this strategy is to help my students improve their reading skill Students can distinguish different types of questions in the exam and use different skill to read effectively Last of all, I would like to choose this strategy with a view to sharing my teaching experience with my colleages Moreover, if this strategy is applied to teaching reading, personally I think that students’ reading skill will be improved III The objective of study Applying reading strategy for students at classes 12A1, 12A4 IV The limitation of the reading strategy - Studying the process approach - Finding out the difficulties and suggesting solutions to the problems - Classifying types of reading questions - Applying skills to each reading passage in the final exam V The methods of study - Studying documents dealing with the strategies for reading - Discussing with other teachers - Applying the study in teaching process - Observing and drawing out experience PART B CONTENTS I Teaching students to deal with the words they not understand *All reading passages in the GCSE examination contain a number of words that most test-takers would not understand When students see these words, they sometimes attemt to figure out their meaning or they think these words so long that they lose precious time - A great deal of research has been carried out to learn how people read their first and second language and how much information they need in order to understand the text The result of many studies show that readers need less information than the text provides to understand the meaning In fact, experts have concluded that readers not read every single word in a sentence or text but omit a large number of words because they can guess the meaning of the text without them For example , when you reading a newspaper article in your native language,you probably skip out half of the words in it whether you are aware of doing so or not - Students often feel, however, that they should read every words in an English text and look up in a dictionary the words they not know There are two resons why many second language learners have this view First of all, this is the way they may have been taught to read in English Second, they may believe that, if they not read every word, they may miss some important information and misunderstood the text.This may be true of beginning learners who are attemting to read material that exceeds their reading skill Intermediate and advanced learners, however, not need to read every word in the passage For experieced learners, this stratery does not substantially improve their comprehension of a text In fact, when readers concentrate on the meanings of individual words and use a dictionary to look up every unfamiliar word, they frequently lose track of information in the passage and have to read it This aproach is definitely not the best one to use when reading for the text in exams.Also when students look up words during their preparation for the test, they become dependent on their dictionary and not develop the skills necessary to figure out the meaning of words in context Furthermore,such students may not even attempt to guess the meaning of a sentence if they not understand one or more words in it So teaching students to deal with the words they not understand is very essential * There are ceitain key words that you must understand in order to understand a sentence or a passage reasonably well.while you are answering the questions try to guess the meaning of the words you not know and then skip altogether any that you can not guess.For exmple, consider the following sentence: The mayfly is a dainty insect with lacy wings and a slender, forked tail that trails behight it in flight In this sentence, there are several words you may not know: dainty,lacy, slender, forked, and trail However, the number of words that you understand is sufficient ( enough) for you to understand what the sentence is about: The mayfly is a……….insect with………wings and a………….tail that……… Behigh it in flight This sentence is a description of an insect that can flight and has a tail The same technique can also help you figure out meanings of mor complex sentences by looking at the meanings of words parts, for example: Coastal areas dilute and filter out large amouts of waterborne pollutants, protecting the quality of waters used for swimming and fishing and as wildlife habitats With this sentence, if you simply skip over the words or parts of words that you not understand, you may have: Coast areas…………and…… out large amouts of water……….pollut… s,protectingthe……of water used for swimming and fishing and as wildlife… Even with several important words in this sentence omitted, it is still possible to figure out that “ coasts(take) out large amounts of water pollution, protecting the water used for swimming, fishing and wildlife.” This is the basic idea of the sentence However, there are several key words that you must know to understand the sentence: coast, pollution, protect, and possible, wildlife II Teach students to deal with types of reading comprrehension questions Give students Sample reading passage and ask them to classify types of reading comprehension questions Sample reading passage Although “ lie detectors” are being used by government , police departments, and businesses that all want guaranteed ways of detecting the truth, the results are not always accurate Lie detectors are properly called emotion detectors, for their aim is to mesure bodily changes that contradict what person says The polygraph machine records changes in heart rate , breathing , blood pressure, and the electrical activity of the skin (galvanic skin rresponse, or GSR) In the first part of the polygraph test, you are electronically connected to the machine and asked a few neutral questions ( “ what is your name?” “ where you live” ) Your physical reactions serve as the standard ( baseline) for evaluating what Comes next Then you are asked a few critical questions among the neutral ones “when did you rob the bank? ) The asssumtion is that if you are guilty, your Body will reveal the truth, even if you try to deny it Your heart rate, respiration, and GSR will change abrubtly as you respond to the incriminating questions That is the theory ; but psychologists have found that lie detector are simplely not reliable Since most physical changes are the same across all emotions, machines can not tell whether you feeling guilty, angry, nervous, thrilled, or revved up from an exciting day Innocent people may be tense and nervous about the whole procedure They may react physiologically to a certain word ( bank) not because they robbed it , but because they recently bounced a check In either case the machine will record a “lie” The reverse mistake is also common Some practiced liars can lie without flinching, and others learn to beat the machine by tensing muscles or thinking about an exciting experience during neutral questions According to the passage, polygraph tests A record a person’s physical reactions B alway reveal the truth about a person C measure a person’s thoughts D make guilty people angry Which of the following is not mentioned as something that ise measured by a polygraph machine? A blood prressure B heart rate C breathing D eye movement Where in the passage does the author first mention how the test is given? A line B lines 3-4 C Lines 5-6 D lines 6-8 The word “it” in the line 12 refers to A the question B the assumption C the truth D your body In line 11, the word “assumption” could be best replaced with A statement B belief C faith D imagining What is the main idea of the passage ? A physical reactions reveal guilt B How lie detectors are used and their reliability C Lie detectors distinguish different emotions D Lie detectors make innnocent people nervous Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? A Lie detectous are very reliable B Innocent people are never found guilty C Psychologists never argue about anything D Most people cannot control their bodily reactions It can be concluded from the passage that a polygraph test A is the best way to determine a person’s guil B can read a person ‘s thoughts C is the only evidence needed in a court of law D works in principle but not in practice What is most likely the subject of the paragraph preceding this passage? A using lie detectors in the hipe that machines will better to discover the truth B how achievement and aptitude tests measure ability and intelligence C The role of psychologists in fighting crime D an analysis of the criminal mind 10 The passage was probably written by a specialist in A sociology B anthropology C mind reading D criminal psychology 11 The author would most probably agree with which of the following statements ? A Polygraphs have no place in our society B Physical reactions are not connected to thoughts C Machine are no match for psychilogisrs D Polygraph tests should not be used as the sole evidence of guilt 12 Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the last paragraph ? A Several generalizations are made from which several conclusions are drawn B A general concept is defined and examples are given C Suggestions for the use of lie detectous are given D Persuasive language is used to argue against a popular idea Ask students to match each question with type of reading comprehension question: -“Reading for main idea” “ Reading for detail” “Reading for reference” “Reading for inference” “Reading for vocabulary” “Additional reading skill” -Question to : “ Reading for detail” -Question : “Reading for reference” -Question :“Reading for vocabulary” -Question :“Reading for main idea” -Question 7:“Reading for inference” -Question 8,9,10,11,12: “Additional reading skill” Instructing students to deal with types of reading comprehension question: reading for main idea Almost every reading pasage test will have a question about the main idea of a passage Such a question may be worded in a variety of ways, you may, for example, be asked to identify the topic, subject, title, primary idea, or main idea These questions are all really asking what primary point the author is trying to get across in the passage Since passages are generally writen in a traditionally organized manner, it is not difficult to find the main idea by studying the topic sentence, which is most probably found at the beginning of a paragraph If a passage consists of only one paragraph , you should study the beginning of that paragraph to determine the main idea In a pasage with more than one paragraph , you should be sure to read the first sentence of each paragraph to determine the subject, title, or main idea This is the key information that you should remember about main idea questions: How to identify What is the topic of the passage ? The question What is the subject of the passage ? What is the main idea of the passage? What is the author’s main point in the passage? With what is the author primarily concerned ? Which of the following would be the best title? How to answer Read the first line of each paragraph The question Look for a common theme or idea in the first lines pass your eyes quickly over the rest of the passage to check that you really have found the topic sentences Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices The sample passage In the philosophy of John Dewey, a sharp distinction is made between “ intellidence” and “reasoning” According to Dewey, intelligence is the only absolute way to achieve a balance bbetween realism and idealism, between practicality and wisdom of life Intelligence involves “ interacting with other things and knowing them,” while reasoning is merely the act of an observe, “ … a mind that beholds or grasps objects outside the world of things……” With reasoning, a level of mental certainty can be achieved, but it is through intelligence that control is taken of events that shape one’s life The question What is the topic of the passage? A The intelligence of John Dewey B Distinctions made by John Dewey C Dewey’s ideas on the ability to reason D How intelligence differs from reasoning in Dewey’s works How to instruct students to deal this this question The first sentence of this passage discusses a distinction between the ideas of “inteliigence” and “reasoning” in the philosophyof John Dewey, so this is probably the topic A quick check of the rest of the senteces in the passage confirms that the topic is in fact the difference between “inteliigence” and “reasoning” So the best answer is therefore (D) *If a passage consists of more than one paragraph, you should study the beginning of each paragraph to determine the main idea reading for details Detail questions Many questions in the Reading Comprehension section of the test will require answers that are directly stated in the passage This means that you should be able to find the answer to this type of question without having to draw a conclusion The common questions of this type are stated detail question and unstated detail question A stated detail question asks about one piece of information in the passage rather than the passage as a whole The answers to these questions are generally given in order in the passage , and correct answer is often a restatement of what is given in the passage , This means that the correct anwer often expresses the same idea as what is written in the passage , but the words are not exactly the same More often they are restatements of the information and require that you know synonyms and related words The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about “stated detail questions” Stated detail question how to identify the According to the passage,……… question It is stated in the passage……… The passage indicates that……… The author mentions that………… Where to find the anwer The answes to these questions are found in order in the passage How to answer the Choose a key word in the question question Skim in the appropriate part of the passage for the key word or idea Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully Look for the answer that restates an idea in the passage Eliminate the definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices The sample passage Williamsburg is a historic city in Virginia situated on a peninsula between two rivers, the York and the James It was settled by England colonists in 1633, twenty-six years after the first permanent English colony in America was settled at Jamestown In the beginning the colony at Williamsburg was named Middle Plantation because of its location in the middled of the peninsula The site for Williamsburg had been selected by the colonists because the soil drainage was better there than at the Jamstown location, and there were fewer mosquitoes The question: According to the passage, Williamsburg is located A on an island B in the middle of a river C where the York and the James mee D on a piece of land with rivers on two sides The passage indicates that Jamestown A was settled in 1633 B was settled twenty-six years after Williamsburg C was the first permanent English colony in America D was originally named Middle Plantation The passage states that the name Middle Plantation A is more recent name than Wiiiamsburg B derived from the location of the colony on the peninsula C refers to the middle part of England that was home to the colonists D was given to the new colony because it was located in the middle of several plantations Detail questions about “What is not in the passage” “unstated Detail questions” You will sometimes be asked in the Reading Comprehension section test to find an answer that is not stated or not mentioned or not true in the passage This type of question really mean that three of the answers are stated, mentioned , or true in the passage, while one answer is not Your actual job is to find the three correct answers and then choose the letter of the one remaining answer You should note that there are two kind of anwers to this type of question: (1) there are three true answers and one answer that is not discussed in the passsage, or (2) there are three true answers and one that is false according to the passage The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about “unstated detail questions” Unstated detail question how to identify the Which of the following is not stated………? question Which of the following is not mentioned………? Which of the following is not discussed………? All of the following are true except ………… Where to find the anwer The answes to these questions are found in order in the passage How to answer the Choose a key word in the question question Scan in the appropriate place in the passage for the key word or related idea Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully Look for the answer that are definitely true according to the passage Choose the answer that is not true or not discussed in the passage The passage: In English There are many different kinds of expressions that people use to give a name to anything whose name is unknowm or momentarily forgotten The word gadget is one such word It was first used by British sailors in the 1850s and probably came from the Frech word gachette, which was a small hook In everyday use, the word has a more general meaning Other words are also used to give a name to something unnamed or unknown, and these words tend to be somewhat imaginative Some of the more commonly used expressions are a what -d’ye-call-it , a whatsis, a thingamabob,a thingamajig, a doodad, or a doohickey The questions: Which of the folowing is not true about the word” gadget” ? A It is used to name something when the name is not knowm B It was used at the beginning of the nineteenth century C It most likely came from a word in the Frech language D Its first known use was by Brtish sailors Which of the foolowing is not metioned in the passage as an expression for something that is not knowm? A A thingamabob B.A gadget D A what-is-it C A doohickey Locating Details Sometimes the question in a reading passage will ask you to determine where in the passage a piece of information is found The answer choices will list possible locations for that information The best way to approach this type of question is to study the question to determine the information that you are looking for and then to go to the lines listed in the answers and skim for that information Question about where in the passage Where in the passage…… ? how to identify the question Where to find the anwer The answes can be in anyof the lines listed in the answer to the question How to answer the Choose a key word or idea in the question question Skim the lines in the passage that are listed in the answers to the question You should skim for the key word or idea Choose the answer that contains the line numbers of a restatement of the question The passage: Meteor Crater, a great crater approximately 40 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona, is generally thought by scientists to have formed as a result of the impact of a 60,000 ton meteor about 50,000 years ago The meteor, made of nickel and iron, disintegrated on impact and spread half a bilion tons of rock over the surface of the land The massiveness of the meteor can only be imagined from the mammoth size of the crater, which measures a mile in diameter and three miles around the top The rim of the rater rises more than 150 feet above the plain where the meteor impacted and is visible for more than te miles on a clear day Where in the passage does the author discuss the composition of the meteor? A Lines 1-4 B.Lines 4-5 C.Lines 6-8 D.Lines 8-10 Where in the passage does the author mention the distance from which the crater can be seen? A Lines 1-4 B.Lines 4-5 C.Lines 6-8 D.Lines 9-10 Reading for Reference In the Reading Comprehension section of the test, you will sometimes be asked to determine which noun a pronoun refers to In this type of question it is important to understand that a noun is generaly used first in a passage, and the pronoun that refer to it comes after Whenever you are asked which noun a pronoun refers to,you should look before the pronoun to find the noun The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about pronoun referents Pronoun referents how to identify the The pronoun “…… ” in line X refers to which of the question following? Where to find the anwer The line where the pronoun is located is generally given in the question The noun that the pronoun refers to is 10 How to answer question generally found before the pronoun the Find the pronoun in the passage (The line where the pronoun can be found is generaly stated in the question) Look for nouns that come before the pronoun Read the part of the passage before the pronoun carefully Eliminate any definitely wrong answer and choose the best answer from the remaining choices The passage: Carnivorous plants , such as the sundew and the Venus flytrap, are generally found in humid areas where there is an inadequate supply of nitrogen in the soil In order to survive, these plants have developed mechanisms to trap insects within their foliage They have digestive fluids to obtain the necessary nitrogen from the insects These plants trap the insects in a variety of ways The sundrew has sticky hairs on its leaves; when an insect lands on these leaves, it gets caught up in the sticky hairs, and the leaf wraps itself around the insect The leaves of the Venus flytrap function more like a trap, snapping suddenly and forcefully shut around an insect The question: The pronoun “they” inline refers to A humid areas B these plants C insects D digestive fluids The pronoun “it” in line refers to A a variety B the sundew C an insect D the leaf Reading for Inference Some questions in the Reading Comprehension of the Reading Test will require answer that are not directly stated in the passage To answer these question correctly , you will have to draw conclusion from information that is given in the passage Two common types of indirectly answered questions are (1) inference question and (2) transition question Inference question You will sometimes be asked to answer a question by drawing a conclusion from a specific details in the passage Question of this type contain the word implied, infered, likely, or probably to let you know that the answer to these questions are not directly stated in the passage, but are understood by drawing conclusion from the information given in the passage The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about inference question Inference question how to identify the Which of the following can be infered about……….? 11 questions From the passage, it can be infered that…………… It is implied in the passage that……… It is most likely that………… What probably happened………? Where to find the anwer The answers to these questions are found in order in the passage How to answer the Choose a key word in the question question Scan the passage for the key word ( or a related idea) Carefully read the sentence that contains the key word Look for an answer that could be true, according that sentence The passage: The Hawaiian language is a melodious language in which all words are derived form an alphabet of only twelve letters, the five vowels a,e,I,o,u and the seven consonants h,k,l,m, n,p,w Each syllable in the language ends in a vowel, and two consonants never appear together,so vowels have a much higher frequency in the Hawaiian language than they in English This musical -sounding language can be heard regularly by visitors to the islands Most Hawiians speak English, but it is quite common to hear English that liberally spiced with words and expressions from the traditional languge of the culture A visitor may be greeted with the expression alohá and may be refered to as a malihini because he is a newcomer to the island This visitor may attend an outside luau where everyone eats too much and may be invited afterwards to dance the hula The question: Which of the following is not probably not a Hawaiian word? A mahalo B mahimahi C meklea D moana It is implied that a luau is A a dance B a feast C a concert D a language Transition questions You will sometimes be asked to determine what probably came before the reading passage (in the preceding paragraph) or what probably comes after the reading passage (in the following paragraph) Of course, the topic of the preceding or following paragraph is not directly stated, and you must draw a conclusion to determine what is probably in these paragraphs This type of question is a transition question It asks you to determine that you understand that good writing contain transitions from one paragraph to the next A paragraph may start out with the idea of the previous paragraph as a way of linking the ideas in the two paragraphs A paragraph may also end with an idea that will be further developed in the following paragraph The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about transition questions: 12 how to question Transition questions identify the The paragraph preceding the passage probably…… What is most likely in the paragraph following the passage? Where to find the anwer The answers can generally be found in the first line of the passage for a preceding question The answer can generally be found in the last line for a following question How to answer the Read the first line for a preceding question question Read the last line for a following question Draw a conclusion about what comes before or after Choose the answer that is reflected in the first or last line of the passage Example The passage: Another myth of the oceans concerns Davy Jones who in folklore is the mean-spirited sovereign of the ocean’s depths The name “ Jones” is thought by some etymolodists to have been derived from the name “ Jonah,” the Hebrew prophet who spent three days in a whale’s belly According to tradition, any object that goes overboard and sinks to the bottom of the ocean is said to have gone to Davy Joes’s locker, the ocean-sized, mythical receptacle for anything that falls into the water Needless to say, any sailor on the seas is not so eager to take a tour of Davy Jones’s locker although it might be a rather interesting trip considering all the treasures located there The paragraph preceding this passage most probably discusses A the youth of Davy Jones B Davy Jones’s career as a sailor C a different traditional story from the sea D preparing to travel on the ocean The topic of the paragraph following the passage most likely is A valuable items located at the bottom of the ocean B where Davy Jones is found today C Jonah and the whale D preventing objects from falling overboard Reading for vocabulary In the Reading Comprehension section of the test, there will be a number of vocabulary questions To answer this type of question, it is of course helpful if you know the meaning of the word that the test is testing however, it is always necessary for you to know the meaning of the word; often there are skills that you can use to help you find the correct answer to the question: (1) finding definitions from structural clues, (2) using context clues to determine meanigs Find definitions from structural clues 13 When you are asked to determine the meaning of a word in the Reading Comprehension section of the test, it is possible (1) that the passage provides information about the meaning of the word and (2) that there are structural clues to tell you that the definition of a word is included in the passage The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about structural clues to help you understand unknown vocabulary words Structural clues What is……… ? how to identify the What is the meaning of……….? question What is true about……… ? Information to help you determine what something Where to find the anwer means will generally be found after the punctuation clue, the restatement clue, or the example clue How to answer the 1.Find the word in the passage question 2.Locate any structural clues 3.Read the part of the passage after the structural clue carefully 4.Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices The passage: One of the leading school of psychological thought in the twentieth century was behaviorism - the belief that the role of the psychologist is to study behavior, which is observable, rather than conscious or unconscious thought, which is not Probably the best- known proponent of behaviorism is B.F.Skinner, who was famous for his research on how rewards and punishments influence behavior, He came to believe that positivie reinforcements such as praise, food, or money were more effective in promoting good behavior than negative reinforcement, or punishment The questions: 1.In “behaviorism” in line 1, a psychologist is concerned with A Conscious thought patterns B Unconscious thought patterns C Observable actions D Unobservable actions 2.What is “ positive reinforcement” in line 5? A A gift B A reward C A bribe D A penalty What is “ negative reinforcement” in line 6? A A promotion B A Reward C A surprise D A punishment Use context to determine meaning of difficult words On the test you wil sometimes be asked to determine the meaning of a difficult word, a word that you are not expected to know In this case, the passage will give you a c indication of what the word meanss Example A line in the pasage: 14 … The barges headed across the lake……… how to identify the question Where to find the anwer How to answer the question The question: A “barge” is probable which of the following? A A train B A plane C A bicycle D A boat In this type of question, you are not expected to know the meaning of the word barge Instead, you should understand from the context that if the barge went across a lake , then it is probable a type of boat Answer (D) is therefore the best answer The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about vocabulary questions containing difficult words: Vocabulary question containing difficult words What is the meaning of……….? Which of the following is closest in meaning to ….? The question usually tells you in which line of the passage the word can be found 1.Find the word in the passage 2.Read the sentence that contains the word carefully 3.Look for context clues to help you understand the meaning 4.Choose the answer that the context indicates The passage: The black widow is the most dangerous spider living in the United States It is most common in the southern parts of the country, but it can be found throughout the country The black window got its name because the female has been known to kill the male after mating and, as a result, becomes a widow The black widow is rather distinctive in appearance; it has a shiny globular body, the size and shape of a pea, and is marked on its underbelly with a red or yellow spot The female is considerably more ample than the male, roughly four times larger on the average If a human is bitten by a black widow, the spider’s poison can cause severe illness anh pain Black widow bites have occasionally resulted in death, but it is certainly not the norm for black widow bites to be mortal In line 2, the word “widow” means A a type of poison B the dead male spider C the human victim of the spider D a female whose mate has died Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “globular” in line ? A Earthen B Luminescent C Green in color D Round The word “ample” in line indiscates that the spider is A feminine B large in size C dotted with color D mormal Which of the following has the same meaning as the word “mortal” in iline 10? A Deadly B Painful C Poisonous D Sickening III Instructing students to increase their vocabulary A good way to increase your vocabulary is to read.The more you read, the large your vocabulary becomes It is usually better to read books than newspaper or magazine articles because in a book some of the vocabulary items occur several times The repetition of words in contexts helps you to remember them.In addition, because a word can have several meaning , you can learn allof them by encountering the word in various sentences Frequently , students believe that by choosing academic books they will learn more new words while this can be true for some , it doesnot work for every one The problem is that an academic text may be too difficult In this case, the student will probably not finish the book On the other hand , students choose books that they enjoy, they are more likely to finish them It really doesnot matter what type of books students read, as long as they continue reading When choosing a book to read ,you need to keep in mind one important factor For most adults, an average of approximately 12 new words per page represents the level of frustration ( the limit of difficult ) that they can successfully overcome If the average number of neew words on a page is greater than 12 an adult reader probably will not finish the book because it is too hard If the difficulty of the text is appropriate for your reading level, it is better to use the dictionaryonly occasionally If you look up every words you don’t understand, you may become tired , bored , and frustrated In addion, most adults remember meanings of the word better if they have to figure the out from the context than if they look them up In fact , using dictionaries can be a little tricky English –English dictionaries provide accurate explanations of word meanings and usage and there are many learner’dictionaries available However , they may be difficult for some students to use On the other hand , translating dictionaries may not be very accurate and can prove to be misleading As many language learners already know , every language has words and idea that are very difficult to translate into another language In this case, translating dictionary can be particularly deceptive.As a general rule , then , you should try to guess meaning of a word from the sentence or the story in which they occurs If you see a word two or three times but still can not figure out its meaning, then look it up in a dictionary Another practical way to increase your vocabulary is to learn prefixs, stem (root) , and suffixes that result in new grammartical categories of words Sometimes , a prefix can completely change the meaning of a word; for example , the word satisfactory means reasonably good , but the word unsatisfactory means not good IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Up to now, I have applied strategies for reading comprehension to teach reading at many classes In school year 2016-207 this research is applied to grade 12 students at class: A1, A4 The result after applying the research in teaching 16 Total of students Excellent-good grade Average grade Weak-bad grade 140 (100%) 20 (34,2%) 95 (54,8%) 25 (11%) * The comments from my colleagues: According to them, this was a effective teaching lesson All of the skills were explained in detail The lesson also helps students develop their reading skill * The results from my students: During learning process, most of the students felt motivated At the end of the lesson, after marking and analysing the result, I felt quite satisfied as about 80 percent got excellent – good and average grade PART C CONCLUSION Needless to say, English is the main language of every aspect in our daily life It is is a subject at every level of our national curriculum Being an English language teacher at a high school, I am particularly concerned about Students’ ability of English language Therefore, I have tried my best to apply effective and flexible approaches to the lessons especially reading skill Through studying documents involving the study, exchanging teaching experience with my colleagues, I have applied this aproach to teaching grade 12 students how to read effectively I personally think that my students can solve reading comprehension quite well I hope my contribution will help students develop their reading skill.Despite my best efforts, mistakes are unavoidable, I would be very grateful if I can get comments from you and friends THE CONFIRMATION OF THE HEADMASTER MA.NGUYEN THI HA Thanh Hoa, May 18th 2018 I hereby declare that this my experience initiative and no parts of the initiative have been copied or reproduced by me from any other’s work without acnowledgement Writer PHAM DAC TUYEN 17 18 ... study in teaching process - Observing and drawing out experience PART B CONTENTS I Teaching students to deal with the words they not understand *All reading passages in the GCSE examination contain... Applying skills to each reading passage in the final exam V The methods of study - Studying documents dealing with the strategies for reading - Discussing with other teachers - Applying the study... skim for that information Question about where in the passage Where in the passage…… ? how to identify the question Where to find the anwer The answes can be in anyof the lines listed in the answer