My Learning Personal Learning Diary CLIL EVO 2016 week 4

Week 4 Reading in Clil

1st February 2016

The week has been engaging and dealing with an important skill: EXTENSIVE READING.

I personally feel that reading can open your mind and take you into new worlds. A book or a good reading can really make the difference. When you are learning a foreign language reading becomes a must. You need to work on vocabulary, reading skills and you should read differet texts.

I particularly liked the link to the article by Richard Day

who presented his " Ten Principles for teaching Extensive Reading "

http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/October2002/day/day.html

These principles which should be taken into consideration by all teachers and educators as reading requires a lot of work on behalf of the learner and this is a skill which needs practice, exercise and a lot of engagement. If students are not interested, they will not acquire any new words or language structure. Their process of learning will not develop as they are passive.

In particular, he focuses on the idea that teachers should be quiet and let the students learn, let them choose and also read as much as possible.

A deeper understanding of the importance of extensive reading can be found in the readings which we were given this week:

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/extensive-reading

http://www.fremmedspraksenteret.no/nor/fremmedspraksenteret/larings---ressurser/leseveiledning-i-engelsk/reading-beyond-the-textbook/why-is-extensive-reading-important_&PHPSESSID=35v63g37c503bvtohcbb9jvq26

http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/reading/reading-matters/reading-matters-extensive-reading/554233.article

Philip Browse suggested a good way for getting students into the habit of reading: first we should organize a class library and we should let them choose the books they want to read. Reading should be silent in class.

We have read about an interesting Reading Project which was presented online

http://tesolitaly.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/CLIL-rivezzi-tesol.pdf

The experience shared by the teacher in a " Liceo" is an example of how reading must be a pleasure and how the teacher has a different role: they become " facilitators".

I think that more schools should be engaged into such projects but I am also aware that in a " Liceo" you may have students who have developed their skills and can work on their own too, while in other schools like vocational schools it might be more difficult.

Here is the link to the project by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS https://elt.oup.com/feature/it/read_on/?cc=it&selLanguage=it

More ideas about how to approach reading in class can be found in this interesting blog post http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2012/11/01/whats-the-point-of-extensive-reading/

MY EXTENSIVE READING ACTIVITY CREATED FOR THIS WEEK

Presentation

Google Slides : the Framework for the Extensive Reading Project

Link to the slides online : https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OWNVFyquDnjc7MyiNpslPjpkEZviUvGwn0Ge-Huu8jM/edit?usp=sharing