Chapter 3: Intensive Reading – What

Teachers Should Do

1. Purpose of Intensive Reading

As teachers, we should use intensive reading
as a method to improve students' knowledge of
language features (grammar, vocabulary,
cohesion) and their reading strategies (like
skimming, scanning, and inference). This type of
reading falls under the language-focused
learning strand of a reading curriculum.

2. How Intensive Reading Works

As teachers, we should guide students through
a text carefully and in detail. This often includes:
 Explaining meaning sentence by sentence
 Using the students’ first language to clarify
challenging parts (when appropriate)
 Checking comprehension through
translation tasks or structured activities
This method can be useful if used
occasionally, and if balanced with extensive
reading and communicative activities.

3. Avoiding Common Pitfalls

As teachers, we should avoid doing intensive
reading just to understand one text without
considering whether the skills or language
items are transferable to other texts. The
focus shouldn’t be just on this one reading
passage—it should contribute to long-term
language development.

4. Goals of Intensive Reading

As teachers, we should have two clear goals:
a. To Improve Comprehension:
 Use translation wisely to help students
understand the text and to confirm
comprehension.
b. To Teach Language Features:
 Use the text to highlight grammar and
vocabulary that will be useful in other
texts and real-life use.
 Avoid randomly focusing on items just
because they appear in a text. Instead,
prioritize features that are frequent, useful,
and transferable.

5. Selecting Language Features from Texts

As teachers, we should be cautious when
using texts to decide what grammar or
vocabulary to teach. Be aware of the following:
Positive Points:
 Language items are learned in context, not
isolation.
 This can support writing tasks later,
showing how language contributes to
meaning.
Negative Points:
 Texts may contain a random mix of frequent
and rare vocabulary or grammar.
 Teaching may focus too much on the specific
text’s topic, not on what will help students
in future texts.

6. Guiding Principle for Intensive Reading

As teachers, we should always ask:
“How does what I’m teaching today help students
read more effectively tomorrow?”
This question ensures that we are choosing
practical and reusable reading tools and
language features.
7. Four Ways to Make Intensive Reading
More Effective
1. Focus on High-Frequency Language Items
As teachers, we should choose grammar and
vocabulary that appear often across many
texts. These include:
 Common verb forms
 Everyday vocabulary
 Frequently used sentence structures

2. Focus on General Reading Strategies

As teachers, we should train students in
strategies that can be used with any text, such
as:
 Predicting what will come next
 Answering comprehension questions
(true/false, multiple choice, open-ended)
 Using standard reading routines (e.g.,
reading the questions first, scanning for
keywords)

3. Teach Key Vocabulary Skills

As teachers, we should help students become
better at learning and recognizing words by:
  Focusing on high-frequency words
 Teaching how to guess meaning from
context
 Practicing use of word parts (prefixes,
suffixes, roots)
 Encouraging dictionary use and
vocabulary cards

4. Support Grammar and Cohesion

Awareness
As teachers, we should develop students’
ability to understand:
 How sentences connect to each other
(cohesion)
 Common grammatical structures
 How to identify clauses, understand what
relates to what, and recognize connectors
like “however,” “although,” etc.

8. Teaching Genre and Text Structure

As teachers, we should expose students to
different text types (e.g., narratives, news
articles, opinion pieces) and help them:
 Recognize features that define the genre
  Use this understanding to help them with
writing tasks and future reading

What Should Teachers Focus On in Intensive

Reading?
1. Comprehension
 Understand the whole meaning of the text.
 Can include translation (especially in grammar-
translation method).
 Should be more than just understanding the
current text—it should help with future texts.
2. Sound-Spelling Relationships
 Teach both regular and irregular patterns.
 Use tools like phonics, spelling rules, and
reading aloud.
3. Vocabulary
 Focus on high-frequency words.
 Explain underlying meanings and uses.
 Assign key words for later study.
 Use methods like:
o Guessing from context
o Word parts (prefixes, suffixes)
o Dictionary use
o Learning with vocabulary cards
4. Grammar
 Explain difficult or important structures.
 Show how grammar supports meaning and
coherence.
5. Cohesion
 Help learners understand how sentences are
connected:
o What pronouns refer to
o Conjunctions
o Repetition or reference of ideas using different
words
6. Information Structure
 Teach learners to recognize types of information in
different text types.
o e.g. In a newspaper report: what happened,
when, who was involved, etc.
7. Genre Features
 Explain how vocabulary, grammar, and cohesion
work together to achieve the purpose of the text.
 Teach learners to recognize genre patterns.
8. Strategies
 Practice:
o Guessing meaning from context
o Using dictionaries
o Simplifying sentences
 o Taking notes
 Strategies are taught alongside other focuses (like
vocabulary and grammar).

✅ What Makes a Good Intensive Reading Exercise?

1. Focuses on Generalisable Features
 Teaches things that apply to any text (e.g.
grammar, vocabulary, strategies).
 Goal: Not just to understand this text, but to
become a better reader overall.
 Ask: “How does today’s lesson help with
tomorrow’s reading?”
2. Requires Reading the Text
 Exercises should force learners to read the actual
text or parts of it.
 Learners should relate parts of the text to each
other or to outside knowledge.
3. Provides Feedback
 Learners should see what they did well or poorly.
 Teachers should understand what needs more
attention.
 Helps both learner and teacher improve.
4. Is Easy for Teachers to Make
 Should not require expert skills or take too long to
create.
 Flexible for different topics or learner needs.
❓ Are Comprehension Questions Good Reading
Exercises?
🟢 Advantages
 They motivate learners to read.
 They can provide practice in reading.
 They can check understanding of vocabulary,
grammar, inference, etc.
🔴 Limitations and Problems
1. Too Focused on the Specific Text
o They help learners understand that text only—
not general reading skills.
o Don't teach transferable strategies.
2. Don’t Always Focus on Language
o Learners may focus on getting the right
answer, not on how to avoid mistakes in the
future.
3. Give Vague Feedback
o Hard to know exactly what was misunderstood
(grammar? meaning? logic?).
4. Difficult to Create Well
o Takes skill, time, and care.
o Many teachers rely on published questions,
which may not match learners’ needs.

📌 Conclusion
  Intensive reading is most effective when it
helps learners recognize and practice language
features and strategies that apply to many texts—
not just the one they’re reading.
 Comprehension questions have some value but
should not be the main or only tool.
 A good teacher should focus on transferable
skills and high-frequency language to prepare
learners for all reading situations.

Chapter 4: Extensive Reading

1. Role of Extensive Reading in Language
Learning:
 Extensive reading fits into two strands:
o Meaning-focused input (when the text is at
an appropriate challenge level), and
o Fluency development (when the text is very
easy).
 It supports both language acquisition and
enjoyment, motivating learners to continue
studying.
2. Learning through Extensive Reading:
 Encourages incidental learning (learning while
focusing on meaning, not language).
 Strengthens vocabulary and grammar knowledge.
 Needs high volume of input (~500,000 words
per year, e.g., 25 graded readers).
 Gains are long-term and require repeated
vocabulary exposure.

3. Vocabulary Threshold for Comprehension:

 Learners need to understand 95–98% of running
words in a text for effective comprehension.
 Below 90%, comprehension drops significantly.
 Beginners and intermediate learners should use
graded readers tailored to their vocabulary size.

4. Graded Readers and Vocabulary Levels:

 Example: Oxford Bookworms series has 6 levels
ranging from 400 to 2,500 words.
 It’s helpful to test learners' receptive vocabulary
(e.g., Schmitt et al., 2001 test) to assign
appropriate reading levels.

5. Importance of Interesting Texts:

 Learners are more motivated when they choose
what to read.
  Teachers should offer a wide range of engaging,
appropriate titles across multiple series.
 Learner preferences are more important than
teacher judgments.

6. Monitoring and Motivating Reading:

 Encourage learners to read a book every 1–2
weeks.
 Keep activities minimal—focus should stay on
reading itself.
 Use simple reading logs, book reviews, oral
presentations, and group discussions to
maintain engagement.
 Offer rewards and visual displays (e.g., favorite
book awards) to promote reading culture.

7. Supporting Extensive Reading:

 Should be part of a larger language program
including:
o Speed reading training (to increase reading
fluency).
o Vocabulary-focused tasks (without
overshadowing reading enjoyment).
o Guessing meaning from context (a
trainable skill to support vocabulary learning).
8. Vocabulary Learning Techniques within
Extensive Reading:
 Preview words before reading.
 Note repeated new words during reading.
 Share and discuss interesting words after reading.
 Use dictionaries strategically.
 Other Ways to Support Extensive Reading
 Extensive reading doesn't always have to use
simplified texts. There are other ways to make
difficult texts easier to understand, especially by
helping learners with vocabulary support. These
include:


 📝 1. Glossing
 What is glossing?
Glossing means giving the meaning of difficult
words near the word itself, either in the learner’s
first language (L1) or using a simple English (L2)
definition.
 How is it done?
 The gloss can appear in the margin beside the
line.
 Or it can be above the word, like in some
Japanese books, where translations are printed in
light gray.
 Sometimes, glossaries are at the end of a text,
but learners prefer glosses next to the word to
avoid interrupting reading flow.
 Why use it?
 Glosses help learners understand and learn
vocabulary.
 They are less distracting than using a dictionary,
which takes more time.
 Glossing is becoming more popular again because
of computer-based reading tools.


 💻 2. Computer-Assisted Reading
 What is it?
This means using digital tools to support reading
and vocabulary learning. One excellent tool is on
Tom Cobb’s website: [Link] → look
for “Read with resources.”
 How it works:
 Learners paste a text into the tool and click “build.”
 They can then:
 Click once on a word to hear it.
 Click twice to see examples in other sentences
(concordance lines).
 Click a dictionary link to get the meaning.
 Why use it?
 Makes it easy to get quick help without leaving
the text.
 Works well with online reading materials, like:
 Project Gutenberg: [Link]
for free classic books.
 Internet Public Library: for online newspapers
and other reading content.
 What does research say?
 Studies show that concordances, electronic
dictionaries, and hypertext glosses help with
vocabulary learning and reading
comprehension.


 ✍️3. Elaboration
 What is elaboration?
Elaboration means adding helpful information
to a text without removing anything. Instead of
replacing a difficult word, the writer adds
explanations to help the reader understand the
meaning.
 Example (from Lord Jim):
 "He was an inch, perhaps two, under six feet,
powerfully built, and he advanced straight at you
with a slight stoop or bend of the shoulders, head
forward, and a fixed from-under stare which made
you think of a charging animal like a bull.
His voice was deep, loud, and his manner displayed
a kind of dogged self-assertion, that is always
 saying things in a strong way, which had nothing
aggressive like attacking someone in it.
It seemed a necessity, that is, it was something he
needed, and it was directed apparently as much at
himself as at anybody else.
He was spotlessly neat, apparelled in beautifully
immaculate white from shoes to the hat on his
head, and in the various eastern ports where he got
his living as ship-chandler’s water-clerk he was
very popular.
A ship-chandler provides supplies for ships, and a
clerk works for the chandler."
 Note: In a real elaborated text, these explanations
would be included naturally, not marked in italics
or bold.
 What does research say?
 Research shows that elaborated texts can help just
as much as simplified texts.
 Even though elaborated texts are not widely
published, they are useful in classrooms.


 📖 Extensive Reading Programs

 This chapter mostly focused on how extensive
reading helps learning and how to support it
with tools like glosses, computers, and elaboration.
 But there are also practical questions like:
 How do we set up a library?
 How many graded readers do we need?
 Where can we buy them?
 For answers to these, see:
👉 Day & Bamford (1998) – a useful guide on
managing extensive reading programs.


 ✅ Key Takeaway
 Teachers are encouraged to:
 Set up extensive reading as an important,
required part of the course.
 Keep it well-organized and ongoing.
 Research shows that when done properly,
extensive reading has amazing results (e.g.,
Elley, 1991; Waring & Takaki, 2003).