DEVELOPING

READING SKILLS
A guide for language teachers
Contents

Trinity’s approach to language skills 1

Understanding reading 2

Classroom techniques 3

Adapting and creating reading resources 4

Trinity language support resources 6

Glossary of terms 6

Further teacher development 7

USING THIS GUIDE

w This guide aims to provide a resource for teachers looking to explore and develop reading skills
with their language learners.
w Definitions of terms marked with an asterisk (*) can be found in the Glossary of terms.
w Look out for the Top tips boxes.

These boxes give extra ideas, resources and

commentary related to developing this skill.
Trinity’s approach to language skills
Trinity believes that authentic communication is fundamental in language learning and assessment.
As such, a collaborative, dynamic approach to learning and teaching is central to developing
learners’ language skills, reflecting how language is used beyond the classroom. This includes
exploring not only each of the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) in isolation,
but also how the skills relate to and are used in combination with the others.

Personalisation
Before asking learners to read a text,
consider how it might relate to their personal
experiences to arouse their interest. After they
have finished reading, ask for their opinion or
reaction to the content.

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Understanding reading
When exploring reading with our learners, it’s important for both teachers and learners to be aware
of why we read and some of the processes and sub-skills* involved.
1. In our day-to-day lives, we read texts and graphics for different purposes. For example, we read
novels for pleasure or study, cinema schedules for key information, and business emails for work.
2. We approach different texts in different ways, depending on the context. We might read a long
news article slowly and intensively if it is a topic we want to focus on, for instance, but skim
or scan the same article to extract key information quickly. When we start reading in a second
language, our reading slower and tasks more challenging as we work on these skills.
3. We don’t need to understand every single word in a text to understand the general message.
4. In some cases, where we understand enough of the surrounding text, we may be able to work
out the general meaning of unknown vocabulary.
5. We often respond to things we read. For example, we reply to messages or emails, use the
information we read to write reports or give presentations, and react to and comment on social
media and news stories. It is important to understand the message in the written text clearly
before we respond to or share it.

Reading for pleasure

Lend learners graded* readers, encourage
them to find and share bloggers and content
creators to follow online, and point them
towards trustworthy news outlets.

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Classroom techniques
There are many approaches to developing reading skills. Whichever you take, the following
techniques will help address the key points noted above.
1. Engage learners with the content of a text before they read it. Activate their interest and
previous knowledge of the topic in open class discussion. Give learners a reason to read by
predicting content or comparing what they know to what is presented in the text.
2. Include tasks that require learners to initially skim or scan a text within tight but reasonable
time limits before they go on to read it again in more detail. This will help increase their reading
speed.
3. Create reading tasks that match the way they would naturally approach a text in their first
language. For example, skimming a news site to find an article of interest, scanning a web page
for prices or contact details, and reading an assignment task in detail.
4. Train learners to appreciate that not understanding every word won’t necessarily block their
understanding of the writer’s message. We can often skip over unknown words and phrases and
use the context to work out the overall meaning.
5. Create a glossary of any words or phrases your learners may not know and are essential to
understanding the text, where appropriate.
6. Help learners understand how discourse* markers, layout and other such features are used by
writers to clearly convey their message and tone within a text.
7. Use reading tasks as a steppingstone to developing other skills in class. For example, ask learners
to discuss their opinions on what they have read, create a presentation on a similar topic, write a
response to the text, write a similar text, or summarise the main idea(s) presented in the text.

Vocabulary
Reading texts gives learners the opportunity
to see vocabulary in context. Encourage them
to record new language of interest that can be
recycled in different ways both in and beyond
the classroom.

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Adapting and creating reading resources
Finding or creating reading texts to use in the classroom can be a rewarding and engaging
experience for both the teacher and learners.
Authentic texts like articles, online reviews, posters and signs, can be used in their original form
or adapted, depending on their appropriacy and the learners’ level. Coursebooks and classroom
resource sites also provide texts suitable for a particular language learning context and proficiency
level which can be edited to better suit the interests and needs of your learners.
Whatever the source of the text used in class, it is important that the questions and tasks
associated with them are appropriately designed to effectively develop reading sub-skills*. The
table on the following page provides some ideas as to how to structure questions with a focus on
a particular sub-skill. These could be used in a number of ways, such as multiple-choice, gap fill or
discussion questions.

Discourse analysis
Helping learners understand how a text is
organised will help them understand the
text and its message. This also feeds into
developing key writing sub-skills*.

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 FOCUS ON CAN DO EXAMPLE QUESTION STEMS

Lower order questions

The reader can retrieve or select

w How did the writer travel to X?
information such as main ideas,
Retrieval w When was X discovered?
key details and supporting
w What days does X happen?
details.

The reader can understand or

w What does X mean in this context?
deduce the meaning of words,
w How can X be rephrased?
Language phrases or expressions by using
w Which word in paragraph 1 is most
the surround texts within a similar in meaning to X?
familiar context.

w What type of text is this?

w Who was this text written to/for?
The reader can recognise the
w Why was this email/text/blog/written?
Text understanding genre*, type or overall purpose
w Which part of the text introduces a
of a text, or of parts of a text. different idea to X?
w What does the graph/chart show?

Higher order questions

The reader can identify

contextual, grammatical and w What does the writer understand
about X?
lexical cues to deduce or
Inference w What does the writer suggest about X?
interpret implicit and implied
w What does the writer imply with the
information, events, meanings statement X in relation to Y?
and ideas from texts.

Relationship
w Why does the writer compare X to Y?
w Why is the writer critical of X?
The reader can reflect on the w How are X and Y connected?

Evaluation content of a text in terms of

relationships and relevance. Relevance
w What do the writers state to
justify/support/explain X?
w What information in the text/chart
supports the view of X?

w According to text B, what is the best

solution to the problem described in
The reader can decide on the text A?
w Given the findings of text A, what is
relevance and usefulness of
Synthesis and integration the role of X in text B?
content between texts and w Which of the three writers disagrees
integrate information from them. with the others about X?
w According to text B, how could X in
text A be explained?

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Trinity language support resources
Trinity offers a wide range of free English language resources and teaching materials. These
support our qualifications, which cover every stage of learning, from beginner to advanced. We
offer two-skill oral assessments (GESE: Graded Examinations in Spoken English) and four-skill
assessments (ISE: Integrated Skills in English).
Visit trinitycollege.com/qualifications/english-language/English-support-resources to find these.

Replaying a recoring
Replaying a text (or section of a text) provides
further opportunities for learners to develop
different listening sub-skills. Consider
empowering your learners by giving them
control over how many times to listen, within
practical boundaries.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

The Common European Framework of Reference for

CEFR languages. An international standard for describing
language proficiency.

The study of language beyond sentence level. Focus on

Discourse
organisation, coherence, purpose, etc.

Types of written discourse, for example essays, emails,

Genre letter of complaint, advert. The genre directly relates to the
purpose, organisation, formality of the text and set phrases.

An adapted, ‘easy reading’ book that has simplified

Graded readers language graded to the learners’ level, used to support
extensive reading.

Relating to Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) which categorises

Higher/lower order questions
different levels of learning.

Allows learners to express their own ideas, preferences or

Personalisation feelings. It can make the language content more meaningful
and relevant.

These include:
w Skimming: quickly reading a text to get the gist/an
overview of the material
Reading sub-skills w Scanning: quickly reading a text to locate specific
information
w Prediction: anticipating the content of text
w Intensive reading: reading slowly for detail

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Further teacher development
Transformative Teachers webinars
This webinar series is aimed at English language teaching professionals who would like to
participate in regular development opportunities.
Coordinated by Trinity’s Academic team, the webinars include a wide variety of speakers from
around the world presenting on current trends and ideas that are shaping how we teach and learn
English. Find out more at trinitycollege.com/tesol-events

TESOL qualifications
Trinity’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) qualifications are designed to
support teachers throughout their careers — from early practitioner to experienced professional.
Our internationally recognised professional development suite comprises:

RQF Guided learning Total qualification Focus of pedagogical

Qualification
& EQF levels* hours (GLH)** time (TQT) knowledge and skills

CertTESOL Level 5 130 200 Essential TESOL

Specialist young learner

TYLEC — 58 100
TESOL
RQF — Level 4
CertOT 30 50 Specialist online teaching
EQF — Level 5

Specialist TESOL professional

CertPT Level 6 30 100
development

DipTESOL Level 7 150 600 Advanced TESOL

* RQF = Ofqual’s Regulated Qualifications Framework | EQF = European Qualifications Framework

** minimum time

Visit trinitycollege.com/TESOL to learn more.

Trinity Teach English Online: Developing reading skills

This asynchronous online unit from our Trinity Teach English Online course gives you practical and
reliable ideas for developing your learners’ reading skills in an online lesson. This includes advice,
tools and techniques, and videos of real teachers in real classrooms, accompanied by guided
observation tasks and professional commentary.
Visit trinitycollege.com/TEO for more details.

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