Universidad de Los Andes – Táchira Subject: English Reading

Departamento de Idiomas Modernos Comprehension Strategies

San Cristóbal - Venezuela Instructor: Franklin E. Alfonzo V.

HOW TO READ A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

A student’s ultimate aim in reading a foreign language is to be able to grasp ideas as quickly as
easily as he would as if he were reading his native language. Yet in early stages of learning English,
the first inclination of most students is to translate. Translation is a slow, laborious process. The thread
of the idea may become lost, as well of the enjoyment of reading. Furthermore, an exact translation is
an art as itself and not a practical procedure for everyday reading. The student should try to develop a
feeling for the foreign language so that he is really reading not deciphering word for word.

There are two different methods of reading a foreign language. Intensive Reading it is a
careful reading to note the structure of the language and how words are used, so that one can in turn
use the constructions words, and phrases on its own. This method of intensive reading is very useful
in mastering the basic principles of a language and in learning to use peculiarities of idiom. However,
the techniques employed in this process are not those of rapid, fluent reading. To develop the ability to
read rapidly and easily, you need to use a second method. Extensive Reading, this is rapid reading
of a great of easy material. Our primary purpose here is not to learn new structures and vocabulary to
the point where you can reproduce them in written and oral work of your own, but to understand the
ideas being communicate as quickly and completely as possible. In reading your own language, you
understand more difficult words and sentence structure than you yourself use. This is true in a foreign
language as well.

The main barriers to fluent reading in a foreign language are vocabulary and sentence
structure. Mastering vocabulary is not difficult at this stage. An English-native language dictionary is
an aid, but do not rely on it heavily or you will be translating. The exact counterpart of a word in
another language is difficult to find. However, when you are reading, try to look up as few words as
possible. Consulting a dictionary interrupts your thought. You may be able to get the meaning of a
word from its context, its use in the sentence. Notice how it is used in relation to the idea as a whole.
Notice similarities to other words that you know. The reading selections are accompanied by
vocabulary drills on word families, common roots, and structural forms.

Mastering structural difficulties is more of a problem. The patterns that you have learned in
your intensive reading will aid you. You may have to reread portions of the selection, however, to
perceive the relationship of the words to each other. Mark difficult stops, but do not spend too much
time on them in an initial reading of the material. Do not lose the meaning of the selection as a whole.
After you have read a larger part of the selection, the meaning of the difficult passage may become
clear. Then reread the selection until you can read the difficult passages easily.
In your early stages of reading for fluency, then, the following steps are useful.

1. - Read the selection through as rapidly as possible the get the meaning as a whole. Knowing
the whole idea will help you to understand the difficult details, mark difficult words and
difficult passages, but do not look up any more words in your dictionary than absolutely
have to. Do not spend so much time trying to unravel difficult passages that you lose the
thread of the idea.

2. - Go back over the parts you have marked as difficult. You may find that you know the
meaning of many of the words from their use in the sentences, and many of the difficult
passages will become clear when you see their relationship to the whole.

3.- Reread the entire selection to fix in your mind any words and constructions that you had
difficulty with the first time and to get the feeling of the reading and thinking in the foreign
language try to read the material as rapidly as possible, in the same way that you would
read your native language. Do not translate.

If you still find words during this rereading that you must look up, it may be helpful to write them
down in a notebook kept for that purpose. Words are learned most easily, however, though actual use.
Reading them in context several times is usually more efficient than trying to memorize lists. Structural
difficulties may take more than one reading to fix the pattern in mind. Practice on these will make
similar constructions easier when you encounter them later on. In order to improve reading speed,
develop fluency, and get rid of the habit of translation or word-by-word reading, time yourself on
reading of easy material in which you have mastered the difficulties. Try to improve your reading
speed.

There are certain techniques for efficient reading that apply whether you are reading your
native language or any other. Though they will be more difficult to apply in reading a foreign language,
they will help you develop reading skill. Some of these are:

1. - Read for ideas, not words. Although saying the word aloud or to yourself is useful in
intensive reading, it prevents reading fluency. By all means, say the unfamiliar word when
you go back over the material to study vocabulary, but not when you are reading to grasp
ideas quickly.

2. - To read for ideas, follow the author’s organization. Try to get the relationship between his
ideas. This is particularly important in reading factual material, where you do not have the
progress of a story to guide you.

3. - Be flexible. Vary your procedure to suit your purpose. Sometimes you need to skim rapidly
for general content, and sometimes you need to read slowly and carefully.
 Reading for ideas by determining the general plan of the material and looking for the sequence
of thought will help you in overcoming word-by-word reading. This may take time and practice,
however. The focus should be on the trend of the idea that you are trying to follow, rather than on the
words that make it up.

Following the author’s organization helps you in reading for ideas. If you know where you are
going, meaning can be determined more quickly. You can predict where you are going; meaning can
be detrained more quickly. You can predict to a certain degree what topic the author will discus next.
Narrative is usually organized chronologically - by time sequence. Factual material may be organized
this way also, but two other common types of organization are by division of ideas or logical sequence
of thought. Less often used is spatial order, sometimes used in description or exposition.

If material is organized chronologically, the development of the thought is not difficult to follow.
In narrative, the progress of events aids you in following the author’s ideas. In factual material, it often
helps to look first for the general idea of thesis that is being developed. This is usually stated in a
thesis sentence in the opening paragraph. Each following paragraph, or group of paragraphs, will
develop some aspects of this central idea and will have a topic sentence in which this particular aspect
is stated. Sometimes the idea of a main division is not stated in a topic sentence, but it is implied. You
can trend the general of the selection by looking for these main ideas. In skimming, or making a quick
survey of material what it contains, this is the technique used. Key words often serve as guideposts to
help you to follow the development of the author’s thought. In material that is organized
chronologically, look for such words as first, next, then, after that, finally, at last, the following year.
These usually introduce the main ideas.

If material is organized by division of ideas, you expect to find the ideas listed. If the author is
discussing government, he might use divisions as legislative, executive, and judicial branches. If he
talks of religion, he might speak of Christianity, Buddhism, and Mohammedanism. If he is explaining
the reasons for the defeat of the South American Civil War, he might mention the northern blockade of
southern ports, the lack of industrialization in the South, and the breaking of lines of communication.