Topic 8

8. WRITTEN LANGUAGE. THE READING-WRITING PROCESS.

READING COMPREHENSION: TECHNIQUES OF GLOBAL AND
SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF TEXTS. WRITING: FROM
COMPREHENSION TO PRODUCTION.

1. THE FOUR BASIC LINGUISTIC SKILLS

1.1. INTEGRATION OF THE SKILLS
2. WRITTEN LANGUAGE
2.1. CHARACTERISTICS OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE
2.2. PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

3. THE READING-WRITING PROCESS.

3.1. LEARNING TO READ IN ENGLISH: THE INITIAL STAGES
3.2. READING TO LEARN
3.3. LEARNING TO WRITE IN ENGLISH: THE INITIAL STAGES
3.4. WRITING IN THE LATER STAGES
4. READING COMPREHENSION: TECHNIQUES OF GLOBAL AND
SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF TEXTS.
4.1. READING MATERIAL
4.2. READING STRATEGIES
4.3. METHODOLOGY AND ACTIVITIES
5. WRITING: FROM COMPREHENSION TO PRODUCTION.
5.1. WRITING SKILLS
5.2. METHODOLOGY AND ACTIVITIES

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In order to master a language, we need to understand their native speakers and also to
make ourselves understood. It involves being able to encode oral and written messages
(speaking and writing) and to decode oral and written messages (listening and reading).
In order to communicate effectively, communicative competence is essential.
Based on this view, we will explain the development of the four linguistic skills in the
foreign language classroom. Then we will concentrate on written language, paying
attention to its characteristics and the pedagogical implications derived from them.
Afterwards we will describe the reading-writing process in English. Finally we will
focus on the two written skills, reading and writing.
We deal with an essential topic since successful communication, which is the basis of
understanding among human beings, depends on the mastery of the four linguistic
skills. The Foreign Language Curriculum for Primary Education highlights the
significance of this topic by including in its objectives, blocks of contents and
assessment criteria the development of reading and writing with a communicative
purpose.

1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE FOUR BASIC LINGUISTIC SKILLS

Learning a language in Primary Education has a practical objective: to be able to
communicate. Therefore, the four linguistic skills must be taught from a communicative
point of view: students must have a motive for listening, speaking, reading or writing.
Listening and reading are receptive skills. In the past, they were considered passive
skills; however, a whole mental process takes place to properly decode messages. The
main difference between listening and reading is the time available to decode the
message. Speaking and writing are productive skills. They are more complex because
they demand creativity. When we speak there isnt too much time to create, so the
process is mechanic. When we write there is more time to create but there is no
interaction. Consequently, clarity is fundamental.
In order to achieve a proper learning, it is convenient to take into account some
principles, so that children learn in a natural way: not speaking before listening, not
reading before speaking and not writing before reading. To reason to follow this
sequence is that the mother tongue is learnt in this way.
According to the Communicative Approach, the four skills must be worked on at the
same time, but not to the same extent. Reading and writing are abstract activities, and
children are not mature enough to deal with abstract concepts. Therefore, they must be
reached at the end of Primary Education. The current educational law has kept this in
mind and establishes that oral language is of prime importance in Primary Education.
INTEGRATED SKILLS

In everyday life skills are not used in an isolated way, they are combined. In the English
class, we have to do the same. The integrated-skill approach involves the teaching of the
language skills in conjunction to each other, and exposes learners to authentic language.
Integrating the language skills promotes the learning of real content and is highly
motivating to students.

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In order to integrate the language skills in the classroom, teachers must learn more
about the various ways to do so, and reflect on their current approach to evaluate the
extent to which the skills are integrated. According to Byrne, it is essential to use varied
groupings when designing integrated activities because they offer many opportunities
for listening, speaking, reading and writing. Some activities in which skills are
integrated are project work, role-play or dictations.

2. WRITTEN LANGUAGE
Since this topic deals with the two written skills, we are going to concentrate on the
main characteristics of written language:
1. Writing is static and permanent. This allows more time for its preparation and
promotes careful organization.
2. Written language demands more correction than spoken language. Sentences are
expected to be carefully constructed, linked and organized.
3. There is no interaction, in general, between the writer and the reader. Therefore,
there is no immediate feedback. For this reason, clarity is essential.
4. Written language tends to be more formal than spoken language.
5. Writing has unique graphic features (spelling, punctuation) that make it more
difficult to learn than oral language.
PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

The characteristics of written language will influence the teaching and learning of
reading and writing. Therefore teachers must take into consideration the pedagogical
implications derived from these characteristics.
1. Due to the difficulty of the written medium and the differences between oral and
written language, written understanding and production are introduced later than
oral skills. It is more natural for a person to listen to or speak a language first
and to read and write it later.
2. The graphic features of writing make the learning of this skill the slowest to
acquire.
3. Students find the writing of words in English difficult, because of the difference
between the oral and written forms. Spelling exercises, dictations and copies are
very useful because they help students to pay more attention to English spelling.
4. Being able to write involves learning how to organize ideas in a written text. The
teacher must give notions on style to help the students organise their discourse
logically and cohesively.

3. THE READING-WRITING PROCESS

LEARNING TO READ IN ENGLISH: THE INITIAL STAGES

Reading must be introduced after pupils have some basic knowledge of the spoken
language. When they discover the written word in English, they quickly realise that
English spelling does not always help them in their reading. The teacher must support
pupils association of letters, words and pictures through songs, visual aids and games.
There are two main approaches to teach reading in English:

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1. Look and say (picture + word): Teachers often use look and say as part of
vocabulary teaching, so when children learn to say a new word, they learn to
read it. The teacher can help children with whole word recognition by decorating
the classroom with functional print: posters, words of songs, signs, labels,
questions written in English...
2. Phonics: According to this approach, its advisable not to teach the names of the
letters when starting to teach reading, as some of the letters of the English
alphabet dont match the sounds of the language. The teacher must teach the
way in which letters sound, not the names of the letters.
READING IN THE LATER STAGES

When children are able to read, they can use the printed word to learn new vocabulary
or grammar through short texts, descriptions or dialogues. When they read silently on
their own, they are developing confidence and independence.
The strategies that they use when they are reading are similar to those used when they
are listening to spoken messages. Prediction is an important part of the reading process.
Children need to practise thinking about and guessing what comes next. They can
predict what a word means from context, pictures, what they know about a topic
In the Primary classroom, teachers can help children to develop as readers by:
1. Having a reading area with good picture books.
2. Having reading material written by the teacher and the children.
3. Having simple information cards on books about other countries.
4. Having examples of different types of texts: greeting cards, menus, comics,
leaflets, advertisements...
5. Letting the children read and listen to stories at the same time.
6. Playing games where reading is needed to find out information.
LEARNING TO WRITE IN ENGLISH: THE INITIAL STAGES

In the early stages of learning to write in English pupils may still be consolidating their
concept of print. Copying provides opportunities to practise handwriting, learn and
consolidate new words, develop an awareness of English spelling and practice simple
sentence patters. Children must not be asked to write something that they cant say.
In the second year, pupils can write sentences and very simple texts. This writing
provides specific language practice; they have to select and spell words correctly, use
the correct word order, use grammatical structures accurately and link sentences.
Writing practice helps to consolidate the vocabulary, grammatical structures and
sentence patterns. Children enjoy personal writing, so its a good idea to personalise
writing tasks. Older pupils become more aware of writing for an audience.
In the English classroom, teachers can help pupils in the process of learning to write by:
1. Reinforcing the connection between writing and speaking English, and reading
and writing in English.
2. Developing an awareness of environmental print.
3. Making sure that their own classroom has examples of English writing.

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4. Having special letter days, in which children bring in things which begin with
a particular letter.
5. Developing the concept of English letters with magnetic letters or alphabet
games.
6. Reinforcing the concept of words and letters with alphabet songs and games.
7. Creating a Post Office.
WRITING IN THE LATER STAGES

After two years of English, many pupils will have mastered the more basic skills in
writing, and must be encouraged to produce writing for a specific context and audience.
The main goal at this stage will be to motivate children to write. To do this we can
follow these steps:
1. Explain them what is the purpose of the writing task.
2. Help them with planning their ideas before writing.
3. Encourage them to think about the message they want to convey.
4. Make them aware of the fact that someone will read their text so things must be
explained as clearly as possible.

4. READING COMPREHENSION: TECHNIQUES OF GLOBAL AND

SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF TEXTS
Reading is a receptive skill, so it has similar features to listening. Reading
comprehension is a complex active process that involves the recognition of graphemes
to identify the lexemes they correspond to.
The development of reading depends on some internal and external aspects. The internal
aspects are related to the readers personality and attitudes towards a text. They include
the linguistic maturity of the reader (his/her level of comprehension), the informative
maturity, which is the ability to detect familiar experiences that can contribute to the
understanding of the context and situation of the text, and the emotional maturity, which
refers to the readers attitude to reading. External aspects concern the presentation of the
text, the layout, its content, grammatical structures and vocabulary.
There are three levels in the process of reading. The first one is mechanical reading,
which involves the identification of words. Understanding meaning refers to the
comprehension of the global message of the text. The last stage is interpretative reading.
At this stage the reader thinks about the text and adopts a critical attitude towards it.
READING MATERIAL

In real life, people read something because they have a desire to do so and a purpose to
achieve. We usually read letters, lists, messages, stories, maps, announcements... In the
English class, we must use similar texts (adapted to the students age and English level).
A distinction must be made between authentic texts (designed for native speakers) and
non-authentic texts (materials that have been adapted so that students can understand
better and recycle the vocabulary or structures they have been learning). The use of
authentic texts in Primary Education might discourage students, since they probably
wont understand them. However, they can be introduced to authentic materials
(comics, menus, greeting cards), and be asked to label or compare different texts.

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READING STRATEGIES

The strategies used in reading comprehension are similar to those used in listening
comprehension. Teachers must train students in:
1. Identifying the topic.
2. Predicting and guessing information, using their prior knowledge.
3. Working out the meaning from context.
4. Reading for general understanding (skimming) without worrying too much
about words that are not understood.
5. Reading for specific information (scanning).
6. Reading for detailed information.
METHODOLOGY AND ACTIVITIES

Reading must be taught from a communicative point of view: children must be

interested in what they are going to read and have a purpose to do so. According to
Krashen, pleasure reading is an important source of comprehensible input. Therefore,
teachers must ask students about their interests wherever possible.
Reading with a purpose means approaching texts with a specific goal. For example, they
can read advertisements for flats to find one that finds a particular set of requirements.
Purposeful reading can also be part of whole communicative tasks, which involve
performance of reading in conjunction with other skills: listening, speaking or writing.
For example, students can read a number of texts such as timetables or maps, and listen
to a weather forecast, to choose the best means of transport to use on a trip.
The Communicative Approach emphasizes the active role of the learner. Therefore,
lessons must be planned in a way that ensures childrens involvement in classroom
activities. A reading comprehension lesson follows three stages. Each stage requires
pupils active participation.
PRE-READING STAGE

At this level the teacher tries to motivate the students by relating the topic to their
personal experiences or prior knowledge. The aim is to create a desire to read in the
students. Some of the activities that can be done in this stage are:
1. Introducing the theme of the text.
2. Predicting possible information.
3. Presenting new vocabulary (only the words that would make it very difficult to
understand the text).
4. Giving one or two guiding questions for students to think about as they read.
WHILE-READING STAGE

Students carry out a task while they are reading the text: understanding the general idea
of the text, looking for specific information... These tasks are classified into:
- Intensive listening: Children search for detailed or specific information:
recognizing key words in a written text, matching a word with its definition,
looking for specific information in invitations or graphs, listening and reading at
the same time...

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-

Extensive listening: Students deal with longer passages without worrying about
understanding every unknown word or structure. It gives practise in deducing
meaning from context and increases motivation. Extensive reading activities:
getting the general idea of the text (the gist), suggesting a title for the text,
matching titles with short texts, giving an opinion about a text, completing
sentences, guessing unknown words from context...

POST-READING STAGE

Students perform tasks related to what they have read, usually integrated with other
skills. The main objective at this stage is to provide practise of the language. Examples:
answering comprehension questions, checking that the while-reading activities are
correct, looking up words in the dictionary, summarizing, discussing the topic of the
text, making a crossword based on key words of the text, drawing a picture related to
the text, writing a similar text, preparing role-play exercises related to the topic...

5. WRITING: FROM COMPREHENSION TO PRODUCTION

Writing is the productive skill in the written mode. When we write, we use graphic
symbols, which relate to the sounds that we make when we speak. These symbols have
to be arranged according to certain conventions to form words, and words to form
sentences. These sentences then have to be ordered and linked together in certain ways,
forming a coherent whole called text.
It is a difficult activity, even in our mother tongue. In a foreign language the difficulties
increase because sometimes the writer doesnt know the word s/he has to write, if the
grammar is correct, if the spelling is right or if a word is appropriate in a certain context.
WRITING SKILLS

Five skill areas are important for written expression:

1. Mechanics: It refers to a writers ability to form letters, words, numbers and
sentences that are legible (the writers handwriting).
2. Production: Number of words, sentences and paragraphs that a writer is able to
generate. It is important to convey our ideas clearly and to produce a message of
a good quality.
3. Conventions: Rules for capitalization, punctuation and spelling. If a writer has
problems with these rules the written product might be difficult to understand.
4. Linguistics: It consists in the ability to use varied vocabulary and correct
grammar and syntax.
5. Cognition: It refers to the organizational aspect. It has to do with cohesion,
coherence and logic.
METHODOLOGY AND ACTIVITIES

In the first stages of foreign language learning, students are learning to write. Pupils are
involved in guided copying with focus on handwriting, spelling, punctuation and using
the correct words and grammar. Activities tend to focus on word or sentence level.

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When they are able to write properly, they write to learn: It is creative, and includes
choosing the right vocabulary, grammar, sentence patterns, spelling and layout; having
ideas and joining them. These activities have a communicative purpose and a target
audience. Keeping in mind the students age and interests, we could make the following
classification:
- Personal writing: diaries, shopping lists, recipes, notes
- Social writing: e-mails, postcards, letters, invitations...
- Study writing: summaries, exams
- Creative writing: poetry, riddles, stories, songs
Four stages must be followed when teaching to write:
COPYING

It improves handwriting, reinforces spelling and sentence structure and helps students to
retain words. Copying can be meaningful if thinking is involved in the copying process.
Examples of meaningful copying activities:
1. Listing words, for example objects that can be found in a house.
2. Putting lists of words in alphabetical order.
3. Classifying words into categories: food, clothes, animals...
4. Spelling activities, like crosswords.
5. Games such as Bingo.
CONTROLLED PRACTICE

The teacher gives the students very strict and precise guidelines to write. This writing
doesnt have necessarily a communicative value, because the aim is to use language
correctly. Some examples of controlled activities are:
1. Blank-filling.
2. Spelling games.
3. Alphabet games.
4. Sentence transformation.
5. Cued short dialogues.
6. Matching sentence halves and copying.
7. Putting words in the correct order.
GUIDED PRACTICE

Students begin to produce sentences and short texts with help from the teacher. Guided
activities include:
1. Parallel writing: Students are given a model text and write a similar one.
2. Creating sentences from a tickchart.
3. Answering comprehension questions about a text.
4. Writing speech bubbles or dialogues.
FREE PRODUCTION

It is more expressive and creative. In Primary Education is still guided. Examples of

free writing activities:

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1. Communicative activities: Writing instructions, short messages and short letters,
writing to pen friends, writing questionnaires, quizzes and imaginary diaries,
describing pictures...
2. Summarizing the ideas of a text that students have read or listened to.
3. Filling in forms by giving their personal data.
4. Writing for fun: Clues for crosswords, instructions for a game, songs...
5. Writing compositions: Students write down their ideas, make a draft, correct it
and write the final text.
6. Project work.

6. CONCLUSION
In this topic, we have started by focusing on the development of the four linguistic skills
in the English classroom. We have also explained the main characteristics of written
language and the aspects that teachers must take into account when teaching written
skills. Then we have analysed the reading-writing process. To finish, we have dealt with
reading and writing, paying attention to the sub-skills that our pupils need to master
them and the most appropriate methodology to use in class.

7. BILBIOGRAPHY
BREWSTER, J. et al. (2003): The Primary English Teachers Guide. Penguin English.
HARMER, J. (2003): The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.
LARSEN-FREEMAN, D. (2003): Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching.
Oxford University Press.
VARELA, R. et al. (2003): All About Teaching English. Centro de Estudios Ramn
Areces.