‘Purpose for Reading’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale
Most reading is done for a purpose.
It could be for pleasure, for learning, or to find out information.
If it is the first of these, then little is required other than the selection of something that will bring pleasure.
The last two entail something more.
In both cases, things must be done on top of the reading if you are to be successful.
Let us take reading for learning to begin.
If you read a text with the intention of learning from it, then you must pay attention.
If this is not done then the information conveyed will not pass into your mind; at least, not in any usable form.
There may be some imbibing of the text by a sort of osmosis, whereby you later remember or recognise snatches of what was written.
However, to effectively assimilate information through reading – to learn it – attention must be paid.
If we wish to discover something by reading a text, then we need to analyse the material as we go.
We must arrive at the writing with some notion of what we wish to find out and how we can go about discovering it.
In school, the purpose of reading tends to be to learn and to find out information.
Both processes require learners to do things.
Reading passively or inattentively is not sufficient.
Here are some examples of how you can help your EAL learners to read more effectively, by opening up the purpose behind the reading you are asking them to do.
‘Purpose for Reading’ Example One
Write out a set of questions for your EAL learners.
These should be analysis or comprehension questions.
Your EAL learners then work through each in turn, using them to focus their reading of a given text.
The questions act as a scaffold, making it simpler for your EAL learners to understand the piece of writing.
A good example of this approach comes from History.
Here, learners are encouraged to ask the same questions of any written source they study. Questions like:
- Who wrote it?
- Who were the audience?
- When was it written?
- How was it published?
- Is it corroborated by other sources?
Having a set of questions to refer to when reading helps focus the reader’s mind.
It gives them a series of things to do, providing structure and direction.
Think about the different types of texts you ask your EAL learners to read in your lessons.
See if you can come up with one or more question sets they can use to scaffold their reading of these texts.
For example, a primary school teacher might come up with a literacy question set, a history question set and a science question set.
Or a secondary geography teacher might come up with a question set for a specific year group.
‘Purpose for Reading’ Example Two
EAL learners may find it difficult to read a text, work out what it means, and analyse the meaning all at the same time.
Reading frames can overcome this problem.
Take a piece of A4 paper and divide it in three.
- In the top third write: ‘Words I do not know’.
- In the middle third write: ‘What is the writing about?’
- In the final third write: ‘What three things are most important?’
Learners can use the sheet as a guide that gives purpose to their reading.
This provides clarity, helping them focus their mind and stay motivated.
By working from top to bottom they will be going step-by-step from understanding, to meaning, to analysis.
As they fill in their sheet, they can visualise their progress.
It also means they are creating a self-scaffold they can subsequently refer to. For example, if you then ask them to write about what they’ve read.
Finally, the frame implicitly points learners to the connections between the words used in the text, the meaning of the text, and the most important elements of it, further helping them develop their understanding of it.
‘Purpose for Reading’ Example Three
Give EAL learners a piece of text to read.
Ask them one simple question to which you would like to know the answer.
Explain that the answer can be found by reading the text.
Once they have managed this (and if they cannot you might need to ask a simpler question, help them, or try a simpler text) ask them a slightly more difficult question, the answer to which is in the text.
Repeat this process, ensuring the questions get progressively more difficult.
In so doing, you will be helping learners to understand what analysing a text entails.
They will be learning through doing. By pitching the questions right – moving gradually from simple to difficult – you will ensure your EAL learners experience success.
This helps keep them motivated and guides them gently through a series of increasingly complex thought processes.
