Becoming a Reading Teacher

Jane Spiro is Professor of Education and TESOL at Oxford Brookes University, National Teaching Fellow and Research Lead for Applied Linguistics. Her book Changing Methodologies in TESOL (Edinburgh University Press, 2013) forms the core of the MA in TESOL in the School of Education. She has run programmes for teachers of language and literature worldwide, including Hungary, Poland, Mexico, Kenya and India. Her doctorate was on the role of creativity in language education (Bath University 2008). She is a published poet and novelist: her resources for the teaching of language through creative writing include Storybuilding (2007) and Creative Poetry Writing (2004), with Oxford University Press. She was co-editor of the journal Reading in a Foreign Language in its first incarnation in the UK. Her most recent publication is Crossing Borders in University Learning and Teaching (Routledge 2022). Amos Paran is Professor of TESOL at the IoE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. His background is in teaching EFL in secondary schools in Israel, and he has worked and taught internationally, including visiting appointments in Chile, Germany and Hungary. He has also written EFL coursebooks including supplementary skills books for reading comprehension, and his doctoral work looked at processing words and reading times in L1 and L2. His current areas of interest are using literature in EFL, reading in EFL and distance education, and he has published extensively in these areas, including co-editing Testing the Untestable in Language Education (with Lies Sercu, Multilingual Matters, 2010) and co-authoring the Teachers’ Handbook Literature (with Pauline Robinson, OUP, 2016). He is a tutor on the free MOOC, Teaching EFL/ESL Reading: A Task-Based Approach. He is the book reviews editor of the ELT Journal and co-convenor of the AILA research network, Literature in Language Learning and Teaching (LiLLT).

'This publication describes a very neat virtuous circle that begins with research into reading, moving on to its implications, the applications of these and their implementation and back again to research.'Rebecca Place, IATEFL Voices'Becoming a Reading Teacher is an informative and thought-provoking companion for any teacher at any stage of their pedagogical journey, and it supports the teaching of reading to learners of any age. [...] The book not only introduces the attractive concept of a ‘reading culture’ it additionally offers concrete steps to creating one. This laudable aim is supported by relevant research findings with over 100 pages of practical suggestions and concrete ideas for small-scale classroom research. While the publication does not claim to be a step-by-step reading syllabus; it offers substantial scaffolding for educators to develop important micro- and macro-skills for learners of English to read more confidently, competently, fluently and joyfully.'Alison Hasegawa, Children’s Literature in English Language Education 12.2 (2024)

• List of Tables List of Abbreviations Series Editors PrefaceIntroductionBecoming a reading teacherWhy should a teacher of reading engage with research?Ten questions about readingWhat this book is notWhat this book is PART ONE From research to implications A Framing reading as linguistic processQuestion 1: What are we doing when we read? Question 2: What are the different reasons and ways people read? Question 3: What knowledge do we bring to our reading? Question 4: What is the relationship between L1 and L2 reading? B Framing reading as personal experienceQuestion 5: Why and how do people read for pleasure? Question 6: Can reading change the way we think and feel? C Framing reading as collective experience Question 7: How far and in what ways is reading a collective act? D Framing reading as pedagogy Question 8: What pedagogies are used in the teaching of reading?Question 9: How should teachers of reading teach language?Question 10: What does it mean to be an effective teacher of reading? Our beliefs and principlesPART TWO From implications to application A Teaching reading as linguistic processQuestion 1: What are we doing when we read?Activity 1.1 All in one: the shape of wordsActivity 1.2 Word chain race Activity 1.3 Learner generated word race Activity 1.4 Run-on sentences: seeing and hearing sentence boundariesActivity 1.5 Text shopping: what’s next in the text?Activity 1.6 Reading aloud and holistic readingActivity 1.7 Storytelling: stories without barriers Question 2 What are the different reasons and ways people read?Activity 2.1 Reading the landscape: noticing and acting in the linguistic landscapeActivity 2.2 Bits and pieces: choosing your favourite bits in a longer textActivity 2.3 Wikipedia race: searching for something specific Activity 2.4 Information slant: separating facts and opinionsActivity 2.5 Why I read: personal reading behavioursQuestion 3 What knowledge do we bring to our reading?Activity 3.1 Rhyme race: reading and soundsActivity 3.2 Word bags: knowing about wordsActivity 3.3 Language detectives: reading and language patternsActivity 3.4 Text guessing: reading and text typesActivity 3.5 Reading between the lines: reading for nuanceActivity 3.6 Border crossing: reading culturally Question 4 What is the relationship between L1 and L2 reading? Activity 4.1 Book covers crossing borders Activity 4.2 Text memory game Activity 4.3 First language story sharingActivity 4.4 Talking to the author: asking questions about a textActivity 4.5 Comprehending across languagesB Teaching reading as personal experienceQuestion 5 When and how do people read for pleasure? Activity 5.1 Feeling stories Activity 5.2 The dream book competition: understanding reading preferencesActivity 5.3 Reading spurs and blocks Activity 5.4 Profiles of lifelong readersQuestion 6 Can reading change the way we think and feel?Activity 6.1 Nobel Prize champions: books which changed the way we thinkActivity 6.2 Re-reading over time: returning to childhood storiesActivity 6.3 Reading in layersActivity 6.4 Personal reading historiesC Teaching reading as collective experienceQuestion 7 How far and in what ways is reading a collective act? Activity 7.1 Performing readingActivity 7.2 Dream circles: building reading circlesActivity 7.3 Choosing togetherActivity 7.4 Reading shaping the childD Teaching and training reading pedagogyQuestion 8 What pedagogies are used in the teaching of reading?Activity 8.1 Communicating with textsActivity 8.2 Text activities: interacting with texts Activity 8.3 Task-based reading and the real worldActivity 8.4 Activity detective: mining for principlesQuestion 9 How should teachers of reading teach language?Activity 9.1 Genre-bending: unravelling text typesActivity 9.2 Language doctor: unravelling a textQuestion 10 What does it mean to be an effective teacher of reading? Activity 10.1 Finding a star teacher 1: criteria for stardomActivity 10.2 Finding a star teacher 2: Asking questionsActivity 10.3 Star teacher of reading competition Activity 10.4 Walking into the shoes of star teachers PART THREE From application to implementation A Becoming a reading teacher: connecting with othersB Becoming a reading teacher: know yourself as a readerC Building reading resourcesD Building a reading assessment strategyE Reading for many kinds of learnersF Reading for different kinds of classesG Reading outside the classroomH Creating a reading cultureI ConclusionPART FOUR From implementation to research Introduction: researching as a teacherA Researching reading as linguistic processResearch Idea 1: How does cultural knowledge help us read a text?Research Idea 2: What are the differences in the way learners process LI and L2 texts?Research Idea 3: Does translanguaging help reading in the L2? Research Idea 4: How many words do my learners need to understand for a text to be readable? B Researching reading as personal experience Research Idea 5: What makes readers choose books?Research Idea 6: What are the triggers for reading enjoyment in my own reading life? C Researching reading as collective experienceResearch Idea 7: Do reading communities make a difference to my learners? Research Idea 8: How do my learners interact in self-run reading groups?D Researching reading pedagogy Research Idea 9 What kind of questions do I use in the reading classroom?Research Idea 10 What are the qualities of successful reading lessons? Final reflections: the virtuous circle Reference ListIndex