By Dr Jeremy Koay
In literature classes, a common focus for reading is aesthetic appreciation of a particular text. However, the focus of reading in an ESOL classroom tends to be on finding information. This focus in the ESOL context reflects an emphasis on the literal meaning of a...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
Critical thinking is widely agreed on as an important component in language classrooms. But what is critical thinking? Yang and Gamble (2013, p. 398) state that critical thinking involves at least four skills:
By Dr Jeremy Koay
In countries where English is not a mainstream language, many children learn English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
One of the challenges that some parents in EFL environments report is that they are not able to teach their children English due to their own limited English...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
Fluency is often associated with the ability to perform a task quickly, smoothly and effortlessly, as Jiang (2016) summarises. However, this aspect of language should not be considered in isolation from other aspects, such as topic familiarity, vocabulary and the...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
Children who have issues with reading are sometimes described as poor, reluctant, or struggling readers (Jalongo & Hirsh, 2010). These descriptions tend to focus on children rather than their reading problems.
While it is important to focus on strategies to...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
As the name suggests, intensive reading refers to reading short texts thoroughly and with clear goals, such as to answer reading comprehension questions or to identify how sentences are linked. Unlike extensive reading, the goal of intensive reading is not to read...
By James Jenkin
Students should read more. Reading has a significant impact on learners’ English in general: it seems to raise proficiency in other skills, such as writing and speaking (Waring, 2006).
Studies such as Ro (2016) report that extensive reading has a positive effect on...
By Dr Jeremy Koay
Graded readers are generally understood as storybooks that are simplified and adapted for children by limiting the vocabulary range and controlling the grammatical structures. However, content is not limited to storybooks, and there is a significant proportion of...
by Dr Jeremy Koay
As a young child, my mother would spend time reading graded readers with me. This is what it looks like. I would read aloud from a book and my mother would ‘correct’ my pronunciation. At primary school, I was sometimes asked to read a passage...
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