Intensive Reading

Intensive Reading

Intensive Reading (IR) occurs when the learner is focused on the language rather than the text. For example, the learner may be answering comprehension questions, learning new vocabulary, studying the grammar and expressions in the text, translating the passage (sometimes called 'careful reading'), or other tasks that involve the student in looking intensively (inside) the text. Most often all the students read the same short text that the teacher decided.

The advantage of IR is that it focuses the learner on certain aspects of the language. However, IR is usually done with difficult texts with many unknown words that require the learner to use a dictionary. This means the reading is slow and that there are few opportunities for the learner to learn to read smoothly, because she has to stop every few seconds to work on something she can't understand.  This slows or prevents the development of fluent eye movements that are so necessary to improve one's reading skill.

IR is the most typically taught method of teaching reading.  Unfortunately some teachers only know this method and believe that by teaching the vocabulary and grammar that is all the learner needs.  This is not so, she also needs practice in reading and to be trained in developing reading skills.

Video Tutorial

Link Practices

http://esl.about.com/od/readinglessonplans/a/l_readtypes.htm

References:

http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/research/nso/ss/ss_c.html