The blogger's note:
Reading comprehension is an important part of language learning. Most students dwell on the misconception that they need to understand each and every word in a text to understand the underlying meaning. That is partly why most of the learners are reluctant to read lengthy passages. Most of them , I practically know , evade reading passages.
Some teachers have the habit of explaining each and every word in a reading passage and then get the student to answer the questions. Here , really , the teacher plays the role of the grandfather telling a story to his grandchildren. The students are made passive listeners. They never make their own attempt.
Such methods should never be used in handling a reading passage. Here , with or without knowledge, the teacher hinders the student's reading attempt; there by making reading a horrible experience in the student. The student loses his confidence in reading.
Reading sentences by breaking sentences into meaningful chunks is one good method a student can be trained for reading.
The teacher has a big role to play here. The teacher needs to expose the student more towards reading texts. Also, a student should never be directed ambiguous questions. An initial confidence should be built that he / she can understand a given text. The questions should be framed in such a way that the learner easily traces the answers. Later, the teacher can move from simple to complex.
Sajendra Kumara
A trained teacher of English
Sri Lanka
TP/WhatsApp: 0777597875
Activity 1 : Read the following passage and do the activity.
The Bermuda Triangle covers a large area of the Western Atlantic Ocean. The three points of the triangle are Bermuda, Florida and a point in the sea about 200 miles off the Northern tip of Brazil. It is an area of unexplained mystery.
More than 100 planes and ships have vanished completely here, most of them since 1945, and more than 1000 have been lost here in past 26 years. Not a single body or piece of wreckage from the vanished planes or ships has been found. Many of the planes which have disappeared had normal radio contact with their airfields until the very moment they vanished. Other pilots have radioed the most extraordinary messages. Their compasses were swinging about. The sky had turned yellow and cloudy when everywhere else in the region was very clear, the surface of the ocean was strangely coloured and moving widely.
1. If the following statements are True write T or if they are False write F.
a) Only planes have disappeared here. (....)
b) The ocean suddenly turned yellow. (....)
c) The Bermuda Triangle is in Florida. (....)
2. How many people have been lost in the area mentioned in the passage? ...............
3. Did the pilots have radio contacts until the last moment they disappeared? ........
4. Write two changes in the environment that occurred in the area.
A) .................... B) .....................
5. What are the following words reffered to?
a) "it" in paragraph one. ................
b) "their " in paragraph two. ..........
