How to use skimming technique at the lessons.

(by Belianina E.V

Linguistic Gymnasium #115 Omsk )
In this paper I try to analyse some articles. I also look at some of
theoretical bases for skimming reading and support the author's sayings.
The situation when children after graduating school cannot read rapidly may
be familiar. It is our view that skimming is the foundation of an effective
reading programme for the fist and second language learners alike.
Our reasons for reading are different. But we read because we wanted
to get something from the written text. Anyway we get message. But the
question is how teach children to be an effective reader. Every text and
every reader require different treatment. It is necessary to stress the general
aim of reading development programme (Catherine Nuttall).
To enable students to enjoy ( or at least feel comfortable with) reading in the
foreign language, and to read without help unfamiliar authentic texts at
appropriate speed, silently and with adequate understanding. I want to
discuss only part of the statements. It's really good to teach students without
help. They can use this knowledge in their real life, students have to develop
the ability to read on their own.
Unfamiliar text. All our life we read not only for pleasure but for
survival either. All texts and notes we read in the street we have to read once
and understand at once. The reading skill (Nuttall) is of no practical use
unless it enables us to read texts we actually required for some real life
purpose. That's why authentic texts are demanded. A flexible reading style is
a sign of a competent reader. Students must learn to use different rates for
different materials and different purposes, and must have practice in
assessing what type of reading is appropriate in various circumstances.
Unless we encourage them to skim and scan and treat some texts with a
degree of irreverence , they may never learn to take these risks, which are
necessary step towards becoming a more effective reader. As in the case of
reading speed, however flexibility is required. We need to understand enough
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to suit our purpose, and this means that we frequently do not need to read or
understand every word. Sometimes complete understanding is necessary, but
it is wasteful to read with the same amount of care for every purpose. And if
we settle for less than complete understanding in certain reading tasks the
reasons should be clear not only for teacher but for students either.
One of the principal characteristics of a good reader is flexibility
(Nuttall). People who read flexibly a skilled at judging what they need to get
out of a text to accomplish their purpose. Sometimes people are in the
situation they must react quickly. At pre-intermediate level we should teach
student real life reading skill such as scanning and skimming It is important
to note that textbooks do not always provide texts for skimming.
By skimming Nuttall means glancing rapidly through the text to
determine its gist. For example in order to decide whether a research paper is
relevant to our own work or to keep ourselves superficially informed about
matters that are not of great importance to us much newspaper reading is
skimming.
Skimming is important technique, it does not remove the need for
careful reading (Neville Grant), but they enable the reader to select texts, or
parts of texts that are worth spending time on. And skimming to get a topdown view is valuable as a way of approaching difficult texts.
Students need plenty of practice in skimming. Skimming requires
closer attention to the texts than scanning does (Nuttall). That's why it is
rather important to give the copy of the text to every student. It is difficult to
skim if the text has to be shared by more than two people.
We should teach skimming reading through the exercises. Catherine
Nuttall suggests some activity according skimming reading. Some of those
activities can be done in groups, each member skimming one or two items.
Have time limits and emphasise the need for speed but be cautious about
races. The task mustn't ask for subtle comprehension, otherwise they cannot
be answered by skimming. Catherine Nuttall points the following tasks for
skimming reading.
1. Supply a text and several titles.

Task: Which title fits the text best? (the titles must not differ in subtle ways,
or careful reading would be needed)
2. Supply a text and a list of topics.
Task: Which topics are dealt with the text?
3. Supply a text and several figures (photographs, diagrams, etc)

Task: Which figures illustrate the texts?

4. Supply a dozen or so letters (you might collect suitable items from

newspapers or magazines).
Task : Categorise the letters in some way, eg Which Letters are complaining
about something? asking for help? praising? offering an opinion on an issue?
5. Supply copies of news items from different papers about the same

incident.
Task: Categorise the stories in some way, eg Whuich imply that X is guilty?
Which include opinion/conjecture? Which eexplain the background to the
events?
6. Supply several texts, some dealing with topic X, some not.
Task: Which of these texts deals with topic X?
These tasks teach real-life skills (Neville Grant) in reading and
students need this skill in real situations. The object is to enable the students
to become increasingly self reliant. We should always decide first what our
aims are. Neville Grant believes that the textbook writer will have already
decided which of the aims listed here are targeted for a particular reading
exercises. It is for the teacher to decide which of these aims are appropriate
in a particular lesson. The probleme is that it is impossible to use all texts for
every kind of reading. I am sure that text for skimming reading should be
specially designed. Sometimes a textbook will emphasising testing rather
than training. I fully agree with N. Grant that our teaching should alsocater
for encouraging real life reading skills.In general terms, there are three skills
that should concern us:
reading for gist;
reading for information;
reading for study.
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Reading for gist and reading for study are the main points of discussion.
They are very common forms of reading, most frequent in newspaper
reading. Our purpose in reading is to satisfyour curiosity, and so we want to
read it quite quickly, to get the gist of the story. I think there is one problem
in teaching and training skimming reading . We teach learners real-life
reading skill in the classroom. Would our students appreciate it if such skill
was taught not just as classroom exercises, but as communicative activities
which link up with the real life. Neville Grant suggests to preced any text by
a reading for gist.
Reading for study. This necessary in different situations where our learners
may have to study texts in other subjects in the English language. Skimming
reading involved making a text easier to understand by making it more
predictable.There are some common operations:
looking at any introductory material there may be;
looking at any illustrations or diagrams;
loking at headings and subheadings;
reading the first paragraph and the first sentence of each of the other

paragraphs;
reading the last paragraph.

SUMMMARY
In this paper we have seen that textbooks frequenyly neglect important

aims such as real life reading skills and flexible reading for different
purposes. This is the case teachers should look for opportunityies of
achiving such aims.
We should pay attention to the nature tasks in the classroom for skimming

reading. Tasks and activities

which require the students to react

personally to the text, shouldn't be neglected.

The

tasks

for

skimming

reading

must

not

ask

for

subtle

comprehension.The reading in the class room as the reading in the real

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life should have time limits and emphases the need for speed. But the
teacher shoud be cautious about races.
Teaching learners important technique as skimming needs plenty of

practice, device races to practice them, ensure the necessary paxe. Many
tasks can be done in groups, which makes the supply of materials more
feasible.