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Date Posted: 15:19:43 11/29/04 Mon
Author: Amanda
Subject: comments
In reply to: Ângela Vitorino 's message, "Re: Final Paper" on 15:53:31 11/28/04 Sun

Date Posted: 15:53:31 11/28/04 Sun
Author: Ângela Vitorino
Subject: Re: Final Paper
In reply to: Kátia 's message, "Final Paper" on 15:57:39 11/24/04 Wed

FINAL PAPER

TEACHING READING SKILLS – COHESIVE DEVICES

Reading is an active skill, which involves ideas transmitted through language. In this process of understanding a written text, a reader interacts with the text and the writer, using two processes. The top-down process occurs when the reader uses (1) his background knowledge related to the content and when the written symbols are decoded and the reader
recognizes words, phrases and sentences the process is called bottom-up.

Through the bottom-up approach, the readers need to use their linguistic knowledge and reading skills in order to decode the written text (CELCE/OLSHTAN, ….). For that, they should recognize the cohesive devices, which (2) are words and phrases within a sentence that unite the paragraph. As stated in the Collins/Cobuild English Grammar, l990, they are used “to show what sort of connection there is between one sentence and another”. Because of this, when working with cohesive devices, teachers should teach the function words, which include the pronouns and their referents, showing their importance. Besides that, they should encourage the students to recognize and use them.

Among the cohesive devices, pronouns are the most used ones. Classified by Halliday and Hasan (l976, ibid) as a referential cohesion, pronouns and determiners “serve to identify individuals and objects that are he named at some other point the text”. In the following example, the pronoun he refers to the name Mikhail Gorbachev (NUNAN, l999) (3):
‘Mikhail Gorbachev didn’t have to change the world. He could have chosen
to rule much as his predecessors did”

First of all, teachers should remark that, although the pronouns are short words, they have an important role in reading. By using pronouns, a new sentence becomes dependant on the previous one, helping to unite the paragraph (REID, l982). They are of vital importance to an accurate understanding of the text.

After that, teachers should teach the pronouns, going beyond their grammatical nature, with a “meaningful-context” (MICKULECK, …) Many students of a foreign language can be confused working with them, because pronouns present different levels of meaning. According to CELCE/OLSHTAN, …., “English often creates ambiguity in terms of such referential ties since redundant elements such as case and gender are not always available, or if available, still allow for multiple possible antecedents”. Considering their example “Bob talked to Hans and then drove his car to Berlin”, students can be in doubt if the word refers to Bob or Hans.

After the pronouns have been presented, the students can be given a task in which they have to recognize each pronoun and its referent. This is a very important step in understanding a text and linking its parts. Beginners should be asked to choose a text, like a song and ad or (4) underline the pronouns (DIAS, R.). A good idea could be to ask the advanced learners to apply their knowledge to a longer text. As a suggestion, students could write a list of the pronouns they found and their referents and compare their lists with other students’. Consider the paragraph of the text “Habit” (ALVES, ibid)
“An action that is lavishly rewarded as soon it is performed is well on its way to becoming a habit. Once a habit is firmly entrenched, it can be sustained by cues different from those that originally created it, and it need not be rewarded so regularly or well. Indeed, habit may become its own reward.”
In this sample, students will find:
a) it (subjective pronoun) – referent : action
b) its (possessive adjective) – referent: action
c) it (subjective pronoun) – referent: habit
d) those –(demonstrative pronoun) – referent: cues
e) it ( objective pronoun ) – referent: habit
f) it (subjective pronoun) – referent: habit
g) its (possessive adjective ) – referent : habit

In the last stage, students should be able to use the pronouns in an adequate way. A sample exercise could be to present them with a cloze in which the pronouns are the missing words, so that they can complete the text with the suitable pronoun. See the paragraph text about Madonna below (ALVES, ibid)
“____ created a provocative image of ___________. _____ dresses _______ in an unconventional way. _____ first album Madonna (l983) was a great success. The MTV channel had an important role in _____ career. ______ showed her music videos.”

In conclusion, while reading it is important to teach, work with the recognition and adequate use of cohesive devices, in which the function words, such as the pronouns and their referents, represent a vital role for understanding a text and linking its parts(5). Learners should be encouraged by teachers to follow these steps, in order to avoid difficulties in the interpretation process and to acquire linguistic competence.


REFERENCES:

CELCE, Murcia, OLSHTEIN, M., Discourse and context in language teaching, Chapter 7, Cambridge, l990
COLLINS COBUILD English Grammar. London & Glasgow: Collins, 1990
DIAS, Reinildes, Reading Critically in English, Editora UFMG, 2002
MICKULECK, B.S., A Short Course in teaching reading skills
NUNAN, David, Introducing Discourse Analysis, Penguin, l993
NUNAN, David, Second Language Teaching and Learning, Heinle and Heinle, l999
OLIVEIRA, Nadia A., Para Ler em Inglês, O Lutador, 2000
OSHIMA, Alice, HOGUE, Ann , Writing academic English, 2nd edition, Longman
Ângela, I have here some suggestions for you to think about them. (1) the verb could be in the present as you are talking in a general way and about a process that “occurs” - in the present tense. (3) I’m not sure if this reference is to the example or the quotation, my suggestion was made believing that it was to the example as you wrote another reference “Halliday…” on the previous sentence. (4) Again I’m not sure if my suggestion is what you meant, but I got really confused by the way it was before. (5) Angela, I really do not know what you what to express exactly in this sentence, I’m not sure if it is the ‘while’ which is confusing me, I guess it is not only this, revise it. I believe that you should take out the “and” and ad a comma. But it’s really more than that because after all this changes I’m still not sure of what you mean and so I feel unable to suggest something. (6) And remember to underline the titles in the reference.

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  • Re: Final Paper -- Fernanda, 16:20:18 11/29/04 Mon
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