Every
academic year, when I tell my students they have to read a specific number of
readers per term, I always encounter the same bad reaction: eye rolling.
Another
variety of that reaction is the one I get when I include READING in the class
planning on the board. The younger the students, the harder it is to break through
that initial refusal. When that wall seems unbreakable -more often than not- I
like to ask them about that opposition and what causes it. They can be very
argumentative, but I honestly get their point.
Take the
first picture, for instance. The facility looks impressive and appealing from
an adult’s point of view. However, most of my younger students would disagree
and argue that they’d rather spend their free time outdoors or playing computer
games. Touché.
Then, after some discussion and negotiation we usually
compromise. This involves me taking notes of issues that are a cause for
concern or, on the contrary, seem alluring to them. Having done some research, I
usually introduce them to some options and they always have the final say. From my
experience, I find this very helpful to raise the students’ commitment to the
activity and, what’s more, I rarely encounter any opposition having reached
this point.
I obviously can’t do this with every single text we read in class.
I only implement this method at the beginning of the first term. If I’m lucky,
all this process leads us to a situation pretty similar to the picture in which
all the students are eagerly reading. In those groups with younger students
this is usually achieved with texts that are appealing and attractive to the
students. Sometimes their interest emerges from the topic itself, some others
derives from the format (i.e. comic books).
As for my
personal experience as a reader, I must confess that I’m a book worm: I read as
a pastime and pleasure. Hence, I’ve never thought of reading as an arduous
task. Although I must admit that my reading habit in L2 has changed over time.
At the beginning, it consisted on short texts usually introduced by the
teachers. It wasn’t neither easy nor cheap to put my hands on an adapted text
or reader. Nowadays, the amount of texts written in L2 available on the
internet is immeasurable and all you have to do is help yourself.
Regarding
the different reading habits depending on the chosen language, I guess I don’t
follow a specific pattern or have a favourite genre. I’m an eclectic reader who
tends to read the books in the language they were published. As regards the
format, I mostly read online or use the e-book, although I love the paper format
when facing one of the classics -the smell of paper is irreplaceable.
So, in
short, as former L2 learners –still in progress- it should be easy to put
ourselves in our students’ place. Been there, done that; right? Now, as teachers
we must figure out the main problems our students might encounter when facing their
reading tasks and try to provide them with tools to overcome their fears and
enjoy the pleasure of reading.
