For this posting, Khor Hei Ling (A121138) and I have got to do this analysis of reading comprehension together. Finally, we decided to choose reading comprehension because it’s a common thing that every people will do when learning English or attending for their English classes. They will not realize that with doing reading comprehension their English languages will be improved by times. From what we found in Wikipedia website, reading comprehension can be defined as the level of understanding of a passage or text. For examples, normal reading rates (around 200-220 words per minute) an acceptable level of comprehension is above 75%. Proficient reading comprehension depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly. If word recognition is difficult, students use too much of their processing capacity to read individual words, which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read.
EXAMPLES OF READING COMPREHENSION ACTIVITIES
Sample 1: Advice for a Shy Guy
(Two friends talking over lunch)
John: I just don’t know what to do. She’s so beautiful, but I don’t know what to say…
Alan: It can’t be all that bad. She’s just a person like you or me…
John: What should I do? Should I ask her on a date?
Alan: Why don’t you go a little more slowly? Just sit down next to her in the cafeteria, or in class. Anywhere. Say, ‘Hi, how are you?’, ‘My name is John.’ You know, the simple things.
John: But she’ll just turn away.
Alan: No, she won’t. She’ll say ‘Hi, nice to meet you.’. You should be more confident.
John: That’s easy for you to say.
Alan: Would you like me to speak to her first?
John: NO, you are too dangerous!
Alan: What? Dangerous? What are you talking about?
John: Oh come on, you know all the girls are crazy for you.
Alan: Please … you’re joking!
John: Anyway, what should I do?
Alan: You should go over there now. You should introduce yourself and have a conversation. It’s as easy as that.
John: OK, here I go …
Alan: Good luck. And remember, SMILE!
Check your understanding with this multiple choice comprehension quiz. Dialogue – Advice for a Shy Guy Choose the correct answer to these questions based on the dialogue. Each question has only one correct answer. When you are finished click on the “Next Question” button. There are 5 questions in this quiz. Try to use only 30 seconds for each question. At the end of the quiz, you will receive feedback. If you had any problems, try reading the dialogue again:
Advice for a Shy Guy
Q: What is John afraid of?
(a) Going on a date with a girl (b) An upcoming test (c) Introducing himself to a girl
Q: What does his friend suggest? (a) Asking her out on a date (b) Sitting down next to her and making conversation (c) Asking her to marry him
Q: What does Alan think John needs to be? (a) Less confident (b) More confident (c) More dangerous
Q: Why does John not want Alan to speak to her? (a) Because Alan is careless (b) Because the girls are crazy for him (c) Because he’s joking
Q: What does Alan remind John to do? (a) Laugh (b) Smile (c) Make a joke
This dialogue is a reading comprehension activity. In this activity, we have many quizzes to test our understanding. This dialogue is interesting to read and make us know the development about the role in it. In this dialogue, we can improve our language through understanding. We an also improve our vocabulary when we recognize the words through reading.
Sample 2: Missing Word Cloze Quiz – UK
Each question has only one correct answer. When you are finished click on the “Next Question” button. There are 11 questions to this quiz. Try to use only 1 minute per question. At the end of the quiz, you will receive quiz feedback.
Q: Great Britain, the _____ industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading _____ in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its _____ the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth’s _____. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK’s strength seriously _____ in two World Wars. The second half _____ the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding _____ into a modern and prosperous European nation. The UK currently is weighing the _____ of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain _____ of the EMU for the time _____ Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. Regional assemblies with _____ degrees of power opened in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 1999.
1. (a) minor (b) single (c) dominant (d) principle
2. (a)role (b)actor (c)plays (d)character
3. (a)best (b)high (c)zenith (d)top
4. (a) nations (b) surface (c) countries (d) region
5. (a) losing (b) missing (c) depleted (d) lost
6. (a) bought (b) looked at (c)witnessed (d)watched
7. (a) itself (b)themselves (c)himself (d)herself
8. (a)period (b)degree (c)heaviness (d)weight
9. (a)outside (b)far (c)away (d)inside
10.(a)now (b)being (c)remaining (d)at hand
11.(a)varying (b)optional (c)various (d)varied
This quiz is a reading comprehension activity. Through this quiz, we can improve our vocabulary because we need to know the meaning of these answers and find the most suitable answer. When we do this practice, we also can learn some information about the content whether it is history or other. This quiz is online quiz, so we can get the answers immediately. Through this quiz we can improve our grammar and sentence structure.
In conclusion, we have found that reading comprehension have many types of activities. They are quizzes like article, story, dialogue, missing word cloze and etc. For example, quizzes like sample 1 and 2 where they used dialogue and missing word cloze. We can improve our language such as grammar, understanding, sentence structure, vocabulary and etc. by using these simple activities. We should practice these activities often or when we are free. We felt so relax when doing these quizzes because it is simple and straightforward.
You can also find more activities in this link http://esl.about.com/od/englishreadingskills/English_Reading_Comprehension_Skills_for_ESL_EFL_Learners.htm
Hi Chai Lai,
Your first posting is very informative with regard to reading comprehension in computerized reading.
Your examples are a bit too long – maybe you should just give a few examples only!
I do hope that you and Hei Ling did try some of the examples – sample 1 or sample 2?
Well done.
pn zaini
Comment by pn zaini — March 10, 2008 @ 8:05 am |