Most learners experience the teaching of reading in the classroom in the form of intensive reading activities, where learners are provided with support, typically by the teacher, to make sense of texts that are too difficult for the learners to read successfully by themselves. After reading, learners are usually expected to answer a series of…

Lists ten prinicples for teaching reading in English as a second language. Some of these principles are: (1) an interesting text is vital; (2) the primary activity of a reading lesson should be learners' reading texts; (3) classroom procedure should reflect the purposeful task-based, interactive nature of reading. (SED)

Discusses the findings of a general survey of primary schools in Nigeria to discover the practices of teachers teaching English reading. Findings indicate that the reading-while-listening method of teaching reading is not as effective as the combination of the alphabetic, phonic, word, and sentence methods. (SED)

Discusses the value of using poetry to teach English as a second language to mixed ability classes. Lists the following criteria for selecting poems: (1) universal appeal; (2) surface simplicity, (3) potential depth, (4) affective potential, (5) contemporary language, (6) brevity, and (7) potential for illustration. Describes ways of using two…