The suggestions for practice and reading skills training fall into three categories:
Reading skills
Teaching proposals 20–23:
The suggestions presented here include exercise patterns which instructors may adapt according to the idiosyncracies of the first language and the specific requirements of their classes. Letters, words and short sentences should be largely automated so that the readers are able to concentrate wholly on the meaning of the text. Students who are already able to read fluently and well may forego this kind of exercise. They should receive texts and books of their choice to read during these practice exercise phases (see above #9 “free reading sequences”).
Reading fluency
Teaching proposal 24:
A text can be much better understood if read at a certain speed. Experience has shown that readers not only read faster and more fluently in repeated readings, but they also comprehend the content better. The same adage applies here as well: the more automated the learning process, the more readers are able concentrate on the text content and understand it better.
Fluent reading should be practiced in many short sequences, e. g. during a period of three to four weeks for 10–15 minutes each at the beginning of class. This training to improve reading fluency can absolutely be compared with conditioning in sports or with finger exercises for playing an instrument.
Reading strategies
Teaching proposals 25–27:
The third training part demonstrates how students can learn to focus on different texts and deliberately prepare themselves for reading. It provides suggestions and exercises about how to read texts, dealing with textual difficulties, and how to summarize and evaluate the materials read.
Reading strategies are to be discussed by the instructor in the classroom. Following this introduction, the strategies must be repeatedly practiced and solidified with different texts. This works best if the strategies are practiced on texts that are currently used in classroom instruction.
For additional reading strategies and information, see also “Teaching learning strategies and techniques for HLT” (volume 5 of the series „Didactic suggestions for HLT), where additional useful reading strategies are referenced in Part II and Part III.