Teaching Literacy And Strategy English Language Essay

Literacy is ability to read and write in language (English) also, understand, create, interpret, communicate with varying contexts. The teaching literacy was focuses on comprises number of sub skills can be taught to the learners. So the sub skills include vocabulary, comprehension, decoding, and phonological awareness. The ability that people can read and writing well enough to function in the complex society is calls a functional literacy.

The planning and teaching of literacy in the school by using the techniques and materials. The lesson plan of literacy will be depended on the level of the learners like, Bottom up strategy mean that the level of the subject matter will more difficult up to the high level of the learners. The structure for the teaching literacy can be provided by the learning objective. Teaching reading can be accompanied with writing then the teacher should create the activities that include reading and writing in the same time. Firstly, the teaching reading has many materials and techniques. There have a range of texts type: Narrative, non-fiction and poetry. Narrative is a tool to help the learners organize their ideas and explore new ideas and experiences, whether told or written, also an essential means for the learners to express themselves creatively and imaginatively. For example, the adventure text is purpose for entertain the reader. Poetry will helps the learners become familiar with language techniques.

The reading strategies are also important in teaching method. The teacher use the effective language instructors will show the learners about adjust reading behavior also help the learners develop a set of reading strategies and they can match strategies to each situation properly. The strategies that can help the learners to read more effectively and quickly were included: First strategy: Previewing, the learners review the title or section heading to get a content of a reading selection. Second strategy: Prediction, the learners using background knowledge to make predictions about the vocabulary and content also make predictions about writing style. Thirdly strategy: Skimming and scanning, the learners using a quick searching of the text to get the main idea, confirm or question predictions. Fourthly strategy: Guessing from context, the learners using background knowledge of the subject in the text as clues to guess meaning of the unknown words. Following these reading strategies, the teacher can show the learners how these strategies work and explain the texts before they start to read. The teacher can provides variety of the reading materials and multiple opportunities for the learners to absorb vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar, as they occur in authentic contexts. The authentic materials can be newspapers, magazines, and Web sites that can give the learners insight into the lifestyles and worldviews. Many learners difficulty to read in the school, even though they do quite well in outside contexts particularly when they play the video games, surfing internet or reading comics then the school reading materials should more motivate for the learners. The developing reading activities will support the learners as the readers through three steps: pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading activities. Before start these activities the teachers should check the level of the texts that use in reading activities are appropriate for the level of the learners or not. The pre-reading activities can serve as preparation for the learners such as, reviewing vocabulary, using the title to predict content of reading text and so on. These activities are important for the lower levels of language proficiency so that the pre-reading activities can help the learners review their knowledge. The while-reading activities, the learners read through the reading materials. The learners can be given activities which require them to do following: follow the other of ideas in the text; understand the information it contains. The post-reading activities, the learners will check their comprehension and ask themselves do they understand each main idea or the author’s purpose, so that the learners check and discuss activities done while reading and make use of what they have read in a meaningful way, for instance, by discussing their response to the writer’s opinions or by using notes for a writing activity. The assessment of the reading ability can be in many ways depending on the purpose of reading. The comprehension questions were use to test the learners can understand what they have read. If the purposes of the comprehension questions are finding specific information so the questions should focus on that information. The authentic assessment is providing the reading proficiency of the learners; the assessment can be the non classroom situation. For example, after reading process the learners might discuss the story with their friends or the teacher develops the rubric or the checklist for evaluate their reading comprehension. The reading lesson is aim to build the learners’ ability to engage in purposeful reading, and to develop critical awareness. The reading skill is persuasion to carry on reading in language (English) outside the classroom. In reading activities, vocabulary is another major component of reading ability with which language learners will experience difficultly, but the degree of difficultly will vary with the demands of the text. A major strategy in helping the learners to build vocabulary for reading encourage them to develop strategies for guessing word meaning from contextual clues and background knowledge. The reading will more difficult to understand if the vocabulary they unknown so the five steps that may help the learners when they dealing with a text which they bring some background knowledge and follow with reasonable comprehension. First step is finding the part of speech of the unknown word. Second step is looking at the immediate context of the unknown word and simplifying this context. Third step is looking at the relationship between the clause containing the unknown word and surrounding clauses and sentences. Fourth step is guessing the meaning of the unknown word. Fifth step is checking that the guess is correct. This describes the sequence that the learners probably followed when dealing with the unknown words.

The writing is the process that encourage thinking and explore thought the idea that the writing activities are the way of the learners can explain their thinking. The writing skill is also the literacy that is the most important to the learners for the academic purpose or real-situation propose such as apply the application form, essay for scholarship, etc. There are many approaches to teaching writing and depended on the teacher will choose for the learners. First of all, the controlled-to-free approach is the method about serve to achieve of grammatical and syntactic form. The teacher will give the sentences then the learners will manipulate grammatical by changing questions to statements, or plural to singular, present to past. Second, the free-writing approach is about the writing quantity. The teacher will allow write freely on any topic and will not worrying about the grammar or correction. Third, the process approach is allowing the learners to generate their idea and write in multiple drafts. The topics are allowed for the learners, they can choose from their experiences then the teacher will allow the greater responsibility and ownership of the learning. This approach is content three processes; the pre-writing process, planning draft process, and post-writing process. The pre-writing process is an activity before writing and the teacher help the learners generates ideas for their writing through following activities such as brainstorming, listening to music, reflecting upon personal experience, viewing media such as pictures, movies, and television that the teacher give as the learners think out a topic, discover a purpose, and decide on a perspective in the pre-writing process. For example about the pre-writing activity, the teacher give the selection magazine or newspapers to the learners then ask them to collect one word from any page and close the book. So continue this until each learner collect four words. Next, ask them to connect and generate the idea from their words. After the learners generate their ideas via activities, the next process is planning draft process, the learners will develop plan and consider about purpose, point of view, or the format. In this process, the teacher can help the learners by set of questions or checklist to assist the learners to make meaning clearly. The sample of the teacher-learner checklist, for instance, what reaction do you want your reader to have? and so on. The teacher also provides language resources such as dictionaries, usage texts or the computer that the learners can surfing the internet. The post-writing process is the learners finished their final draft and they can share their work with the classmates and the teachers. The writing activities can be support and manage by the teacher, the teacher should create atmosphere that allow the learners can do their work easily. The resources which assist the learners are provided in the classroom. The desks will arrange in group each group consist of 4 to 6 desks that the learners can work and share their ideas together. The writing process or models are display on the board also provide for the learners to following them.

In Thailand, the tradition method to teaching English is focus on literacy because of the Thai learners were learning English as a foreign language so the syllabus will emphasize in reading and writing skills but now they also focus on communicative competence. The syllabus was emphasizing in four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), linguistic competence, and so on. The Thai learners were learning English for further studying so they must have the literacy in language especially English. For my lesson plan, First, I will give some kind of story for my learners then ask them to find the words that they unknown. Next, ask them to find the meaning of their unknown words. Then, let the learners to read the story and. Next, let them to do the comprehension questions that included the writing questions so the learners can practice writing in the same time. As above-mention, these steps can provide opportunity for my learners to practice the reading and writing. Another activity can be applying the application form, writing an essay or any authentic writing material that my learners will be familiar with these materials.

In conclusion, the teaching reading through writing. The lesson plan include the reading and writing activities, for example, the teacher give the any story, news or magazine to the learners to read and then ask them to think about it, next, ask them to writing their opinions, do they agree or disagree with the writer. The base of reading and writing skills is the knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, or sentence structure. Some people who can speaking and listening English fluently but they unable to reading and writing English, they will difficult to read the book, learning in the school or university, so the reading and writing skills are more important for the people who needs to studying in the school, university, or working that acquires the literacy. Literacy is difficult to teach, cause of the background knowledge of the learners, some learners do not like to writing or reading then the support and encourage in learning from the teacher is most important, the teacher was understands the learners and create excellent activities, so the learners will have motivation to learning.