Teaching
and Testing Reading: Useful Resources
Deborah Healey, Ph.D.
Updated 15 October, 2009
Sponsored by the Tunisian Ministry of
Education and the U.S. Embassy in Tataouine, Gabes, Sousse, Monastir,
Ben Arous, and Bizerte from February 10-25, 2006. These pages include
links to teacher-developed discussions, lesson plans, and metaphors
about reading.
Suggested Resources
- E-journals
from the US Department of State. Available at http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/resforteach/ejournals.html; accessed
October 15, 2009. A range
of freely-usable publications.
- English
teaching resources from the US Department of State. Available at http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/index.html; accessed
October 15, 2009.
Materials for teachers.
- ESL: Reading
links from Internet TESL Journal. Available at http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Reading/;
accessed
October 15, 2009. A large
collection of stories, exercises, lesson plans, and research about
reading
- Forum
magazine. Available at http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/forum-journal.html;
accessed
October 15, 2009. All
current and back issues since 1991.
- Information
about Fulbright programs. Available at http://www.amideast.org and http://www.iie.org; accessed
October 15, 2009. Find
out about Fulbright scholarships.
- Openj-Gate. Available at http://www.openj-gate.com/; accessed
October 15, 2009. A large collection of free, mostly full-text articles from over 3000 journals. A great resource.
- Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Available at http://www.gutenberg.org/;accessed
October 15, 2009. A
constantly growing collection of hundreds of copyright-free texts that
can be used freely in any classroom.
- Readings for ESL students by L. Fried-Lee.
Available at http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~lfried/stories/stories.html;
accessed
October 15, 2009.
Readings by proficiency level and topic.
- Story archives
from CNN and Literacynet. Available at http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/archives.html;
accessed
October 15, 2009. Stories from the news with exercises; best
for advanced learners. Some are abridged and usable with intermediate
learners.
- TOEFL
information, including practice tests. Available at http://www.toefl.org/; accessed
October 15, 2009.
- Virtual
libraries and other sources of free texts. Available at https://deborahhealey.com/digitallibraries.html;
updated
October 15, 2009.
Some
Suggested Readings
- Alderson, J.C.
(2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. A helpful
discussion of the theory behind teaching a assessing reading, including
practical suggestions.
- Carrell, P.L.,
Devine, J., and Eskey, D.E. (Eds.) (1988). Interactive
approaches to second language reading. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. A collection of
essays about theory and practice in teaching reading.
- Council of Europe (1996). Modern
languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. A common
European framework of reference. Strasbourg: Council for Cultural
Cooperation,
Education Committee. Available at http://www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-operation/education/Languages/Language_Policy/Common_Framework_of_Reference/;
accessed
October 15, 2009. This provides a way of
thinking about levels of proficiency in foreign language reading, with
reference to general as well as specific competencies.
- Forte, I., Pangle, M.A., and
Drayton, M.
(2001). ESL Reading and spelling: Games, puzzles, and inventive
exercises. Nashville, TN: Incentive Publications.
Some interesting ideas for creating games, especially for beginners.
- Freeman, D.E.
and Freeman, Y.S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you
need to know to teach reading, ESL, spelling, phonics, and grammar.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. A
theoretical view that promotes a top-down approach to teaching reading
within a larger look at applied linguistics.
- Goodman, K.
(1988). The reading process. In P.L. Carrell, J. Devine,
& D.E. Eskey (Eds.), Interactive approaches to second language
reading, pp11-21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A
cognitive
science perspective on how the brain works in reading.
- Grabe, W.
(1991). Current developments in second language reading
research. TESOL Quarterly, 15 (3), 375-406. Research results
and practical applications.
- Herrell, A.
and Jordan, M. (2004). 50
strategies for
teaching English language learners. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education. More
than just reading, this book offers 50 very practical suggestions for
classroom teaching.
- Ray, R.R.
(Ed.) (1993). New ways in teaching reading. Alexandria, VA:
TESOL. Practical
classroom-based suggestions for activities to enhance reading.
- Ripley, A.
(1962). Minute mysteries. New York: Pocket Books. Another
type of pleasure reading. Find similar stories at the mystery website.
- Tollefson, W. (1989). A system for improving teachers'
questions. English Teaching Forum, 27 (1), 6-9.
Go to Deborah's Attic
https://deborahhealey.com/reading.html
Last updated 15 October, 2009 by D. Healey, dhealey AT uoregon DOT edu.