Quite often if we do not understand a text, it is the writer’s fault, not ours. Still there are strategies how we can become good readers and learn to understand much more than we ever thought was possible.

• The teaching of learning strategies is one of the latest innovations in CLT philosophy and an essential part of increasing the students’ motivation.
• The use of the word ‘strategy’ implies that there are ways and techniques that will make us better readers; approaches that should be taught and can be learnt in a short period of time.
• Discuss the strategies presented in these articles with your students at some point, in advance or afterwards. They will see that you really care!
• Practise the strategies little by little and let the students pick up the ones that work for them. Many of the ideas will enhance writing as well.

Sample text on how you can teach reading strategies 1 – 6 below

The text below is in Finnish, a languge you probably do not know. But don’t panic! I’m sure you can handle the text.

I want teachers and students to have an experience on how powerful a tool reading strategies can be even if you do not master the language at all.

An example on how you can teach some reading strategies even if the task seems impossible

Instructions to the students

1. Look at the photo, headline and the layout of the text to give you clues what the text in Finnish is about. Don’t use phones or other sources of information!
2. Underline words that resemble words in your mother tongue or some other language and try to guess what they mean.
3. Make two assumptions what you think the text is about.
4. Make two questions you think the text might give an answer to.
5. Use common sense, general knowledge, logic and guessing to figure out what the hard sentences are about.
6. Read the text on your own first and then discuss it with your pair or in your group.
7. If needed your teacher will solve the mystery for you. See how close you can get!

N.B. Teachers! Don’t cheat. Try the exercise out yourself first and after that let your students apply the first 5 tips/strategies above. They will internalize them without teaching, first reading alone and even more in groups afterwards.

You are wrong if you think you are not able to understand written Finnish! Tackle the text now!

Hedelmät poimitaan hieman raakoina ja siksi ne ovat myytäessä vihreitä. Muualla Omanissa kasvaa melkeinpä ainoastaan taatelipalmuja. Mutta jos vuokraatte auton, varokaa kameleita, koska niitä voi olla jopa moottoriteillä.

Instructions to the teacher

• When the students have studied the text on their own, let them discuss it in pairs or groups. This is the moment they will learn most, explaining others about their strategies.
• Start going through the text with the whole class using points 1 – 5. First, look at the photo: What can we learn from it? Some students have never ‘analysed’ a photo before! It is a skill of its own.
• Then look at the title: What does it probably mean?
• Students assumptions, guesses about the content?
• Which questions might be answered in the text?
• The importance of background knowledge and common sense and logic?
• Take turns and get the answers from many pairs/groups. Most likely you will get most of the answers from the students.

The suggested answers with the text both in Finnish and in English can be found below under the photos.

Salalah, fruit paradise / Salalah, hedelmäparatiisi

• The key to solving the meaning of the title is to connect ‘paratiisi‘ with ‘paradise’. The photo should imply that ‘hedelmä’ means ‘fruit’.

This photo was taken in Salalah, which is about 900 kilometres south of Muscat, the capital of Oman. Bananas, mangos and watermelons are the main products of the region. / Tämä valokuva on otettu Salalahissa, joka on noin 900 kilometriä Omanin pääkaupungista Muscatista etelään. Banaanit, mangot ja vesimeloonit alueen päätuotteita.

• Green words are nearly the same in Finnish and English, loan words, and they reveal the topic, ‘fruit’.
• Common sense and logic: Oman is a country, Muscat is probably the capital. Salalah must be a fruit production area 900 kilometres from Muscat. Which direction? It does not really matter. To the south, but you can know it only if you know the map of Oman.

Fruits are picked a little raw and therefore they are green when they are sold. Elsewhere in Oman date palm trees are just about the only trees growing. But if you hire a car, mind the camels because you might see them even on motorways. / Hedelmät poimitaan hieman raakoina ja siksi ne ovat myytäessä vihreitä. Muualla Omanissa kasvaa melkeinpä ainoastaan taatelipalmuja. Mutta jos vuokraatte auton, varokaa kameleita, koska niitä voi olla jopa moottoriteillä.

• Green words are nearly the same in Finnish and English, loan words, and they reveal how the text goes on.
• The 1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph really tests the readers ability to guess what the sentence may mean. The title >>‘ hedelmät’ =’ fruit’.
• What happens to fruit before they are eaten? They are picked up ‘raakana’=’raw’ when they are ‘vihreä’ = green like in the photo. This is general knowledge: fruit ripen up on their way to the shops.
• ‘Omanissa taatelipalmuja’ = ‘In Oman date palm trees’ is the essence of the sentence. Not the full meaning but close enough.
• If you go abroad, you probably do not take your car with you but you hire it. So ‘vuokraatte auton’ = hire an ‘automobile’/’auto’/’car’
• If camels are mentioned with motorways, it must mean they are the ones causing accidents on motorways. Not deer or elks, like in Finland.

The complexity of the reading process above in our heads is astonishing. But listening to others explaining how they processed the text is one of the keys in becoming a better reader.

N.B. It is quite amazing how much you can actually understand Finnish just cracking your brains a little and using various strategies. I bet Paragraph 1 was a piece of cake for you and you even guessed the meanings of the new words. The last sentence too.

If your students can crack this Finnish puzzle at least partially, they will not give up very easily if they come a cross a problem in an English text.

The next article is about how to use the same strategies in solving a reading comprehension test in English.