By Irfan Nugroho
It is a common perception that reading can be a boring subject for a number of students. One pure and simple reason for this is that students are not interested in the text offered by teachers of reading.
The absence of relations between the information on the text and the students’ interests or the students’ personal background is the onset for such a lack of motivation. Hence, there should be consideration from teachers of reading to chase the negative perception of reading away.
Amongst the so many ways to reach that goal is to make relations, connections, and links between the text and the student’s interest or their local context. Implying Contextual Teaching and Learning approach to teach reading, thus the local context here means everything that relates to the factual condition of the students. This can be their social life, their parents’ occupation, their daily problem, and more importantly, their interests.
By making such connections, it is expected that students will be encouraged to read more because they are eager to gain more information that relates to their interests. At this point, the roles played by teachers of reading are significant to chase that negative perception away.
On a booklet of Educational Practices Series published by UNESCO’s International Academy of Education, it is stated that ‘teachers (of reading) need to be aware of their students’ learning needs.’ This means that teachers of reading are suggested to choose reading materials that suit to the students’ needs or interests.
Taking for example, students of mechanical engineering will get more interested in English reading class when they are offered with text that relates to their ‘world.’ They will be curious of reading texts telling them information about the latest advanced technology, thus they get motivated to read a lot.
On the other hands, when the students of mechanical engineering are offered with texts discussing linguistics matters, we might be sure that those students will pay no attention at all. One logic consequence of this is that they will have no motivation to read more and more. In fact, the final goal of teacher of reading is ‘to develop a love for reading because is extends beyond academic successes.’
Therefore, when choosing books or any reading materials, it is important to consider the students’ interests. At this point, teachers of reading do not only play a role as mere teachers, but also as motivators for students to pump up the students’ reading habit. When it is reached, reading would be no longer a boring subject for students.
Photo: WinningSpirit.com
It is a common perception that reading can be a boring subject for a number of students. One pure and simple reason for this is that students are not interested in the text offered by teachers of reading.
The absence of relations between the information on the text and the students’ interests or the students’ personal background is the onset for such a lack of motivation. Hence, there should be consideration from teachers of reading to chase the negative perception of reading away.
Amongst the so many ways to reach that goal is to make relations, connections, and links between the text and the student’s interest or their local context. Implying Contextual Teaching and Learning approach to teach reading, thus the local context here means everything that relates to the factual condition of the students. This can be their social life, their parents’ occupation, their daily problem, and more importantly, their interests.
By making such connections, it is expected that students will be encouraged to read more because they are eager to gain more information that relates to their interests. At this point, the roles played by teachers of reading are significant to chase that negative perception away.
On a booklet of Educational Practices Series published by UNESCO’s International Academy of Education, it is stated that ‘teachers (of reading) need to be aware of their students’ learning needs.’ This means that teachers of reading are suggested to choose reading materials that suit to the students’ needs or interests.
Taking for example, students of mechanical engineering will get more interested in English reading class when they are offered with text that relates to their ‘world.’ They will be curious of reading texts telling them information about the latest advanced technology, thus they get motivated to read a lot.
On the other hands, when the students of mechanical engineering are offered with texts discussing linguistics matters, we might be sure that those students will pay no attention at all. One logic consequence of this is that they will have no motivation to read more and more. In fact, the final goal of teacher of reading is ‘to develop a love for reading because is extends beyond academic successes.’
Therefore, when choosing books or any reading materials, it is important to consider the students’ interests. At this point, teachers of reading do not only play a role as mere teachers, but also as motivators for students to pump up the students’ reading habit. When it is reached, reading would be no longer a boring subject for students.
Photo: WinningSpirit.com
When choosing books or any reading materials, it is important to consider the students’ interests. At this point, teachers of reading do not only play a role as mere teachers, but also as motivators for students to pump up the students’ reading habit. When it is reached, reading would be no longer a boring subject for students.
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