Multicultural Readings: Product and Process

Mukundan, Jayakaran and Ting, Su Hie (1996) Multicultural Readings: Product and Process. In: Fifth National Conference on Community Languages and English for Speakers of Other Languages, 'Future F'erfect, Conditional', 1996, September 18-21, Hamilton, New Zealand. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

In reading classrooms, reading comprehension skills usually take priority. Teachers constantly provide comprehension exercises which reinforce skills like skimming, scanning, inferencing, predicting and vocabulary recognition. This becomes the overriding concern, so much so that the overall development of learners as readers is totally neglected. According to Muskowitz (1978), this is reflective of a dead classroom where learners are perceived as containers whose primary function is to receive and hold subject matter given by the teacher. Their understanding of the subject matter is then assessed via comprehension questions. Learners are seldom given the chance to explore their responses and feelings towards the readings. There is little scope for creative and reflective thinking. On the other hand, in a live classroom, learners are "enthusiastically and authentically involved" in the learning activities and they are genuinely "respected and treated as a human being" by the teacher (Muskowitz, 1978). Learners are encouraged to express what they feel after reading given texts. The emphasis is on drawing the content out of the learners. This is the essence ofthe Reader Response Approach in reading.

Item Type: Proceeding (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Multicultural Readings, Product, process, 1996, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, UNIMAS, universiti, university, Borneo, Malaysia, Sarawak, Kuching, Samarahan, IPTA, education, undergraduate, research
Subjects: A General Works > AC Collections. Series. Collected works
Divisions: Academic Faculties, Institutes and Centres > Centre for Language Studies
Faculties, Institutes, Centres > Centre for Language Studies
Academic Faculties, Institutes and Centres > Centre for Language Studies
Depositing User: Karen Kornalius
Date Deposited: 04 Mar 2014 06:48
Last Modified: 13 May 2022 07:27
URI: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/794

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