1. 1. Text characteristics
    1. purpose of reading
    2. to understand what they are reading
    3. texts should contain words and grammatical structures familiar to the learners (Van Duzer, 1999)
    4. If vocabulary is not familiar, teachers can introduce key vocabulary
    5. focus on language awareness, such as finding synonyms, antonyms, derivatives, or associated words (Hood et al., 1996; cited in Van Duzer, 1999).
    6. The topics of texts chosen should be in accordance with the age range, interests, sex, and background culture of the students for whom they are intended.
    7. introduce the text should encourage learners to use their background knowledge (Eskey, 1997; cited in Van Duzer, 1999).
    8. brainstorm ideas
    9. illustration and discuss what they know
  2. 2. Pre-reading tips
    1. 1. Teacher-directed pre-reading (Estes, 1999)
    2. 2. Interactive approach (Estes, 1999)
    3. 3. Purpose of reading
      1. 1. Skimming
        1. Reading rapidly for the main points
      2. 2. Scanning
        1. Reading rapidly to find a specific piece of information
      3. 3. Extensive reading
        1. Reading a longer text, often for pleasure with emphasis on overall meaning
      4. 4. Intensive reading
        1. Reading a short text for detailed information
    4. goal for reading
      1. "Why am I reading this text?
      2. What do I want to know or do after reading?"
  3. 3. During-reading tips
    1. for better comprehension
    2. summarizing, reacting, questioning, arguing, evaluating, and placing a text within one's own experience
    3. Duke and Pearson (2001) have stated that good readers are active readers.
    4. According to Ur (1996), Vaezi (2001), and Fitzgerald (1995), they use the following strategies.
      1. 1. Making predictions
        1. The readers should be taught to be on the watch to predict what is going to happen next in the text to be able to integrate and combine what has come with what is to come.
      2. 2. Making selections
        1. Readers who are more proficient read selectively, continually making decisions about their reading.
      3. 3. Integrating prior knowledge
        1. The schemata that have been activated in the pre-reading section should be called upon to facilitate comprehension.
      4. 4. Skipping insignificant parts
        1. A good reader will concentrate on significant pieces of information while skipping insignificant pieces.
      5. 5. Re-reading
        1. Readers should be encouraged to become sensitive to the effect of reading on their comprehension.
      6. 6. Making use of context or guessing
        1. Readers should not be encouraged to define and understand every single unknown word in a text. Instead they should learn to make use of context to guess the meaning of unknown words.
      7. 7. Breaking words into their component parts
        1. To keep the process of comprehension ongoing, efficient readers break words into their affixes or bases. These parts can help readers guess the meaning of a word.
      8. 8. Reading in chunks
        1. To ensure reading speed, readers should get used to reading groups of words together. This act will also enhance comprehension by focusing on groups of meaning-conveying symbols simultaneously.
      9. 9. Pausing
        1. Good readers will pause at certain places while reading a text to absorb and internalize the material being read and sort out information.
      10. 10. Paraphrasing
        1. While reading texts it may be necessary to paraphrase and interpret texts subvocally in order to verify what was comprehended.
      11. 11. Monitoring
        1. Good readers monitor their understanding to evaluate whether the text, or the reading of it, is meeting their goals.
  4. 4. After-reading tips
    1. filling out forms and charts
    2. first check students' comprehension
      1. Barnett (1988)
    3. lead students to a deeper analysis of the text
    4. purpose of reading is not to memorize an author's point of view or to summarize text content
    5. to see into another mind, or to mesh new information into what one already knows
    6. various activities
      1. Discussing the text: Written/Oral
      2. Summarizing: Written/Oral
      3. Making questions: Written/Oral
      4. Answering questions: Written/Oral
      5. Filling in forms and charts
      6. Writing reading logs
      7. Completing a text
      8. Listening to or reading other related materials
      9. Role-playing
  5. Ref: This article published: 29th March, 2006 was first published in Iranian Language Institute Language Teaching Journal Volume 1, No.1 Spring 2005.
  6. Further reading
    1. Barnett, M. A. (1988). Teaching reading in a foreign language. ERIC Digest
    2. Block, E. L. (1992). See how they read: comprehension monitoring of L1 and L2 readers. TESOL Quarterly 26(2)
    3. Dole, J. A. Duffy, G. G., Roehler, L. R., and Pearson, D. D. (1991). Moving from the old to the new: research on reading comprehension instruction. Review of Educational Research 61
    4. Dubin, F., and Bycina, D. (1991). Models of the process of reading. In Celce-Murcia (ed.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Boston, Mass.: Heinle and Heinle.
    5. Duke, N. K., and Pearson, D. P. (n.d.). Effective practices for developing reading comprehension. Available at //effective reading.com/ (Oct. 15, 2001).
    6. Estes T. H. (1999). Strategies for reading to learn. Available at www.reading strategies.
    7. Fitzgerald, J. (1995). English-as-a-second-language learners' cognitive reading processes: a review of research in the United States. Review of Educational Research 65
    8. Klein, M. L., Peterson, S., and Simington, L. (1991). Teaching Reading in the Elementary Grades. Needham Heights, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon.
    9. Lebauer, R. (1998). Lessons from the rock on the role of reading. Available at // langue.Hyper.Chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/t/t/98/lebauer.html
    10. McCarthy, C. P. (n. d.) Reading theory as a microcosm of the four skills. Applied Linguistics Series.
    11. Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International.
    12. Paran, A. (1996). Reading in EFL: facts and fiction. ELT Journal 50
    13. Rumelhart, D. E. (1977). Toward an interactive model of reading. In S. Dornic (ed.), Attention and Performance IV. New York, NY: Academic Press.
    14. Steinhofer, H. (1996). How to read nonfictional English texts faster and more effectively. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 6, June 1996
    15. Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    16. Vaezi, S. (2001). Metacognitive reading strategies across language and techniques. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.
    17. Van Duzer, C. (1999). Reading and the Adult English Language Learner. Washington, D.C.: Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education