Supplementary reading in grammar school TEFL. The introduction of the concept of teaching reading-related skills in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Na vyuziti dopITIkove cetby ph hodinach anglickeho jazyka ve stfedoskoIske gymnazialni ryuce nebyla v posledni dobe sousrredena prilis velka pozomost. Hlavnim duvodem teto skutecnosti je prevazujid duraz kladeny na osvojeni komunikami kompetence, ktery je patmy ve ryuce cizich jazyku v Ceske republice i ve svete jiz od 80. let minuleho stoleti. Proto se vyuziti doplTIkove cetby ph ryuce anglickeho jazyka redukuje na postupy, ph nichZ zaci nahlas ctou uCitelem predlozeny text a posleze se sousrrecfuji na cteni s porozumenim Ci diskuzi 0 prectenem. To vse navic probiha pouze v pfipade, ze uciteli zbjva cas na konci hodiny pote, co probraI vytycenou IMku v ucebnici. Studenti vetsinou k doplTIkove cetbe phstupuji jako k oddychove Cinnosti a povazuji ji za pfijemne zpesrreni povinne rutinni prace s ucebnict na kterou se soustfedi pozomost ucitelu ph hodnoceni. Skutecnost ze doplTIkova cetba zaujima takto druhorade postaveni, je dale umomovana tim, ze se ucitele ph jejim vyuziti v hodinach anglickeho jazyka u studenru zamefuji z prevazne vetsiny pouze na zIepsovani recorych dovednosti (poslech, mluveni, cteni s porozumenim a psani) a jazykorych prostfedku (prevazne gramatiky a ryslovnosti). Je to dano predevsim nesfastnou kombinad faktorU vyucovadho procesu z hlediska casu, rychovnych a vzdelavadch dIu, jazykove...

Teaching supplementary reading in the English language at Czech grammar schools seems to be seriously underestimated due to the prevailing communicative aims of teaching foreign languages in general. If students do come across some supplementary reading materials which teachers bring for them, these are most likely to be articles from magazines which are then used for reading round the class, practising reading comprehension or speaking about the text in the time left after the obligatory subject matter has been covered. Still, most students seem to enjoy supplementary reading. It seems however, that they do not appreciate supplementary reading so much for the benefits which it might bring to their English language improvement. Rather, they appreciate the escape which supplementary reading provides from the routine of the textbook - the obligatory course material. Compared to textbooks which comprise the grammar and vocabulary that students need to learn in order to succeed in examinations, the role of supplementary reading is second-class and students are not willing to dedicate too much time and effort to it outside classroom. At the same time, teachers confirm the minor role of secondary reading by using techniques aimed primarily at the development of language skills and not setting any other meaningful...