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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Teaching Reading Strategies



Bridging the gap between students’ learning styles and teachers’ teaching styles will be a powerful means to guide students toward successful learning. Then, teaching students learning strategies should not be neglected. Educational researchers and theoreticians (modules concept,
Center for Instructional Innovation, retrieved, Jan 2010) believed that applying teaching learning solution causes significant improvement in learning and they further also said that “ focusing on and teaches the learners how to learn strategies”. Applying this philosophy facilitates critical thinking in learning that is one major aim of education. Reaching this aim of course would need re-designing of the education, by applying new teaching methods Reading strategies have always been important in teaching- and learning-strategy studies. The use of the strategy would lead to greater sensitivity to the language learning process on the part of students and would make students to be more independent, to be critical thinkers, and to be lifelong learners. To accomplish the importance of applying teaching strategy, Nunan (1999) stated that learning strategies are the mental and communicative procedures learners use in order to learn and to use language. Grabe (1991) describes reading which is seen as an active process of comprehending [where] students need to be taught strategies to read more efficiently (e. g., guess from context, define expectations, make inferences about the text, skim ahead to fill in the context, etc. (p. 377)
There are a lot of strategies could be implemented on teaching reading subject, and among the numerous reading strategies, concept map and or mind map strategy is one of the approaches that can be applied.

1.      CONCEPT MAPS
Concept maps are tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts; usually it is represented in circles or boxes of some types, and relationships between concepts or propositions, indicated by a connecting line between two concepts. Words on these lines can be used to specify the nature of the relationships between different concepts. (DFID – an on line article, retrieved Jan, 2010)
According to the on line article from DFID, retrieved Jan, 2010) concept mapping can be used for a number of different purposes :
           to generate ideas (e.g. brain storming)
           to design a complex structure
           to communicate complex ideas
           to illustrate the relationships between different components or processes
           to aid learning by explicitly integrating new and old knowledge
           to assess understanding
           or diagnose misunderstanding
Concept maps are powerful instruments that support significant learning and help long time retention of the information in students’ memories. Concept map is a two-dimensional and schematic instrument that represents a set of hidden meanings


   2.1   THE BACKGROUND OF CONCEPT MAPPING 
          The concept mapping technique was originally developed by Prof. Joseph D. Novak at Cornell University in the 1960s. This work was based on the theories of David Ausubel, who stressed the importance of prior knowledge in being able to learn about new concepts. Novak concluded that "Meaningful learning involves the assimilation of new concepts and propositions into existing cognitive structures".
An important characteristic of concept maps is the inclusion of "cross-links." These are relationships between concepts or ideas in different parts of the concept map. These cross-links help us to visualize how knowledge or information represented in different parts of the map is related to each other. In the creation of new knowledge, the creations of cross-links often represent creative leaps on the part of the knowledge producer.
Concept maps have been used in a wide variety of different disciplines including education, policy studies, the philosophy of science language, sociology, psychology etc. (Campstools’ web site, retrieved, Jan, 2010). Concept maps provide a visual representation of knowledge structures and arguments. They provide a complementary alternative to natural language as a means of communicating knowledge (Novak et.al,1993) .    


2.2   CREATING CONCEPT MAPS 
          A concept map can be considered as being similar to an organization chart or a flow diagram. The most useful form of a concept map for both teaching and learning is one that has a hierarchical organization with the more general and more inclusive concepts at the top of the map and the more and specific ones towards the bottom. One can also start in the centre and work outwards.
          Concepts do not exist in isolation. Each concept depends on one or more relationships to others. A concept map depicts both the hierarchy and relationships among concepts. It demands clarity of meaning and integration of important details. The process of constructing a concept map requires one to think in multiple directions and to switch back and forth between different levels. In attempting to identify the key and associated concepts of a particular topic or sub-topic, one will usually acquire a deeper understanding of the topic and clarification of any prior misconceptions. To the user of a concept map, this ability to switch between different levels and between different concepts or ideas represents an important advantage over more traditional "flat" mechanisms of presenting information. One is made aware of both the complexity and the detail, and it is less easy to "forget" about important aspects of a particular problem, perhaps because it is not within the user's main field of expertise.
          One big advantage of using concept maps is that it provides a visual image of the concepts under study in a form which can be focused on very easily. They can be relatively easily be revised when required. During the formulation process the concept map brings together the understanding of the meanings and relationships between a wide range of ideas. It therefore makes learning or communicating ideas and new information in more active process, not a passive one.

2.2.1  Steps in Constructing Concept Maps
  1. Select or focus on a theme and then identify related key words or phrases. What is the central word, concept, question or problem around which to build your diagram or concept map? What are the concepts, ideas, descriptive words or important questions that you can associate with the main concept, topic, question or problem?
  2. Rank the concepts (key words) from the most abstract and inclusive to the most concrete and specific.
  3. Cluster concepts that function at similar level of abstraction and those that interrelate closely.
  4. Arrange concepts in a diagrammatic representation.
  5. Add linking lines and where appropriate label lines with a qualifying word or phrase.
  6. Groups of people can work together on a concept map - this is a good way to "brainstorm" a problem or idea

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