Review: Strategic reading 3; Building Effective Reading Skills.
Jack C. Richards and Samuela Ecksutt-Didier 2003
Cambridge Cambridge University Press
ISBN 0-521-55578-7 Pp. 131
Reviewed by Neil Mcbeath
Neil McBeath served as a uniformed educational officer in the Royal Air Force of
Oman from 1981 to 2005. During that time he gained two Masters degrees and the
Omani Dintinguished Service Medal.He refused to renew contract in 2005 and now
works for BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia.
I received a review copy of this book from the Cambridge University press stand at the 8th Annual CTELT Conference in Dubai in November 2005, so I rather suspect that the 2003 publication date is either late 2003, or early 2004.
Either way, it hardly matters, because this book is a triumph. For once we have a textbook that exactly matches its sub-title "Building effective reading Skills." And which is not over-sold by the blurb "16 thematic units with a selection of engaging topics that motivate learners to relate the readings to their own experiences. Three inviting reading passages in each unit, all adapted from authentic sources, allow students to explore the theme in depth."
Strategic Reading 3 offers a wealth of material for class study, as supplementary resource material, or for independent learning, and its richness is all the more surprising because of the book's superficial simplicity.
Strategic Reading 3 works in monochrome - there are no fancy fonts; no vivid illustrations; no distracting advertising layout. The Unit titles are simplicity themselves - Superstitions; Health; Talent; Beauty; Technology. Each of the three readings in each unit comes with one or two pages of pre-reading and post-reading exercises - vocabulary expansion work; matching exercises; rewriting data in tabular form.
It is only when one looks at a particular unit that the reader can appreciate how deep the material can be; and how wide a range of responses it can evoke.
Unit 3 - Talent (Pp. 17-32), for example, offers three viewpoints. The first is from Amy Tan's (1989) novel The Joy Luck Club, and examines the dilemma of an "ordinary" child with a pushy mother; a woman determined to discover "talents" that her child does not possess, while possibly overlooking those that are present.
The second reading, Born to paint, concerns a 10 year old painter; a child with recognized talent. In 1991 her work sold for high prices, but there was a possibility that she might suffer from burnout. Did she? Cue a Google search.
The third passage is about the throat surgery that ruined Julie Andrews' singing career, and poses the question "Is it worse to lack talent, or to have talent and lose it completely? Why?" The answers to that one could easily fill a book, so there is your next class project.
Buy this book. Every language school should have at least one copy in the resource centre, professional development unit or teachers' library. Every independent learning centre should buy two copies, and split them to make intermediate level worksheets. This is not a book to work through from cover to cover, but it is a book worth reading, and re-reading.
Reference.
Tan, Amy. 1989. The Joy Luck Club. Harmondsworth. Penguin.
Please check the English for Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Teaching Advanced Students course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Secondary Teaching course at Pilgrims website.
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