Multicultural Readings: Product and Process

• Main Authors: Mukundan, Jayakaran, Ting, Su Hie
• Format: Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Fifth National Conference on Community Languages and English for Speakers of Other Languages 1996
• Subjects: AC Collections. Series. Collected works
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/794/1/Multicultural%2BReadings%2BProduct%2Band%2BProcess%2528abstract%2529.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/794/

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.