Using Multimedia in the Foreign Language Classroom | Page 16
31 The aims of the lesson
The lesson aims at helping students to approach authentic texts with
confidence and to develop the strategies which are considered necessary in order for
them to take from texts the information they need. It is considered that students will,
in parallel and within a purposeful context, become able to use the computer more
effectively.
3.2 The objectives
It is expected that at the end of the lesson student will be able to:
use skimming in order to understand the overall organization of a text and get
the gist
use scanning to locate specific information
guess the meaning of words from the context
understand cohesive ties and anaphoric relations
understand the organizational structure of narrative and the rules which govern
such texts
relate personal experiences to new knowledge and practice extensive reading
increase their ability to use the computer effectively and appreciate the
potential of the www as a source of authentic information
3.3. The activities
The lesson is organized according to the three-stage framework as suggested
in Wallace (1992) and is organized in pre-, while- and post-reading activities (see
lesson plan, appendix III, pp. iii-vii). The role of each activity is analysed below.
3.3.1 Pre reading activities
Their purpose is to help students activate relevant schemata (Williams and
Moran (1989:219) and create a purpose for reading. Thus:
Activity 1 (see appendix IV, p. viii) is a brainstorming activity which asks
students to recall what they know about the Tower of London. A picture given to
students helps them recall any relevant knowledge they might have. Finally, prompted
by the picture, students are asked to form a number of questions about the Tower, an
activity which helps them create expectations about the content of the reading text and
approach it in an active way. As Williams and Sternberg (1993: 165-166) emphasise,
it is more important for students to learn what questions to ask and how to ask them,
15