Putting Bits and Pieces Together: Awareness of Text Structure in Jigsaw Reading

Abstract

Issues concerning Language Awareness have been debated for about 40 years (Hawkins 1999) and have brought about many interesting developments in the area of language teaching and learning. In the following text, the official definition and scope of language awareness studies are briefly presented. Then, language awareness within the framework of foreign text comprehension—a crossroad where different types of knowledge, linguistic and non-linguistic, and a variety of cognitive processes meet and interact—is discussed. Since text comprehension is such a complex process, it requires the readers to use various forms of language awareness. The study reported in the second part of the paper was designed to investigate how advanced learners of English as a foreign language (EFL)—university students of English Philology—use their knowledge in a jigsaw reading and listening task, and to identify strategies they apply to do the task. Participants’ written reflections on the task display manifestations of their text awareness, comprehension and strategic awareness, with comprehension awareness being reported most frequently. The participants also showed sociolinguistic and crosslinguistic sensitivity. The use of authentic literary texts in a jigsaw reading format is recommended as it engages and motivates learners and contributes to the growth of their language awareness—a factor necessary for independent language learning and use.