SOME ASPECTS OF TEACHINHG EFFECTIVE READING TO FIRST- YEAR STUDENTS STUDYING ENGLISH AS THEIR MAJOR

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Some aspects of teaching effective reading to first-year students studying English as their major at faculties of foreign languages in universities are considered. A broad range of blended extensive and intensive reading strategies, techniques and exercises are suggested at the pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading stages, which makes it possible to develop learners’ skills not only in reading for gist, but also for detailed comprehension. The main focus of the research is on reading techniques such as making predictions about the content of the text based on the title, subtitles and keywords; removing barriers to students’ understanding the text by using such monolingual ways of presenting vocabulary as matching words to their definitions, synonyms or opposites, guessing from context, explanation and others. Tasks directed at extracting some information from the text and analyzing its structure as well as exercises designed to use the extracted information in speaking and writing, which are connected with reading as a communication skill, are presented in the article. Some aspects of using techniques of expeditious reading, skimming and scanning, which enable first year students to vary the speed of reading and help them use reading materials effectively are treated.