Herramientas de lectura

Advanced students, whether they speak English as their first or second language, struggle to read research in technical fields like linguistics. Students must learn how to read scholarship in the right way, to participate meaningfully in classes and begin their own research. This poster shares our experiences with this at Cuban and U.S. universities.

At the University of Holguín, undergraduates in English receive a course on Academic English. The course emphasizes the reading process: well structured questions followed by discussions, seminars, round tables, etc. ensure their ability to use the language academically.

For graduate students in Mississippi, these skills are built into content-based seminars. So that all students engage each article, the professor gives them guided reading questions to answer in writing. Students use their written answers as the basis for class discussion, which can take up a full hour. This method puts native and international students on the same footing, because everyone has prepared a written script to speak from.

These methods have resulted in effective student research. In both Holguín and Mississippi, process reading leads to process writing. By teaching students how articles are structured, they can better identify the thesis and understand how arguments are developed. In addition, focus on the structure of articles trains students to write according to the social-science model. Through the reading and writing processes, students develop a writing product, which shows that they can use English in their content areas and function in the academic world as researchers and teachers