Working with texts for reading in the process of learning German on the basis of the English language

Abstract

 The article deals with the special aspects of reading skills’ formation for students, who learn German on the basis of the English language. It is considered, that in this case the process of perception of a word, a sentence, or a text would differ from the process of perception in the first foreign language. Mechanisms of anticipation and probable prediction, which include anticipation at the level of a syllable, word, collocation, sentence, part of a text, determine rapidity of the processes of reading and help to penetrate into the meaning of the perceived message faster in the receptive types of speech activity. Hypotheses about the plot (semantic and verbal) are either approved, or refuted during the process of reading. Mechanisms of anticipation and probable prediction are based on the personal speech experience of a person, their ken, namely, knowledge about realia of the objective reality and topic of the text. When working with a text, the aim of reading is taken into consideration, depending on which the following types of reading are distinguished: scanning, skimming and intensive reading. Strategies of work with texts for reading get a special meaning in the educational process and are divided into three groups: 1) word-level; 2) sentence-level; 3) text-level. The aim of the article is to analyze these strategies in order to effectively organize the work with the text. Special selection of the authentic texts gets a particular meaning when forming a reading competency. Texts must be selected according to the following criteria: 1) aim of work with the text, 2) size of the text and its structure, 3) the topic, 4) type of the text, 5) lingual filling (lexis, grammar), 6) possibilities of using the text as a foundation for development of competency in other different types of speech activities. Specially created (not authentic) texts from textbooks are also used in the educational process; however, the aim of working with them is to elaborate definite lingual phenomena (introduction of lexical units, grammar structures,etc.) Such texts should: 1) visually demonstrate bonds between languages; 2) offer topics which are interesting for students; 3) be not too easy in order to motivate students to compare and make use of particular reading strategies. Peculiarities of perception of texts and a surmise about the meaning of lexical units depend on the cognitive type of a student (analytical or holistic), which influences the organization of work with the text, considering individual features of those who study. In future we plan to consider the possibilities of using the Web 2.0 Tool «Learningapps» for the organization of independent work of students with texts.