Reading Matters 3: An Interactive Approach to Reading

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Summary: Reading Matters: Learning by Texy
Review: Reading Matters: Learning By Text
Reading Matters: An Interactive Approach to Reading by Mary Lee Wholey and Nadia Henein, is a textbook designed for use with a wide range of intermediate or advanced level students of English as a second language or foreign language, but could easily be adapted to any second language situation. The format of the activities puts the focus on the students, rather than the teacher. At the same time the activities are designed to be non-threatening to even the most reserved students, thus lowering the affective filter for greater student involvement and success. The goal of the text is to develop fluency in advanced high school or college level students by providing them with a significant amount of exposure to various texts and extensive reading.
This textbook is the third book of a four part-reading program that implements a variety of text styles and genres from a plethora of American cultural media. The organization of the text is functional and easy to follow. It is structured into six units with two chapters in each unit. Each chapter has approximately four reading selections that increase in difficulty. The text should be followed in order of the chapters, as the texts gradually become more challenging by skills and grammar with each new unit. What is interesting about the organization of the chapters is that each section contains a reading skill (brainstorming, previewing, skimming, predicting, etc), an activity (interviews, matching meanings, giving your opinion), a relevant vocabulary section, and an expansion activity (reaction activities) to provide the student with an interactive means of demonstrating what was read. Exercises in the text are valid and the directions are clear to both the students and the teacher.
The readings of the text focus on attention-grabbing topics such as a case on misplaced embryos, kids shopping online, risk taking sports, and certain psychological disorders, to mention a few. The mixture of the readings captivates reader attention and provides many ideas for writing prompts. The use of the various realia allows students to become immersed in a variety of "real" readings that are current, cultural, and of interest to most students. Clearly written reading passages are presented in American English and are appropriate for the proficiency level of the targeted intermediate ESL students.
This text is a good source for teaching reading skills and introducing students to cultural texts, but lacks focus on writing skills, and does not include activities for listening and speaking skills. K-12 educators might like supplementary materials that the authors could provide, but which are not included in this series. In order to make the textbook more effective, I suggest providing a workbook with writing exercises, tapes of the readings to allow the students to hear (and to try to understand) a variety of English accents, a set of various types of assessments to check for comprehension, video tapes pertaining to the readings, and most importantly a teacher's guide.
I highly recommend using Reading Matters: An Interactive Approach to Reading in intermediate ESL classes, provided that the authors make available some helpful methodological guidance, alternative exercises, assessment strategies, and supplemental activities in how to teach each unit. This book could be used as a primary text of an intermediate ESL course or as an excellent supplemental text to accompany another series. ESL, EFL, and Foreign Language students and teachers would benefit from using this interactive reading text because it allows readers to experience diverse reading material available. Excerpts from this text are thought provoking and allow students to make personal and real world connections, thus bringing value and retention to reading.