One way is to assign students to choose and read certain Web pages or news groups. The other is to let students report on the bulletin boards at the class Web site, to exchange information on what individual students are to read or have read. These reading exercises aim to break the habit of most EFL students in Japan, who tend to translate every sentence into Japanese before trying to grasp the whole content of what they are reading. Exercises vary according to the level of the students and the theme of the work carried out in the class. At the beginning of the semester, assignments start with certain subjects or locations selected.
Students scan the web pages or news groups in order to answer questions prepared by the instructor.
As they advance from scanning, skimming, to finding the topics and main ideas, assignments are organized accordingly. Toward the end of the semester, students are assigned with less controlled reading activities where students select what and where to read and report to meet their own interest and the level of the skills. Among the students, what they learned from individual reading is always shared on the web pages. This page updated 0.5.30 by Chris Houser .