Reading is one of the main types of speech activity. With the help of reading, students' active and passive vocabulary is enriched, and grammatical skills are formed. At the present stage of human development, reading, according to S.K. Folomkina, is one of the most important means of obtaining information. Learning to read in a foreign language means not only creating the prerequisites for expanding the implementation of general education, but also enabling each specialist to receive new information in a timely manner, which in modern science and technology is a condition for successful professional activity [4, p. 20].
There are several classifications of types of reading, and they are very controversial. For example, G.V. Rogova distinguishes three types of reading: studying, introductory and viewing. Professor E.I. Passov believes that these are just different purposes for using reading. There is also an opinion that one should not distinguish too many types of informative reading and it is enough to distinguish between studying and searching reading [3, p. 177].
Improving reading in a foreign language involves mastering types of reading with varying degrees of completeness and accuracy of understanding: scanning, searching, introductory and studying. In this article we will rely on the classification of S.K. Folomkina. Since browsing and searching coincide in many characteristics, in teaching practice they are usually taken as one type, called search-browsing.
These types of readings are aimed at obtaining different results. In addition to the degree of completeness of understanding, to assess the effectiveness of a particular type of reading in work practice, an indicator of its speed is also used. Accordingly, the final requirements, reflecting the minimum level of maturity, for these types of reading can be formulated as follows. First, let's consider introductory reading: the degree of completeness of understanding is at least 70% of the facts contained in the text, including all the main ones. Understanding of basic information must be accurate, secondary information must be undistorted. Speed for English is 180-190 words per minute. The degree of automaticity of students' technical skills is usually determined by this type of reading.
This is followed by exploratory reading, which involves a complete and accurate understanding of the content of the text. Study reading: the degree of completeness of understanding is 100%, and accurate understanding of all information is expected. Speed is considered an optional indicator, however, it should not be lower than 50–60 words per minute.
The next type of reading is viewing reading. This type of reading requires the reader to have a fairly significant amount of language material, so at school they teach only certain methods of skimming reading, which ensure the determination of the topic of the text. The time allotted for viewing is determined at the rate of 1–1.5 pages per minute.
The last type of reading is exploratory reading, which is aimed at extracting specific information. Its goal is to quickly find well-defined data (facts, characteristics, digital indicators, instructions) in a text or in an array of texts. It usually takes place during the initial acquaintance with the content of a new text in order to determine whether it contains information that interests the reader, and on this basis make a decision whether to read it or not. It can also end with the presentation of the results of what has been read in the form of a message or abstract.
As a rule, the following requirements are imposed on search reading: precise formulation of the search task; quickly search for the necessary information; guaranteed finding of information from the text or guaranteed statement of its absence in the text.
It is very important and even necessary to select texts that correspond to the age characteristics and interests of students, thereby contributing to a better enrichment of their knowledge.
To teach exploratory reading, it is necessary to select a number of thematically related text materials and create search and viewing situations. Educational tasks should be aimed at developing skills and abilities to navigate the structure of the text, the ability to extract and use text material in accordance with a specific communicative task.
R. K. Minyar-Belaruchev offers two reading modes: without a time, limit, and with a time limit at a no more advanced stage, when the teacher sets in advance the deadline for which all students must read the text (this deadline must be realistic for a weak student). The second mode has a greater educational effect, as it promotes the development of silent reading techniques, in which students They poke large sections of text with their eyes [2, p. 34].
The tasks for texts during such reading are small and have control functions. It is recommended that tasks be offered first to less prepared students, whose statements are supplemented and expanded by more prepared students, which contributes to a better grasp of the meaning by less prepared students. Tasks, especially at the initial stage of mastering this type of reading, may consist of selecting the correct statement in accordance with the content of the text.
Most researchers distinguish 3 stages of working with text: pre-text, text, and post-text. Exercises for teaching exploratory reading at each stage may look like this:
The pre-text stage (familiarization exercises) may include tasks such as:
- translate the following sentences from the text.
- choose the sentences containing any grammatical unit,
- give the synonyms and antonyms,
- put the words in the sentences in correct order.
The text stage (exercises on general text comprehension) may look like this:
- answer the questions to the text,
- select a paragraph which have suggestions about smth,
- read the first sentence (or paragraph) to try to guess what the text is about,
- look through the text and say to whom it will be interesting,
- pint out the sentences from the text which containing the following information.
Post-text stage (exercises that control the ability to find specific information in the text(s):
- retell text the following phrases,
- match the paragraphs of the text in correct order,
- fill the gaps with the appropriate words and expressions.
When the required information is found, the purpose of search reading is achieved; reading should be stopped or moved on to other types of reading (introductory, studying) [1, p.137].
Ultimately, students develop creativity, develop semantic insight, and increase motivation for learning and the cognitive process.
Drawing conclusions, we can say that in the study of foreign languages, exploratory reading develops students’ logic and thinking, with this type of reading, a literal translation of the text is not required; students can easily do without dictionaries. Practice shows that working with exploratory reading leads to the enrichment of students’ vocabulary and enhances the process of mastering a foreign language by connecting additional motivation.
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