MEDODS OF TEACHING READING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO PRIMARY SCHOOLCHILDREN

Abstract

The article deals with the basic methods of teaching reading in a foreign language to elementary schoolchildren in domestic and foreign theory and practice. The role of early school foreign language reading as a kind of speech activity aimed at the perception and understanding of written text is defined. Reading technique is interpreted as forming automatic skills of quick perception and processing linguistic information (letters, letter combinations, words, punctuation, grammar structures of sentences), followed by correlation with semantic information. Different methods for teaching reading technique of a foreign language to primary schoolchildren are analyzed: a sound method, a whole word method, a whole sentence method, a keyword method, etc. But all of them have its advantages and disadvantages. The structure and content of models for reading technique in foreign languages, developed by R. Martynova and Z. Nykytenko are described in detail: the didactic model of teaching foreign language content in reading and writing techniques (based on the whole word method); the model of stage-by stage formation of reading technique in a foreign language (based on the sound method). However, a perfect method is only that one which meets requirements of the time, combines the most effective (existing at that time) teaching methods to overcome difficulties in development of pupils’ skills in foreign language reading techniques. In the author’s opinion, the solution of this problem is to apply the combined method of teaching reading until a new method will be created or modified to answer the aims and objectives of a modern primary school. But any method should provide the level of pupils’ skills and habits in foreign language reading set by the curriculum in foreign languages for the primary school.