La lectura es un aspecto fundamental en el aprendizaje del idioma inglés. Existen ciertos beneficios fundamentales que traen aparejada la lectura y comprensión de textos en esta lengua. Entre estos beneficios, podemos destacar:
A) Vocabulario / Vocabulary
Cuando se procede a leer un texto en inglés, se comprende una mayor cantidad de palabras y por ende se incrementa considerablemente el vocabulario adquirido en este idioma. Más importante aún, se logra que nuestro cerebro deduzca palabras nuevas del contexto antes de siquiera utilizar un diccionario (por supuesto que sea inglés-inglés). No solo se aprenden nuevas palabras sino que se repasan muchas otras que antes se habían aprendido y que al leer se consolidan mejor en nuestro propio vocabulario.
B) Gramática / Grammar
Al leer un texto, no solo se logra identificar estructuras sino reforzar el uso de dichas estructuras a través del contexto. Muchas veces al estudiar diversas estructuras gramaticales, leemos solo temas relacionados a los objetivos de una unidad. La lectura permite ver como todas las diversas estructuras logran una armonía y hacen que forme un mensaje unificado. Se ven tiempos de pasado, presente y futuro en acción y esto es vital para formar fluidez y no estar limitados a patrones rígidos que hacen del inglés un curso sin dinámica.
C) Redacción / Writing
Esta es una de las áreas más complicadas del aprendizaje del inglés. La lectura ayuda mucho a mejorar la redacción dado que al leer diversas frases, el cerebro las incorpora como modelos a reproducir en un futuro. Un ejemplo de ello son los emails de negocios. Si se leen estos correos de forma seguida, escribir un email resultará mucho más fácil.
D) Comprensión de Texto / Reading Comprehension
La comprensión lectora representa una orientación fundamental para el desarrollo de las habilidades de pensamiento del ser humano; es decir, hablar, escuchar, leer y escribir. El proceso está encaminado hacia el inglés como lengua extranjera. Además, constituye un enfoque que sirve de referencia para ejecutar tanto los procesos educativos como formativos, a corto, mediano y largo plazo. Comprender lo que se lee está relacionado con la capacidad de entendimiento del estudiante en dicha lengua, y el saber hacer en un contexto determinado.
1) Lea el artículo y realice el ejercicio
The Robbery
One of my jobs was in a drive-in movie, working in the toll booth at the point of entry, taking the money. It suited me because I needed the money and had no work permit; it suited the drive-in owners because they could pay me below the normal rates. So that no big-value notes were lying around for too long the manager would pop up occasionally and clean out the till. One night, he had just left with the big notes when a guy wearing a stocking mask on his head jumped around the corner. He had a bag, which he threw through the window of the booth at me. And he had a gun, which he pointed at me.
He started shouting, 'Throw the money in the bag, throw the money in the bag.' I laughed. 'You're joking,' I said. Then almost instantaneously I realized that he wasn't, and in the next portion of a second tried to work out if I could reach through and grab the gun. Common sense then took over. It wasn't my money. I stuck some notes in his bag. Then he shouted: 'Kneel down in the corner with your back to me!' I thought then that he might well shoot me, but I heard his footsteps moving away.
It was only a week later that the narrowness of my escape hit me. I read that a similar incident had occurred locally in a store and that someone had been shot dead for $50. That brought it home. I was glad that I hadn't kept on acting as if it was all a joke.
There was no joke in the police reaction. They soon found I had no work permit and was low on funds. They told me there were no witnesses whatsoever to the robbery. It quickly became clear they thought I had a part in the whole thing, perhaps even had simply pocketed the loot myself. 'Hold on a moment,' I said, 'I had nothing to do with this.' Gradually, they were convinced. I was released and told not to work again without a permit.
Consigna: De acuerdo al texto, elija las opciones correctas para cada oración.
1) Why did the manager collect money from the toll booth?
a. to make sure there wasn´t too much money in the till
b. because the staff didn´t want to be responsible for it
2) The writer tried to take the gun from the robber
a. True
b. False
3) The writer was frightened when the robbery started.
a. True
b. False
4) The writer realized later that he had been lucky.
a. True
b. False
5) The writer quickly understood the situation.
a. True
b. False
6) What does 'it' in the phrase 'as if it was all a joke' (third paragraph) refer to?
a. the robbery
b. his escape
c. the money stolen
7) Which of the following did the police suspect the writer of?
a. lying about how much money had been stolen
b. making too little effort to prevent the robbery
c. pretending that a robbery had taken place
d. telling lies in order to get the job
8) Encuentre verbos en el texto que signifiquen lo mismo que las siguientes palabras o frases:
was convenient for (________________)
gone out (________________)
seize (________________)
struck (________________)
taken place (________________)
discovered (________________)
Respuestas correctas:
1) a
2) b
3) b
4) a
5) a
6) a
7) c
8) was convenient for (______suited________)
gone out (_______left_______)
seize (______grab________)
struck (_____hit_________)
taken place (______ocurred_______)
discovered (______found________)
