Abstract:

The system of tasks to develop second formers communicative competence on the basis of the text being read was designed taking into consideration the international reading literacy results of PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) among fourth formers. It was the third time Lithuanian fourth formers took part in this study (in 2001, 2006 and 2011). Comparing each year’s results it was found that achievements in reading among Lithuanian fourth formers were slightly worse with each PIRLS cycle, which means that the overall reading comprehension skills (both of fiction and no-fiction texts) among Lithuanian fourth formers are deteriorating. Therefore, the results of this study show the need to dedicate more time to reading activities, provide texts interesting to both boys and girls, apply the best active learning approaches, place the focus on developing superior abilities, related to creativity and innovation, include more fiction and non-fiction texts in the educational process and develop an attitude that reading can be a pleasure; in reading activities use not only textbooks and exercise books but also other resources attractive to a modern student.
Taking into account the reading achievements of Lithuanian students reflected in PIRLS of 2011, conclusions and recommendations of researchers and Lithuanian education approach to encourage the integrated development of general and specific competences a methodology was designed to develop second formers’ communicative competence on the basis of the text being read. This article discusses the main ideas of this methodology.
In every lesson (or two joint lessons) when working on students’ communicative competence on the basis of the text being read we should allow the students to choose between several recommended alternative activities. Each activity should offer interesting, attractive and relevant texts for reading and analysis. This is the stage of information comprehension, which is best reflected by a set of ready purposeful questions (alternatively the questions may be thought of by the students), which should be answered individually or working in small groups. The following stage, which is greatly significant in the communication process, is planning how the information received through reading comprehension will be shared. When the content of the presentation to be shared with a classmate is ready, there should be a possibility to discuss it, i.e. share the information received through reading a text. The last stage is the reflection on the activity as a whole including all the stages from choosing the activity to sharing information and it should be implemented applying different active learning methods.

Keywords:

System of tasks, second formers, development of communicative competence on the basis of the text being read.