Reading with a Purpose: Communicative Reading Tasks for the Foreign Language Classroom

ABSTRACT Recent reading research has shown that reading comprehension is a function of both text‐ and reader‐based factors. This paper focuses on the reader‐based factor of purpose, beginning with a review of research which demonstrates that reading texts with a particular purpose or perspective facilitates comprehension and increases reader interest. The paper suggests approaches to the teaching of texts that provide learners with purpose, including student‐generated text collections, communicative tasks with reading components, and prereading tasks for readings in literature or civilization. Finally, the paper argues that the concept of purpose provides a useful organizing principle for the coordination of reading instruction across the foreign language curriculum.