MODERN APPROACHES TO TEACHING READING SKILLS

Аннотация

This article examines the significance of texts in the process of teaching foreign languages to students of non-philological specializations. It emphasizes that texts serve not only as linguistic material but also as an effective pedagogical tool that helps develop students’ professional and communicative competence. The study explores how authentic and professionally-oriented texts contribute to students’ mastery of specialized terminology, grammatical structures, and reading strategies necessary for understanding field-specific content. The paper also discusses the psychological and cognitive aspects of text perception, highlighting the importance of motivation, background knowledge, and interest in effective foreign language learning. Special attention is given to selecting texts that meet students’ academic needs, age, and specialization to foster meaningful and goal-oriented language acquisition. Keywords: foreign language teaching, non-philological students, authentic texts, text-based instruction, professional competence, terminology acquisition, reading strategies, motivation, ESP(English forSpecific Purposes), cognitiveapproach Traditionally, the purpose of learning to read in a language has been to have access to the literature written in that language. In language instruction, reading materials have traditionally been chosen from literary texts that represent "higher" forms of culture. This approach assumes that students learn to read a language by studying its vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, not by actually reading it. In this approach, lower level learners read only sentences and paragraphs generated by textbook writers and instructors. The reading of authentic materials is limited to the works of great authors and reserved for upper level students who have developed thelanguage skillsneeded to read them. The communicative approach to language teaching has given instructors a different understanding of the role of reading inthe language classroom and thetypes of texts that can be used in instruction. When the goal of instruction is communicative competence, everyday materials such as train schedules, newspaper articles, and travel and tourism websites become appropriate classroom materials, because reading them is one way communicative competence is developed. Instruction in reading and reading practice thus become essential parts of language teaching at every level. Reader knowledge, skills, and strategies include:  Linguistic competence: the ability to recognize the elements of the writing system; knowledgeofvocabulary; knowledge of howwords are structured into sentences  Discourse competence: knowledge of discourse markers and how they connect parts of thetexttoone another  Sociolinguistic competence: knowledge about different types of texts and their usual structureand content  Strategic competence: the ability to use top-down strategies as well as knowledge of thelanguage (abottom-up strategy) 74 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue08,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai The purpose(s) for reading and the type oftext determine the specific knowledge, skills, and strategies that readers need to apply to achieve comprehension. Reading comprehension is thus much more than decoding. Reading comprehension results when the reader knows which skills and strategies are appropriate for the type of text, and understands how to apply them to accomplish thereading purpose. Recent research emphasizes that effective reading instruction should integrate metacognitive strategies, such as planning, monitoring, and evaluating comprehension, which significantlyinfluence learners’autonomy and success inacademic contexts [9]. Different suggestions were offered by linguists. For instance, F.L. Stoller, N.J. Anderson, and W. Grabe differentiated 5 steps in teaching reading skills in their article Instructional Enhancements to Improve Students’ Reading Abilities (2013). They were: extensive practice and exposure to print, commitment to building student motivation,attention to reading fluency, vocabulary building, comprehension skillspractice and