English Teaching

ELT365 · Day 173 — The ‘read and discuss’ trap

📚60-Day ELT Masterclass — This post is part of an ongoing series. View full index →

Idea — Giving learners a text and immediately asking ‘What do you think?’ skips the comprehension stage entirely. Learners end up discussing what they brought to the text, not what is in it.

Example — After a text on artificial intelligence, the teacher asks: ‘Do you think AI is dangerous?’ Learners share opinions they held before reading. The text became decoration.

Try — After your next reading task, add one question that can only be answered by the text: ‘What specific danger does the author name in paragraph 3?’ Then open the discussion.

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