For ESL students, reading advanced material can often feel overwhelming. A useful strategy to make the process less intimidating is to focus on identifying key words, rather than trying to understand every part of the text.
By honing in on key words, students develop the important skill of reading for gist—understanding the overall meaning without getting lost in details. This approach allows them to grasp the main ideas of the text while gradually building their vocabulary.
Ultimately, key word identification not only makes the reading process easier but also encourages deeper engagement with the material, making it a powerful tool for language learners.
With that in mind, here is an activity where students read an article with the objective of identifying 10 key words. After selecting the words, they explain why they chose each one and how it relates to the main theme of the article.
How to Implement the Activity:
Have students read the article individually or in pairs.
Ask them to select 10 key words from the text.
Students should explain in writing or verbally why they chose each word and how it connects to the main theme of the article.
Follow up with a group discussion where students compare their key words and reasoning.
Example from My Class
I am currently teaching a macro-level history course on humanity’s technological developments, titled “Stone Age to Digital Age,” which focuses on the history of technology. As an introductory activity, I use the key word identification strategy based on an article that explores technological development over the long term. The article is available here, and below are example key words and explanations from the activity.
Key Words and Explanations:
1. Technology
Explanation: Technology is central to the article, referring to the tools and innovations that change how we live and interact with the world. The entire discussion revolves around how technology has shaped and will continue to shape human society.
2. Innovation
Explanation: Innovation drives technological change. The article highlights the importance of new ideas and inventions, explaining that rapid innovations, especially in recent centuries, have transformed the world.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Explanation: AI is presented as a significant future innovation with the potential to accelerate technological change even further. The article stresses that AI may bring faster changes than ever before, affecting society in profound ways.
4. Spiral
Explanation: The spiral is used as a metaphor to represent the timeline of technological development. It visually shows how slow technological progress was in the past compared to the rapid pace today.
5. Change
Explanation: Change is a recurring theme in the article. It emphasizes that technological advancements can occur rapidly, transforming lives and the world in previously unimaginable ways.
6. Invention
Explanation: The word "invention" is used to describe key breakthroughs like the wheel, writing, and the steam engine, which pushed technological progress forward.
7. Timeline
Explanation: The timeline is crucial for understanding the speed of technological change, illustrating how inventions have come at a faster pace over the past two centuries.
8. Future
Explanation: The future is a key focus. The article encourages readers to consider how new technologies, particularly AI, will shape the world in the coming decades.
9. Communication
Explanation: Communication technologies (writing, paper, the printing press, the internet) are highlighted as crucial developments that have transformed how humans interact over time.
10. Control
Explanation: Control is important because it raises the question of who will manage future technologies like AI. The article argues that control over these technologies will have significant political and societal implications.
This activity is an effective way for students to engage with complex material while improving their ability to identify key concepts and vocabulary.
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