Reading with a purpose: Communicative reading tasks for the foreign language classroom

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.