DESIGNING A READING COMPREHENSION TEACHING PROCEDURE FOR “HAI ĐUA TRE” BY THACH LAM FROM A SEMIOTIC APPROACH

Abstract

The 2018 General Education Curriculum in Vietnam emphasizes the development of learners’ qualities and competencies, making the innovation of teaching methods in Literature an inevitable requirement. In this context, applying modern theoretical approaches such as semiotics to the teaching of reading comprehension offers considerable potential. This study is conducted through a combination of theoretical research, textual analysis, and analytical-synthetic methods. Based on the distinctive features of Thach Lam’s short stories, the ideological and artistic values of Two Children, and the application of fundamental concepts and principles of semiotics, the paper proposes a five-step procedure for teaching reading comprehension: (1) orienting the identification of signs; (2) exploring and recording signs; (3) analyzing the relationship between the signifier and the signified; (4) decoding layers of meaning; and (5) generalizing messages and cultural-social values. This procedure aims to guide teachers in organizing reading comprehension activities from a semiotic perspective, thereby clarifying the feasibility of transforming theoretical concepts into pedagogical practices in Literature teaching at the secondary school level. On this basis, the paper also discusses several requirements and challenges in designing reading comprehension activities according to a semiotic-oriented approach