Department of English Language Teaching · Faculty of Business Studies

Teaching Reading: Four Online Courses for English Teachers

The University of Vavuniya and Partners In Micro-Development (PIMD) offer four online courses on how to teach reading in English. Take them in order. Each one carries a certificate.

4courses, taken in order
Freeno course fee
Onlinestudy at your own pace
3,000+teachers enrolled since 2023

About the programme

Most English teachers in Sri Lanka finish their training without learning how children learn to read. These courses fill that gap. They are built on the Science of Reading — the research on how the brain learns to read.

The courses are practical. Teachers learn methods they can use in class the following week, alongside the Government English syllabus. Materials come from the Lotus English Literacy Program, including the Lotus eLibrary of Sri Lankan levelled readers.

Order matters. Each course builds on the one before it, and Course 4 draws on all three. You may take a single course, but the four work best together.

The four courses

Foundation

Teaching Phonological Awareness and Phonics

Delivery
Online, self-paced
Length
12 weeks to complete, at your own pace
Structure
9 modules, 5 quizzes
Certificate
Pass every quiz to pass the course

The starting point. Teachers learn how English sounds and spelling work, how to build phonological awareness in Grades 1 and 2 alongside the Government syllabus, and how to teach the full Lotus Phonics Program for Grades 2–6. Video lectures, readings and tasks are guided step by step online.

By the end, teachers can

  • Explain how English sounds, spelling and word parts work
  • Teach phonological awareness in Grades 1 and 2
  • Teach the full Lotus Phonics Program, Grades 2–6
  • Spot weak word reading and adjust their teaching
Course content
  1. The Science of Reading
  2. The sounds of English
  3. How English spelling represents sound
  4. Phonological awareness in Grades 1 and 2
  5. Lotus Phonics: foundation level
  6. Lotus Phonics: advanced level
  7. Word parts and fast, automatic reading
  8. Spotting and helping students who struggle
  9. Planning phonics across the year
Intermediate

Teaching Language and Reading Comprehension

Delivery
Online, self-paced
Length
12 weeks to complete, at your own pace
Structure
8 modules, 5 quizzes
Certificate
Pass every quiz to pass the course

Course 1 teaches students to read the words. This course teaches them to understand what they read. Teachers learn to build background knowledge, vocabulary, grammar awareness and inferencing, to use text structure, and to spot students whose problem is understanding rather than decoding.

By the end, teachers can

  • Teach vocabulary directly instead of leaving it to chance
  • Build the knowledge a text assumes before students read it
  • Teach sentence structure and inferencing
  • Use text type and structure to aid understanding
  • Find the real cause of a student's comprehension problem
Course content
  1. Introduction and course overview — the two halves of reading, and the processes behind language and reading comprehension
  2. Background knowledge — how what students already know helps them understand a text, and how to build and activate it
  3. Vocabulary — building word knowledge in breadth, depth and speed, with activities before, during and after reading
  4. Language structures — how sentence structure affects understanding, especially pronouns and connectives, with reading and writing activities
  5. Verbal reasoning — teaching students to work out meaning the text does not state directly
  6. Choosing reading material — why students need both stories and information texts
  7. Helping struggling readers — using the Simple View of Reading to find the exact problem and choose the right help
  8. The Lotus Reading Program — a short introduction to the program, and to Course 3
Applied practice

The Lotus Reading Program

Delivery
Online, self-paced
Length
12 weeks to complete, at your own pace
Structure
7 modules, 5 quizzes
Certificate
Pass every quiz to pass the course

Theory becomes practice. Teachers learn the Lotus guided reading lesson for whole-class teaching, and how to adjust it so every student makes progress. The main resource is the Lotus eLibrary: Sri Lankan levelled readers across 26 levels, matched to the Government syllabus themes. Assessments are based on real classroom situations.

By the end, teachers can

  • Explain what differentiated teaching is, and why it matters
  • Plan and teach a whole-class guided reading lesson
  • Support every learner in a mixed-ability class
  • Assess reading and plan small-group work
Course content
  1. Key ideas in reading instruction
  2. Differentiated teaching — and how Lotus differs from the syllabus alone
  3. How the Lotus Reading Program works
  4. The guided reading lesson, step by step — a 60-minute lesson in three parts, taught across three modules: vocabulary and text introduction, phonics and decoding, then comprehension and writing
  5. Assessment and extra help — for students who need it
Advanced · Capstone

Assessment and Remedial Intervention

Delivery
Live online classes, weekly (recorded)
Length
5 weeks
Structure
One final assignment in two parts
Prerequisite
Courses 1, 2 and 3
Certificate
On passing the assignment

The final course. Teachers learn to identify struggling readers early, then design a support plan for a real student in their own class using everything from the first three courses. Live classes are recorded, so teachers can watch them at any time.

By the end, teachers can

  • Test a class and find students at risk
  • Tell whether the problem is reading words or understanding them
  • Write a support plan for one student
  • Track progress and change the plan as needed
Final assignment
  1. Part A — Case study. A profile of one struggling reader in your own class, based on testing.
  2. Part B — Support plan. A step-by-step plan for that student, with points to check progress.

Who can enrol

The courses are open to:

  • Primary and secondary English teachers, in government and private schools
  • Teachers who teach other subjects in English
  • Student teachers and undergraduates
  • Teacher trainers, ISAs and school principals
  • Tuition and preschool teachers

What you need

  • Working English
  • Internet access and a phone, tablet or computer
  • A class to teach — useful for Courses 3 and 4
  • No earlier training in reading instruction is needed

All lectures in Courses 1, 2 and 3 are pre-recorded. There are no scheduled classes, so you can study whenever it suits you.

How to enrol

All four courses are free.

Start with Course 1. To be told when the next Course 1 intake opens, subscribe to the Science of Reading Sri Lanka newsletter. Announcements are sent to subscribers.

Subscribe for course announcements

Courses 2, 3 and 4 are by invitation. Once you complete a course, you will receive an email invitation to enrol in the next one.

Questions: info@microdevpartners.org

About the partner

Partners In Micro-Development (PIMD) is an Australian not-for-profit. It has worked on English literacy in Sri Lanka for more than twenty years with the University of Jaffna, the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka and the University of Colombo. Its courses have reached teachers in all nine provinces.

Course materials are provided in the online learning system hosted by the University. Certificates are issued jointly by the University of Vavuniya and PIMD.

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