Week 2: Reading for Information Skills and Strategies

Reading for Information

• Reading is a crucial activity in academic discourse, and it has a direct relationship with writing.
• Students read to retrieve information for various academic purposes, such as essays, assignments, presentations, seminars, and examinations.

Course Reading Lists

• Students are provided with reading lists from their various courses, containing recommended reading materials for the course.
• These reading lists help students to focus on specific topics and materials relevant to their courses.

Sources of Reading

• Reading materials can include textbooks, journal articles, reports, magazines, newspapers, and online materials.
• Students can use library catalogues, including online catalogues, to find sources.

Reading Methods and Techniques

• Skimming is a quick method of reading aimed at finding general information, giving a general sense of a material, and assessing its usefulness.
• In skimming, the reader reads selected parts of the material to get an overview of the information.

Skimming Techniques

• When skimming, read the following parts:
  • Titles and subtitles
  • Table of contents
  • Foreword/preface
  • Copyright page
  • Headings and subheadings
  • Introductions
  • Illustrations (diagrams, charts, graphs, tables, pictures, etc.)
  • Topic sentences
  • Conclusions
  • Occasionally, read a small section that looks important

Scanning Reading Technique

• Scanning is a quick method of reading aimed at locating specific information, such as definitions, explanations, dates, meanings, or spellings.
• Scanning involves using the index pages to facilitate searching.

Close Reading Technique

• Close reading is a thoughtful, critical analysis of a text that focuses on significant details or patterns to develop a deep, precise understanding of the text's form, style, and meaning.
• Close reading involves observing facts and details, interpreting the observed details, noticing features and language used by the author, annotating items by highlighting and underlining, and asking questions about the text.

SQ3R Study Technique

• SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review.
• The SQ3R method helps to know what parts of a reading material are important to remember and retain all the important information.

SQ3R Steps

• Survey: Quickly skim the information, looking over headings and subheadings to see the central points, and read the summary paragraph if available.
• Question: Turn the first heading into a question that has to be answered, which will bring to mind information that you already know and help to understand the section more quickly.
• Read: This is close reading, and it is best done along with notetaking, paying attention to details that will enable you to answer the questions.
• Recite/Recall: Put the book aside and try to answer briefly (from memory) the question asked earlier, using your own words and trying to give examples.
• Review: Glance over your notes to get an overview of the points and their relationship to one another, checking your memory of the content by stating the points under every heading.

Vocabulary: Prefixes and Suffixes

• Understanding the meaning of prefixes and suffixes helps to improve vocabulary, which further helps to improve reading and comprehension.
• Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word, and suffixes are added to the end of a word.

Prefixes and Suffixes Examples

• Prefixes:
  • a- (without)
  • dis- (negation; absence of)
  • mis- (wrongly)
  • pre- (before)
  • re- (once more)
  • semi- (partly)
• Suffixes:
  • -er (one who performs)
  • -ful (to be full of)
  • -hood (a condition or state)
  • -ish (having a quality or characteristic of)
  • -less (without)
  • -ness (a state of being)

This quiz covers the importance of reading in academic discourse, its relationship with writing, and strategies for retrieving information from texts.