Module 5 Reading Skills PDF

Module 4: READING What is reading? Reading is the active process of understanding prints and graphic texts. Reading is a thinking process. Effective readers know that when they read, what they read is supposed to make sense. They monitor their understanding, and when they lose the meaning of what t...

Module 4: READING What is reading? Reading is the active process of understanding prints and graphic texts. Reading is a thinking process. Effective readers know that when they read, what they read is supposed to make sense. They monitor their understanding, and when they lose the meaning of what they are reading, they often unconsciously select and use a reading strategy (such as re-reading or asking questions) that will help them reconnect with the meaning of the text. Students can be taught to be strategic and effective readers. Struggling readers benefit from a variety of instructional approaches that demonstrate reading skills as subject content is taught. Reading is an integral part of academic affairs and it is equally important outside academic contexts. Reading is a skill which enables us to get a message; recognizing the written words (written symbols); getting (understanding) the meaning; used to teach pronunciation; grasping information from texts. Reading is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought. Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition and comprehension.  Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving how written symbols correspond to one’s spoken language.  Comprehension is the process of making sense of words, sentences and connected text. Readers typically make use of background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, experience with text and other strategies to help them understand written text. Apart from the essential linguistic requirements of the reading process (e.g., vocabulary and grammar), there are some so-called reading strategies that are attested to improve reading. Effective readers use strategies to understand what they read before, during, and after reading. Before reading, they:  Use prior knowledge to think about the topic.  Make predictions about the probable meaning of the text.  Preview the text by skimming and scanning to get a sense of the overall meaning. During reading, they:  Monitor understanding by questioning, thinking about, and reflecting on the ideas and information in the text. After reading, they:  Reflect upon the ideas and information in the text.  Relate what they have read to their own experiences and knowledge.  Clarify their understanding of the text.  Extend their understanding in critical and creative ways. PURPOSES FOR READING There are three primary purposes for reading, and each one is identified by different motivations, activities and strategies. i. Reading for pleasure Text based on interests Multiple and easy connections to prior knowledge Satisfies intellectual stimulation and/or emotional pleasure ii. Reading for literal understanding Answers basic who, what, when, where questions Establishes vocabulary and basic concepts in the subject iii. Reading for analysis, interpretation, and application Engages critical thinking skills through questioning and reflection Considers stated and implied ideas 2 Speculates on how concepts can be applied to new situations.  To find general information such as what a book is mostly about  To find a specific topic in a book or article  To learn subject matter that is required for a class  Skimming for general information  Scanning for specific information  Reading to learn  Read for understanding  Read to evaluate critically  Read for practical application. Types of Reading Strategies There are the following types of reading and the corresponding types of activities to develop the corresponding reading skills: 1. Intensive reading is a detailed study of the prescribed text in order to train the students. This is an important aspect of language teaching, i.e., reading. According to Jesperson, Intensive reading is “To keep students occupied with the text repeatedly in such a way that they do not lose sight in the meaning, so that they may thus become so familiar with it, at last that they know it almost or entirely by heart, without having been directly required to commit it to memory.” This plays an important role, not only in examination but also in practical life. Objectives of intensive reading The objectives of intensive reading are:  To make a detailed study of words, phrases, word order and expressions, thus entirely dealing with the sentence structure.  To enable the reader to comprehend the text, its sense and meaning. 3   To enable the reader to improve command over language and increase comprehension of the texts that they come across with expanding vocabulary.  It encourages students to gather information from the text. 2. Extensive reading: This type of reading is also known as rapid reading or independent reading. The teacher plays the role of the supervisor while students carry it out independently. Extensive reading is to read silently and quickly in order to understand the subject matter and derive the meaning as a whole without the help of the teacher and expand passive vocabulary. According to Thompson and Wyatt, “The main purpose of extensive reading is the cultivation of taste for reading and it seeks to encourage the habit of visualizing what is read to make reading a form of visual instruction”. Extensive reading should be undertaken only when the reader has mastered at least a vocabulary of about 500. Extensive reading involves longer texts, usually for one’s own pleasure. This is a fluency activity, mainly involving global understanding. 3. Scanning refers to the ability to locate specific information or facts as quickly as possible. While trying to look for the meaning of a word in a dictionary or looking for a telephone number in the telephone directory, we scan and try to look for specific information. Scanning is an important rapid reading technique. It may serve many purposes, which include looking for: a) a specific point or fact in a text, b) a formula in a text, c) a word in a dictionary, d) train or television schedules, e) any reference or bibliographical list, f) examination results, or g) Any notes/ questions/ remarks at the end of the text. We may know how to scan a newspaper or dictionary but may do it slowly with less accuracy. What is important is to increase scanning speed with accuracy. 4 The following suggestions will help increase proficiency at scanning: i. Do not read everything. The first step would be to fix clearly in mind what one is looking for. The purpose of scanning should be determined and the reader should not be confused about the information that he/ she requires. The second step is to plan how the required information can be obtained. For example, if one is looking for a name or place, capital letter can provide clues. ii. Use guides and aids. Every reading material contains certain guides and aids, which should be used to find what the reader wants. iii. Know the association of the material to be read. The reader needs to know the connection of the reading material to scan it with speed and accuracy. Practise scanning different types of reading material, such as newspaper listings, dictionaries, telephone directories, and analyse the way information is structured in these materials. iv. Concentrate while scanning. The reader needs to concentrate while scanning a reading material. One must have the urge to read and scan the material. This will improve his visual perception and help him identify the required information quickly. 4. Skimming is a more sophisticated skill than scanning. It refers to the process of reading a text or passage in order to get rough idea of what the text or passage is all about. It is a rapid reading technique that prepares the reader for detailed reading. As the main objective of skimming is to understand the central idea and the main points of the text, the reader needs to use a reading strategy that involves fast reading and quick analysis. Skimming also involves discovering the purpose and association of a text. One of the most important purposes of reading for academic and professional purposes is obtaining relevant information for various purposes. This involves not only the ability to recognize the main ideas and supporting details but also the ability to identify different writing patterns used to develop these ideas. Authors use variety of discourse patterns in scientific writing. Skimming is essential for better understanding of a text. Skimming should answer the following questions about the text: 5  i. What is the overall purpose of the text? ii. What is the central idea or theme of the text? iii. What does the author intend to do? (Describe, instruct, report, narrate, explain, argue, persuade, illustrate and so on) iv. What are the main points of the text? Identifying the Central Idea The first step of skimming is to identify the central idea. Every essay, article, passage, or textbook chapter deals with a theme or central idea. All the other ideas, points, examples, illustrations in the text support and expand the central idea. In order to understand the central idea of a text, the reader should carefully read the following:  The title or the main heading  The sub-headings  The opening paragraph  The last paragraph The title or the main heading of a text can give a clue to the content. Similarly, the subheadings can also help in identifying the central idea. The opening and the last paragraphs generally sum up the subject and the author’s point of view. The reader should also glance over the beginning of the text to identify its logical association. Identify the discourse technique used in the text, i.e., definition, description, explanation, comparison and contrast, narration, classification and so on. Both skimming and scanning are specific reading techniques necessary for quick and efficient reading. When skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order to get the gist of it, to know how it organized, or to get an idea of the tone or the intention of the writer. When scanning, we only try to locate specific information and often we do not even follow the linearity of the passage to do so. We simply let our eyes wander over the text until we find what we are looking for, whether it be name, a date, or a less specific piece of information. Skimming is therefore a more thorough 6  activity which requires an overall view of the text and implies a definite reading competence. 5. The SQ3R method; SQ3R is a Reading/Study formula designed to help process and increase retention of written information. It consists of the following five steps.  S = SURVEY Scan the piece of writing to establish its purpose and get the main ideas. Look for:  Titles and Headings – Indicate the main topics and concepts being developed.  Pictures, questions, bold or italicized print – emphasize important information.  Introduction and conclusion –May give the topics being covered as well as the purpose. First and last sentences in paragraphs.  Footnotes  Q = QUESTION Write questions to give purpose and improve concentration. This aids comprehension. Turn main headings and pictures into questions. Jot down questions that you may have as you survey the material.  R = READ Search for answers to your questions. Make notes and highlight main ideas that support the concept.  R = RECITE Reciting helps to put the information into your long-term memory. Put what you have learned into your own words.  R = REVIEW It is important to review the material to understand and remember it. Did you answer all of the questions and understand the information? Reviewing each time you study will eliminate the need to “cram” for a test. BAD READING HABITS AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM Definition 7 Bad reading habits are those reading behaviours that should be avoided when reading a text. It is important to understand that academic reading involves a lot of materials that require to be read so that papers, presentations and exams can be written. Therefore, speed is very necessary. One needs to read as many materials in as short time as possible.  Slow reading Avoid slow reading, read speedy. Most people are actually competent readers and can read at a good pace just from the techniques they first learned when they were children. Using your index finger to pace beneath each line is one method you might still apply now and then. However, as we are required to become more specific with our information people start to read much slower, focusing specifically on one word at a time as they believe this will improve their comprehension rates. Interestingly, the brain is more than capable of processing short phrases and groups of words incredibly quickly! When you consider that on average, half of your material consists of the most common 100 words in the English language, this lessens the need for slow reading even further! The solution? Quite simply, next time you are going through a text do it a little quicker and try reading groups of words as opposed to individual words. This will reinforce a faster pace and train your eyes and mind to capture key information precisely! However, it may take some time and practice to fully master this technique.  Reading the end first Avoid reading the end first and read from the beginning. If you are reading a story especially a thriller you will end up missing a lot of the suspense built up in the plot. By reading from the beginning helps you to get the suspense which is necessary to help you unravel the mystery.  Judging a book by its cover 8 Avoid judging the book by its cover. Don’t buy a book before you survey it. In other words, do not buy a book before you read its title, the preface, table of contents, its back cover etc. It is a bad reading if you don’t survey the book so as to establish whether or not it is relevant for you. Read the first two or three pages of the book to help you decide.  Bad reading posture Avoid bad reading posture while reading for example, lying on the bed – this may strain some parts of the body such as arms, neck, legs and spine. Good posture recommended for reading is to sit straight on the back on a comfortable chair with your book held below the eyes 60 degrees angle and distance of 15 inches from the eye. Don’t read while lying on the bed. Don’t place the book on your lap.  Flipping pages Don’t flip pages so as to finish reading a book. Some readers flip pages when they feel tired. If you feel tired better take a break. There are readers who cannot start reading a book and keep on reading to the end of the chapter/book before they flip pages, either they are looking headlines for each chapter or pictures, diagrams etc. and thus they start reading. This is a wastage of time. You can’t do this where academic reading is concerned because you have so many texts to read.  Vocalization What is meant by vocalization? This is when you start pronouncing words out loud as you read. Subvocalization is the same idea but pronouncing words in your head. It is certainly one of the more controversial bad reading habits. Many developed it as they believe it helps their memory retention if they hear information and read it. In reality, it is slowing your reading down considerably. 9 Solution: Stop doing it by focusing upon groups of words instead of individual ones! It can take time to stop doing this “bad reading habit” and actively thinking about not vocalizing the text can reduce your focus on your material. Within a short space of time, however, you should find the process much easier, which will only help your literacy abilities considerably. A proven trick is to hum a melody while flying over the words. It works for me. You may also learn how to visualize what you read to overcome this bad reading habit.  Reading more than one book at the same time or reading everything at the same pace Surely, reading at the same pace is beneficial. Well, not exactly, though this may initially sound a little odd. However, a text you find incredibly easy to comprehend is not worth wasting excess time over, especially if it is information, you already know. Likewise, for trickier sections, slowing down a little means you will not have to re- read the text later, which (regression) is one of the most time-wasting bad reading habits many have. Solution: Try slowing down for tricky sections and speeding up for easy ones the next time you read. You will be surprised at just how much more information will sink in! Furthermore, apply proven methods such as skimming and scanning if you only need an overview of the material.  Regression – Skipping back and general re-reading Having to repeat yourself when speaking is frustrating, and it is the same case when reading. Often, even if you have fully understood the sentence, you will find yourself getting to the end of a page and re-reading it out of habit, which is a huge waste of time. This is called regression. The solution: Do not reread sections of text unless you failed to comprehend any of them, but by reading sentences just once you will show less tendency to develop bad reading habits. If you need further reading, try another text on the same subject. This 10 will improve your perspective of the subject and will be more than likely throw up additional interesting information!  Information overloading and lack of preparation Leaving things to the last minute is never ideal, and with reading, this is no different. Often when reading is left last minute, you find yourself trying to cram as much information as possible into your brain. Even when not left to the last minute, this is something many people do anyway. This can lead to misinformation and improper communication between the text and you, meaning that what you read and what you actually comprehend can vary drastically. Solution: A good technique to start using is pre-reading preparation, especially if you can undertake it a day or so before. Briefly skim the text and the internet for key points on the topic, and you will be surprised at just how much information you can gather. If this initial information is reinforced by your reading, then that is great! And if not, then simply reread another piece of text to gain another perspective and not become stressed. Information overloading is one of those bad reading habits that can be overcome quickest. 11