ELP Finals Reviewer - Reading Strategies PDF

**ELP FINALS REVIEWER** **READING** What is Reading? It is commonly defined as the ability to read and interpret meaning from varied texts. The **National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)** defines reading as follows: Reading is an active and complex process that involves: \(a) under...

**ELP FINALS REVIEWER** **READING** What is Reading? It is commonly defined as the ability to read and interpret meaning from varied texts. The **National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)** defines reading as follows: Reading is an active and complex process that involves: \(a) understanding written text, \(b) developing and interpreting meaning, \(c) using meaning as appropriate to the type of text, purpose, and situation. How do national organizations or states define and measure reading proficiency? [Reading proficiency] is commonly measured by national or state standardized measures; and in some states, age/grade assessments of literacy. A rating of "proficient" generally means that a student has mastered age or grade level expectations. The NAEP defines proficiency as follows: **Basic**: Denotes partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade. **Proficient**: Represents solid academic performance for each grade assessed. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. **Advanced**: Signifies superior performance. **Key Terms in Reading** **Active Reading** Using strategies to engage with the text to promote understanding and recall. Strategies can include note-taking, annotation, selective highlighting, etc., and help the reader identify the key information he or she wants to remember, ask questions about or connect to other ideas. **Critical Reading** Helps readers think about the validity or relevance of the information and ideas they are reading. Readers ask critical questions of the text to promote a greater understanding of the content and the purpose of the text. **Deep Reading (or Close Reading)** Reading for meaning in a literary text that moves past the plot. Consider how narrative elements contribute to the deeper meaning of the whole text. It is also important to think about the text in its context. **Noting (or reading) for Gist** A technique where the reader identifies the key concept(s) of each paragraph. Particularly useful for academic articles and books. The reader makes a brief marginal note or annotation (word or phrase) for each paragraph. **Scanning** A technique where a reader looks at the structure of a text to help familiarize himself or herself with the content. It's especially useful as a first step of the scan, read review process for reading textbooks. Making note of headings and chapter objectives/review questions helps readers anticipate and identify key information when reading. **Skimming** A technique that readers use to quickly locate information in reading or to determine whether a particular reading has relevance to the task at hand. **ANTI-ONLINE DISTRACTION APPLICATIONS** It can be hard to get ready to read when you feel compelled to browse Facebook, check Instagram, or see what's trending on Twitter. To help eliminate the distraction of social media, here are some apps to help you temporarily block your online accounts and help you get in the mood to read course content. **Anti-Social** Anti-Social is an app that allows you to target and block any distracting website to allow you to work more productively. Anti-social works for Mac and Windows for a nominal fee. **Cold Turkey** Cold Turkey allows you to block distracting websites and apps. Cold Turkey allows you to set goals, and take breaks as per your study schedule. Cold Turkey blocks sites and apps on all browsers and is free. **Freedom** Freedom will eliminate your access to the Internet for a while based on your work schedule and desired 12limitations. The software works on both Windows and Mac devices and is available for a nominal fee. **DIFFERENT STRATEGIES** TO USE WHEN IT COMES TO READING A TEXTBOOK **Highlighting** If you choose to highlight or underline the main ideas of the text you are reading, practice being selective. Read to understand a few paragraphs before stopping, take a moment to consider the content, and then select key ideas to highlight or underline. To further develop basic highlighting and underlining, you can use a variety of symbols to highlight key information, like boxes, brackets, circles, stars, and so on. Remember, if you over-highlight, then nothing will stand out. **Skimming** It is a practice of selective reading in which you aim to read what is important and ignore what isn't. Best used when you want to get an overview, find facts or find the material you need. Do not use it when you need to pay attention to detail or read for full comprehension. How to do skimming: - Read the table of contents - Read the intro, summary, headings - Read the first and last lines of each paragraph - Look through the words for specific information, keywords and stop when you get to them. - From this, make inferences about the author's meaning Take some time to practice skimming material from your course. **SKIMMING VS. SCANNING** **Skimming** To get a general idea or overview of a text. Move your eyes quickly over the text, focusing on headings, subheadings, topic sentences, and keywords. The goal is not to read everything but to understand the main ideas or themes. **Example**: If you\'re skimming a newspaper, you\'ll look at the headlines and the first few lines of each article to understand what each article is about. **Scanning** To find specific information within a text. You move your eyes rapidly over the text to locate a particular word, date, number, or fact. You don\'t need to read entire sentences or sections. **Example**: If you\'re scanning a schedule, you\'re quickly looking for a specific time or event, ignoring the rest of the information. **READING COMPREHENSION** Comprehension, or extracting meaning from what you read, is the ultimate goal of reading. The process of comprehension is both interactive and strategic. Rather than passively reading text, readers must analyze it, internalize it and make it their own. **GENERAL STRATEGIES** FOR READING COMPREHENSION **Using Prior Knowledge/Previewing** When students preview text, they tap into what they already know that will help them to understand the text they are about to read. This provides a framework for any new information they read. **Predicting** When students make predictions about the text they are about to read, it sets up expectations based on their prior knowledge about similar topics. As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they gain more information. **Identifying the Main Idea and Summarization** Identifying the main idea and summarizing requires that students determine what is important and then put it in their own words. Implicit in this process is trying to understand the author's purpose in writing the text. **Questioning** Asking and answering text questions is another strategy that helps students focus on the meaning of the text. Teachers can help by modeling both the process of asking good questions and strategies for finding the answers in the text. **Making Inferences** To make inferences about something that is not explicitly stated in the text, students must learn to draw on prior knowledge and recognize clues in the text itself. **Visualizing** Studies have shown that students who visualize while reading have better recall than those who do not (Pressley, 1977). Readers can take advantage of illustrations that are embedded in the text or create their mental images or drawings when reading the text without illustrations. **STRATEGIES** FOR READING COMPREHENSION: **NARRATIVE TEXT** **Story Maps** Teachers can have students diagram the story grammar of the text to raise their awareness of the elements the author uses to construct the story. Story grammar includes: Setting Characters Plot Theme **Retelling** Asking students to retell a story in their own words forces them to analyze the content to determine what is important. Teachers can encourage students to go beyond literally recounting the story to drawing their conclusions about it. **Prediction** Teachers can ask readers to predict a story based on the title and any other clues that are available, such as illustrations. Teachers can later ask students to find text that supports or contradicts their predictions. **Answering Comprehension Questions** Asking students different types of questions requires that they find the answers in different ways, for example, by finding literal answers in the text itself or by drawing on prior knowledge and then inferring answers based on clues in the text. What is Speed Reading? **Speed reading** is the process of rapidly recognizing and absorbing phrases or sentences on a page all at once, rather than identifying individual words. Most people read at an average rate of 250 words per minute (wpm), though some are naturally quicker than others. But, the ability to speed read could mean that you double this rate. Methods on how to boost Reading Speed **The Pointer Method** One of the founders of speed reading was the Utah school teacher Evelyn Nielsen Wood. She asserted in the 1950s that if she ran a finger along the line as she read, she could read at a speed of up to 2,700 words per minute. Holding a card under each line and drawing it down the page as you read works just as well, and this technique became known as the Pointer method, which is also sometimes referred to as \"hand pacing\" or \"meta guiding.\" **The Tracker-and-Pacer Method** This is a variant of the Pointer method where you hold a pen, with its cap still on, and underline or track each line as you read it, keeping your eye above the tip of the pen. This will help to increase the pace at which you take in each line, and improve your focus on the words. Whether you underline the words is your choice. **The Scanning (or Previewing) Method** \"Scanning\" involves moving your eyes quickly down the page -- often down the center -- and identifying specific words and phrases as you go. These can be key sentences (often the first sentence of each paragraph), names, numbers, or trigger words and ideas. Learning to expand your peripheral vision can help with this. You won\'t read every word, but your eye will land on what is important to allow you to grasp the basic idea. How to Improve Speed Reading **Avoid distractions.** Create an environment where there are as few interruptions and distractions as possible, to allow you to focus fully on the words in front of you. **Go easy.** Read an uncomplicated novel or a simple online article to get a feel for which technique is going to work best for you. Gauge how much you\'ve remembered or understood, and set a timer to see how much faster you are now reading. **Cover words that you\'ve already read.** This helps you to stop your eyes from flitting back to earlier words and slowing down your reading. **Know what you want from the text.** This can be useful if you are using the skimming method, as it primes you to pay attention when you see relevant words, sentences or phrases. You can then slow down at these points, or circle them for emphasis, but otherwise move across the page quickly. **Benchmark your progress.** This way you can tell whether your practice is paying off. There are many free speed reading assessments online, such as at ReadingSoft.com. **Practice, practice, practice.** You have to practice speed reading to get good at it. The more you train yourself, the more natural it will feel. STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE SPELLING SKILLS Not all adults have perfect spelling skills. Many have developed bad spelling habits over the years. Spelling is not a reflection of intelligence. Nonetheless, it is still necessary to know how to spell to be successful in academic and work endeavors. Having poor spelling skills in English can cause an adult to be judged negatively by others. **1. Use a (good) dictionary.** Though memory aids are useful for memorizing difficult-to-spell words, good spellers never rely solely on memory: they depend on a reliable, up-to-date dictionary. There are many kinds of dictionaries available, both in print and online. **2. Create your own "difficult-to-spell" lists.** Many writers and editors keep a list of words that they find difficult to spell correctly on or near their computer while they work. If you notice that you routinely misspell certain words, consider learning from your mistakes by creating your own personal "difficult words" list. Keeping this list close at hand as you write will save you time and probably eliminate many of your common spelling errors. **3. Crosswords and codewords** Crosswords give you a series of clues that you must fit into overlapping horizontal and vertical boxes, while codewords look similar to crosswords, but involve working out which numbers stand for what letters (meaning that you have to make deductions based on known recurring letters, such as words ending in "-ing"). **4. Watch English television with subtitles** You can get better at spelling without even realizing it by learning while you're watching television in English. Simply switch the subtitles on and you'll see how the words you're hearing should be spelled. **5. Read** Another fun way of learning spelling without even realizing it is to read plenty of things in English. Simply being exposed to English words regularly will help new spellings sink in and improve your vocabulary, but reading things you enjoy will make it much easier to absorb this new information. **6. Use your computer spellchecker, but with caution.** A spellchecker can be your first proofreading tool for spelling, as it will catch any combinations of letters that do not form a known English word. But you should never rely exclusively on your spellchecker, because it will miss many incorrectly spelled words that form another English word: a spellchecker will not record who's as a misspelling of whose, for example. **7. Get the pronunciation right** Sometimes, mispronouncing words can lead to spelling errors, because you try to spell the word in the way you think it sounds. For example, some people struggle to spell "Wednesday" because it's pronounced "Wenesday". In this example, the tip we mentioned earlier about breaking it into syllables may prove useful: "Wed-nes-day" might be easier to remember than the word as a whole. **8. Write lots** If you don't use the spellings you learn, you'll quickly forget them. Look for opportunities to write in English, such as writing letters to foreign friends, blogging, or writing essays in English. Look up any spellings you're not sure of as you go along. The more you use the words you've learned, the more confident you'll become. **9. Don't read bad English** Internet forums and social networking sites are a hotbed of poor spelling and grammar, so frequenting English-language sites like these will do you as much harm as good. People make less effort with spelling and grammar when they're on the internet, and pick up bad habits from other users, perpetuating common spelling errors and creating new ones. **WRITING** **WRITING PROFICIENCY** For many people, writing is an incredibly important aspect of communication. There are many reasons we write - to persuade, to entertain, to keep in touch with others. Therefore, helping students increase their writing proficiency, or ability to communicate through the written word, is a key aspect of education. THE IMPORTANCE OF **GRAMMAR,** **PUNCTUATION, AND CAPITALIZATION** The elements of good writing are simple: grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. By mastering the rules and conventions, you will make your writing easier to understand and more enjoyable to your readers. **GRAMMAR** Grammar explains the forms and structure of [words] (called **morphology**) and how they are arranged in [sentences] (called **syntax**). In other words, grammar provides the rules for the common use of both spoken and written language so we can more easily understand each other. The building blocks of grammar are the eight parts of speech: **Verbs** express actions, events, or states of being. **Nouns** name a person, animal, place, thing, or abstract idea. **Pronouns** take the place of nouns or another pronoun. **Adjectives** modify nouns or pronouns by describing, identifying, or quantifying them. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies. **Adverbs** modify a verb, adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause and indicate manner, time, place, cause, or degree. Adverbs can be recognized because they answer the question how, when, where, or how much. Adverbs often end in ly. **Prepositions** link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence and usually indicate a relationship of time, space, or logic. **Conjunctions** link words, phrases, and clauses. **Interjections** are added to a sentence to convey emotion and are usually followed by an exclamation point. Every complete sentence has two parts: a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject is doing). The subject is a noun or a pronoun; the predicate is a verb. To identify the subject of a sentence, find the verb and ask who or what. The answer is the subject. Modifiers, phrases, and clauses add information about the subject and predicate, making the writing more interesting and clearer. A single word acting as an adjective or adverb is called a modifier; Two or more words without a subject and predicate and acting as an adjective or adverb is called a phrase; Two or more words acting as an adjective or adverb and having a subject and predicate is a clause. Whether single words, phrases, or clauses, modifiers should appear close to the word or words they modify, especially if the reader might mistake what is being modified. **Structure of Sentence** **Simple Sentence** - one independent clause (S+V) Examples: Molly and Emily live near each other. They are best friends. **Compound Sentence** - Two or more clauses that are joined by a conjunction such as and, but, and, or form a compound sentence. Example: Molly and Emily live near each other, and they are best friends. **Complex Sentence** - It contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses that are not equal. Example: Even if Molly and Emily did not live near each other, they would still be best friends due to their many common interests. Improve your writing by varying the types of sentences you use. To grab a reader's attention, use a short, simple sentence. To emphasize balance and equal thoughts, use a compound sentence. To show the relationship between different information, use a complex sentence. **PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION** Capitalization occurs when the first letter in a word is an upper-case letter. For example, the first word in this sentence contains a capital F. Punctuation helps convey the precise meaning of a sentence -- and in fact can even change the meaning, as in this well-known examples: A woman, without her man, is nothing. A woman: without her, man is nothing. "Different Punctuations" A **comma** tells the reader to pause and assimilate information. They are also used to separate the items in a series. A **semi-colon** links independent clauses that are closely related in meaning when they are not linked by a conjunction. A **colon** introduces a list or a summation. It can also be used to link an idea that has been introduced in an independent clause. An **end punctuation** -- period, question mark, and an exclamation mark-- denotes the end of a sentence. A **parentheses** enclose words that are not directly related to the main thought of the sentence but provide important information or provide examples. A **dash** signals a sudden change of thought or breaks in a sentence. Dashes can also be used in place of parentheses to emphasize information. A **quotation mark** indicates direct speech. All punctuation marks are enclosed within the quotation marks except for semi-colons, colons, and question marks when they are not part of the quotation. An **apostrophe** indicates that letters are missing from a contraction, or shows possession. **PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT** Paragraphs are the building blocks of papers. A paragraph is defined as "a group of sentences or a single sentence that forms a unit" A clear and effective paragraph is constructed like an essay. An essay is a piece of writing that is written to convince someone of something or to simply inform the reader about a particular topic. Introduction Body Conclusion **Components of a Good Essay** **INTRODUCTION** Must contain an attention grabber for the reader or at least make the essay sound interesting, may begin with a quote about the particular topic. Ensure that the intro moves from the general to the specific in regards to the topic. Provides the reader with a "road map" of the essay in a logical order. In the end, there should be what is called a thesis statement, arguably the most important component of the intro. The thesis statement states the aim of the paper and may give insight into the author's examples and evidence. **BODY** Includes the evidence and support of the paper in addition to the author's ideas Paragraphs must include a topic sentence that relates the discussion to the thesis statement Logical ordering of ideas: 3 types of order a\. Chronological order\-\--order of time, good for narratives b\. Spatial order-good for descriptions of locations; top to bottom, e.g. c\. Emphatic order-least important to most important; most common for college writing. Ensure that transition sentences are present to create a good flow to the essay. Include substantial examples and evidence to support your argument and remember to cite, cite, cite! Make sure each example is relevant to your particular topic. **CONCLUSION** This section should wrap all of your arguments and points. Should restate the main arguments in a simplified manner. Ensure that the reader is left with something to think about, particularly if it is an argumentative essay. **VOCABULARY** Vocabulary refers to the set of words that a person knows and uses in a particular language. It includes words we understand (receptive vocabulary) and words we use when speaking or writing (productive vocabulary). Very often students attempt to impress examiners by using complex words and the result is almost always that instead of using a simple correct word they use a complex word incorrectly. **TIPS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITTEN ENGLISH** Expand your vocabulary To express yourself clearly, you need a good active vocabulary. That's not just being able to recognize lots of words -- it means being able to use them correctly. Do this by learning new words with example sentences, not just word lists. Master English spelling You must know how to spell those words correctly. Incorrect spelling changes the meaning of your sentence. For example: 'bare' and 'bear' sound the same but 'bare' means naked and 'bear' is a large animal. Additionally, incorrect spelling makes it difficult for the reader to understand what you've written. Read as much as you can Just as we say that listening is closely related to speaking, reading is closely related to writing so the number 1 tip for improving your English writing would be to read as much as you can! This will help you improve your vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and show you there are many different ways to communicate ideas. Keep an English dictionary You'll be able to look up words to clarify their meaning and to learn antonyms and synonyms so as not to repeat words or phrases, which will better your communication skills. Brush up your grammar Even though you don't have to "study" grammar, your English writing will improve a lot if you work on grammar exercises. Also, remember that grammar is more important when you write than when you speak because it is usually more formal and more structured. Write an outline Even in a very simple piece of English writing, you have to keep some kind of organization to convey the message you want in a clear orderly way. There are many different ways to write outlines and these have much to do with the way you organize things in your mind. Try to get someone to read what you've written A teacher, a tutor, a native speaker: whoever masters the language and can help you understand and correct whatever mistakes you may have made both in grammar or spelling and in the way your paragraph text has been organized. **SPEAKING** **COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE** You must now be well aware that ours is an extremely verbal world. In this world, verbal personal contact cannot be avoided Much more so is the opportunity for a two-way flow of information which is vital to one\'s success. That is why college students, like you, need many of these skills to be proficient and globally competitive Two of these obvious skills are writing and speaking. Such verbal communication skills, especially speaking which is the focus o concentration in this course, have to be learned and developed Otherwise, you limit your career possibilities. **WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?** It is the dual or two-way process of transmitting messages from one person to another. It is the symbolic interaction between two or more people that influence each other\'s behavior. With it, not only does one make his/her self- understood, but S/he also gets to understand others. **WHAT IS LANGUAGE?** Language, on the other hand, is man\'s most effective medium of communication. It has but one purpose: to serve as the code for the transmission of messages between and among people. Under convention or social agreement, language thus exists as tool use in expressing ideas and feelings to achieve understanding. It is part of, in fact, the greatest achievement of culture and is adequate for the communication needs of the people who use it. RELATIONSHIP OF **SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND COMMUNICATION** Communication is the broad term for the two-way dynamic process of message transmission. It embraces both the verbal and the nonverbal aspects. The verbal includes the modes, which are signing, reading and writing, and speaking and listening. The nonverbal comprises the extralinguistic elements, such as paralinguistic, metalinguistic, and nonlinguistic. Speech and language are only a portion of the larger process of communication. Language is the medium or vehicle through which messages are sent and received while speech is one of its modes. It is the verbal means of communicating or conveying meaning. More specifically, speech is the process of shaping into words the sound of the voice and the energy of the breath, utilizing the speech organs. **FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION** To underscore the vital role communication plays in our lives are the following fundamental functions: - It connects and brings people together. - It enables one to understand the feelings and emotions of another. - It is an occasion for the sharing of ideas, opinions, and experiences. - It makes one learn many things and keeps him/her abreast with the times. - It bridges, and repairs gaps to foster harmonious relationships. - It connects and brings people together. - It enables one to understand the feelings and emotions of another. - It is an occasion for the sharing of ideas, opinions, and experiences. - It makes one learn many things and keeps him/her abreast with the times. - It bridges, and repairs gaps to foster harmonious relationships. - It allows others to improve themselves. - It is a good exercise in developing mental processes. - It provides a sound basis for decision- making. - As a pastime, it eases and helps one find pleasure and entertainment. It is an outlet for pent-up emotions, creativity, and ingenuity. - In organizations, it affects change, coordination and makes group activity possible. - It is an important factor in the preservation of people's cultural heritage. - It facilitates the meeting of minds. - It draws one closer to the Creator. **BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION** Behind the communication process are several factors that inevitably spur bottlenecks in the way of efficient message sending and receiving. Commonly referred to as \"barriers\", these obstacles concerning language use, the people involved, the environment, and those of the immediate situation can obstruct the flow of meaning and cause a communication breakdown. The elements of communication themselves cannot be spared. They, too, can become barriers. The **speaker/sender** for instance, from his physical appearance, his voice, sounds, style, including his idiosyncrasies and mannerisms and all other non-verbal aspects, can affect the listener. The **message** itself may also suffer from delay or a halt in the communication process if it does not meet the following 6-C requirements, to wit: (1) clarity; (2) completeness; (3) conciseness; (4) correctness; (5)concreteness; and (6) coherence. The choice of the **channel**, likewise, needs attention. How urgent is the message? Who is to receive it and when? Appropriateness must be considered. The channel used must suit the message and time requirement the message calls for. The **listener**, most especially, makes a difference between effective and ineffective communication. He may not be in the position to listen. Worst yet, he may not be the right person to receive the message. He may even have bad habits of listening. **Feedback**, whether solicited or unsolicited, may also be another roadblock if the sender does not know how to send feedback or the listener does not know how to receive feedback either. Several ways that can help improve communication: - Be polite and do not interrupt the speaker. - Be a good listener. Give the speaker your undivided attention. - Ask questions when necessary. Use repetition to reinforce ideas. - Follow-up communication by soliciting feedback. Encourage and induce feedback. - Seek not only to be understood but to understand. **COMMUNICATION PROCESS** Interaction between people is cyclic, which means that what one person says and does evokes a reaction from the other person, and this reaction again stimulates another reaction from the first person. Three things are needed for successful communication. They are: A sender; A clear message; and A receiver. **EVALUATE OWN COMMUNICATION** **Simplicity**: Say what you want to say concisely and without using difficult or unfamiliar terms. **Clarity**: Say precisely what you want to say without digressing, and support your verbal message with non-verbal indicators. **Relevance**: Make sure that your message suits the situation, the time, and the person you are speaking to. **Adaptability**: Adapt your response to the clues the patient that the patient gives you. Respect: Always show respect for the individuality and dignity of the person you are speaking to.