Chapter 1 - Effective reading for academic purposes. On completion of this chapter students will know how to: identify individual reading styles and recognise their strengths and weaknesses; understand the role of critical reading in the Australian academic context; develop a range of strategies to improve reading capability, including speed and comprehension; adapt reading styles to suit the requirements of different texts; recognise the integrated nature of reading and note-taking.
Chapter Effective reading for academic purposes Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-1 Learning objectives On completion of this chapter students will know how to: • identify individual reading styles and recognise their strengths and weaknesses • understand the role of critical reading in the Australian academic context • develop a range of strategies to improve reading capability, including speed and comprehension Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-2 Learning objectives (cont.) • adapt reading styles to suit the requirements of different texts • recognise the integrated nature of reading and note-taking Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-3 Why focus on reading? • Tertiary studies require you to read very widely and in-depth across a range of subject areas • You will encounter new vocabulary and concepts • You will begin to notice that writers use different styles and structures of writing depending on the subject area • You might find that the reading strategies you have been using successfully are no longer adequate Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-4 Your own reading style • In groups of three or four, discuss your own reading ability – – – – What makes a ‘good’ reader? Are you a good reader? What is your main problem when reading? What strategies have you developed for reading? Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-5 Your own reading style (cont.) • Also consider the following questions: – What sorts of reading material you enjoy most? Why? – What attracts you to start reading a book or other text (e.g cover, pictures, font size, topic etc.)? – What are the best conditions for your reading? – Do you use the same place? – Do you need to be alone? – Do you read at the same time each day? Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-6 Reading (English) quiz For each of the following items, indicate whether the statement is true or false I never read (in English) for pleasure True False Reading is a tedious task that I only because I have to True False The best way to read academic texts is to just read the abstract or summary and then pretend to have read the whole thing True False Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-7 Reading (English) quiz (cont.) A good strategy to understand difficult vocabulary is to use an electronic translator True False If I could read faster I would be a ‘good’ reader True False I know I can’t read all the material assigned to me in my program, so I don’t even try True False I have some well-developed reading strategies which have worked very well in my study experience to date True False Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-8 Reading (English) quiz (cont.) I find that talking about the main points of a difficult text with a classmate really helps my comprehension True False I never write notes as I read I just keep the information in my head True False 10 I always use a highlighter or pencil when reading academic texts True False Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 1-9 Critical reading • Students need to take individual responsibility for learning • Much more reading is needed than just the lecture notes or course guide • Developing your reading skills is of paramount importance Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 10 1-10 Text and genre • Texts in the same genre have similar characteristics or conventions • Recognising the particular features of different genres helps you to skim a text and determine if it is appropriate to use for your present research • You need to be able to identify: – different types of text you will need at university – the data or information available in each Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 25 1-25 Activity • Form groups of three or four students and discuss how your reading technique differs depending on the type of text you are reading Consider the way you read: – – – – – – – a dense academic text a newspaper an advertising brochure a recipe book a novel a comic a personal letter Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 26 1-26 Activity (cont.) • Is your reading technique determined by the type of text, your purpose for reading or a combination of both? • List the reading techniques you have developed in your study so far • Does your reading technique change according to the task (e.g if you are reading for an assignment, or reading as part of exam revision)? How? Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 27 1-27 Reading strategies • • • • Speed reading Scanning by key words and phrases Skimming by paragraphs SQ3R method: – – – – – Survey Question Read Recite Review Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 28 1-28 SQ3R method • Before you read, SURVEY (SCAN) the text: – – – – title, headings, subheadings captions under pictures, charts, etc introduction and conclusion summary or abstract Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 29 1-29 SQ3R method (cont.) • QUESTION while you are surveying: – Turn the title/headings into questions – If reading a textbook, read the questions at the end of the chapter – Ask yourself, ‘What I already know about this subject?’ – Ask yourself, ‘What did the lecturer say about this topic?’ Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 30 1-30 SQ3R method (cont.) • When you begin to READ: – Note all the underlined, bold or italicised words – Reduce your reading speed for difficult passages (but try not to this all the time) – Check your dictionary only when you cannot determine the meaning from the context DO NOT check every word – Give yourself permission to ‘miss’ the meaning of some words Aim for overall comprehension – Look for answers to the questions you first raised Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 31 1-31 SQ3R method (cont.) • RECITE after you read each section: – Orally ask yourself questions about what you have just read – Write a one-sentence summary at the end of each section – Underline/highlight key points – Make notes in the margin (or on a separate piece of paper with the full reference included in your notes) Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 32 1-32 SQ3R method (cont.) • REVIEW your reading: – After you have finished the whole article or chapter, write a short summary Keep this summary with the text – Never finish an article without doing some form of oral and written review – If studying for an exam, go back through the text and ask yourself questions (flash cards work well) Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 33 1-33 Skimming by paragraphs • This approach is based on the following understandings: – The paragraph is an idea unit, coherent in itself but also part of a whole argument – Signposts (single words or phrases) show the internal connections and the overall development of an argument and usually occur at the beginning of paragraphs – Opening sentences of each paragraph usually provide an outline of the argument being presented Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 34 1-34 Skimming by paragraphs (cont.) • Four steps in this approach (Clanchy and Ballard 1997): – Step 1: Look for signposts (in the title or section headings) – Step 2: Read just the first section in full – Step 3: Summarise the key points in this section – Step 4: Read the first sentences of each paragraph (You will notice that if you put these first sentences together they will be similar to your summary of the first section.) Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 35 1-35 Reading difficult vocabulary • If you are constantly checking the meaning of words, ask yourself the following questions: – Why are you reading? If it is simply to gain an overview of a topic, you may not need to know the meaning of every word – Do you need all the detail? Again, a general impression (remember 80/20) may be all you need Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 36 1-36 Reading difficult vocabulary (cont.) • Some words are more important than others, in which case you will need to consult a dictionary: – Is the word in the title? – Does it occur often? – Is it a ‘jargon’ word? • Try to work out the meaning from the context • To understand a process, look up verbs • If you want to understand an idea, look up nouns Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 37 1-37 Reading tips • Reading speed and comprehension depend on the type of text • Practice is the best way to improve • Do not read every word starting from the beginning • Read the title: ask yourself what you already know • Scan or survey the whole text first • Read introductory and concluding paragraphs Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 38 1-38 Reading tips (cont.) • Read the first sentence in each paragraph carefully • Note headings, titles, diagrams, pictures • Think while you read Ask yourself questions • Underline, highlight, make notes in the margin • Try to work out the meanings of words from the context but, if necessary, check your dictionary • Write a one-sentence summary at the end of every chapter or section or a simple oral review Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 39 1-39 ... environment.’ Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 16 1- 16 Text (Coca-Cola 2005) ‘The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and... information from Text 2? Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 15 1- 15 Text (Baker 19 99) ‘Successful brands are those which create... writing on a topic Copyright 2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia 11 1- 11 Critical reading (cont.) • Critical reading involves making judgments