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Improving reading efficiency Unit 1. You will learn to:. 1- read more actively 2- read in a more focused way 3- read in a more time-efficient way 4- read with greater understanding 5- read more critically. Active reading.
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Improving reading efficiency Unit 1
You will learn to: • 1- read more actively • 2- read in a more focused way • 3- read in a more time-efficient way • 4- read with greater understanding • 5- read more critically
Active reading • Reading with a purpose effective reading • Reading in unfocused way poor result
Reasons for reading • 1- for pleasure • 2- find out some information you may need • 3- recommended by your tutor • 4- the book is on your course booklist • 5- have a general background about a specific subject • 6- want to read another book for the same writer
Predicting: study the title • Using title to predict what the text is going to talk about. • The title can almost be taken as very brief summaries of the contents of the text. • Ask ourselves questions such as: • In what way is this text relevant to me? • What sort of questions do I expect this text to answer? • (we called these questions ‘ANTICIPATION QUESTIONS”
Predicting: study the title • When we read through a bibliography,we have to make a decision, on the basis of the title alone, as to whether a book or article is going to be helpful. • Do TASK 2 ( a- e ) – page 10
Skimming, scanning and searching • Efficient readers do not always read every word. • To save time, they use techniques like skimming, scanning and searching. • When we skim through a text, we are reading it quickly to get an overall impression of the text. • When we are scanning or searching a text we are looking for a specific information which we know, or suspect, is there.
Skimming, scanning and searching • Careful reading • Reading • Skimming (to get overall • impression) Quick reading Scanning/searching (for particular information)
Skimming Evaluation: How useful is this book and in what way? Orientation: Where is the information I need located in it?
The parts of a book that may be useful for evaluation and orientation • 1- reviewers’ comments (found quoted on the book-jacket. • 2- foreword or preface • 3-contents page • 4- printing history (shows when the book was first published. It is found on a page called imprint page, immediately after the title page ) • 5- index
Using the index • The aim of an index is to enable you to locate specific information quickly and efficiently. • 1- subject index: • Topics covered • 2- Author index: • The authors of books referred to in the text. • If you cannot find a reference in the index for a particular word or phrase, try thinking of a likely synonym. For example, if you could not find a reference for chair, you could look for a more general word like furniture. • Some abbreviations in index: • f. or ff., meaning “and the pages which follow” • The Latin word passim meaning ‘throughout the book/article’ • Do TASK 4 ( 1+2) page 18
Surveying a text’s beginnings and endings • Using the first and last chapter of books • First chapter: • Outlines what the topics the writer is going to deal with and why he is interested in them. • Last chapter: Is important because the writer may summaries his arguments and list his conclusion.
Surveying journal articles and book chapters • It is useful to read the first and last paragraph in the article or chapter because it gives you a summary. • At the beginning of chapters, you will find an abstract of the article. It should give a helpful summary of the chapter, so it should be read very carefully.
Other skimming techniques • 1- through titles/subtitles • 2- reading selectively (first and last paragraph) • 3- look out for diagrams that summaries what the writer is saying
Chapter 1 Part 2
Careful Reading and Finding Structure 1- Using Text Organization: • It is important to know how a text is organized. • Being aware of text organization should make it easier to identify the main ideas in the text. • For example, in a scientific text you will find a basic organization:
Critical Reading • Most people think that effective reading is basically a matter of understanding what the writer is trying to say. This is indeed a necessary first step, but there is more to it than that. The reading process should not be a one-way process, where the reader is passive. Rather it should be an active and critical process.
The First Steps to Becoming a Critical Reader: • 1- Establish your own interim position: ask yourself ( Have I any views of my own on this topic , and if so what are they? • 2- Remember, you may want to change your views after reading the text. • 3- Be at the same time receptive to the author's ideas and also critical of them. • 4- Decide how far you agree with a particular expert: experts often disagree, so you will probably have to agree with one or the other. • 5- Look carefully at the audience they bring forward to support their case.
