ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING

PART I THE READING PROCESS

Becoming a Strong Reader.
STAGE 1: GET AN OVERVIEW OF THE SELECTION
Once you’re settled, it’s time to read the selection. To ensure a good first reading, try the
following hints.
✔ FIRST READING: A CHECKLIST
- Get an overview of the essay and its author. Start by reading the biographical note
that precedes the selection. By providing background information about the author,
the note helps you evaluate the writer’s credibility as well as his or her slant on the
subject.
- Do the Pre-Reading Journal Entry assignment, which precedes the selection. This
assignment “primes” you for the piece by helping you to explore—in an easy,
unpressured way—your thoughts about a key point raised in the selection. By
preparing the journal entry, you’re inspired to read the selection with special care,
attention, and personal investment
- Consider the selection’s title. A good title often expresses the essay’s main idea,
giving you insight into the selection even before you read it.
- Read the selection straight through purely for pleasure. Allow yourself to be drawn
into the world the author has created. Just as you first see a painting from the
doorway of a room and form an overall impression without perceiving the details,
you can have a preliminary, subjective feeling about a reading selection. Moreover,
because you bring your own experiences and viewpoints to the piece, your reading
will be unique.
- After this initial reading of the selection, focus your first impressions by asking
yourself whether you like the selection. In your own words, briefly describe the
piece and your reaction to it.
STAGE 2: DEEPEN YOUR SENSE OF THE SELECTION
- At this point, you’re ready to move more deeply into the selection. A second reading
will help you identify the specific features that triggered your initial reaction.
Adler goes on to describe various annotation techniques he uses when reading. Several of
these techniques, adapted somewhat, are presented in the following checklist.
✔ SECOND READING: A CHECKLIST
Using a pen (or pencil) and highlighter, you might . . .
- Underline or highlight the selection’s main idea, or thesis, often found near the
beginning or end. If the thesis isn’t stated explicitly, write down your own version of
the selection’s main idea.

1
 - Locate the main supporting evidence used to develop the thesis. Place numbers in
the margin to designate each key supporting point.
- Circle or put an asterisk next to key ideas that are stated more than once.
- Take a minute to write “Yes” or “No” beside points with which you strongly agree
or disagree. Your reaction to these points often explains your feelings about the
aptness of the selection’s ideas.
- Return to any unclear passages you encountered during the first reading. The
feeling you now have for the piece as a whole will probably help you make sense of
initially confusing spots. However, this second reading may also reveal that, in
places, the writer’s thinking isn’t as clear as it could be.
- Use your dictionary to check the meanings of any unfamiliar words.
- Ask yourself if your initial impression of the selection has changed in any way as a
result of this second reading. If your feelings have changed, try to determine why
you reacted differently on this reading.
STAGE 3: EVALUATE THE SELECTION
Now that you have a good grasp of the selection, you may want to read it a third time,
especially if the piece is long or complex. This time, your goal is to make judgments about
the essay’s effectiveness. Keep in mind, though, that you shouldn’t evaluate the selection
until after you have a strong hold on it. Whether positive or negative, any reaction is valid
only if it’s based on an accurate reading.
To evaluate the essay, ask yourself the following questions.
✔ EVALUATING A SELECTION: A CHECKLIST
- Where does support for the selection’s thesis seem logical and sufficient? Where
does support seem weak? Which of the author’s supporting facts, arguments, and
examples seem pertinent and convincing? Which don’t?
- Is the selection unified? If not, why not? Where does something in the selection not
seem relevant? Where are there any unnecessary digressions or detours?
- How does the writer make the selection move smoothly from beginning to end? How
does the writer create an easy flow between ideas? Are any parts of the essay abrupt
and jarring? Which ones?
- Which stylistic devices are used to good effect in the selection? Which pattern of
development or combination of patterns does the writer use to develop the piece?
Why do you think those patterns were selected? How do paragraph development,
sentence structure, and word choice (diction) contribute to the piece’s overall effect?
What tone does the writer adopt? Where does the writer use figures of speech
effectively?
- How does the selection encourage further thought?What new perspective on an
issue does the writer provide? What ideas has the selection prompted you to explore
in an essay of your own?

2
 READING PROCESS
What Is Reading Process?
Reading is one of the skill in the language that needs to be considered. Skilled reading makes
students better understand all the material taught. Reading is one aspect of the four language
skills, plays an impotant role in language teaching.Said to be important because, in addition to
teaching listening, speaking, and writing. Reading skill is one very powerful too for obtaining a
wide range of specific imformation, including science and technology. Therefore, reading is
basic requirement for an advanced society.Similarly in education, read very influential role in
students performance.It can be proved that the higher the reading understanding of students,
gains the higher the knowledge they had. Reading is a selective process. It involves partial use of
available minimal language cues selected from perceptual input in the bases of the reader’s
expectation.As this partial information is processed, tentative decisions are made to be
confirmed, rejected, or refined as reading progresses (Goodman, 1967:128). Reading skill a
complex activity that ivolves a variety of factors that come from within the reader and external
factor. In addition, reading skills can also be regarded as a product of human kind’s ability to
learn from the invironment, and not a capability that is instinctive or in born instinct.Therefore,
the process of reading is carried out by an adult (to read) is to a business process and product
something through the use of specific capital.

THE PROCESS OF READING. Reading is a complx cognitive process of decryption signs in

order to create or originate meaning(Schulz, Baker, Purcell, Associated, and Comfrence,
1977:30). It is a way of languge acquisition, communication, and sharing information and ideas.
Like all language it is a complex interaction between text and reader which formed by a previous
reader knowledge, experience, attitude, and language community which is actually and socially
situated. Reading process requires continuous training, development, and improvement. Besides,
reading requires creativity and critical analaysis. In reading creativity is an aspect of language
behavior with the apprehension of general process of interpretive which is covered
communicative activity. It means that in reading, meaning is created by the reader based on of
textual hints. Reading activity is a process that drives two disparate levels of mental activity. T
HE FIRST ACTIVITY IS dealing with immediate apprehension of information and the other is
related with the discrimination of this information into patterns of conceptual significant

3
(Wddowson, 1979:168). In process of reading, the reader not only create meaning but also
meanings shpuld be negotiated in discourse as process of reading strategy. Reading should not be
reaction to meaning but as reaction between writer and reader immediate through the text.Thus,
how to make an iffeciency reading depends on how effective the text is (Widdowson,
1979:169).

TEXTS as MEDIUM of INTERACTION: As mentioned as Widdowson (1979:169) that

reading is considered not as response to the text but as interaction between writer and reader
mediated with text. Since it is an interaction, there should be adjusted some notionof interaction.

INCODING and DECODING process. Decoding means translating written words into the
soundand meanings of spoken words (often silently). Encoding, or spelling, is the reverse
process. The skills used in encoding are usually developed alongside decoding skills and reflect
similar learning. Decoding is an essential skill for reading. Decoding is not enough in itself to
enable comprehension, but to be a good reader it is necessary to be a good decoder. To easily
read the texts in their everyday lives, adults need to be able to decode unfamiliar words without
having to think about it. Encoding about providing the direction to addressee and decoding is
dealing with following the direction from addresser(Widdowson,1979:170).

The incoding process is correspondingly vague and estimated and it is impossible to

recuprehensive meaning from a text. The encoding process is not as the construction of
communication, in principle complete and self-contained, but as the creating of a set of direction.

Reading process is a multifaceted process involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency,

and motivation. .... Reading is making meaning from print. It requires that we: Identify the
wordsin print-a process called word recognition. Construct an understanding from them-a
process. Reading is one strand of literacy. The reading process is complex and multi-
dimensional.

The reading is a process that involves recognizing words, leading to the development of
comprehension. According to research, reading is a process that negotiates the meaning between
the text and its reader.

4
Comprehension is what most people think reading is. This is because comprehension is the
main reason why we read. It is the aspect of reading that all of the others serve to create. Reading
comprehension is understanding what a text is all about. The purpose of reading is
comprehension—getting meaning from written text. A major goal of reading comprehension
instruction, therefore, is to help students develop the knowledge, skill, and experiences they must
have if they are to become competent and enthusiastic readers.

Effective teachers have an understanding of this complexity and are able to use arrange of
teaching approaches that produce confident and independent readers.

Steps of reading process,

The reading process involves the following stages:

1; prereading

2 Reading

3 RESPONDING

4; Exploring

5; Applying

The Reading Process

Reading is a process that includes three phases: before reading, during reading and after reading.
In the before-reading phase, the reader establishes in his or her mind a purpose and a plan for
reading.

Then, the reader begins to read the written text—the during-reading phase. While he or she
reads, the reader will think about the purpose for reading and about his or her prior knowledge.
This may occur during short pauses taken while reading.

Finally, the after-reading phase of the process occurs when the reader finishes reading the
written text. The reader takes time to think about what he or she knew before the reading and
what he or she learned or connected with during the reading, and then he or she links this
information together to build new knowledge.

5
Throughout the reading process, but specifically in the during-reading phase, reading strategies
can be useful to improve comprehension.

Based on the work of Kylene Beers. Beers, Kylene. Reading Skills and Strategies: Reaching
Reluctant Readers. Elements of Literature Series: Grades 6-12. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 2000.

Reading Process Chart

The chart below gives some examples of specific activities that may help a reader during the
three phases of the reading process.

Before reading During reading After reading

Set a purpose -Why are you Pause and think about what you knew before reading,
read this text? -What are your you’re reading what you learned during
goals for reading it? Monitor comprehension -Use reading, and what connections
Make a plan -How will you active reading strategies - you made
read this text (independently, Reread -Take notes –Discuss Try to create new knowledge
with a partner/group, etc.)? Pause and check predictions by combining what you knew
How much time will you Make new predictions with what you learned
spend reading? -What Ask yourself questions -What Participate in discussion
strategies will you use happened? -Why did it Create a graphic
Preview the material happen? -Does this make representation
Activate prior knowledge - sense? -Do I understand? Summarize the story
Brainstorm –Make Pause and summarize Search for answers to
map/web/cluster – Visualize unanswered questions
Discus  THINK Write about what you read—
Make predictions put it in your words
 THINK Share your interpretations and
opinions
 THINK

6
.Components of Reading

Attitudinal motivation, phonological awareness/phonics, Reading fluency, vocabulary,

comprehension.

Attitudinal motivation
Motivation refers to a child’s eagerness and willingness to read. The National Literacy and
Numeracy Strategy, Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life (2011), states that positive
attitude and motivation are vital for progression in literacy and numeracy. It also states that “…
all learners should benefit from the opportunity to experience the joy and excitement of getting
‘lost’ in a book (in both paper based and digital formats)” (p. 43).

Teachers can promote excitement and motivation to read by providing students with 
interesting and rich texts  choice of text  authentic purposes for reading  opportunities to
explore, interact and experiment with text.

Motivated readers require a safe, supportive classroom

environment, one in which both the physical aspects and the
culture encourages opportunities to use and combine printed,
spoken, visual and digital texts. Students benefit from such an
environment that allows them to feel confident in taking risks,
in sharing texts, in responding openly to texts and in working
collaboratively with each other.

Levels of motivation and engagement have been found to predict achievement (Baker &
Wigfield,
1999) and as such are key factors in determining children’s academic success. They are critical
to

7
ensuring children develop both the skill and the will to engage in literacy activities. According to
Beers 2003, “…social and emotional confidence almost always improves as cognitive
competence
improves” (2003 pg.260).
Reading fluency
“Fluency is the ability to read aloud with expression to demonstrate an understanding of the
author’s message” (Department of Education and Training in Western Australia, 2004, p.30)
According to Mc Kenna & Stahl (2009) the three key components of reading fluency are 
accurate word recognition  automaticity  appropriate rhythm and intonation of speech.
Each component affects comprehension in a different way.
Accurate word recognition: In order to improve reading fluency pupils should be reading at their
instructional reading level i.e. 90% - 95% accuracy.
Automaticity: This is the ability to read words without conscious decoding. Here your reading
allows you to read words fluently so that you can concentrate on comprehending the text.
Mental energy is required for decoding meaning therefore very little mental energy may be left
for comprehension.
Rhythm and intonation: this is also referred to as prosody and concerns the ability to read with
some sort of inflection. It often prosody indicates a child’s level of understanding about the parts
of speech contained in a sentence which is in essence a lower order form of comprehension.
While other opinions highlight the importance of reading rate in connection with reading
fluency,
Beers contends that ‘improving a student’s reading rate doesn’t automatically mean a student’s
attitude towards reading improves or that comprehension improves’ (Beers, 2003) describes a
range of activities, both at home and at school, that are supportive of fluent reading. These
include:
• exposure to modelled fluent reading patterns at school and at home
• provision of opportunities to practice the fluent reading behaviours in meaningful context as
opposed to in isolation
opportunities to focus on and practice reading developmentally-appropriate texts with
expression through guided and repeated reading activities aimed at expressive reading •
opportunities to engage in fluent reading in a variety of texts at both their independent and
instructional levels

8
 Comprehension
“The ultimate objective of reading is comprehension or the reconstruction of meaning”
English Curriculum, Teacher
Guidelines
The teaching of reading needs to include a range of comprehension strategies. Comprehension
strategies can be defined as the ‘mental processes’ that good readers use to understand text.
These strategies need to be explicitly taught towards developing independent readers who engage
meaningfully with text.
The process of comprehension begins before we start to ‘read’ and continues even after the
‘reading’ is finished. Good readers use pre-reading strategies like previewing the text and use
post-reading strategies like summarizing in addition to the many strategies they use to make
meaning during ‘reading’ itself. By dividing instruction into pre-reading, during reading and
post-reading, teachers can design activities for each stage that will improve student’s
comprehension and also provide opportunities for teachers to demonstrate strategies that readers
can use at each stage (Pardo, 2004).
Strategies should be introduced and mastered individually. However, over time the child should
develop a repertoire of strategies which they can independently draw on when reading. For this
reason comprehension strategies should be developed from the earliest levels of the primary
school across a range of genres and modalities (both print and digital).
Children need opportunities to practice and consolidate these strategies in a cross curricular
manner. A variety of fiction and nonfiction texts including picture books can be used for strategy
instruction. Samples of such books are highlighted on the next page
VOCABULARY.
“The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for”
(Ludwig Wittgenstein 1953).
Vocabulary development is the enrichment and extension of pupils’ word knowledge and
understanding. Vocabulary consists of the words we understand when we hear or read them
(receptive vocabulary) and words we speak or write (expressive vocabulary). We build
vocabulary by picking up words that we read or hear and through direct instruction from teachers
or other professionals. Mehigan (2009: 183-196) suggests that “learning, as a language based
activity, is fundamentally and profoundly dependent on vocabulary knowledge – knowledge of
words and word meanings”. He states that four types of vocabulary are often mentioned by
researchers:
Listening vocabulary – the words we need to know to understand what we hear

9
Speaking Vocabulary – the words we use when we speak
Reading Vocabulary – the words we need to understand what we read
Writing Vocabulary – the words we use in writing
He claims that these categories are significant because the source of children’s vocabulary
knowledge changes as they become more familiar with the written word.
There is a strong correlation between vocabulary and reading comprehension. Pupils who come
to pre-school/junior infants with a rich and varied vocabulary tend to have a better understanding
of the texts they read and, as their reading comprehension increases, their vocabulary knowledge
expands accordingly. Conversely, pupils who begin school with limited vocabulary knowledge
may struggle with reading comprehension which in turn can limit their vocabulary growth. Even
in the very young years of a child’s life, vocabulary instruction can influence the child’s reading
ability across the various subjects and throughout their school careers (Jalongo and Sobolak
2010). For effective language instruction, teachers need to provide rich and varied language
experiences, foster an awareness and love of language and words, directly teach individual words
and teach word learning strategies. Beck et. al, (2002) categorise vocabulary into three main
layers or tiers.
PHNOLOGICAL AWARNESS/PHONICS
Two Important Definitions
Phonological Awareness is the ability to recognise, combine and manipulate the different
sounds of spoken words
Phonics The combination of (letters) in written language and phonemes (sounds) in spoken
language and how to use these correspondences to read and spell.
Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness can be defined as “an ability to recognise, combine and manipulate the
different sound units of spoken words” (Department of Education and Training in Western
Australia, 2004, p. 73). It is an aural and an oral skill that is unrelated to intelligence (as
measured in I.Q. tests), meaning that ‘Phonological awareness’ is very different to ‘Phonics’.
The starting point is the sounds we hear in words as opposed to letters on a page. Phonological
awareness is a central part of learning to read (Adams, 1990; Goswami, 1986 ref; National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD), 2000). Although different to
phonics, it is an important precursor to learning phonics effectively (Savage, 2008).
Levels of Phonological Awareness:
Phonological awareness is an umbrella term. It can be divided into the following levels:
1. Syllabic Awareness:
This involves syllable blending, segmentation and isolation.

10
Syllable blending: The teacher demonstrates this by saying a word such as “po-ta-to”
pronouncing syllables with one second intervals between them before asking pupils ‘What is this
word?’
Syllable Segmentation: the teacher presents words for segmentation by showing real objects or
pictures or by simply saying the word and asking the students to segment it e.g. win-dow-sill.
Kinaesthetic reinforcement can be helpful here i.e. get the students to use their two hands and to
touch their heads for the first syllable, their shoulders for the second syllable, their hips for the
third syllable, knees for the fourth and toes for the fifth. Alternatively get the children to clap and
also say how many syllables.
Syllable Isolation: teacher presents 2 syllable words which also happen to be compound words,
for example, postman, playtime, playground etc. The words are presented orally and the pupils
are asked to say the first part or first syllable on its own before advancing to the second syllable.
The teacher then proceeds to 2 syllable words which are not compound words for example,
teach-er, table, etc. and asks the students to say either the first syllable or the second syllable
only. Syllables can then be isolated using 3 and maybe 4 syllable words.
2. Onset-Rime Awareness (Rhyming):
All syllables can be divided up into onsets and rimes. For example, the word “bat” b = onset, at =
rime. All syllables have rimes but not all syllables have onsets.
Children with ability to use onset and rime can:
- recite nursery rhymes
- tell you if words they hear (or see pictures of) rhyme with one another i.e. discriminate
and select rhyming words
- think up words to rhyme with a visual cue or orally presented word i.e. generate rhyming
words independently (Ní Mhurchú, 1998).
Activities to develop onset and rime may include the following:
- Learn traditional Nursery Rhymes and Other Rhyming Poems
- Listen to Stories with strong rhyming patterns e.g. Walker Books - This is the Bear
series.
- Rhyme Discrimination Exercises
- Supplying Rhyming Words. This is rhyming at an oral or a productive level.
3. Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the awareness that spoken language consists of a sequence of
phonemes (a single unit of sound). There are 44 phonemes or individual sounds, 24
consonant phonemes and 20 vowel phonemes in the English language
. Features of effective phonemic awareness instruction are
- child appropriate (NICHHD, 2001; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998; Yopp & Yopp,
2000)
- deliberate, purposeful and explicit

11
 - considered as one aspect of skill development within a balanced literacy
framework and is not meaningful in and of itself.
Time spent on word play, nursery rhymes, riddles, and general exposure to storybooks
develops phonemic awareness. Classroom activities and tasks which can be used to
practise or assess phonemic awareness (Adams, Treiman & Pressley, 1998; Yopp &
Yopp, 2000) are as follows:
- Phoneme blending: e.g. What word is /fl/o/p/ (flop)?
- Phoneme categorisation e.g. Which word does not belong? Bus, bun, rag? (rag).
- Phoneme identity for initial, final and medial sounds e.g. Does ‘pack’ begin with
a /p/ sound (as in party)?
- Phoneme segmenting e.g. How many phonemes are there in ‘ship’? (sh/i/p/).
- Phoneme isolation e.g. Tell me the first sound in /paste/?
- Phoneme deletion e.g. What is ‘smile’ without the /s/? (NCCA, 2012: 126)
Phonics
Systematic phonics instruction has been defined as follows:
Phonics is a method of instruction that teaches students correspondences between
graphemes (letters) in written language and phonemes (sounds) in spoken language
and how to use these correspondences to read and spell. Phonics instruction is
systematic when all the major grapheme– phoneme correspondences are taught and
they are covered in a clearly defined sequence. (DES, 2006, p. 18).
Research tells us that phonics should be taught early in a systematic and structured
way and is best preceded by training in phonological awareness. It is important that
students understand that letters have a name and represent sounds in words. Letters
may represent a number of different sounds depending on their position in the word
and the surrounding letters.
For a sound knowledge of phonics, students need to be aware of the following points
- letter names are constant, whereas sounds vary. It is important for students to know the
names of the letters of the alphabet to be able to understand which letters represent
particular sounds and vice versa
- letters can represent different sounds, e.g. Andrew, Amy, Audrey
- letters sometimes work alone and sometimes in groups, e.g. me, bread, sheet, team
- the sound that a letter or a group of letters represents depends on where the letter is in a
word and what other letters surround it, e.g. cat, city, Christmas, chop
- the same sound can be represented by different letters, e.g. beach, me, key, ski, thief
- the same letter(s) may represent different sounds, e.g. rough, cough, dough, plough.
The following are key aspects of phonics that need to be taught and can be subsequently
assessed using printed text:
• knowledge of the sounds of letters and letter clusters.

12
 ability to use analogies to identify unknown words (e.g. identify ‘sat’ if ‘cat’ is already
known)
• ability to use the initial sound and context to identify a word
• ability to identify the initial and final sounds in a word
• ability to blend sounds into words
• ability to apply knowledge of letter patterns (e.g. long vowel sound in CVC words).
 ability to self-check whether an attempt is meaningful. (NCCA, 2012, p, 233)
A suggested sequence for teaching phonics might be the following.
- The ability to say the sounds of the letters
- The ability to sound out and read CVC word
- The ability to sound out and read 4 letter words with initial and final blends (short vowel
sounds)
- The ability to understand and read magic e words (long vowel sounds)
- The ability to understand and read vowel digraphs (long vowel sounds)
- The ability to segment and read multisyllabic words
MODELS OF THE READING PROCESS
Reading is private. It is a mental or cognitive process which involves a reader in trying to follow
and respond to a message from a writer who is distant in space and time. Because of this privacy
the process of reading and responding to writer is not directly observable. However, it is
necessary to make some attempt to understand the hidden process so that it is possible to help
students do it effectively.

As language itself is reading is a function of the brain and the quest about its nature is answered
by drawing models of what the brain does when the eyes scan the page. Hence the existing views
and the corresponding models are only speculations of what might take place in the brain when
the reader is reading. There are three types of models of the reading process so far and each is
treated separately below.

I. THE BOTTOM-UP MODEL

The models under this broad category include models theorized by Gough (1972), LaBerge-
Samuls (1972) and Carver (1977-78).

In bottom-up reading models, the reader begins with the written text (the bottom), and constructs
meaning from the letters, words, phrases and sentences found within and then processes the text

13
in a series of discrete stages in a linear fashion. The incoming data must be received before the
higher level mental stages of understanding transform and recode the data. Following an
information processing approach to comprehension, bottom-up models analyze reading as a
process in which small chunks of text are absorbed, analyzed and gradually added to the next
chunks until they become meaningful. The sequence of processing in this model may be put in
the following steps.

1. Eyes look
2. Letters identified
3. Words recognized
4. Words allocated to grammatical class and sentence structure
5. Sentences given meaning
6. Meaning leads to thinking

Gough based his model on evidences he collected from laboratory studies of adult learners who
were engaged in letter and word recognition tasks. On the basis of these studies, Gough
characterizes the reading process as a letter-by-letter progression through text, with letter
identification followed by the identification of the sound of. letters until words, their syntactic
features and then meaning is finally accessed. That is to say, reading happens in a linear
progression: letter  sound  word  syntax  meaning.

Clearly bottom-up models of reading are text-driven models and seem to be a direct reflection of
the older behaviorist view of reading which treats reading as a passive process in which the
reader simply absorbs the information from the text as his /her eyes scanned through the pages.

However, as Smith (1971) points out, this model has a serious limitation mainly for two reasons:

 It focuses on lower-level sources of information (i.e., letter-sound correspondence) at the

expense of other sources of information.
 It imposes heavy burden on readers' short-term memory or working memory, trying to
treat all the grapho-phonic rules of English. Such a burden may have an adverse effect
on the readers' motivation. As a result, this necessitated the search for another better and
effective model.

II. THE TOP-DOWN MODELS

14
Goodman developed this model within the theoretical framework of Smith (1971 and 1973) and
his own (1969, 1970, 1975, and 1985). The top down model pays minimal attention to letter-
sound correspondence and yet places great emphasis on higher-order sources of information (i.e.,
anticipation, prediction, and guessing).

In essence, the top-down models are also linear. The models assume that the process moves from
the top, the higher-level mental stages, down to the text itself. In these models the reading
process is driven by the reader’s mind at work on the text (reader-driven models). The reader
uses general knowledge of the world or of particular text components to make intelligent guesses
about what might come next in the text; the reader samples only enough of the text to confirm or
reject the guesses (hypotheses). The sequence of processing in these models has the following
steps.

1. Eyes look
2. Thinking about meaning (Predicting)
3. Sampling sentences as a whole to check meaning
4. Looking at words to check further (confirming)
5. Studying letters if still uncertain (Correcting)
6. Back to meaning predictions

Essentially these models are reader- centered. My contrast with the bottom-up models, these
models include thinking and meaning at a very early stage, and the processing sequence proceeds
from predictions about meaning to attention to progressively smaller units. The basic view
underlying these models is the cognitive- constructivist view of reading which argues that
reading is an active process in which the reader draws on his existing store of knowledge or
schemata, in searching for and constructing meaning.

However, this model is not far from being criticized mainly because it tries to draw conclusions
about efficient readers' behavior on the basis of data collected from L 1 beginners neglecting some
of the decoding problems that L2 beginners might possibly face.

This shortcoming again led researches to seek yet another but efficient model of reading.

III. INTERACTIVE MODELS OF READING (SCHEMA THEORY)

15
This model, which was developed by Rumelhart (1977) and later updated by Rumelhart (1984)
himself and McClellad et al. (1986), attempts to account for the weaknesses inherent in both
bottom-up and top-down models. The model was developed from laboratory research on fluent
and skilled readers. Rumelhrt's objective in developing the model was to propose an alternative
to the serial, bottom-up model by incorporating the possibility of parallel processing, which is
the interaction between the reader and the written text. Like the top-down models, they are
reader driven. They are not linear but rather cyclicalviews of the reading process in which textual
information and the reader’s mental activities (including the processing of graphic, syntactic,
lexical, semantic and pragmatic information) have a simultaneous and equally important impact
on comprehension. that is, as in top-down models, the reader uses his/he expectations and
previous understanding to guess about text content but, as in bottom-up models, the reader is still
dependent upon what is in the text. Text sampling and higher-level decoding and recoding
operate simultaneously.

Unlike bottom-up models and top-down models, the interactive models do not predict any
predetermined direction for or sequence of processing. Instead, the reader is seen to be able to
draw simultaneously, but selectively, upon a range of sources of information: visual,
orthographic, lexical, semantic, syntactic and schematic

Below is Rumelhart's Model of Parallel Processing or Interactive Model

Syntactic Knowledge

STAGES OF THE READING PROCESS- SQ3R

The secret to successful reading lies in having a good system of approach. Merely reading the
material over three or four times is not sufficient and efficient. The most popular study systems
use a logical approach to the problem by tackling the material in a way in which the mind will
find it most easy to assimilate it. One of the frequently advocated techniques of reading is the
SQ3R method. While this may be useful for some study reading it is not universally applicable to
all categories of reading. There are many variations of the method and they all may be adapted to
suit individual requirements.

The acronym SQ3R is formed by connecting the initial letters of the five steps which the method
suggests that one should follow while studying.

16
These steps of the method are explained below.

S – Surveying: It refers to a quick glance through or preview the book/article as a whole to grasp
the main ideas. The parts of the text to be read at this stage are the title and any introductory
material such as preface/abstract, table of contents, chapter/section headings, conclusions and
index. Surveying helps to decide whether or not the book deserves one’s attention.

After glancing at the title, preface and table of contents, you might ask yourself:
- How far can I depend on this book?
- Will the book be helpful to me?

This procedure should be applied to a chapter at a time when reading an entire book, i.e. read
chapter subtitles, introductory and concluding paragraphs, summaries and note particularly any
figures such as charts, tables or diagrams. When reading a report of an experimental
investigation read the sections detailing the hypotheses and objectives as this will define the
article’s central idea.

Q – Questioning: Question the information being presented and the implications or conclusions
that may be drawn. Be alert to the author’s purpose in writing the material. Pose questions that
you think the text should answer or use questions the writer posed at the beginning or at the end
of the book or chapter as an indication of what might be covered. Think about what you are
going to read. In other words, you do predictions and set your purpose for reading.

R – Reading: Read actively and critically to check your predictions. Look for main ideas and
answers to questions formulated previously. Pose new questions as you read. Don’t attempt to
make notes or underline anything on the first reading. If you try to do so at this stage, you note
down the author’s opinions rather than your own. Reread the material a second time to confirm
that you have identified the central theme and key issues correctly. You will be able to pay more
attention to supporting detail on a second reading. Make notes or summaries during the second
reading.

R – Recalling: This is to test how much of the material just read is memorized. It is a well
established aid to learning. Without making a conscious effort to recall most people forget about
half of what they have just read within seconds of putting down a book. After two weeks, as little
as 10 % may be remembered.

17
As soon as you have finished your reading you should test your grasp of the information by
listing key points or writing in your own words an outline of the information. Recall should be
done section by section or a chapter at a time when reading a book.

R – Revising: Revise the notes you have already made (not the original material). Revision
strengthens memory. It helps to transfer information from short-term memory to long –term
memory. Revising the original material is a waste of time if you have good key notes. However,
the original can be revised if it is short enough. Selected parts of the text can also be revised
alongside the notes if there is a need.

Ideally reviews should be done immediately after the first reading, just before the final
examination and several times in between.

As you can see, if this method was rigorously applied to all reading, it would severely limit the
amount of reading we could do. It may be appropriate for some of your reading, but be prepared
to adapt or use only one or two steps where this is appropriate. For instance, when you are
reading for an overview, surveying and a first reading may be efficient. Give the SQ3R method a
go and see what you think of it. It is a good start to evaluating your own reading skills or lack
thereof. It may also be a good base on which to build and develop your own individual reading
styles.

For all university students’ time is limited. Use your reading skills and techniques to read
selectively, efficiently and effectively.

IDENTIFYING WRITER’S PURPOSE, POINT OF VIEW, AUDIENCE AND TONE

IDENTIFYING WRITER’S PURPOSE

- It is his reason for writing. Four purposes: to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to express
oneself.
- Type of texts written for a purpose of informing – textbooks,
- Type of texts written for a purpose of persuading – movie critics, newspaper editors,
political writers
- Type of texts written for a purpose of entertaining – humors, brain teasing questions in
newspapers and magazines

18
 - Sometimes writers state their purpose directly e.gThe purpose of this section is to define
and explain the two types of cell division.
- Sometimes they leave the purpose for the reader to infer.
- Understanding author’s purpose helps reader to prevent himself from being unknowingly
influenced by the writer.
- To determine author’s purpose think carefully about the words he used.
1. For example, authors who inform use these types of constructions:
The important point is …; Be sure you know…; It is important to understand …;
Remember that ….
2. Authors who persuade use these phrases:
The only intelligent choice …; any reasonable person will agree that…; only an
uninformed person would believe that …; those who understand the issue will
certainly agree …;
3. Authors who entertain use these phrases:
You will never believe …; The funny thing about …; and then the oldest thing
happened…; I will never forget the day I …
- In addition to the wording, examining whether the author has treated both sides of a
controversial issue tells us about his purpose. Check if important information is left out.
IDENTIFYING THE AUDIENCE THE WRITER TARGETS
- Writers have specific audience in mind. The audience the writer has in mind shapes
decisions about the material to be included and about the level of difficulty.
- Authors may state directly who the intended audience is.
- To determine the intended audience examine these three things:
Is the topic discussed of technical or of general interest? Is the language simple,
sophisticated or specialized? Is the purpose to inform, express oneself, persuade or
entertain?
IDENTIFYING WRITER’S POINT OF VIEW
- It refers to an author’s position on an issue; his opinion about the topic. It is also called
author’s argument or author’s bias. Bias in this context refers to preference; not
prejudice.

19
 Examples: a) Gun control is necessary if we are to have a safe society ; b) Gun control
would only make society less safe; c) Gun control has both advantages and
disadvantages.
The first is in favor of the topic; the second against it; the third one is neutral.
- Authors may state their bias directly. Other times they expect reader to recognize it on the
basis of the information they include or leave out and the way they present the
information.
- Phrases that reveal the author’s point of view:
Supporting this new policy is essential because…; The proposed legislation will benefit
all the citizens of Dade county because…; It is not in the best interest of the country to
…; voters should oppose the creation of a state lottery because …
IDENTIFYING WRITER’S TONE
- It is a manner of writing that reveals or reflects author’s attitude toward a topic. Example:
serious, sarcastic, sympathetic, enthusiastic, excited, disappointed, informal, sincere,
humorous, ambivalent, amused, approving, arrogant, authoritative, bitter, concerned, etc
- Author’s style and choice of words reveal his tone. Compare the following two
sentences:
Once again, the American taxpayers have to foot the bill for those who are too lazy or
unmotivated to work.
Once again, American taxpayers are showing their generosity by helping those who are
unable to find employment.
The second has positive and compassionate tone.
- If reader misses the tone, he misunderstands the message. For example if you miss a
sarcastic or ironical tone a certain writing you understand the opposite of the author’
intention.

IDENTIFYING OPINIONS AND ATTITUDES AS OPPOSED TO FACTS

- A fact is a piece of information which can be proved through experimentation, direct

experiencing and observation; and clearly defined. It is objective.
- An opinion is a piece of information that expresses personal ’s feeling, evaluation and
point of view. It cannot be proved to be true or false. It is subjective.

20
 - How to differentiate opinion from facts
 Opinions are marked with evaluative words such as unfortunately;
superlatives like very, too, …; comment adjuncts like in my opinion, it seems
that; hedging expressions like perhaps, presumably, etc; value judgments such
as interestingly; descriptive terms such as beautiful, successful, dangerous.
 Commands, wishes, requests are not facts.
 Opinions speculate.
 Statements that use statistics are facts.
- Opinions are not unimportant statements. Authors can offer their opinions as reasons
in support of conclusions. What matters is that they should be well explained and rich
and supported with good reasoning. Opinions can be based on facts or feelings.
- Writings such as encyclopedia, news, fact books, yearbooks, almanacs, textbooks,
research journals, and biographies contain facts.

ANALYZING, INTERPRETING AND EVALUATING TEXTS

CRITERIA OF ANALYZING TEXTS

- The manner the text is broken down into parts and the relationship between the parts
- The organization
- The manner the text is begun and ended
- The transitions into next points
- Identifying the thesis and the way it is developed
- The validity of the supporting details,
- The target audience
- The purpose of the author
- The tone of the author
- The style of the writer and the register of the text
- Strategies of the writer to sustain interest of readers
- The strategies the author uses to convince readers
- The relevance, clarity and appealing nature of visuals

21
 - Grammatical accuracy
- Variety in sentences
- Conciseness.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING TEXTS

1. What is the text about?
Authors are trying to convey a message or an idea. Summarizing the author’s main idea
in a sentence of two is a good way for a reader to begin to analyze a piece of work.
You’ve got to be able to articulate the author’s ideas if you hope to be able to say what
you think about them.
As a reader, some good questions to ask yourself are, “What is this author saying?” or 
“What is the author’s message?” or “What ideas are repeated or connected to the main
idea?”
2. Who is the author?
Knowing whom the author is and when and where he or she wrote can sometimes
provide useful information that will help you understand what is being said. All text is
written within a certain context and this context can help you interpret the author’s ideas.
Similarly, when and where a text is written can also be important when evaluating or
analyzing a text.

As a reader a good question to ask yourself is, “What background information do we

know about the author such as age, gender, views, or cultural background that might
help use understand his or her ideas?”
3. Who is the audience?

All writing is aimed at a particular audience. The author was speaking to a particular
group of people or perhaps just one person, but there was someone whom he or she
wanted to read his or her ideas.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

22
 Authors have a reason to write. To analyze and evaluate a text, readers must consider
why the author wrote the text in the first place.

As a reader, some good questions to ask yourself are, “What’s the purpose of this text?”
and “how does this contribute to my interpretation?”

5. What is the form of the text?

Authors choose a particular form of writing to best convey their ideas to an audience. To
analyze and evaluate a text, readers must consider why an author decided, for example, to
write a newspaper article instead of a flyer.
As a reader, some good questions to ask yourself are, “Why did the author choose this
form of writing to communicate his or her ideas?” or “Is this form of writing meant to be
read out loud or silently and how does this contribute to my interpretation?”

6. How does the author’s style contribute to meaning?

Authors often emphasize their ideas by adopting a particular style. One author might be
fond of using a lot of metaphoric language in his or her work while another might choose
to use satire to communicate. A different author might choose to communicate through
graffiti messages or the conversational writing of a blog.

As a reader, a good question to ask yourself is, “How has this author’s style of writing
helped me understand his or her ideas or contributed to my interpretation?”

7. What is the author’s point of view?

By its nature, all writing represents a particular point of view. When readers evaluate a
text, consideration must always be given to the author’s bias and the way in which he or
she crafts a certain perspective.

As a reader, some good questions to ask yourself are, “How might the author’s point of
view affect the way the information is presented or the way in which we understand it?”
or “Has the author used other sources of information to create a balanced perspective?”

23
 or “Are the opinions presented supported through the work of others? Has/have the
author(s) used data to support conclusions? How reliable are these data?”

8. Whose voices and values are represented in the text?

All writing reflects the values and beliefs of certain individuals and authors speak to
some people but neglect or ignore others in their work.

As a reader, some good questions to ask yourself are, “Are the views and values
presented in the text from one specific culture? If the text was presented from the point of
view of another culture, would the values change? To what extent are the values
presented universal?”

9. How do personally reconcile what you’ve read with what you already know?

As readers become more knowledgeable about the world, they become critical analyzers
of text. Good readers don’t believe everything they read but instead accept parts and
reject others. Good readers sometimes reserve any judgment until they’ve read more
about a topic.

As a reader some good questions to as yourself are, “In what ways have your own values
and/or beliefs been affected by the ideas in the text?” or “What values have been
presented through the text? Do you agree or disagree with these values? Why?  Or
“What questions have been raised in your mind as a result of your reading of the text?

THE USE OF SOURCE INFORMATION

QUOTATING
- Quoting and paraphrasing are two ways of integrating other authors’ ideas into your own
writing.
- A quotation is the words of another write reproduced exactly in terms of wording,
spelling, punctuation, capitalization and paragraphing.
- Don’t begin a sentence with a direct quote. If you should quote, write a few words to lead
into the quote.

24
 - Don’t make entire paragraph a quote or a paraphrase. Add your comments and
clarification.
- Avoid too much quotes. Quote only when paraphrase is incapable to communicate the
idea accurately; or to introduce variety to your styles.
- Avoid anecdotal information. Support every information with evidence or cite
authoritative source.
- Quotations that constitute fewer than five lines in your paper should be set off with
quotation marks and incorporated in the normal flow of your text. For material exceeding
that length, omit quotation marks and indent the quoted language one inch from the left
margin.
- Use double quotation marks. Single quotation marks are used for inner quotations (a
quote within a quote). But if the quote within a quote is in an indented quote, use double
quotation marks.
- End punctuation marks and commas are put in the quotation marks.
- Make sure your quote is exactly the same as the original.

EXAMPLES

Not Beginning a Sentence with a quotation

Meyerhoff states that “if, as a rule, all speakers of a community use more tokens of one variant at
a certain age and more tokens of another variant at another age, the variable is said to be age-
graded.”

Quotations that exceed five lines; not making an entire paragraph a quote or a paraphrase
In addition, mostly, people’s language is studied in relation to either their gender or their
ethnicity or their social class; age is not taken as an important social variable. According to
Llamas,
of all global categories employed in investigations of language variation, age is perhaps
the least examined and the least understood in sociolinguistic terms. Unlike gender,
ethnicity or social class, age is often approached uncritically, and treated as a biological

25
 fact with which to categorize speakers, and against with other facets of our identity are
played out.
But he asserts that age is equally important with gender and ethnicity in determining people’s
individual as well as social identities. This seems to be true as the researchers’ informal
observation also testifies.

Quotes within quotes

“D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences define research as ‘the
manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalising to extend, correct or
verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an
art.’ Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its
advancement. It is the persuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and
experiment.” 1

1. C.R. Kothari. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. 2nd Revised edition. (New
Delhi: New Age International Limited Publishers, 2004), 1

PARAPHRASING
- Paraphrasing is your version of essential ideas and information expressed by someone
else.
- It is not acceptable to simply replace words from the original statement with words or
phrases with similar meanings, or to rearrange the sentence or paragraph.

TECHNIQUES

1. Change vocabulary with synonyms

e.g. study →research
2. Change word class
Egypt →Egyptian
3. Change word order
Ancient Egypt collapsed →the collapse of Egyptian society began

Example

Original: Evidence of a lost civilisation has been found off the coast of China.

26
Paraphrase: Remains of an ancient society have been discovered in the sea near China.

Original

Ancient Egypt collapsed in about 2180 BC. Studies conducted of the mud from the River Nile
showed that at this time the mountainous regions which feed the Nile suffered from a prolonged
drought. This would have had a devastating effect on the ability of Egyptian society to feed
itself.

Paraphrase

Research into deposits of the Egyptian Nile indicate that a long dry period in the mountains at
the river’s source may have led to a lack of water for irrigation around 2180 BC, which was
when the collapse of Egyptian society began.

Synonyms:

Studies – research

Mud – deposits

Prolonged drought – a long dry period

Mountainous region which feed the Nile – the mountains at the river’s source

Change in word order:

Collapsed – the collapse of

Egypt – Egyptian

27
What are sentence fragments?
Sentence fragments are groups of words that do not create an independent clause. Independent
clauses must have a subject and a verb; sentence fragments will usually lack a subject and/or
subject and verb. For example: o Heading into tow n for the day
A sentence fragment is a string of words that does not form a complete sentence; there is a
necessary component of a complete sentence missing. This missing component may be a subject
(usually a noun) or a predicate (verb or verb phrase) and/or when the sentence does not express a
complete idea.
Author: Paul Lai

28
Publish Year: 2014
Correcting Sentences Fragments.
To correct sentences fragments, simply issert the missing parts of sentences(subject, verb, and/or
complete thought). Example:
When the boy got home from school. Correct: When the boy got home from school, he lay down
on his bed.
Working hard to make good grades in the class.Correct:Woking hard to make good grades in the
class, Johnny learned that hard work pays off.
Some of the athletes playing on the court. Correct: Some of the athletes were playing on the
court.

29
30
31
32
PLAGIARISM

33
Using someone else’s ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as our own,
without acknowledging the original writer, either on purpose or through carelessness is a serious
offence known as plagiarism. Look the following examples:

Original
Because women’s wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family
wage, single mothers rarely earn enough to support themselves and their children
adequately.
Plagiarized

Since women’s wages often continue to reflect the mistaken notion that men are the main
wage earners in the family, single mothers rarely make enough to support themselves and
their children very well.

- Too much direct borrowing of sentence structure and wording

- No quotation mark. It is not also a paraphrase. A paraphrase uses different
wording but this paraphrase doesn’t. This also makes it plagiarized.
- The original writer is not acknowledged.

Not plagiarized

Women today still earn less than men- so much less that many single mothers and their
children live near or below the poverty line.

SYNTHESIS (COMBINING SOURCES)

A synthesis is a combination, usually a shortened version, of several texts made into one. It
contains the important points in the text and is written in your own words.

To make a synthesis you need to find suitable sources, and then to select the relevant parts in
those sources. You will then use your paraphrase and summary skills to write the information in
your own words. The information from all the sources has to fit together into one continuous
text. Please remember, though, that when you synthesise work from different people, you must
acknowledge it.

The following stages may be useful:

34
 1. Find texts that are suitable for your assignment.
2. Read and understand the texts.
3. Find the relevant ideas in the texts. Mark them in some way - write them down, take
notes, underline them or highlight them.
4. Make sure you identify the meaning relationships between the words/ideas - use
colours or numbers.
5. Read what you have marked very carefully.
6. Organise the information you have. You could give all similar ideas in different texts
the same number or letter or colour.
7. Transfer all the information on to one piece of paper. Write down all similar
information together.
8. Paraphrase and summarise as necessary.
9. Check your notes with your original texts for accuracy and relevance.
10. Combine your notes into one continuous text.
11. Check your work.
a. Make sure your purpose is clear
b. Make sure the language is correct
c. Make sure the style is your own
d. Remember to acknowledge other people's work

Tips For Combining Sources

- Before combining identify the type of relationship the information in the sources have:
opposite, example, supplemental
- Decide how you should organize the extract
- Write the introductory sentence. The sentence must be stated in the manner that it reflects
how the ideas selected form the sources are related and the overall organization of the
combined product.
- Write the extract following the organizing method you have decided
- Check if the transitional markers and reporting phrases have correctly shown the
relationship between your ideas accurately.

35
 STYLE AND REGISTER
Writers in academic contexts should not use the following types of language.
1. Jargon: It is specialized language used among members of a trade, profession, or group.
Use jargon only when readers will be familiar with it; even then, use it only when plain
English will not do as well. Broadly defined, jargon includes puffed-up language
designed more to impress readers than to inform them.
2. Flowery phrases

Hoping to sound profound or poetic, some writers embroider their thoughts with large
words and flowery phrases. Such pretentious language is so ornate and wordy that it
obscures the writer’s meaning.
3. Euphemisms
They are nice-sounding words or phrases substituted for words thought to sound harsh or
ugly. They are sometimes appropriate.
4. Doublespeak
The term doublespeak applies to any deliberately evasive or deceptive language,
including euphemisms. Doublespeak is especially common in politics and business. A
military retreat is described astactical redeployment; enhanced interrogation is a
euphemism for “torture”; and downsizing really means “firing employees.”
5. Slang
Slang is an informal and sometimes private vocabulary that expressesthe solidarity of a
group such as teenagers, rock musicians,or football fans; it is subject to more rapid
change than standard English.
6. Sexist language
Sexist language is language that stereotypes or demeans women or men. Using nonsexist
language is a matter of courtesy — of respect for and sensitivity to the feelings of other.
PLAGIARISM.
What is plagiarism?
Deffinition: Plagiarism is the presenting the words, ideas,images, sounds, or the creative
expressions of other as your own. The word plagiarism comes from the latin word plagiaries
meaning “kinapper”.

36
Two types of plagiarism:
Intentional Unintentional
- Copying a friend’s work Careless paraphrasing
Poor documentation
Buying or borrowing papers. Failure to use your own “voice”
- Cutting and pasting blocks of text
from electronic source
without documenting
- Media “borrowing” without
documentation.
Plagiarism is a serious offense and can lead to failing grades or suspension from school:
 The consequences are not worth the risks
 It is only right to give credit to author whose ideas you use.
 Citing makes it possible for your readers to locate your sources.Cheating is unethical
behavior.
HOW to avoid Plagiarism:
- Quote and cite phrases, sentences, and paragraphs taken directly from the original
sources.
- Quote and cite statistics, charts, graphs, and drawings, taken directly from the original
sources.
- When you paraphrase or summarize, give credit to the original author.
USE THESE THREE STRATEGIES:
- Quoting
- Paraphrasing
- Summarizing
QUOTING: Quotation are the exact words of an author, copied directly from a source, word for
word. Quotation must be cited.
PARAPHRASING: Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s words or ideas into your oen
words. Although you are using your own words, the ideas are taken from someone else and must
be cited on your –cited page. Paraphrasing is not simply rearranging or rewording an original
passage. You have to understand what the author is saying and write the ideas entirely in your
own words. Gave the author credit when you quote or paraphrase.
As you take notes:
 Include page numbers and source references so you can go back and check for accuracy
as you write.
 Don’t

37
 cut and past from any source,
Use another student’s work as your own
Just change a few word from any source for your paper.
Turn in a paper you wrote for another class.
A plagiarist is
- Too careless
- Too lazy.
- Too dishonest. etc
You can prevent plagiarism:
All you need to do is:
- Take notes –put in your own words.
- If you do copy word, put “ “ around them and footnote whose words they are.
- Keep track of every resources you use.
- Cite all of your sources at the end of your work.

38
‘

39