English Language &Employability Skills

for
Engineers
UNIT-IV : READING
CRITICAL READING
Presenter
(Dr) LAKSHMI NARAYANA C
[(PhD), JNTUA, ANANTAPURAMU]
Asst. Professor of English, Dept. of Humanities & Sciences,
SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (Autonomous) 1
Outline

• Reading comprehension
• Critical Reading
• How to become a critical reader?
• Understanding an author
• Critical Reading Strategies
• Marking a text

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 Learning to read critically is an 
important part of developing good
study habits, and ultimately
strong reading skills will enhance
almost every area of your life.
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Background
• Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a
message. In other words, how well do you understand what you read?
• This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that
are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the written
message.
• Comprehension is a “creative, multi-faceted process” dependent upon
four language skills: phonology, syntax, semantics (the meaning of
words, phrases etc.,), and pragmatics (usage of words).
• Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly
and effortlessly.
• It is also determined by an individual’s cognitive development, which
is “the construction of thought processes”. 4
Critical Reading
 “Critical reading is a complex thinking technique that involves:
• discovering and taking apart an author’s meaning,
• evaluating the author’s meanings based on established standards,
and
• incorporating the meaning into the ideas you already know.”
Critical Reading …
• is intentional
• requires focus and concentration
• involves thinking, understanding, interpretation, and reflection
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 What does it take to become a critical reader?

1. Prepare to become part of the writer's audience:

• Authors design texts for specific audiences, and becoming a
member of the target audience makes it easier to get at the
author's purpose.
2. Prepare to read with an open mind:
• Critical readers seek knowledge; they do not "rewrite" a work to
suit their own personalities.
• Your task as an enlightened critical reader is to read what is on
the page, giving the writer a fair chance to develop ideas and
allowing yourself to reflect thoughtfully, objectively, on the text.
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3. Consider the title:
• This may seem obvious, but the title may provide clues to the
writer's attitude, goals, personal viewpoint, or approach.
4. Read slowly:
• Again, this appears obvious, but it is a factor in a "close reading."
By slowing down, you will make more connections within the text.
5. Use the dictionary and other appropriate reference works:
• If there is a word in the text that is not clear or difficult to define in
context: look it up in the dictionary.
• Every word is important, and if part of the text is thick with
technical terms, it is doubly important to know how the author is
using them.
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6. Make notes:
• Jot down marginal notes, underline and highlight, write down ideas in a
notebook, do whatever works for your own personal taste.
• Note for yourself the main ideas, the thoughts, the author's main points to
support the theory.
• Writing while reading aids your memory in many ways, especially by
making a link that is unclear in the text concrete in your own writing.
7. Keep a reading record:
In addition to note-taking, it is often helpful to regularly record your
responses and thoughts in a more permanent place that is yours to consult.
By developing a habit of reading and writing in conjunction, both skills
will improve.
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Understanding an Author
The structure of Academic
Writing
• Main Idea
• Secondary Ideas
• Major Supporting ideas

• Minor Supporting Ideas

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 Strategies
• Most successful critical readers do some combination of the
following strategies:
• Previewing • Re-reading
• Annotating • Responding
• Summarizing • SQ3R
• Preview-Read-
• Analyzing
Review
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Strategies

Previewing:

You can ask yourself the

Previewing a text means following questions:
gathering as much What is my Purpose for
information about the text Reading?
as you can before you What can the Title Tell Me
About the Text?
actually read it.
How is the Text Structured?

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 Strategies

Annotating:
•Annotating is an important skill to employ if you want to read
critically.
•Successful critical readers read with a pencil in their hand,
making notes in the text as they read.
•Instead of reading passively, they create an active relationship
with what they are reading by "talking back" to the text in its
margins.

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 Strategies

Annotating:
•You may want to make the following annotations as you read:
•Mark Main Points of the text
•Mark Key Terms and Unfamiliar Words
•Underline Important Ideas and Memorable Images
•Write Your Questions and/or Comments in the Margins
•Mark Confusing Parts of the Piece, or Sections
•Underline the Sources, if any, the Author has Used
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 Strategies
Summarizing:
• Summarizing the text you've read is a valuable way to
check your understanding of the text.
• When you summarize, you should be able to find and write
down the thesis and main points of the text.

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 Strategies
Analyzing:
• Analyzing a text means breaking it down into its parts to find out
how these parts relate to one another.
• Being aware of the functions of various parts of a piece of writing
and their relationship to one another and the overall piece can
help you better understand a text's meaning.
• To analyze a text, you can look at the following things:
• Evidence
• Assumptions
• Sources
• Author Bias
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 Strategies

Re-reading:
•Re-reading is a crucial part of the critical reading process.
•Good readers will re-read a piece several times, until they are satisfied they know
it inside and out.
•It is recommended that you read a text three times to make as much meaning as
you can.
•The First Reading: Skimming the text
•The Second Reading: Meditative reading
•The Third Reading: Take into account any asking questions you ask yourself
about the text
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 Strategies

Responding:
•Responding to what you read is an important step in understanding
what you read.
•You can respond in writing, or by talking about what you've read to
others.
•Here are several ways you can respond critically to a piece of writing:
•Writing a Response in Your Notebook
•Discussing the Text with Others

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 Strategies

SQ3R:
•SQ3R is a well-known strategy for critical reading. 
•SQ3R can be applied to a whole range of reading purposes as it is flexible and
takes into account the need to change reading speeds.
•SQ3R is an acronym and stands for:
•Survey
•Question
•Read
•Recall
•Review
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 SQ3R


Survey:
•This relates to speed-reading, scanning and skimming the text. 
•At this initial stage you will be attempting to gain the general gist of the material
in question.

Question:
•It is important that, before you begin to read, you have a question or set of
questions that will guide you - why am I reading this?
•What do I already know about this subject?
•How does this chapter relate to the assignment question?
•How can I relate what I read to my own experiences?

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SQ3R

Read:
•This involves careful consideration of the meaning of what the author is trying to convey
and involves being critical as well as active.

Recall:
•Regardless of how interesting an article or chapter is, unless you make a concerted effort to
recall what you have just read, you will forget a lot of the important points. 
•Recalling from time to time allows you to focus upon the main points – which in turn aids
concentration.
•Recalling gives you the chance to think about and assimilate what you have just read,
keeping you active. 
•A significant element in being active is to write down, in your own words, the key points. 

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SQ3R

 Review:
• The final step is to review the material that you have recalled in
your notes. 
• Did you understand the main principles of the argument? 
• Did you identify all the main points?  Are there any gaps?  
• Do not take for granted that you have recalled everything you
need correctly – review the text again to make sure and clarify.

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 Strategies
Preview-Read-Review:
Step 1: Preview
• Skim: Examine sub-headings and introduction
• Question: Develop preview questions about the topic
• Keywords: Circle keywords (in bold or italic type)
• Knowledge: Recall prior knowledge
Step 2: Read
• Read each sub-section at a time
• Look up unfamiliar words
• Rephrase the section in your own words
• Compare information with prior knowledge
• Answer preview questions; ask new questions
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Preview-Read-Review:
Step 3: Review
• Main Idea: Return to the main idea (what has the chapter
argued?)
• Scan: Scan each subheading to review the supporting details
• Questions: Review and answer all of your reading questions
• Reorganize: Organize the material in your own way for
retrieval

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Mark the Text

• Highlight the main idea in a specific color

• Highlight major supporting ideas in a new color
• Circle specialized vocabulary words
• Use symbols (MI = Main Idea; 1, 2, 3 ...)
• Write key words or phrases to summarize sections
• Draw a chart or graph to illustrate an argument

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 Thank you
Success means
Not
Winning in Every
Battle!
Developed
by
Department of English
SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (Autonomous)
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