READING?

WHAT IS READING?
 Reading is ƒ a skill which enables us to get a
message
 ƒRecognizing the written words (written
symbols)
 ƒGetting (understanding) the meaning; ƒ used

to teach pronunciation
 ƒGrasping information from texts.

 Reading is a complex activity that involves both

perception and thought.

READING:
 "Reading" is the process of looking at a series of written
symbols and getting meaning from them.
 When we read, we use our eyes to receive written

symbols (letters, punctuation marks and spaces) and we

use our brain to convert them into words, sentences and
paragraphs that communicate something to us.
 Reading can be silent (in our head) or aloud

(so that other people can hear).

 Reading is the third of the
four language skills, which are:
 Listening
 Speaking
 Reading
 Writing
 In our own language, reading is usually

the third language skill that we learn.

PROCESS:
Reading consists of two related processes:
1. word recognition

2. Comprehension

Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving

how written symbols correspond to one‘s spoken
language.
Comprehension is the process of making sense of
words, sentences and connected text
DETAILED READING AND NOTE TAKING
Once you have selected useful information, you can begin to
read in detail. Note taking techniques provide a useful aid
to reading. Use:
 underlining and highlighting to pick out what seem to

you the most central or important words and phrases. Do

this in your own copy of texts or on photocopies - never
on borrowed texts;
 keywords to record the main headings as you read. Use

one or two keywords for each main point. Keywords can

be used when you don't want to mark the text;
 questions to encourage you to take an active approach to

your reading. Record your questions as you read. They

can also be used as prompts for follow up work
 summaries to check you have understood what you have
read. Pause after a section of text and put what you have
read in your own words. Skim over the text to check the
accuracy of your summary, filling in any significant
gaps.
 These techniques encourage an active engagement with

the text as well as providing you with a useful record of

your reading. Avoid passively reading large amounts of
text, it does not make effective use of your time. Always
use a note taking technique to increase your levels of
concentration and understanding.
TYPES OF READING
 The four main types of reading techniques are the
following:
 Skimming

 Scanning

 Intensive

 Extensive
Skimming?
SKIMMING:
 Skimming is the process of speedy reading for general
meaning. Let your eyes skip over sentences or phrases
which contain detail. Concentrate on identifying the
central or main points.
Use this technique to:
 pre-view a selection of text prior to detailed reading

 refresh your understanding of a selection of text following

detailed reading.
 SKIMMING:
 Skimming is sometimes referred to as gist reading.
 Skimming may help in order to know what the text is about at

its most basic level.

 You might typically do this with a magazine or newspaper and

would help you mentally and quickly shortlist those articles

which you might consider for a deeper read.
 You might typically skim to search for a name in a telephone

directory.
 You can reach a speed count of even 700 words per minute if

you train yourself well in this particular method.

 Comprehension is of course very low and understanding of

overall content very superficial.

 Skimming will certainly save your a lot of time.
 But as stated above, it is not the best way to read

because you’re comprehension will be lowered.

 However, skimming is useful when your goal is to

preview the text to get a better idea of what it’s

about. It will help prepare you for deeper
learning.
As learning expert and author Pat Wyman says in her book,
Instant Learning for Amazing Grades, skimming is a
terrific idea to get an overview and mental picture in your
mind.
This strategy makes it much easier to recall what you’re
about to read.
 Take a look at the table of contents first.

 Review the subheadings in each chapter

 Quickly read the first paragraph in that section

 Check out anything in your text that is in bold or italics

 If there is a chapter summary, now is a good time read it

over.
 This completely prepares your brain to have an overview

of what the chapter is about.

SCANNING
 Scanning is reading a text quickly in order to find specific
information, e.g. figures or names. It can be contrasted with
skimming, which is reading quickly to get a general idea of
meaning.
 Picture yourself visiting a historical city, guide book in

hand.
 You would most probably just scan the guide book to see

which site you might want to visit.

 Scanning involves getting your eyes to quickly scuttle

across sentence and is used to get just a simple piece of

information.
 Interestingly, research has concluded that reading off a
computer screen actually inhibits the pathways to
effective scanning and thus, reading of paper is far more
conducive to speedy comprehension of texts.
 Something students sometimes do not give enough

importance to is illustrations.
 These should be included in your scanning. Pay special

attention to the introduction and the conclusion.

Intensive Reading?
INTENSIVE READING
 Intensive reading: "the readers carefully and closely
read a short text with the intention of gaining an
understanding of as much as detail as
possible" (Scrivener, 1994, p.188).
 This means that the learner focuses on the language

more than the text. The readers read in the text,

focusing on the new vocabulary, grammatical
forms, the purpose of the author and the problems
of the text.
INTENSIVE READING
 This type of reading has indeed beneficial to language
learners as it helps them understand vocabulary by deducing
the meaning of words in context.
 It moreover, helps with retention of information for long

periods of time and knowledge resulting from intensive

reading persists in your long term memory.
 This is one reason why reading huge amounts of information

just before an exam does not work very well.

 Students tend to do this, and they undertake neither type of

reading process effectively, especially neglecting intensive

reading.
 They may remember the answers in an exam but will likely

forget everything soon afterwards.

Extensive reading?
Extensive reading?
EXTENSIVE READING

 Extensive reading involves learners reading texts for

enjoyment and to develop general reading skills. It can be
compared with intensive reading, which means reading in
detail with specific learning aims and tasks.
 Example

A teacher reads a short story with learners, but does not set
them any tasks except to read and listen.
 The objective of an extensive reading programme is to

encourage reading fluency, so students should not be

stopping frequently because they do not understand a
passage.
EXTENSIVE VS INTENSIVE READING

 Extensive and Intensive reading are both common

approaches to read a text effectively. According to the
purpose and the person who is reading Extensive reading
means reading from multiple sources while intensive
reading refers to reading about something very closely and
deeply.
 Extensive reading is usually known as reading widely and
focuses on the breadth of understanding while Intensive
reading is known as reading deeply and focuses on the
depth of understanding a topic.
 Extensive reading would mean that a person is reading in
volumes and hence is quantitative, while Intensive reading
would mean deep, analytical reading in qualitative terms.
INTRODUCTION TO WRITING
SKILL
Objectives
INTRODUCTION TO WRITING SKILL
 The writing skills that students need at university level to write an
effective academic assignment include:
 The ability to spell, to construct a sentence, to punctuate rationally and
to divide writing into logical paragraphs.
 Competence in word-processing, cut and paste, formatting, page-
numbering and foot-noting.
 The ability to assimilate and organize information.
 The confidence to read widely, fast and with focus.
 A grasp of the subject under discussion.
 The confidence to select and discard material.
 An understanding of the particular style and format required by their
chosen discipline.
 An understanding of how to compile a bibliography, and to reference
their sources.
 An understanding of what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it.
 An understanding of how to interpret and read a
question or title so that they can respond to it with
confidence.
 A facility with language, so that they can give
expression to complex ideas.
 An ability to plan.
 The ability to develop an argument, so that the essay
flows smoothly from one idea to the next because
there is an underpinning logic.
 The courage to face a blank page (screen).
 The confidence to search for help from the tutor, other
students, the library and the internet.
 The courage to re-write or start again as necessary, to
extract the good from the over-written or irrelevant, to
restructure and on some occasions rethink completely.
 An understanding that writing is a creative process
that in itself develops ideas and often produces more
than the writer imagines possible at the start.
 The ability to think laterally and make
connections.
 The ability to edit, re-draft and proof-read.

 The qualities of self-motivation and patience.

 The qualities of self-discipline and time-

management, to give time for analysing the

question, reading and note-taking, first,
second and third drafts, proof-reading.
 The ability to be receptive to verbal and

written feedback, so that they can build on

strengths and weaknesses identified in
previous work.
 The ability to work for long-term aims, with

little immediate reward.