Text and Context Critical Reading
Text and Context Critical Reading
CONNECTIONS
IMAGINE RECEIVING THIS KIND OF MESSAGE
OUT OF NOWHERE.
“Let’s see!”
1. Will you believe this message? How are you going to react? What are you going to do
about it?
What do you call the process validating information though reading while thinking critically?
• Whenever you read something and you evaluate claims, seek definitions,
judge information, demand proof, and question assumptions, you are
thinking critically (Tiongson & Rodriguez, 2016).
• It means not taking anything at face value. It is watching out for the author’s
limitations, omissions, oversights, and arguments in the text.
• It is a skill that goes beyond the reading of the written text. The reader takes an
effort to create images and pictorial concepts through his sense impressions of
the words written by the author.
Critical Approach to Reading
• 1. Readers should always bear in
mind that no test, however well-
written and authoritative, contains its
own predetermined meaning. Everything
is subject to the reader’s own
interpretation, understanding, and
CRITICAL acceptance of the text material.
READING AS • 2. To be a critical reader, one should
WAYS OF interact with the material being read.
THINKING Look for the connections between the
texts. Ask questions; and then, respond
to the questions; or expand the ideas by
giving more examples. 3. To create
meaning for the text read, use a
variety of approaches, strategies, and
techniques to connect to the presentation
of the text.
1.Defining explicit and implicit
information Critical reading also means
that you are able to distinguish the
information that is clearly stated
(explicit) in the text from the ideas that
are suggested (implicit). This will help
you make inferences about what you
read.
B. IDENTIFYING
AND ANALYZING 2. Defining Claim
CL AIMS • The claim is the most important part of
the text. The quality and complexity of
the reading depend on the claim
because the claim defines the paper’s
direction and scope. The claim is a
sentence that summarizes the most
important thing that the writer wants to
say as a result of his/her thinking,
• A claim should be argumentative and
debatable.
• When the writer makes a claim, he/she
is making a case for a particular
perspective on the topic. Readers
A. C H A RAC T E R I S T I C S
OF GOOD CLAIMS: expect to be able to raise objections to
your claim and they can only raise
objections if the claim is something that
can be reasonably challenged. Claims
that are only factual or based on
opinion, thus, are not debatable.
• A claim should be specific and focused. If the claim
is unfocused, the paper will be too broad in scope
and will lack direction and a clear connection to the
support provided. It may also lead to
overgeneralizations and vague assertions.
• A claim should be interesting and engaging. It
should hook the reader, who may or may not
agree with you, to encourage them to consider
your perspective and learn something new from
you.
• A claim should be logical. It should result from
reasonable weighing of support provided. Here are
some questions to help you determine the writer’s
claim while you are reading a text: i. What is the
author’s main point? ii. What is the author’s position
regarding it?
• a. Claims of Fact
It states a quantifiable assertion or a
measurable topic. They assert that something has
existed, exists, or will exist based on data.
They rely on reliable sources or systematic
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN procedures to be validated; this is what makes them
THE TYPES OF CLAIM different from inferences.
• Claims of fact usually answer a “what” question.
When determining whether something is a claim of
fact, the following questions are useful. i. Is this issue
related to a possible cause or effect? ii. Is this
statement true or false? How can its truthfulness be
verified? iii. Is this claim controversial or debatable?
• Assert something that can be qualified.
They consist of arguments about moral,
philosophical, or aesthetic topics. These
types of topics try to prove that some
values are more or less desirable
compared to others. They make judgments,
CL AIMS OF VALUE • based on certain standards, on whether
something is right or wrong, good or
bad, or something similar.
•
•Assert something that can be qualified.
They consist of arguments about moral, philosophical, or aesthetic topics.
These types of topics try to prove that some values are more or less
desirable compared to others. They make judgments, based on certain
standards, on whether something is right or wrong, good or bad, or
something similar.
• Attempts to prove that there are things that are more or less valuable and
desirable. It involves judgments, evaluation, and appraisals.
• Claims of value attempt to explain how problems, situations, or issues
ought to be valued. In order to discover these explanations, you may
ask the following questions:
i. What claims endorse what is good or right?
ii. What qualities should be considered good? Why is that so?
iii. Which of these values contend with others? Which ones are more
important, and why? Whose standards are used?
iv. What are some concrete examples of such values?
• • Claims of value are subject to prejudices. It uses words
and phrases such as “best strategy,” “most favorable,” “a
very good way of…,” “an effective style of….”
c. Claims of Policy
• Posit that specific actions should be chosen as
solutions to a particular problem. You can easily identify a
claim of policy because they begin with “should,” “ought
to,’ or “must.” Claims of policy, because they defend
actionable plans, usually answer “how” questions.
CLAIMS OF • The following questions will be useful in evaluating a claim
VALUE of policy:
i. Does the claim suggest a specific remedy to solve the
problem?
ii. Is the policy clearly defined?
iii. Is the need for the policy established?
iv. Is the policy the best one available? For whom?
According to whose standards? v. How does the policy
solve the problem?
Context - is defined as the social, cultural, political,
historical, and other related circumstances that
surround the text and form the terms from which it
can be better understood and evaluated.
• In discovering a reading’s context, you may ask
questions like:
• unified
• accurate; and
• representative or typical
7 CRITICAL READING
STRATEGIES
1. Previewing: Learning about a text before
really reading it.
2. Contextualizing: Placing a text in its
historical, biographical, and cultural
contexts.
3. Questioning to understand and
remember: Asking questions about the
content.
7 CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES
4. Reflecting on challenges to your beliefs and values:
Examining your personal responses.
5. Outlining and summarizing: Identifying the main ideas and
restating them in your own words.
6. Evaluating an argument: Testing the logic of a text as well
as its credibility and emotional impact.
7. Comparing and contrasting related readings: Exploring
likenesses and differences between texts to understand them
better.