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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
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
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
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
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
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
Scanning and Searching
1- when you are scanning, you are usually
looking for a particular word or a phrase which already exists in the text
2-sometimes the key words you are looking for
are signaled , for example by being written
in italics or bold
3- when you are searching a text for a particular
information, you may not have specific words or phrases to help you. However, you may sometimes get help from the
index, or from the list of contents.
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:
problem
Hypothesis
Experiment Results of
the experiment
conclusions
• 2- Outline and Diagram Notes1- Linear Notes:- you will want to record the main ideas in the form of outline notes. - This way is more logical, orderly and easy to follow. (figure 1.3.)
2- Diagram Notes: - It is more memorable, and can sometimes make it easier to show how different parts of the passage relate to one another. - One of the simplest types of diagrams to use is a branching diagram. (figure 1.4.)
D diagram format
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.
