IMPROVING READING SKILLS

SAIMA AFZAL

Lecturer

Air University

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST MERCIFUL THE MOST BENEFICENT

Read: In the Name of your Lord Who created man from a blood clot

WHAT IS READING? Ability to recognize the letters of the

alphabet.

WHAT IS READING? Or is it the ability to say or pronounce

written words 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe.

(opening lines of Lewis Carroll's poem, "Jabberwocky,”)

WHAT IS READING? Or is reading the process by which we

make sense of text—comprehension.

Food for thought What kind of reading is taught in our

schools? Which definition of reading does it

follow?

READING SPEED AND COMPREHENSION Reading speed –--how many words your

eyes can see at a single glance. Being able to read by phrases instead of

by single words results from practice. Writer is the encoder of the message

and the reader is the decoder

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MESSAGE Jansher takes over Jahangir's crown.

Background knowledge Own view of the world Visual and non visual informati

Reading skills are specific abilities which enable a reader to read the written form as meaningful language to read anything written with independence, comprehension and fluency, and to mentally interact with the message.

SLOW READER - Being able to read by phrases instead of by single words results from practice. Eyes stop 14 times focusing on

each word

VOCALIZING Another cause of slow reading-

The normal rate of speaking English is 180 to 200 words a minute.

Reading 200 words is a dangerously slow speed

Forming the sound of each word, even though they may be spoken aloud

AVERAGE READER Being able to read by phrases

instead of by single words results from practice.

The eyes of the average reader stop six or seven times they are able to see about two words at a glance

FAST READER Being able to read by phrases

instead of by single words results from practice.

Eyes stop only three times they focus at the centre of a phrase and see three or four words then move rapidly to the next phrase.

PERIPHERAL VISION/ FIXATIONS The ability to see words on either side of

the point at which your eyes focus. The ability to see objects and movement

outside of the direct line of vision. The eye moves in a series of jerks like

the bar on one of the older typewriters. The number of fixations per line varies

according to such factors as: Nature of the text The reading purpose Speed of the reader

FIXATIONS----- REGRESSIONS

Regressions Slow reading also results from regression,

the number of times your eyes have to go back to a word or phrase that they did not see accurately the first time.

A good reader makes fewer eye movements than a poor one; his eye takes in several words at a time ……… efficient reader has the ability to chunk a text into sense units, each consisting of several words, and each taken in by one fixation of his eye.

ACTIVITY 1 Pg.97

WORDS THAT GO TOGETHER GRAMMATICALLY. Modification pattern

Prepositional/participial phrases Dependent clauses

the economic policy

an unnecessary expense

Under these conditions

On the other hand

To tell the truth

When the war ended Because it was raining

READING AS A PROCESS OF PREDICTION Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde

Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers of a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

REDUNDANCY IN READING

The captain ordered the ship to an-

b, f, l, m ,p, q,

r, w

preposition

conjunction

answer, antibody anchovy

anchor

USE ORTHOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 1. N*V*RT*L*SS2. TH*R*F*R* 3. PH*T*GR*PH4. Q*IT*5. *X*ST 6. TH***GH7. C**CK8. J*N*AR*9. PL*C*10. SP**SH

USE GRAMMATICAL INFORMATION Sometimes oil _____ to the surface to

form tar pits. seeps well expensive easily These _______ tar pits become death trap

for animals. cause slowly sticky over Reptile history ______26 million years! of snakes goes back more than very

old Within the last few years a new and ______

science has been explored, ____body language.

within exciting recently not before called

ACTIVITY 2 Pg. 106

SEMANTIC INFORMATION Husband and ________ Fame and ___________ Thunder and _________ Aches and ___________ Do’s and _____________ Eat drink and _________ Blood, sweat, and _________ Healthy, wealthy and _______ Friends, Romans, and __________

WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH? Topic sentence Supporting details Transitions Concluding sentence

Modern people in spite of their scientific knowledge, often seem as superstitious as their ancestors.

WHAT ARE THESE PARAGRAPHS TALKING ABOUT? The Yukon, the largest river in Alaska, is

unique.

Describe where Alaska is

Explain why the river is unique

Compare the Yukon with other large rivers

RECOGNIZING PARAGRAPH PATTERNS Modern people in spite of their scientific

knowledge, often seem as superstitious as their ancestors. Astrology is a half-billion- dollar business. Intelligent persons still believe that lines on their palm or the arrangement of tea leaves in a cup predict the future. Air planes do not have a row of seats numbered 13 and buildings omit a thirteenth floor, Black cats, broken mirrors, and spilled tea create fear and anxiety in many people. And ouija boards continue to be a popular pastime.

INDUCTIVE PARAGRAPH From Italian we get such words as

balcony, cavalry, miniature, opera and umbrella. Spanish has given us mosquito, ranch, cigar and vanilla. Dutch has provided brandy, golf measles and wagon. From Arabic we have borrowed alcohol, chemistry, magazine, zenith and zero. And Persian has loaned us chess, checkers, lemon, paradise, and spinach.

INDUCTIVE PARAGRAPH From Italian we get such words as

balcony, cavalry, miniature, opera and umbrella. Spanish has given us mosquito, ranch, cigar and vanilla. Dutch has provided brandy, golf measles and wagon. From Arabic we have borrowed alcohol, chemistry, magazine, zenith and zero. And Persian has loaned us chess, checkers, lemon, paradise, and spinach. It is clear that English is a language that borrows freely from many sources.

REFRENCES AND CONNECTIVES Some students read slowly but don’t

know that they do;; others read slowly and know

Some students do it. Their reading problems are the same,

but the latter can be helped more easily

because they are already aware of their problem. Because the former can be helped, however, they must be aware of the problem.

they do it

CONNECTIVES SIGNALLING RESULT

He hadn’t eaten breakfast

hence

thus

consequently

therefore

accordingly he was hungry by noon

CONNECTIVES OF CONTRAST

Defeat was obvious

however

all the same

nevertheless

Even so

but

still

CONNECTIVES OF CONTRAST

Defeat was obvious

however

all the same

nevertheless

Even so

but

The players continued to try their best to win the game

still

CONNECTIVES THAT SIGNAL ADDITION

The peace treatywas timely

as well as fair

and also fair and fair too

and fair

Moreover, it was fair

Furthermore, it was fair

SCANNING

Scanning is a technique you use when:

When you look for a telephone number Your name on a grade list The atomic weight of cobalt Looking up a word in the dictionary.

.

TRY THIS! Skim to locate the year in which Elvis

Presley was born.

Cher California 1946

John, Elton Middlesex, England

1947

Sinatra, Frank New Jersey 1915

Barbara, Streisand

New York 1942

Presley, Elvis Mississippi 1935

Travolta, John New Jersey 1954

ACTIVITY Pg 137

SKIMMING Skimming is done at a speed three to

four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your research

ACTIVITY -4 Pg 140