Daffodil International University Department of CSE Course name: English II Course Code:124 Corse Teacher: Antara Basak Semester: Summer’13 Topic: Reading Skill

Reading Skill

Reading skills enable readers to turn writing into meaning and achieve the goals of independence, comprehension, and fluency.

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.

Here are some kinds of reading skills: Word attack skills: let the reader figure out new words. Comprehension skills: help the reader predict the next word, phrase, or sentence quickly enough to speed recognition.

Fluency skills: help the readers see larger segments, phrases, and groups of words as wholes. Critical reading skills: help the reader see the relationship of ideas and use these in reading with meaning and fluency.

Scanning Scanning is used to find a particular piece of information. Run your eyes over the text looking for the specific piece of information you need. Use scanning on schedules, meeting plans, etc. in order to find the specific details you require. If you see words or phrases that you don't understand, don't worry when scanning.

Examples of Scanning The "What's on TV" section of your newspaper A train / airplane schedule A conference guide

Skimming Skimming is used to quickly gather the most important information, or 'gist'. Run your eyes over the text, noting important information. Use skimming to quickly get up to speed on a current business situation. It's not essential to understand each word when skimming.

Examples of Skimming The Newspaper (quickly to get the general news of the day) Magazines (quickly to discover which articles you would like to read in more detail) Business and Travel Brochures (quickly to get informed)

Extensive reading Extensive reading is used to obtain a general understanding of a subject and includes reading longer texts for pleasure, as well as business books. Use extensive reading skills to improve your general knowledge of business procedures. Do not worry if you donot understand each word.

Examples of Extensive Reading The latest marketing strategy book A novel you read before going to bed Magazine articles that interest you

Intensive reading Intensive reading is used on shorter texts in order to extract specific information. It includes very close accurate reading for detail. Use intensive reading skills to grasp the details of a specific situation. In this case, it is important that you understand each word, number or fact

Examples of Intensive Reading A bookkeeping report An insurance claim A contract

Detailed reading: for extracting information accurately Where you read every word, and work to learn from the text. In this careful reading, you may find it helpful to skim first, to get a general idea, but then go back to read in detail. Use a dictionary to make sure you understand all the words used

Speed Reading Information tends to stay superficially in one’s mind. Not a good method if your objective is to gain a deeper understanding of the text

Literature Reading Not mainly for pleasure… but intends to familiarize readers with different genres of literature pieces: novels, short stories, biographies, dramas, epics, etc…

Proofreading To see typographical errors Proofreading vs. editing

Reading for private use Personal reasons (primary) Intellectual and social effects (secondary) Reading materials deal with people’s lives, fictitious happenings, and expository texts for learning purposes.

Reading for public use For social consciousness, a person reads to update himself with current social events and to know his chance/s of active involvement into these happenings

Reading for work Work-related materials for a better job performance

Reading for education “Reading to learn” (Stich, 1975; Stiggins, 1992) to obtain knowledge for any learning task Instructive in nature

Active reading When you're reading for your course, you need to make sure you're actively involved with the text. It's a waste of your time to just passively read, the way you'd read a thriller on holiday. Always make notes to keep up your concentration and understanding.

Four tips for active reading. Underlining and highlighting Pick out what you think are the most important parts of what you are reading. Do this with your own copy of texts or on photocopies, not with borrowed books. If you are a visual learner, you'll find it helpful to use different colours to highlight different aspects of what you're reading.

Note key words Record the main headings as you read. Use one or two keywords for each point. When you don't want to mark the text, keep a folder of notes you make while reading.

Questions Before you start reading something like an article, a chapter or a whole book, prepare for your reading by noting down questions you want the material to answer. While you're reading, note down questions which the author raises.

Summaries Pause after you've read a section of text. Then: put what you've read into your own words; skim through the text and check how accurate your summary is and fill in any gaps.

A tip for speeding up your active reading You should learn a huge amount from your reading. If you read passively, without learning, you're wasting your time. So train your mind to learn. Try the SQ3R technique. SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recall and Review.

Survey Gather the information you need to focus on the work and set goals: Read the title to help prepare for the subject Read the introduction or summary to see what the author thinks are the key points Notice the boldface headings to see what the structure is Notice any maps, graphs or charts. They are there for a purpose Notice the reading aids, italics, bold face, questions at the end of the chapter. They are all there to help you understand and remember.

Question Help your mind to engage and concentrate. Your mind is engaged in learning when it is actively looking for answers to questions. Try turning the boldface headings into questions you think the section should answer.

Read Read the first section with your questions in mind. Look for the answers, and make up new questions if necessary. Recall After each section, stop and think back to your questions. See if you can answer them from memory. If not, take a look back at the text. Do this as often as you need to.

Thank You