Reading
Reading strategies
What do you do during reading?
see what you should do whenever you are reading.
Cross-check one sentence with another.
Ask yourself whether the word looks right, sounds right and makes sense.
Re-read when problems occur. You may need to return to the beginning of a sentence or paragraph and read it again.
Predict and confirm what you expect to see, what you think will happen next, whether it makes sense and whether you are finding answers to your questions about the topic.
Skip, read on and go back. Sometimes
you can skip an unfamiliar word and read to the end of a sentence or a paragraph, thinking about what would make sense. Then, using the context, go back, re-read and try to determine the meaning of the
word.
Connect background knowledge to the
information in the text.
You should think about what you already know about the subject and the kind of material you are
reading. Think about how the information is similar to what you already know about the topic, event or person.
Think about explicit and implicit
information.
Think about what information is given directly. Also think about what you know from reading that is
not directly stated in words, such as how a character’s actions show his/her feelings or why things may have happened, based on the clues the writer gives.
Stop and review.
If you are reading a longer text, stop and think about what has happened in the story so far or what
information has been given.
Reading
Making notes when reading
Making notes (note-taking) is an essential part of reading to comprehend.
It is a form of summarising, extracting the essential
Points from the whole book or story. At meetings, lectures, or in other activities such as listening to a sermon, it is impossible to Write everything. In these circumstances, good note-taking is essential.
Note-taking is a method of recording important information for future use.
Good notes should be as brief as possible without leaving out essential details.
The title of a book,
story or sermon will be enough to guide you in taking notes. Notes can be taken during a
talk or immediately afterwards but should not be delayed more than necessary. A note that is not taken without delay may lose some of the
Vital points and then accuracy will be lost.
In summary:
Notes must be highly selective. Only significant points should be noted.
Write out the sub-topics boldly and always remember to leave wide margins where you can make further comments later. For easy handling and filing, use paper
of the same size As you write, use your own English
expressions. The ideas in the notes should relate to one
another. Orderliness is important.
reading strategies
what do you do after reading?
Retell and summarıse: talk to someone
or write what happened in the story. Try
to include characters, plot and important
events. If it’s non-fiction, review what
information was presented.
Draw conclusions: Think about what
predictions you made before and during
reading. Look back and think about
what you read. Then consider how the
information you read relates to what
you already knew about the topic. Ask
whether your questions were answered
Or whether you still have more questions
about the topic.
Re-read: Read through the text or a section
again to help you understand it better.
Discuss and respond: Talk with someone about what you have read. Ask each other
questions.
Write to support understanding: Write
about what you have read, telling what
it made you think of or what you learned.
Reading
Reading to paraphrase poems
A paraphrase is a statement that expresses in a
shorter, clearer or different way what someon
has said or written. When you paraphrase, yo
translate a given passage into another form
using your own words and expressions.
Poems are often written in elevated and
condensed language. A poem is a work in
which language is used in a special way You cannot paraphrase a poem unless you
understand it. So, you need to read and re
read the poem to understand it.
Since poems make special use of lan-
guage, using imaginative, rhythmic,
or metaphorical qualities and intensity
u need to identify words and phrases
that are so specially used. Replace these
with your own modern expressions
Poems are written in a special language
but the paraphrase is written in prose
and this will require that more words
are used.
Are idioms, proverbs, metaphorical
language used? Identify these and
change them to your own English ex
pressions. Old, obsolete, Latin-base
words are common in poetry. Do awa
with these and use substitutes in com
mon everyday English.