Becoming a Better Reader

Becoming a better reader

The importance of reading

Reading is an extremely important skill. It is by reading that you learn much of what you need to know for your different school subjects. Reading is also an excellent way to improve your general English. You can only learn from reading, however, if what you read is not too difficult. For this reason, it is important to know what makes texts difficult and how you can improve your chances of understanding them.

What makes texts difficult to understand

Most of your reading difficulties will be caused by a problem on the list below. Of course, when two or more of these problems happen together, your chances of understanding will be even smaller.

many unknown words

long, complicated sentences

a topic you know nothing about

a topic you find boring

feeling tired

being distracted

small print, long paragraphs, no pictures

bad writing

How to understand more of what you read

You can do nothing about some of the reading difficulties: for example, you cannot change the print in a book or make poor writing better. But there are many things you can do that will give you a better chance of understanding what you read. Here are some suggestions:

Know your reading purpose - The way you read a book or a text depends very much on your reasons for reading it. This is why it is so important to know your reading purpose. You should read a question in your math exam differently from an entry in anencyclopaedia which you are looking at quickly to find out the date of an event. The kind of reading you do in class or for your homework is different from how you read a novel for pleasure in the summer vacation.

A common mistake of students is to read everything very slowly and carefully, looking up every unknown word. Occasionally this is necessary - for example, when reading exam questions. But it takes a long time, and it can even make understanding more difficult. Often it is better to use one of the following quick reading methods:

Skimming- this is reading a text quickly to find out what information it contains. You should skim when, for example, you want to check if a text has the information you need to answer some questions or write a project.

Scanning - this is reading quickly to find a specific piece of information. You should scan when, for example, you are looking for the answer to a question which you know is in the text.

If you know your reading purpose - perhaps by looking first at the questions you must answer after reading - you can choose the best reading method.

Get background information - Find something out about the topic you have to read.

The more background information you have, the easier it will be to understand the text.You can get this background information background in your own language. For example, if you are studying the Italian Renaissance, you could read an encyclopaedia or textbook in your own language to find out the most important details about this historical period. Your parents may also be able to give you useful background information. Talk to them in your language.

You can sometimes get background information from the text itself. Many writers include a conclusion or summary; if you read this first, it may give you a good start.

Use all the information in the book - Good textbooks are well-organised, with titles, sub-titles, introductions, summaries or conclusions. Many books also have pictures with captions. Look at all these first before starting to read.

Another aspect of good writing is that each paragraph has a topic sentence. A topic sentence is a sentence, usually the first one in a paragraph, that contains the main idea of the paragraph. If you concentrate on understanding the topic sentence, this may help you to understand what comes next.

Increase your vocabulary - Of course, reading itself is an excellent way to improve your vocabulary, but there are many other things you can do. The better your vocabulary, the easier you will find your reading.

Use your dictionary sensibly - It’s not a good idea to look up every new word you find. If you do, it will take you a long time to read the text. This can be very boring, and usually will not help you to a better understanding. (Click for advice on how and when to use your dictionary.)

Learn the important words that organise text - When you read texts in your science or history books, you will find that most good writers organise their writing with cohesion markers. These are words that connect different parts of the writing and help writers organise their ideas. If you learn the important cohesion markers, you will find it easier to understand the text.

Here are some important cohesion markers: also, therefore, except,unless, however, instead, (al)though, nevertheless, on the other hand, as a result, despite, in conclusion.

Choose the right place to read - You can’t really expect to understand a difficult book if you are trying to read in the same room with the television on and your little brother distracting you. The same goes for reading in the bus on the way to school. You also can’t expect to read a textbook and listen to music at the same time. Try to find a quiet and comfortable place with good light, and your dictionaries and other materials nearby.

Choose the right time to read - If you have a difficult text to read for homework, it’s probably best to do this first. If you leave it until last when you are tired, you will find it even more difficult.

Important: If you have tried the advice above and you still cannot understand a text, then it is simply too hard for you. Stop reading and ask someone to help you (your teacher, for example!). Nobody likes to give up, but you will just be wasting your time if you continue to work at a text that is beyond you.

What to read

Most of the time you have to read what your teachers tell you to read. But as you know, reading is an excellent way to improve your English, and so you should try to do some extra reading each week. Here is some advice on how to choose what to read:

Try not to read something too difficult - There should be no more than about 6-10 new words per page; reading for pleasure should not be hard work!

Reading easy books is good for you -You will improve your reading skills even if you read simple books, as long as you read lots of them. (But you may find you don't really enjoy stories written in English that has been over-simplified.)

Try to read some non-fiction - Reading non-fiction books or magazines will help you learn some of the words you need to do well in your subject classes.

Choose something that is interesting to you - This is clear. In fact, if you are really interested in a topic, you will probably be able to understand texts that would normally be too difficult for you.

Reading comprehension

This section on reading comprehension deals with the following subjects:

1.Skimming and scanning

2.Non-verbal signals

3.Structure of texts

4.Structure of paragraphs

5.Punctuation

6.Author's viewpoint (inference)

7.Reader anticipation: determining the meaning of words

8.Summarizing

1. Skimming and scanning

Before starting to read a text in detail, the reader should take a moment to preview the text. Read quickly, withoutpausing to study the details. This is called skim reading or skimming. The reader should understand:

for which audience the text was written (general public, professionals, laymen,…)

what type of text it is (report, informal letter, formal letter, article, advertisement, …)

what the purpose of the author is (to describe, to inform, to explain, to instruct, to persuade)

the general contents of the text

After having skimmed the text, the reader can study the text in more detail, reading more slowly and carefully andlooking for specific information that he is interested in. This is called scanning.

2. Non-verbal signals

The meaning of a text is not only conveyed by means of words. All texts also contain non-verbal signs. This can bethe use of certain style features, such as different fonts, bold print, underlining, or italics. The meaning of these stylefeatures can be different in different text. In one text italics may be used to emphasize a word, in another text italicscan indicate can be used to make subtitles.

Layout features are also non-verbal signals. For example:

heading:

a title printed at the top of a page to indicate the subject matter that is going to bediscussed in a particular chapter, column or section.

title:

tells you what the text is about.

subheading:

presents you with a brief summary, an introduction or explanation.

photographs:

pictures related to an article or a text.

captions:

comments on pictures related to a text

division intoparagraphs:

each paragraph is a unity and deals with one particular idea.

figures, graphs, barcharts, etc:

to visualize facts and figures presented in the text.

3. The structure of the text

Most texts start with a title and sometimes a subtitle. After that, the introduction and the body followed by aconclusion or summary.

An important aspect of reading is prediction. The better the reader can predict what he or she is going to read, thefaster and more effective he or she will read. The prediction process begins with the title.

The introduction mostly informs the reader about what he can expect.

The body consists of paragraphs. Each paragraph deals with one aspect of the subject matter. Paragraphs are linkedin a logical way.

The conclusion puts the subject matter in the right perspective

4. The structure of paragraphs

A paragraph is a group of sentences. The number of sentences and words in a paragraph depends on the subject, buton average, paragraphs contain between 75 and 150 words. Each paragraph deals with one aspect of the subject ofthe text. So, it is usually possible to give each paragraph its own subtitle, which summarizes the contents of theparagraph in one sentence.

A typical paragraph consists of three parts. The first sentence contains the topic sentence, which is the heart of theparagraph. The topic sentence (also called thesis sentence or key sentence) contains the new aspect of the subject ofthe text. The second part of the paragraph contains sentences which develop the aspect. These sentences may containarguments, explanations, details, examples, and other supporting evidence. The last sentence of a paragraph is oftena summary of the paragraph or a linking sentence to the next paragraph.

In many well written texts the reader will get a good impression of the contents by reading just the first sentences (=the topic sentences) of each paragraph.

Paragraphs are linked in a logical way by link words. These link words are also used within a paragraph.

Exercise: Paragraphs

Read the following paragraph and indicate:

the topic sentence

link words linking sentences

link words linking paragraphs

There is the first problem with tipping: the more discretion youhave in the matter the more unpleasant it is. Tipping is anaristocratic conceit - "There you go, my good man, buy yourstarving family a loaf"- best left to an aristocratic age. Thepracticing democrat would rather be told what he owes right upfront. Offensively, rich people may delight in peeling offhundred-dollar bills and tossing them out to groveling servants.But no sane, well-adjusted human being cares to sit around andevaluate the performance of some beleaguered coffee vendor.

5. Punctuation

Punctuation is partly based on grammar. For example, commas are often used to separate clauses. If the readerunderstands the meaning and usage of punctuation marks, it will be easier to understand the grammatical structures.

Punctuation marks also indicate how the author wants the reader to interpret a piece of text. For example, if theauthor puts something in brackets, the part of the sentence should be interpreted as an addition to the sentence.

6. The author’s viewpoint (inference)

In reading a text the reader makes inferences or assumptions about the position of the author. Is the author neutral ordoes the author show his own opinion. The author often shows his opinion either by adding certain phrases or byadding a value to a word.

The author can add words like luckily, unfortunately to show that he is pleased or not pleased with something. Hecan also add words which show his surprise, regret or other emotions, for example surprisingly, to shock,unexpectedly, regrettably, pity, desirable, to be disappointed, etc. The author may also use words to indicate the levelof certainty, for example: certain, obviously, undoubtedly, naturally, always, often, likely, probably, maybe,unlikely, hardly, rarely, never, etc. Another possibility is that the author adds words to comment on more or lessobjective facts. For example Only 40% of the staff is female has quite a different meaning than As much as 40%of the staff is female.

The author can also reveal his viewpoint by adding value to a word. For example, if something is big he may use theword huge or gigantic to indicate he is impressed. If something is small he may use words like tiny or microscopic toindicate that he is not impressed. If someone is afraid he may use the word terrified to add suspense, if something isgood he may use the word fantastic.

Exercise: author’s viewpoint

Read the following paragraph and write down which word indicates the author’s opinion. Also explain what hisopinion is.

There is the first problem with tipping: the more discretion youhave in the matter the more unpleasant it is. Tipping is anaristocratic conceit - "There you go, my good man, buy yourstarving family a loaf"- best left to an aristocratic age. Thepracticing democrat would rather be told what he owes right up

front. Offensively, rich people may delight in peeling offhundred-dollar bills and tossing them out to groveling servants.But no sane, well-adjusted human being cares to sit around andevaluate the performance of some beleaguered coffee vendor.

7. reader anticipation: determining meaning of words

Even readers who have a wide and flexible vocabulary will encounter words of which they do not know themeaning. Very often there is not enough time to look up all those words in a dictionary. This means that readersshould be able to guess the meaning of the word. This is often possible if the reader understands the relationshipsbetween words in meaning and form.

To make a good guess at the meaning of the word, the reader must look for clues, indications, that help him find thatmeaning. The following steps may help to disclose the meaning of unknown words:

step 1

determine the word class, i.e. a verb, a noun, an adjective, an adverb, etc.

step 2

determine its function in the sentence, i.e. how is it related to other words in the sentence?

step 3

contextual clues, i.e. is the context in which we find this word positive or negative; whatdoes the context tell us about the word?

step 4

is there any relation between this word and a word that is familiar to you? Consider the word"aging" in "the population is aging rapidly". We recognise the word "age" in "aging" andtherefore we can easily derive its meaning.

step 5

try and derive the eventual meaning of the word

Exercise: determining the meaning

Read the following paragraph and try to find out what the meaning is of

conceit

groveling

Follow the 5 steps above and do not use a dictionary

There is the first problem with tipping: the more discretion youhave in the matter the more unpleasant it is. Tipping is anaristocratic conceit - "There you go, my good man, buy yourstarving family a loaf"- best left to an aristocratic age. Thepracticing democrat would rather be told what he owes right upfront. Offensively, rich people may delight in peeling offhundred-dollar bills and tossing them out togroveling servants.But no sane, well-adjusted human being cares to sit around andevaluate the performance of some beleaguered coffee vendor.

8. Summarizing

It is very difficult to remember the complete contents of long texts. For that reason it is often advisable to make notesof information in the text that is essential for the reader. The result is a short outline of the text containing all aspectsof the text. The length of the summary largely depends on the density of the text. The average length of a goodsummary is about one-third of the original text, but summaries of texts which contain many facts may be longer.

The following steps can be taken when summarizing a text.

Step 1: Familiarize with the material.

After you have read the text or a section of it, you can start summarizing. The length of the section read throughdepends on the structure and the complexity of the text. With reports it is often a good idea to read one section andthen summarize. Newspaper articles are often best read as a whole before starting with the summary.