Reading Skill and Effective Reading

By Hasna Fauziyah, 1206218921

Reading is a fundamental survival skill. Here are ten tips that can use to improve
reading skills :
1. Dont have to be a great reader to get the point
2. Know why we are reading
3. Prioritize your reading
4. Optimize your reading environment
5. Once you start, dont stop
6. Focus
7. Practice
8. Dont need to read everything
9. Dont need to read all of what you do read
10. Scan before you read
Another tips to improve reading skills are :
1. Styles of reading
In styles of reading, there are three styles which we can use in different
situation, there are :
a. Scanning : for a specific focus
Scanning is useful to scan parts of text to see :
the introduction or preface a book
the first or last paragraphs of chapters
the concluding chapter of a book
b. Skimming : for getting the gist of something
Skimming is use when you are going to read a newspaper or magazine.
You read quickly and you can get the main points, and skip the over the
detail. And then, you can use skimming when youre going to borrow some
books in the library or buy a book in the bookshop.



c. Detailed reading : for extracting information accurately
Detailed reading, where you read every word and work to learn from the
text. When you read some text, you can skimming first and you get the
general idea. And then, you can read go back to read in detail.
d. Previewing: reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a
sense of the structure and content of a reading selection
e. Predicting: using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about
content and vocabulary and check comprehension; using knowledge of the
text type and purpose to make predictions about discourse structure; using
knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing style,
vocabulary, and content.
f. Guessing from context: using prior knowledge of the subject and the ideas in
the text as clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to
look them up
g. Paraphrasing: stopping at the end of a section to check comprehension by
restating the information and ideas in the text

2. Active reading
When you read some text, you need to make sure you are actively with the text,
so dont waste your time. Here are four tips for active reading :
a. Underlining and highlighting
To get the main topic is the most important of what you are reading. You
can mark it with your different colors to highlight different aspects of what
you are reading.
b. Note keywords
Record the main headings as you read. Use one or two keywords for
each point. When you dont want to make a text, keep a folder of notes you
make while reading.
c. Questions
Before you reading something like an article, write some questions that
you want the material to answer. While youre reading, you can answer it.

d. Summaries
After youre reading some text, then :
You can put what you have read into your own words.
Skim through the text and check how accurate your summary.
Fill any gaps.

3. A tip for speeding up your active reading
You can speeding up your active reading if you read passively, because
without learning, youre wasting your time. You can try SQ3R technique. SQ3R
are Survey, Question, Read, Recall, and Review.

a. Survey
Gather the information that 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.
Notice any maps, graphs or charts, there are for a purpose.
Notice the reading aids, italics, bold face, question at the end of the
chapter to help you understand and remember.
b. Question
When you read some texts, you have to engage and concentrate so you
are actively looking for answers the questions.
c. Read
Read the first section with your questions in your mind. Look for the
answers and make up new question if necessary.
d. 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.


e. Review
Once you have finished the whole chapter, go back over all the questions
from all the headings. See you if can still answer them. If not, look back and
refresh your memory.

4. Spotting authors navigation aids
The first sentence of a paragraph will often indicate a sequence: "One
important cause of..." followed by "Another important factor..." and so on, until
"The final cause of..."
General points are often illustrated by particular examples, for example:
General: Birds beaks are appropriately shaped for feeding.
Particular: Sparrows and other seed-eating birds have short, stubby beaks;
wrens and other insect eaters have thin pointed beaks; herons and other fish
hunters have long, sharp beaks for spearing their prey.
Whatever you are reading, be aware of the author's background. It is important
to recognise the bias given to writing by a writer's political, religious, social
background. Learn which newspapers and journals represent a particular
standpoint.

5. Words and vocabulary
When you're a graduate people expect you to use a vocabulary which is wider
than a school-leaver's. To expand your vocabulary:
Avoid dictionaries which send you round in circles by using very
complicated language to define the term you're looking up, leaving you
struggling to understand half a dozen new words.
Keep your dictionary at hand when you're studying. Look up unfamiliar
words and work to understand what they mean.
Improve your vocabulary by reading widely.
If you haven't got your dictionary with you, note down words which you
don't understand and look them up later.
Choose a large dictionary rather than one which is compact' or concise'.
You want one which is big enough to define words clearly and helpfully
(around 1,500 pages is a good size).
Avoid dictionaries which send you round in circles by just giving
synonyms.
6. Critical Reading
Being critical in an academic context does not mean simply criticising or
finding fault. It means understanding how ideas have been arrived at, and
evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. Here are some of the main features of
critical reading :
Linking ideas in the text to other ideas and texts.
Exploring alternatives to the stated idea.
Recognizing the assumptions and underlying values that you bring to
your reading.
Recognizing the writers purpose and underlying values (social, cultural
and historical influences).
Recognizing patterns of the argument.
Being an active reader means being a critical reader. The purpose of critical
reading is to gain a deeper understanding of the material. It involves reading in
depth and actively questioning what you read. Some questions you should ask
yourself while reading are below.
Reading to Learn
Reading is an essential part of language instruction at every level because it supports
learning in multiple ways.
Reading to learn the language: Reading material is language input. By giving
students a variety of materials to read, instructors provide multiple opportunities
for students to absorb vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and discourse
structure as they occur in authentic contexts. Students thus gain a more complete
picture of the ways in which the elements of the language work together to
convey meaning.
Reading for content information: Students' purpose for reading in their native
language is often to obtain information about a subject they are studying, and
this purpose can be useful in the language learning classroom as well. Reading
for content information in the language classroom gives students both authentic
reading material and an authentic purpose for reading.
Reading for cultural knowledge and awareness: Reading everyday materials that
are designed for native speakers can give students insight into the lifestyles and
worldviews of the people whose language they are studying. When students
have access to newspapers, magazines, and Web sites, they are exposed to
culture in all its variety, and monolithic cultural stereotypes begin to break
down.
When reading to learn, students need to follow four basic steps:
1. Figure out the purpose for reading. Activate background knowledge of the topic
in order to predict or anticipate content and identify appropriate reading
strategies.
2. Attend to the parts of the text that are relevant to the identified purpose and
ignore the rest. This selectivity enables students to focus on specific items in the
input and reduces the amount of information they have to hold in short-term
memory.
3. Select strategies that are appropriate to the reading task and use them flexibly
and interactively. Students' comprehension improves and their confidence
increases when they use top-down and bottom-up skills simultaneously to
construct meaning.
4. Check comprehension while reading and when the reading task is completed.
Monitoring comprehension helps students detect inconsistencies and
comprehension failures, helping them learn to use alternate strategies.




References
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