Chapter 1

Effective reading for

academic purposes

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 Learning objectives
On completion of this chapter students will
know how to:
identify individual reading styles and
recognise their strengths and weaknesses
understand the role of critical reading in the
Australian academic context
develop a range of strategies to improve
reading capability, including speed and
comprehension

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 Learning objectives (cont.)
adapt reading styles to suit the requirements
of different texts
recognise the integrated nature of reading
and note-taking.

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 Why focus on reading?
Tertiary studies require you to read very
widely and in-depth across a range of subject
areas.
You will encounter new vocabulary and
concepts.
You will begin to notice that writers use
different styles and structures of writing
depending on the subject area.
You might find that the reading strategies you
have been using successfully are no longer
adequate.
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 Your own reading style
In groups of three or four, discuss your own
reading ability.
What makes a good reader?
Are you a good reader?
What is your main problem when reading?
What strategies have you developed for
reading?

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 Your own reading style
(cont.)
Also consider the following questions:
What sorts of reading material do you enjoy
most? Why?
What attracts you to start reading a book or other
text (e.g. cover, pictures, font size, topic etc.)?
What are the best conditions for your reading?
Do you use the same place?
Do you need to be alone?
Do you read at the same time each day?

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 Reading (English) quiz
For each of the following items, indicate whether the
statement is true or false.

1. I never read (in English) for pleasure.

True False

2. Reading is a tedious task that I do only because I

have to.
True False

3. The best way to read academic texts is to just read

the abstract or summary and then pretend to have
read the whole thing.
True False

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 Reading (English) quiz
(cont.)
4. A good strategy to understand difficult vocabulary is to
use an electronic translator.
True False

5. If I could read faster I would be a good reader.

True False

6. I know I cant read all the material assigned to me in

my program, so I dont even try.
True False

7. I have some well-developed reading strategies which

have worked very well in my study experience to date.
True False

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 Reading (English) quiz
(cont.)
8. I find that talking about the main points of a difficult text
with a classmate really helps my comprehension.
True False

9. I never write notes as I read. I just keep the information

in my head.
True False

10. I always use a highlighter or pencil when reading

academic texts.
True False

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 Critical reading
Students need to take individual
responsibility for learning.
Much more reading is needed than just the
lecture notes or course guide.
Developing your reading skills is of
paramount importance.

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 Critical reading (cont.)
it is not simply what you read or how
much you read but how you read that will
crucially affect your level of reading skill
(Boddington and Clanchy 1999, p. 1).
How you read will impact on your
understanding of source material and the
way you incorporate these sources into your
own writing on a topic.

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 Critical reading (cont.)
Critical reading involves making judgments
about the value of what you are reading
(Boddington & Clanchy 1999).
Instead of simply consuming information you
are expected to become a producer of
information.
You need to carefully assess what you read
while constantly asking yourself whether the
information you are reading is useful for the
particular assignment you are working on.

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 Critical reading (cont.)
To develop critical thinking and reading you
need to interrogate both the writer and the
text. Use the following questions to help you
gain a critical perspective:
What is this document about?
Is it accurate? How do you know?
Who wrote it? Is the writer an authority in this
field?
Is the writer trying to persuade you of a particular
position?
Is this argument based on a broad or narrow view
of the issue?

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 Critical reading (cont.)
More questions:
What evidence is offered to support the argument?
What hasnt been included in the argument?
What would a totally opposite point of view look
like?
Do you agree/disagree with the position
presented by the writer?
How did you come to this view?
What do other writers have to say about this topic?
Does this text add anything new to the topic?
Is this document useful for your present research?

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 Reading activity
Read and critically evaluate the following
two short texts using the critical reading dot
points on the last slide.
Which text would be most appropriate for
the essay topic Compare and contrast two
brands of similar products available
internationally?
How might you incorporate information from
Text 2?

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 Text 1 (Baker 1999)
Successful brands are those which create [an] image
or personality. They do it by encouraging customers to
perceive the attributes they aspire to as being strongly
associated with the brand. These attributes may be
real and objective (e.g. quality, value for money) or
abstract and emotional (e.g. status, youthfulness). The
personality of the brand is a function of the rational
characteristics but this has to be augmented and
communicated to consumers through advertising,
design, packaging and effective distribution and
display. These position the brands personality in a
consumers mind, generate confidence and create the
purchasing environment.

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 Text 2 (Coca-Cola 2005)
The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh
everyone it touches. Founded in 1886, our Company
is the worlds leading manufacturer, marketer, and
distributor of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and
syrups, used to produce nearly 400 beverage brands.
Our corporate headquarters are in Atlanta, with local
operations in over 200 countries around the world.

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 Effective reading
There are four inter-related elements
involved in effective reading for academic
purposes (Boddington & Clanchy 1999):
context
purpose
text
strategy.

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 Context
The context for your reading is tertiary study at
an Australian/New Zealand university.
This context determines the attitude you bring
to your reading. You should have a genuine
desire to learn rather than simply to get the job
done.
All texts read within your learning environment
need to be approached with a sincere desire to
understand.
Without this basic attitude you are unlikely to
gain the full benefit of your reading while
studying at university.
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 Activity 1
Write down the five main reasons you decided
to enrol in your current program of study.
Consider your career aspirations, what you
hope to achieve in your particular degree or
program, how your study will affect your future
life and so on.
Now consider how the reasons for embarking
on your current course of study might impact
on the attitude that you bring to your reading,
which in turn will result in more or less effective
reading practices.
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 Purpose
Before you begin reading you need to define
your purpose.
If researching for an assignment, are you
looking for an explanation, evidence for a
critique, or to fill gaps in your own
knowledge of the topic?
To ascertain the purpose of your reading:
pay careful attention to your lecturers instructions,
both oral and written
ensure that you fully understand the requirements
of the assignment
use the marking criteria provided to guide your
reading.
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 80/20 principle
Piscitelli (2004) recommends the 80/20
principle.
In most reading assignments, 80% of what
you need to know is in about 20% of the
material.
So you usually only need to skim read 80%
of the document and carefully read the
relevant 20%.
This will significantly cut down your reading
time.
The purpose for your reading will dictate how
much of the text you have to read carefully.

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 Refining your purpose
Your purpose will change as you work
through your research tasks:
when you first receive an assignment
when you start to answer the assignment
question
as your ideas start to change
when you decide you need to read different texts
to fill in any gaps in your emerging
understanding.
Boddington (1999) refers to this process as
refining your purpose (p. 10).
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 Text
A text may be:
a book
a textbook
a newspaper article
a journal article
a report
an online document
a graphic/table/illustration
even a comic!

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 Text and genre
Texts in the same genre have similar
characteristics or conventions.
Recognising the particular features of
different genres helps you to skim a text and
determine if it is appropriate to use for your
present research.
You need to be able to identify:
different types of text you will need at university
the data or information available in each.

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 Activity 2
Form groups of three or four students and
discuss how your reading technique differs
depending on the type of text you are
reading. Consider the way you read:
a dense academic text
a newspaper
an advertising brochure
a recipe book
a novel
a comic
a personal letter.

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 Activity 2 (cont.)
Is your reading technique determined by the
type of text, your purpose for reading or a
combination of both?
List the reading techniques you have
developed in your study so far.
Does your reading technique change
according to the task (e.g. if you are reading
for an assignment, or reading as part of
exam revision)? How?

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 Reading strategies
Speed reading
Scanning by key words and phrases
Skimming by paragraphs
SQ3R method:
Survey
Question
Read
Recite
Review

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 SQ3R method
Before you read, SURVEY (SCAN) the text:
title, headings, subheadings
captions under pictures, charts, etc.
introduction and conclusion
summary or abstract.

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 SQ3R method (cont.)
QUESTION while you are surveying:
Turn the title/headings into questions.
If reading a textbook, read the questions at the
end of the chapter.
Ask yourself, What do I already know about this
subject?
Ask yourself, What did the lecturer say about
this topic?

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 SQ3R method (cont.)
When you begin to READ:
Note all the underlined, bold or italicised words.
Reduce your reading speed for difficult passages
(but try not to do this all the time).
Check your dictionary only when you cannot
determine the meaning from the context. DO
NOT check every word.
Give yourself permission to miss the meaning of
some words. Aim for overall comprehension.
Look for answers to the questions you first
raised.

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 SQ3R method (cont.)
RECITE after you read each section:
Orally ask yourself questions about what you
have just read.
Write a one-sentence summary at the end of
each section.
Underline/highlight key points.
Make notes in the margin (or on a separate
piece of paper with the full reference included in
your notes).

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 SQ3R method (cont.)
REVIEW your reading:
After you have finished the whole article or
chapter, write a short summary. Keep this
summary with the text.
Never finish an article without doing some form
of oral and written review.
If studying for an exam, go back through the text
and ask yourself questions (flash cards work
well).

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 Skimming by paragraphs
This approach is based on the following
understandings:
The paragraph is an idea unit, coherent in itself
but also part of a whole argument.
Signposts (single words or phrases) show the
internal connections and the overall development
of an argument and usually occur at the
beginning of paragraphs.
Opening sentences of each paragraph usually
provide an outline of the argument being
presented.

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 Skimming by paragraphs
(cont.)
Four steps in this approach (Clanchy and
Ballard 1997):
Step 1: Look for signposts (in the title or section
headings).
Step 2: Read just the first section in full.
Step 3: Summarise the key points in this section.
Step 4: Read the first sentences of each
paragraph. (You will notice that if you put these
first sentences together they will be similar to
your summary of the first section.)

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 Reading difficult vocabulary
If you are constantly checking the meaning
of words, ask yourself the following
questions:
Why are you reading? If it is simply to gain an
overview of a topic, you may not need to know
the meaning of every word.
Do you need all the detail? Again, a general
impression (remember 80/20) may be all you
need.

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 Reading difficult vocabulary
(cont.)
Some words are more important than others,
in which case you will need to consult a
dictionary:
Is the word in the title?
Does it occur often?
Is it a jargon word?
Try to work out the meaning from the context.
To understand a process, look up verbs.
If you want to understand an idea, look up
nouns.

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 Reading tips
Reading speed and comprehension depend
on the type of text.
Practice is the best way to improve.
Do not read every word starting from the
beginning.
Read the title: ask yourself what you already
know.
Scan or survey the whole text first.
Read introductory and concluding
paragraphs.
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 Reading tips (cont.)
Read the first sentence in each paragraph
carefully.
Note headings, titles, diagrams, pictures.
Think while you read. Ask yourself questions.
Underline, highlight, make notes in the margin.
Try to work out the meanings of words from
the context but, if necessary, check your
dictionary.
Write a one-sentence summary at the end of
every chapter or section or do a simple oral
review.

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