READING SKILLS

Murni SalinaB.Sc.Ed (TESL)UTM Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Jabberwocky – Lewis Carroll

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves,Did gyre and gimble in the wabe,All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe.

It          isn't          as         if          the          words

      are        difficult                   to          identify          or

understand,                   but          the          spaces

                   make                   you          pause                   between

     words,                    which                   means        your

                   reading                   is                    less                    fluent.

What is Reading?

C Nuttall

Reading means getting out of the text as near as possible to the message that has been put in by the writer.

In order to do so, you will need to : Understand, interpret, meaning, sense Decode, decipher, identify Articulate, speak, pronounce etc

C C Fries

In reading, the student is developing a considerable range of habitual responses to a specific set of patterns of graphic shapes.

N Anderson

Reading is an active, fluent process which involves the reader and the reading material in building meaning.

A synergy occurs in reading which combines the words on the printed page with the reader’s background knowledge and experiences.

John Greenwood 2 broad aspects/levels of reading

1. A basically visual task, that of deciphering the marks on the page, the brain receiving signals from the eye – this mechanical level includes eye movement, from left to right.

John Greenwood

2. A cognitive task, that of interpreting the visual information, so that one is not simply ‘barking at the print’ – we’re concerned with thinking skills – reconstruction takes place in the reader’s mind: he attempts to build up the meaning the writer had in mind when he wrote the text.

Models of Reading Process

Bottom-up

emphasizes the written or printed text

says reading is driven by a process that results in meaning (or, in other words, reading is driven by text), and

proceeds from part to whole.

Top-down

emphasizes what the reader brings to the text

says reading is driven by meaning, and

proceeds from whole to part.

Interactive model

recognizes the interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes simultaneously throughout the reading process.

DIRECTIONS:

Read the following paragraph through once and only once. When you've finished, look away from your computer screen. Then rewrite the story as best as you can remember.Don't reread the story until you are directed to!

THE BOAT IN THE BASEMENT

A woman was building a boat in her basement. When she had finished the the boot, she discovered that it was too big to go though the door. So he had to take the boat a part to get it out. She should of planned ahead.

THE BOAT IN THE BASEMENT

A woman was building a boat in her basement. When she had finished the the boot, she discovered that it was too big to go though the door. So he had to take the boat a part to get it out. She should of planned ahead.

The eyes are tools of the brain. The brain tells them where to look and what to look for. It decides what to attend to and use from what the eye reports. The brain is completely in charge of all human information processing. So, when your eye sent the input for the repeated the, your brain's response was: "Don't get sloppy. I've got that information already!"

Reading Skills

The Six Blind Men and the Elephant

This is a story about six men. They could not see. They were blind. One day, one of the blind men said, ‘There’s an elephant in Kampung Bahru.’The second man said,’An elephant? What is an elephant?’The first man said,’I don’t know’.The second man said,’I don’t know what an elephant is like. Do you know what an elephant is like?’Nobody knew. So they all went to Kampung Bahru to find the elephant.

continuedThe first man touched the elephant. He couldn’t

see it, but he could feel it. He felt its trunk. ‘Ah,’he said,’Now I know what an elephant is like. It’s like a snake. It is long and rubbery.’

The second man touched the elephant. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it. He felt its tusks. ’Ah,’he said, ’Now I know what an elephant is like. It’s not like a snake. It’s like a kris. It’s sharp and smooth.’

The third man touched the elephant. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it. He felt its ear. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘Now I know what an elephant is like. It’s not like a snake. It’s not like a kris. It’s like a big leaf. It’s smooth and thin.’

The fourth man touched the elephant. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it. He felt its leg. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘Now I know what an elephant is like. It’s not like a snake. It’s not like a kris and it’s not like a big leaf. It’s like a tree. It’s round and hard.’

continuedThe fifth man touched the elephant. He couldn’t

see it, but he could feel it. He felt its side. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘Now I know what an elephant is like. It’s not like a snake. It’s not like a kris. It’s like a big leaf and it’s not like a tree. It’s like a wall. It’s high and wide.’

The sixth man touched the elephant. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it. He felt its side. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘Now I know what an elephant is like. It’s not like a snake. It’s not like a kris. It’s like a big leaf. It’s not like a tree and it’s not like a wall. It’s like a rope. It’s long and thin.’

The six men began to quarrel and shout at each other.

continuedThe elephant just couldn’t keep quiet

anymore. He said,’Excuse me. Everybody is right. My trunk is like a snake. My tusks are like krises. My ears are like big leaves. My legs are like trees. My sides are like walls. My tail is like a rope.’

Skimming and ScanningSkimming

Skimming refers to the process of reading only main ideas within a passage to get an overall impression of the content of a readingselection.

Quickly running one's eyes across a whole text to get the gist.

It gives readers the advantage of being able to predicate the purpose of the passage, the main topic.

How to Skim:

Read the title. Read the introduction or the first paragraph. Read the first sentence of every other

paragraph. Read any headings and sub-headings. Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs. Notice any italicized or boldface words or

phrases. Read the summary or last paragraph.

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)

Skimming and ScanningScanning Scanning is a reading technique to be used when

you want to find specific information quickly. In scanning you have a question in your mind and you read a passage only to find the answer, ignoring unrelated information.

Quickly searching for some particular pieces of information in a text.

Scanning exercises may ask students to look for names or dates, to find a definition of a key concept, or to list a certain number of supporting details.

The purpose of it is to extract certain specific information without reading through the whole text.

How to Scan: State the specific information you are looking

for. Try to anticipate how the answer will appear

and what clues you might use to help you locate the answer. For example, if you were looking for a certain date, you would quickly read the paragraph looking only for numbers.

Use headings and any other aids that will help you identify which sections might contain the information you are looking for.

Selectively read and skip through sections of the passage.

Examples of Scanning

The "What's on TV" section of your newspaper.

A train / airplane schedule A conference guide