Shortcut to reading success Managing academic texts for university study We learn to read; we read to learn …

SLC WEBPAGE RESOURCES • • • • •

Staff contact details Mentoring and peer tutor programmes SLC seminars and workshops Workshop notes, study skills notes E-learning resources

… and more at www.aut.ac.nz/student-learning

Discussion activity: Enjoyment

Discuss with your neighbour: Do you enjoy reading?

Discussion activity: Motivation

Discuss with your neighbour: Why do we read?

Learning outcomes By the end of this workshop students will be better able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Identify key concepts related to reading Identify 3 effective reading strategies Apply effective reading strategies for assignments Select appropriate texts for university assignments Apply effective reading strategies for exam preparation Distinguish between main points and support Approach texts critically Distinguish between fact and opinion Interpret visuals systematically

What is reading?

!? 7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17, B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15. C4N U R34D 7H15?

What is reading?

Reading is a complex process of decoding text to understand meaning. Reading involves recognising the shapes of words and anticipating grammatical patterns. If you experience particular difficulty with reading, you may have issues with dyslexia or Irlen syndrome.

What is reading? Reading involves recognising meanings which are associated with the following:      

Text types Grammatical patterns Parts of speech Vocabulary Punctuation Style

Text types in everyday life

Text types at university: Reading As a student, you need to become sensitive to the patterns in texts which you will be reading:         

Course guides Learning outcomes Assignment instructions Lecture notes Journal articles Chapters in text books Websites Dictionaries Thesauruses

Text types at university: Writing

You also need to become sensitive to the patterns in texts which you will be writing – and then proofreading …      

Essays Reports Literature reviews Reflective blogs PowerPoint presentations Theses/dissertations

Discussion activity: Journal article

If I am reading a journal article for an assignment, it is important for me to read every word carefully. True or false? False! Different tasks require different approaches.

Different approaches to reading

You do not have to read every word of every text carefully. You do need to be aware that different tasks require different approaches. We will consider reading for assignments and reading for exam preparation.

Discussion activity: What order?

You have an assignment. What order would you expect to do the following?

Visit library Do reference list

Reading process for assignments

Brainstorm ideas

Reading ideas map

Start reading

Library

Start reference list

Final APA check

16

What are good texts? Focus on sources  What is the source?

eg university /government department?

 How current is it?

last 5-10 years?

 Who is the author?

are they an expert?

 What sort of writing is it?

newspaper, magazine, web, book, journal article…?

 What is its purpose?

inform, argue, advocate for change…?

Websites: Focus on URL Is the source a reputable organisation such as a university or a government department? Look for details in the URL: www.aut.ac.nz www.harvard.edu www.govt.nz

Websites: Focus on URL Is the source a professional organisation such as World Health Organisation or Greenpeace – or is it a business?  www.who.int/en  www.greenpeace.org  www.simplynewzealand.com Be cautious about using business organisations – if there is a commercial agenda, the reliability of the statistics or information might be questionable.

3 key reading skills

 Skimming – this is what we do when we look for interesting newspaper articles  Scanning – this is what we do when we do a google search, or look up a word in the dictionary  Reading intensively – reading a novel; also imagine reading the fine print in a legal document

Reading skills for university study

To recap, there are three important reading skills:  Skimming  Scanning  Reading intensively How would you apply these strategies when reading a journal article?

Skim reading an article

 Read quickly for the main idea - (we often do this before selecting a text)  Before you decide if the article is relevant, first skim read the abstract  This quickly gives you an indication if the article is likely to be useful  Then you can skim read the entire article

Skim reading an article

After reading the abstract, look for the following:      

Key words Headings, subheadings Topic sentences Tables, graphs, charts, illustrations Summaries Words in bold, in italics, or underlined

Skimming activity: Finding articles for an essay Essay (2000 words) Task ‘Why can’t we be Facebook friends?’ Examine the use of Facebook in learning and teaching for tertiary level students and teachers. Discuss the impact of Facebook on tertiary education and outline both positive and negative effects.

Would it be worth reading this article to help you write the essay?

Skimming activity: Finding articles for an essay Essay (2000 words) Task ‘Why can’t we be Facebook friends?’ Examine the use of Facebook in learning and teaching for tertiary level students and teachers. Discuss the impact of Facebook on tertiary education and outline both positive and negative effects.

Would it be worth reading this article to help you write the essay?

Scanning

 Scanning – reading quickly to find specific information  Scanning – look for answers to questions: key words, titles, dates, place names, technical terms, statistics

Scanning activity: How many students?

Aim to read 3 or 4 times as fast as normal reading speed  Your scanning task: how many students were surveyed?  10 seconds to find the answer

Scanning

Aim to be aware of the type of strategy you are using at any given moment; if you are scanning, say to yourself: I am scanning this text to find this information so I will read 3 or 4 times as fast

Reading intensively

    

Make predictions Ask questions Relate text to your knowledge of the world Make notes and summaries Use mindmaps and graphic organisers

Ask questions: Mindmap key points: ‘wh’ x 6 HOW

WHO

WHY WHAT topic

WHEN

WHERE

Try this website for easy to use mind mapping software.

Reading intensively

 Annotate the text with a highlighter and/or pencil  Transfer your annotations onto a reading ideas map

Reading ideas map

Set up your reading ideas map as a grid: Column headings = author/year Row headings = themes or topics [key concepts]

Key concepts

Pairman et al (2010)

Definitions

p. 17

Physiological considerations

Stables et al (2010)

Taylor et al (2010)

NZCM (2008)

p. 45

p. 98

P 34

P 98

p. 56 - 67

P 103

Smith (2012)

Jones (2011)

P 34

p. 56

P. 234

Psychological

p. 67

P 47

p. 75

considerations

social considerations

p. 45 p. 56 p. 78

p. 86

Reading intensively

 Skim read quickly first  Read slowly and carefully for full understanding  Make notes and summaries  Read to recall  Keep a note of referencing details

Referencing  List all sources that you have used in your essay  Any paraphrased ideas and ‘quotes’ must be referenced in the body of your essay  Use APA 6th referencing style

Different approaches to reading

 Remember that different tasks require different approaches  We have considered reading for assignments  Now we will consider reading for exam preparation

Discussion activity: Exam preparation

You have exams at the end of semester. What order would you expect to do the following?

Read to recall

Reading process for exams …………………………………… Read for recall ……………………………………

Review notes 24 hours after lecture

Start in Week 1

Organise readings: key concepts

Devise study timetable

Review notes 48 hours after lecture

Follow study timetable

44

Reading for recall

When we are reading with the intention of understanding and retaining the key concepts we need to do more than just read the words. A useful strategy is to use the mnemonic SQ3R

Reading for recall: SQ3R Skim [survey]: title/headings/subheadings/summaries/contents page Question: Are you able to answer your pre-reading questions? Read: Active reading/any more questions?/take notes Recall: Main issues? Can you paraphrase/bullet points? Review: Main points? Have you answered your questions?

Assess your reading speed

 How many pages can you read in one hour?  Time yourself for an academic journal article  Calculate your average over a week  Use this information for planning

Identify your reading habits

 Do you read word by word?  Do you mouth the words as you read?  Do you use your finger to follow the words?  Do you get distracted easily?

Improve your reading speed: Groups and phrases Learn to recognise groups and phrases Practise! The more you read, the easier it becomes and the more enjoyable it will be Aim to increase fluency by regularly reading texts which are comfortable to read and not too challenging

Increase your reading speed: Focus on vocabulary

Develop vocabulary strategies:  Guess words from context  Skip tricky words and focus on global understanding  Academic Word List

Academic Word List (AWL)

Aim to learn all of the high frequency academic words AWL words occur frequently across all academic subjects www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/inf ormation/howto

You will also need to learn the technical terms associated with your own subject area

Signalling words Aim to predict the contents of a text (or part of a text). Anticipate key relationships Look for words and phrases which signal these relationships (e.g. cause and effect, sequences, contrasts) If you want some hands-on practice, sign up for the StudySmart workshop called Speed reading [learn to read faster]

Distinguishing between main points and support

When you are reading, develop the habit of analysing the text for key points and supporting details. You can use a table to help organise your notes: Key points

Support

Comments

Reading critically

Aim to read critically:  Look for assumptions that the writer might be making  Evaluate the strength of the arguments  Distinguish between fact and opinion  Note when the writer uses distancing words

Distinguishing between fact and opinion

It is useful to detect key words and phrases which indicate the writer’s opinion or judgement:

it seems probably almost certainly unfortunately surprisingly potentially

likely may might nearly almost

Distancing words

It is useful to detect key words and phrases which indicate writers’ desire to distance themselves:

purported alleged reputed reported

Interpreting visuals        

Tables Line charts [single/multiple] Bar graphs Pie charts Flow chart Organisational structure Exploded diagram Pictures

Interpreting graphical information When we interpret a graph we should be asking and answering questions of the data: Compare/Contrast       

Highest/most? Lowest/least? Peaks? Troughs? Greatest increase? Greatest decrease? Trend: steady/fluctuating

What explanations?

Learning outcomes: Review After this workshop you should visit our resources page to review a pdf of these notes; ensure that you are able to:         

Identify key concepts related to reading Identify 3 effective reading strategies Apply effective reading strategies for assignments Select appropriate texts for university assignments Apply effective reading strategies for exam preparation Distinguish between main points and support Approach texts critically Distinguish between fact and opinion Interpret visuals systematically

Summary

 Read with a purpose!  Ask questions before you start reading  Relate the text to your knowledge of the world  Monitor your reading processes  Apply SQ3R  Aim to become a strategic reader  Aim to develop a love of reading

Further reading Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Grabe, W. and F. Stoller (2011). Teaching and researching reading. New York, NY: Pearson Longman. Grabe, W. and F. Stoller (2014). Teaching reading for academic purposes. In M. Celce-murcia, D. Brinton and M. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 189-205). Boston, MA: National Geographic Learning. Nation, I. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing. New York, NY: Routledge. Rasinski, T. (2010). The fluent reader: Oral & silent reading strategies for building fluency, word recognition & comprehension. New York, NY: Scholastic Books.

LOCATIONS City Campus - WB239 Ph: 921 9840 South Campus - MA Building Ph: 921 9779 North Shore Campus - AS215 Ph: 921 9999 ext 7755 Email:

[email protected]

Webpage:

www.aut.ac.nz/student-learning

T50

THE END – come and see us at … THE STUDENT LEARNING CENTRE http://www.aut.ac.nz/student-learning Check out the What’s On – STUDYSMART link:  This provides more in-depth information for upcoming seminars on Essays, Reports, Critical Thinking, Referencing and more!