Reading skills and critical thinking

1
Reading skills and critical thinking
Corso diLingua Inglese 1
M. De Meo M. Cordisco
Fisciano - SA 11 ottobre 2007
2
Reading skills

• General questions
• Setting a purpose for your reading
• Doing a survey of a text
• Guiding yourself through the reading
• Making notes, highlighting and summarizing

3
1. General questions

• What do I know about the author?
• When was the text written?
• What other element can I rely on? Pictures,
  headings, sub headings, etc.

4
2. Setting a purpose for your reading

• This will help you to be selective in your
  reading of the material.
• Why are you reading?
• Are you reading to learn something?
• To skim through the key ideas?
• To scan for something specific?
• We read each text differently. For example
• a newspaper
• a textbook
• a dictionary

5
3. Doing a survey of a text

• Do a quick and general reading of the text.
• When doing a survey of a chapter, it is advisable
  to set a short time limit.
• For example, you might want to limit yourself to
  around ten minutes to do a brief preview of a
  chapter.

6
4. Guiding yourself through the reading

• You are trying to have some control over the
  text.
• How well do I understand the reading?
• How is the text organised?
• What organizational patterns is used by author?

7
ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS IN A TEXT

• definition
• classification
• description
• sequence of events
• cause/effect or effect/cause
• reasons/explanations
• similarities or differences
• generalization
• hypothesis supported by arguments
• for/against evaluation

8
5. Making notes, highlighting and summarizing

• Read the full paragraph before starting
  highlighting
• instead of underlining or highlighting across the
  page, make a vertical mark
• using you own words to make a brief note of the
  idea or its importance or relevance to your
  reading purpose in the margin
• remember to try to be concise. The purpose of
  making notes on readings is to select and
  organize material for subsequent review.

9
Comprehension

• to improve comprehension, recite the chapter
  after closing the book.
• see how many specific details you can recall.
• the more you interact with your text, the more
  you'll recall.

10

• There are 3 main reading strategies depending on
  why and what you are reading
• scanning
• skimming
• detailed reading

11
Scanning for a specific focus

• The technique you use when you're looking up a
  name in the phone book you move your eye quickly
  over the page to find particular words or phrases
  that are relevant to the task you're doing.
• It's useful to scan
• parts of texts to see if they're going to be
  useful to you
• the introduction or preface of a book
• the first or last paragraphs of chapters
• the concluding chapter of a book.
• 
  

12
You are going to read an article about turtles

• Do you think the following facts are correct?
• Write YES or NO
• ____ Turtles live only on land.
• ____ They are almost blind.
• ____ They eat animals and plants.
• ____ They live more than 100 years.
• ____ They sleep all winter.
• ____ They have live babies.
• ____ They have four legs.
• ____ They cant hear very well.
• ____ They can weigh up to 400 kilos.
• ____ They are found only in hot regions.

13
TURTLES

• Turtles are reptiles. They have 4 legs, 2 lungs,
  and hard shells. Their mouths are similar to
  birds beaks and they have no teeth. They sleep
  during the winter. They sometimes live for more
  than 100 years! They have good sight but poor
  hearing. They can make sounds.
• The smallest turtles are 4 inches or about 10
  centimetres long. The largest turtles weigh about
  850 pounds or 400 kilos and can be as long as 3
  meters. Turtles are found in most parts of the
  world, but many turtles live in the tropics.
  Turtles can go without food for a long time. Once
  a year the female lays her eggs on land, usually
  in a hole she digs with her hind legs. Turtles
  eat little plants and animals.
• Baby turtles know what to do as soon as they are
  born. They can walk and swim right away. They
  know what to eat and where to find their food.
  They know when to hide in their shells, and when
  it is safe to come out again. So, the mother
  turtles doesnt have to feed, teach or protect
  her young turtles.

14
Skimming for getting the gist of something

• The technique you use when you're going through a
  newspaper or magazine you read quickly to get
  the main points, and skip over the detail. Read
  the first sentence or two of each paragraph and a
  few key words.
• It's useful to skim
• to preview a passage before you read it in
  detail
• to refresh your understand of a passage after
  you've read it in detail
• to decide if a book in the library or bookshop is
  right for you. (handout 3
  and 4)

15
Detailed reading for extracting information
accurately

• Where you read every word, and work to learn from
  the text.
• In this careful reading, you may find it helpful
  to skim first, to get a general idea, but then go
  back to read in detail. Use a dictionary to make
  sure you understand all the words used.

16
Read larger chunks

• The first eye movement pattern is looking at
  every word.
• The second is looking at groups of words.
• The third notices only a few key words.

17

• The 3rd technique is useful to scan the entire
  book (overview) or chapter (preview),
• in general the best strategy is to look at groups
  of words,
• when taking notes remember to record groups of
  words (chunks/collocations).

18
Critical thinking

• Critical thinking in reading is like critical
  thinking elsewhere.
• Its purpose is to get us involved in a dialogue
  with the ideas we hear in class so that we can
  summarize, analyze, hypothesize, and evaluate the
  ideas we encounter.
• It is a skill that can be developed and mastered
  with time and practice.
• One of the best things you can do to develop your
  ability to think critically is to become
  conscious of applying a series of questions.

19

• If you have used the strategy of discovering what
  organizational format your reading has used you
  are in a good place to start. If you have been
  practicing asking questions about the material
  you are reading, especially questions which
  analyze, hypothesize, or evaluate, then you are
  also in a very good position to think critically.

20
Fundamental Questions

• what is (are)...?
• who...?
• when...?
• how much...?
• how many...?
• what is an example of...?

21
Hypothesis Questions

• if...occurs, then what happens...?
• if ...had happened, then what would be
  different...?
• what does theory x predict will happen...?

22
Critical Questions

• is...good or bad...?
• .....correct or incorrect...?
• .....relevant or irrelevant...?
• what are the advantages or disadvantages of...?
• what are the pros or cons of...?
• what is the best solution to the problem /
  conflict / issue...?
• what should or should not happen...?
• do I agree or disagree ...?
• what is my opinion...?
• what is my support for my opinion...?

23
Regarding J S Mill (handout 2)

• Fundamental Questions
• What is J.S. Mill basically saying here?
• What is meant by "harm to others"?
• What does "remonstrating" mean?
• Hypothesis Questions
• How might Mill's ideas be different if he were
  writing today?
• What if we applied this to a discussion of
  suicide?
• Critical Questions
• Do I agree with J.S. Mill?
• Is Mill persuasive in his discussion of Liberty?
  Why?
• What would be the advantages of adopting Mill's
  views?

24
Summing up

• 1. Be an active reader.
• 2. Use a strategy.
• 3. Skimming and scanning processes have
  specialized applications for reading.
• 4. Record the ideas you find important.
• 5. Apply questions to what you read.

25
Try the SQ3R technique.

• SQ3R stands for
• Survey,
• Question,
• Read, Recall and Review.

26
Reading skills websites

• http//www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/skills/reading/

27

• "The art of becoming wise is the art of knowing
  what to overlook." William James