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Helpsheet

READING SKILLS

Use this sheet to help you:

•   develop 10 strategies to improve your  reading

5 minute  self test

What do you find difficult about reading at university?   Tick the boxes below:

  Finding enough time and energy

  Maintaining concentration

  Improving speed

  Managing vocabulary

  Selecting what to focus on in texts

  Understanding new, theoretical or detailed information

  Identifying main points and arguments

  Evaluating evidence

  Identifying similarities and differences between texts

  Reading texts that assume background knowledge & experience

  Reading different types of text  (case studies, reports, literature reviews etc.)

Read on for advice on addressing these difficulties.

© The University of Melbourne 2010.

These materials were produced by  the Teaching and Learning Unit, University  of Melbourne. The University  of Sydney has reproduced these materials under licence from  the University of Melbourne.

Introduction

The reading demands of university study are not easy.  Unfortunately, however, it is all too common for students to pay little attention to their  own approaches to reading, that is, how they read, and how they can improve the effectiveness and speed of their reading.

This helpsheet provides extensive reading advice. Furthermore, the helpsheet provides reading tips that are specific for particular text  types and for the purposes you  may have.

Before you  read this advice, you  may find it worth reflecting on the nature of the reading that you  conduct at university.  This may help you  consider which of the following tips might be particularly useful. The following section may help you  do this.

What you  read at university

You may be expected to read a wide range of texts that include the course reading pack, lecture slides,  books, journal articles, internet articles, newspapers, research reports, literature reviews, case studies and strategic plans.

Why you  read at university

You may read to: prepare for lectures and tutorials, review information addressed in lectures and tutorials, conduct research for assignments, or revise for exams.

What reading abilities  you  need

Beyond being able to simply understand texts, you  will need to critique them, evalu- ate them, compare and contrast them, and apply the information you  find useful from  them.

Effective reading: general advice

The following advice may seem obvious, but is important.

•     Consider where you  read. Always read in a well-lit and quiet place that is free of distractions, and don’t get into  the habit of reading uni materials in bed! (unless you want to go to sleep).

•    Don’t vocalise as you  read. This will slow you  down, it won’t help concentration, and

it will lead to bad reading approaches.

•     Read at times when you  can concentrate, and maintain concentration by taking regular short  breaks, perhaps every 30 or 45 minutes.

•    Set yourself reading tasks  (10 pages, 1 chapter, 1 section of a chapter etc).

•    Remember that reading often takes longer than you  expect and you  often need to

go beyond set  texts.  Give yourself enough time!

Reading strategy 1: purposeful reading

If you  tend to begin reading like this: “I need to read Chapter 6 – here it goes! …”, you may need to rethink your  approach. Specifically, you  will need to create a purpose for reading. You can create this purpose if you:

Refer to:

•     assessment tasks

•     lecture slides

•     tutorial questions

•     textbook questions

Create:

•     questions based on lectures or tutorials

•     questions based on a skim of the text

•     (contents, headings, subheadings, diagrams, introductions, etc)

Consider:

•     what you  already know

•     related knowledge or experiences

Be very  clear about exactly what you  are looking for.  Don’t just read aimlessly. Perhaps you  will look  for answers to questions, general understanding of a topic or issue,  detailed knowledge, a range of perspectives, identification of a writer’s position, evaluation of

a writer’s  position, arguments that support your  position, arguments that oppose your position, examples, statistics, definitions, explanations, quotes, etc.  Try to have the purpose in writing  nearby so you  maintain focus.

Purposeful reading of this nature can help you  read faster and more selectively. It can also help your  concentration and your  ability  to remember.

Reading strategy 2: scanning

Scanning is reading quickly to search for specific information.  You may not realise it, but

you  are already good at scanning. You scan, for example, when checking a TV guide or a phone book. Scanning may allow you  to ‘read’ up to 1,500  words a minute.

One reason to scan an academic text  that you  have found while  researching is to locate key  terms as a means to assess the text’s relevance.

Reading strategy 3: skimming

Skimming is reading quickly to gain a general idea. Skimming may allow you  to ‘read’

up to 1000 words a minute.

Skimming helps you  identify whether or not to continue reading, what to read carefully, and where the best place is to begin. Skimming an academic text  immediately before you  read it carefully can help you  consider what you  already know and can help you develop a purpose for reading. An initial skim can also help maximise your  interest in the text  and your  understanding and reflection on the material.

As with scanning, skimming does not involve reading every word. Instead, you  may skim by reading:

•    titles

•    subheadings

•    words in that are in bold, in italics or underlined

•    diagrams

•    a report’s abstract, introduction or conclusion

•    the first sentence of every paragraph

•    chapter questions

•    chapter objectives

•    chapter summaries

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Reading strategy 4: information words

There will be times when you  need to do more than skim a text  in the way described above, but still need to read quickly. This may require ability  to conduct “surface reading”.

It is worth remembering that no more than 50% of the words in an average textbook are “information” words. The other words are like glue and paint: they are there to provide connections and add interest, but are not essential for meaning. If you  concentrate on information words, you  can read faster and with better comprehension.

But, how do you  learn to pick out the important information words? A large part of the trick involves paying attention to what the author is trying  to say. Look for the message, and the information words will emerge naturally.

Activity: Read the following four paragraphs and see if you  can get a sense of the general meaning by only  reading the information words  that are  fea- tured.

1. Some advertisements                  undesirable effects                 .  One form                       ad- vertising suggests                   buying                  brings happiness.                   more                                                                                            happier                      feel. Parents in particular                  under pressure                  this form

                    .  Advertisements                  expensive toys                       imply                      greater pleasure than lower priced                  .

2.               example                      children       happier                      video game than                       

                     Scrabble.                   not true.                  opposite                  more likely.  Adver- tisements                      make                 people                  more discontented.

3. Another form                       undesirable advertising                  associates                  prod- ucts                  success.                  example                   washing powder                   linked

                     promotion        work,  or                       toothpaste.

4.                      success                   attracting                   boyfriend      girlfriend.                 ef-

fect                      these advertisements                      encourage                   

success. Genuine success

                     earned                  effort:                 not                  money.

Reading strategy 5: phrase reading

false idea                      

Watch the eyes of a friend or a member of your  family  while  he or she is reading.  You will see that they move along each line of print  in a series  of jerks.  The pauses between the jerks are known as fixations. It is during the fixations that your  eyes take in words.

Poor readers take in only one or two words in each fixation.

| This is | how a | poor | reader’s| eyes move | along | lines| of print.  |

A good reader, on the other hand, takes in several words in each fixation

| This is how | a better reader’s | eyes move along | lines of print.|

Activity: Read the two sentences below, focusing only  on the highlighted words

Today it is more important that ever to be able to read fluently. For example, if you are a car-driver you  have to be able to read a great many road signs.

What are the two sentences mainly about?  reading  writing   travelling Which word completes the first sentence? …to read …  slowly  fast  fluently

Which example of writing is mentioned in the second sentence?  application forms  

 road signs   advertisements 

Nouns and verbs are the key  words you  need to focus on

Activity: Quickly “surface read” the two paragraphs below, paying attention only  to the nouns and verbs. Can  you  get the basic meaning of the paragraphs just from this quick read?

Solar energy is released by atomic reactions in the sun.   Solar cells  can capture sunlight and convert it to electrical energy. One of the latest ideas is to send huge collecting panels into  orbit  around the earth.  There, in perpetual sunlight, they could capture light energy, and convey it to antennae on the earth’s surface. It could

then be converted into  electricity.

One of man’s oldest source of power, water, has the additional advantages of being reusable and clean. The energy of water as it rushes downhill in pipes, gives hydroelectric schemes the power to turn  their  turnings and produce electricity. Wave power is another method for using the energy of water to drive generators for

producing electricity. Tidal energy makes use of the ebb and flow of tides in partially enclosed basins, such as the Bay of Fundy, in Canada, which has a tidal range of 16 metres!

Reading strategy 6: analytical reading

Analytical reading (or study reading) is needed when you  want to make sure  that you fully grasp and appreciate what you  are reading. You may have to read statements more than once, stop to think about them, or jot down key  words when using this style. As a result,  your  reading rate can easily drop to below 100 words a minute.

Activity: Read the following for an example of when slow,  careful reading may be needed.

One of the first things that should be done in the evaluation of structural equation models is an assessment of the adequacy of input data and the statistical assump- tion  underlying any estimation methods used in the analysis. (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988,  p.

76)

Is there an easy way to read analytically? No. It can great time and effort.

Reading strategy 7: marking the text

If the text  you  are reading is your  own copy, you  could also underline key  words, highlight with a marker, or make notes in margins, or alternatively, if you  don’t own the text, you  could use little ‘post-it’ labels.

This process of marking texts can help you  concentrate (and keep reading!) and can help you  identify key  points and make the book easier to survey later when you  need to use it again for your  assignment or to revise for an exam. revise effectively later

Reading strategy 8: note-taking

If you  don’t take notes well, or don’t take them at all, now is the time to develop this essential skill! Note-taking can help you  gain deeper understanding and reflection, a better ability  to remember and good exam preparation materials for later.

When taking notes, pay keep in mind the following 7 principles:

1. Record publication details

Always note publication details of any text  you  may use.  Specifically, record such things as the title, author, date, publisher, place of publication, URL, and page numbers.

2. Preview the text before you  take notes

As mentioned earlier, scan, skim and ‘surface read’ the text  before noting to help you  develop understanding of the text  and awareness of what is important to note. Taking  notes of everything is a slow, boring, ineffective exercise.

3. Maintain  a central place for your notes.

Where record your  notes is up to you. Some people prefer using a computer, while others use flash cards, folders, or exercise books. What is important is that you  will be able to find the notes and understand their  layout and content a few  weeks or months later.

4. Paraphrase and summarise ideas

Writing out sentences word for word is probably even less useful than just highlighting sentences with a marker. Sure,  they will be times you  need write  things word for

word (use quotation marks when you  do this!) but better understanding will come through putting things in your  own words. Not  sure  how to do this?   Say the key points in your  own words out loud and then write  them down. Finish by checking your  paraphrase is clear and accurate.

5. Note your thoughts

Don’t forget the great value of noting beyond just what is said in the text. Note down such things as your  ideas, points you  agree or disagree with, relevant experiences, questions, examples, and relationships with other texts. Those  initial thoughts you  have as you  read may be of great use later, and it is a mistake to risk forgetting them.

6. Be creative

Consider how you  should note different parts of texts as well as just what you  should note. The process of thinking about how to note can aid understanding as well

as ability  to remember information and reflect. Depending on the nature of the information you  wish to note, you  may choose to use spider diagrams, concept maps, titles, columns, dot points, numbers, symbols, colours, pictures or columns for your  reflections.

7. Review your notes

Once you  have completed some notes, always look  back at them and check: 1. they are accurate, 2. they are readable, 3. you  will be able to use them later and 4. they contain full reference details.

Reading strategy 9: managing vocabulary

Even  if you  are a native English speaker, you  may at times feel overwhelmed by the amount of unfamiliar vocabulary you  encounter. Of course, as a university student, you have a great opportunity and need to build you  vocabulary (discipline specific and general), so consult glossaries and use a dictionary. Keep a list of new words: record their definitions and write  example sentences which show meaning and usage.

When using your  dictionary, be discerning. Know which words can be ignored, and see if it is possible to guess the meanings of words. You may be able do this if you:

1. Guess using  context:

The patient suffered from  respiratory ailments, skin problems, anacritis, and hypertension

What could anacritis mean? (NB. Not  a real word!)

2. Guess using  prefixes, suffixes  and word stems

•    Antichocoflavourism

•     Aquaengineacousticology

What could these words mean? (NB. Not  real words!)

Reading strategy 10: reading with others

Consider getting a “study buddy” or study group.  Be careful to keep focussed on what you  need to do and you  may find that by sharing notes, explaining, asking and quizzing each other, you  can increase you  ability  to understand, reflect upon and remember key points in texts.

Finally

If you continue to find reading difficult, remember this:

Reading at university level is difficult!

However, if you  put in the time and effort you  may start to enjoy the challenge!