Reading Skills
There are 4 macro skills in a language: Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening. They can be divided into 2 categories: Receptive and Productive Skills.
Session 8 was all about reading and its subskills:
- Skimming;
Introductory reading. Reading quickly to understand the gist. e.g. newspapers and magazines at the doctor's, CB units before starting a lesson plan, leaflets etc.
- Scanning;
Reading for specific information. It's like looking for a phone number in a telephone directory. e.g. cinema timetables, dictionaries, recipes, TV guides etc.
- Reading for detail;
Reading to find out precise information about particular points. e.g. DELTA books (hehehe), TB lesson plans, interesting articles in general etc.
- Guessing new words;
Using co-text / context to derive a general understanding. e.g. novels, academic texts, manuals, poetry etc.
- Inference;
Reading "between the lines". e.g. work e-mails, text messages, lyrics, quotes etc...
Damian also gave us a handout on reading strategies. The main points are:
- Strategies to use before reading:
1. Relaxing for a moment before reading the text.
2. Thinking about the topic. e.g do you know anything about this topic?
3. Looking at the headings and sub-headings. e.g. what do they tell you about the text?
4. Looking at any pictures, diagrams, charts etc. e.g. how do they help you?
5. Looking at the length of the text. e.g. how long is it going to take?
- Strategies to use while reading:
1. consider what you already know about the topic.
2. try to guess the meaning of new words.
3. ignore new vocabulary. try to see the text as whole unit.
4. read each paragraph carefully. e.g. try to get a main point from each one of them.
5. look at the pictures, diagrams, charts while reading the text.
6. highlight the main points.
7. look for vocabulary specifically related to the topic.
- Strategies to use after reading:
1. consider how the text made you feel.
2. write a one paragraph summary of the main points.
3. consider any information you gained by reading the text and associating to what you already know.
4. attempt to draw diagrams or charts.
5. check difficult vocabulary with another student.
6. discuss what you have read with someone.
The last handout was about efficient and inefficient reading. See below:
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