Special Article:
Your Reading Problem Result
Introduction
Reading is a skill like playing the piano or playing football. Some people read better than others. Those who are most proficient at reading are those who understand how phrases, sentences, and paragraphs carry meaning. Those who are successful in football, in reading and in other skills are those who practice.
This article is designed to help you understand the way a reading passage is written. You can best understand the whole passage by knowing its parts. In this article we will examine the style of reading and the way that style is related to choice of grammar and choice of vocabulary. By understanding the style you will be better able to understand the content of an article.
There is a technique to help you read any article or book more efficiently. It is called SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recall, and Review. This technique can be applied to all reading passages.
SURVEY
Look at the title, subheadings, illustrations, and graphs and get an overview of the article. This will help you determine the author's direction. If he is going to write about the world economy, will he discuss general theory? Will he discuss economics from a historical perspective or will he discuss it from a current perspective? Knowing what the author wants to discuss will prepare you to understand the passage.
For more information you can continue your survey by reading the first and last paragraphs of an article. You can also read the first or last sentences of all or some paragraphs.
QUESTION
After you survey, you should have a general idea of what a reading passage is about. Now you need to have a purpose for reading. When you read with a specific purpose, you will understand and remember more of what you read. Ask yourself questions based on your survey, and then read to see if you can answer your own questions.
READ
When you read an article, try to read all the way to the end without stopping. Do not stop and look up unfamilliar words. Try to understand such words from the context. When you stop to look up a word in the dictionary, you lose continuity in your reading. You may look up that word later if you are still uncertain or want confirmation.
Try to read the article as fast as you can. Each time, push yourself to read faster and faster. The average college-educated, native-reader of English reads 350 words a minute. What is your rate?
To find out your reading rate, read for ten mimutes, count the number of words you read, and divide by ten. Try to improve that score every time you read.
RECALL
After you finish the reading, try to answer the questions you asked yourself before reading. If you do not have all answers, scan the readiong passage to find them. Scanning means to look over a reading passage very quickly to find specific information (date, a name, an explanation, etc). Skimming means to give a quick, general overview of the passage. Skimming and scanning will help you complete your understanding of the entire passage.
REVIEW
Several days after you read a passage try to remind yourself of what the article was about. The more frequently you review the article the longer the information will stay with you.
The important information thing to remember is that people read to extract information; they do not read to learn grammar and vocabulary. These articles should not be used as a mine where students dig out new constructions and unfamiliar words. The students should read content and practice reading as a skill.
Whoever wants to contribute more to MATE's project, please e-mail or post your letter so you can have more information about how to join this group.
Jean Frantzy Italien
President, MATE
Newsletter, 14 November 2004
Address:
c/o: Fondamara 27
Rue barreau, rue Le Duc #2
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Phone: (509) 527- 2640
E-mail: italien_jeanfrantzy@yahoo.com