Developing Reading Skills and Proficiency

Introduction

 

The best way to develop your reading skills is to read articles and books the really interest you. There are many articles, graded readers and authentic texts provided in the “Just Read” section of this website.

This section focuses on developing  specific reading skills.

Q. Why read books?

A. Increase your reading skill and open your mind.

Open your Mind by Lisa Bu

 

Reading Authentic texts

Authentic texts can really interesting and help develop reading skills but they be difficult to read. How can get around these difficulties?

The problems include:

  • idioms
  • many difficult or new words
  • unfamiliar cultural references

You can improve you reading skill by reading a lot. Start with short simple text, then move on to longer more complex ones. See below.

How can I improve my reading, so I can read authentic texts and novels?

Take these steps, but search for (and focus on) topic you are really interred in.

  1. Start by reading short easy graded texts such as can be found on Breaking News English and graded readers at http://aj3000.com/wp/free-graded-readers/ anbs  Some EFL readers (e.g Oxford Readers) come with audio. This can be a great help.
  2. Gradually read higher level graded texts and longer EFL readers, as can be found here: https://esl-literacy.com/readers/phase3.html and https://elt.oup.com/cat/subjects/graded_reading/?cc=sa&selLanguage=en&mode=hub
  3. Read authentic shorter texts. Try http://www.bbc.com/news.  Free authentic short classic stories are available here: http://www.world-english.org/stories.htm
  4. Read longer authentic texts and novels. Research which novels are easier to read as some are far easier to read than others. Here is a list of great original unabridged books that are easier than others to read. http://whytoread.com/8-outstanding-classic-books-which-are-easy-to-read/

Increasing Reading Speed

Keeping your focus

Does your mind wander when you read? Do you have to keep re-reading the text? Inability to keep focus and cause slow reading and comprehension errors. SEE THE TEACHER IF YOU FEEL YOU HAVE PROBLEMS KEEPING YOU FOCUS.

Apps

http://cueprompter.com/  Teleprompter

https://www.spreeder.com/  Read one word at a time

 

Techniques

Speed Reading by Prof. Scot Straub

Key points: focus on words 3 or 4 in from the left and right. Use your finger to keep your place on the page.

Tips

  • Read down the centre of the page.
  • Use a pointer to keep your place on the page.
  • Read widely on topics that interest you.

Will’s Tips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyW4S2tCyMI

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Coming

  • Identifying paragraph topics (topic sentence)
  • Choosing the best title or heading for a paragraph

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How to answer comprehension questions

Before you read the text

Look at the pictures, main title and subheadings, to give you an idea of what the text is about.

Look at the first sentence (topic sentence), key words and repeated words in each paragraph to get a idea of the main topic of the paragraph. This way you can go to the correct paragraph (without reading all the paragraphs) to answer the comprehension question.

Read the questions questions first, before you read the text.

Key Steps to Anserwing Qusetions

Understand the question

  1. Read the qustion carefully.
  2. Read the question few times.
  3. Underline the key words.
  4. Understand the question, what is the question asking?

Answer the question

  1. In what form will the answer be? Will it be in the form of a:  reason, result, point, activity, routine, effect, opinion, event, advantage, disadvantage, discovery, number, time, date, place, thing, etc.
  2. Guess the answer the question without reading. This way  you are more likely to see the answer. It is natural to want to know if your guess is right or not.
  3. Scan all subtopic paragraphs for the answer. Scan these paragraphs completely. Don’t stop if you think you have found the answer. Underline the best answer and annotate with question number.
  4. Read the text carefully. Read the sentence/s that contain the answer carefully. Be very care =to read what is actually  there, rather than projecting from your mind and ideas onto the text.

Vocabulary Skills

Coming

  • Dealing with new vocabulary
    • reading longer words (incl. prefixes and suffixes)
    • meaning of specific pronouns
    • meaning of new words or phrase from context

Apps

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Skimming and Scanning

Skimming and scanning are ways to get specific information or the gist of the text quickly, and without having to read the entire text carefully.

Key points:

Coming

By Paul Carter

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Answering Exam Questions

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Overcoming Reading Problems

1.Slow reading

  • use a pointer read audio books
  • use a speed reading App
  • pay more attention to topic sentences and less attention to to rest of the paragraph
  • develop specific reading skills like identifying main ideas
  • read extensively
  • improve ability to focus

2.Texts contain too much vocabulary that is too difficult

  • Read graded (easier) texts. See EFL readers.

3.Wandering mind: after a few sentences much of the text does not register in the brain

  • Use especially developed focusing techniques. See teacher

4.Difficulty in getting meaning from sentences despite a good understanding the vocabulary and grammar. This is despite due attention to sentences.

  • The reader may have important concerns in his life that may be preventing proper focus. Reading will improve when the concerns are reduced.

 

Outsourcing

Audio books

Others reading for or to you:

Non-academic reading

http://www.heinzmarketing.com/2008/01/outsource-your-reading/

Academic reading

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More

Intensive vs extensive reading

Surveying

Summarizing