Reading Techniques
1. Preview
2. Question
3. Take notes
4. Summarise
5. Review and reflect
1. Preview
Preview the text to be read by skimming it. Skimming is the
technique of allowing your eyes to travel rapidly over a page, stopping here
and there to register the main idea. When skimming, you should follow the
procedure below, adapting it to your purpose
Read the title.
Note the writer's name.
Note the date and place of publication.
Read the first paragraph completely.
Read sub-headings and first sentences of remaining paragraphs.
As you read, pick up main ideas, key words (words that tell you
who, what, when, where, how many, and how much), and transition markers (words
like 'however', 'alternatively', 'additionally', and so on), which suggest the
direction of ideas in the text.
2. Question
Effective reading is active reading. To turn reading from a passive
into an active exercise, always ask questions.
To do this, you must be clear about the purpose of your reading. If
you are reading a text which you will be critiquing in detail, your questions
will be different from those you would ask if you were reading a number of
texts for background information. If you are gathering material for an essay,
formulate some tentative ideas about the approaches you might take, modifying
them as you accumulate material.
During the preview, note as many questions as you can about the
content. For instance, turn headings into questions and try to anticipate
possible answers the writer may offer. Always actively look for connections and
relationships. Look at the ways ideas are structured and developed.
The object of the preview and questioning steps is to determine the
writer's thesis, that is, her/his main idea and purpose in writing.
As you read, list all the words about which you are uncertain; look
them up in the dictionary and write down their definitions.
3. Take notes
Some reasons for taking notes are:
to maintain attentiveness as you read,
to focus your attention,
to familiarise yourself with primary and secondary material on a
given subject,
to analyse the assumptions and rhetorical strategies of the writer,
to provide you with a summary of the material.
Some hints for taking notes:
Always record bibliographical details of the text from which you
are taking notes.
Write on one side of the paper only.
Leave a wide margin for comments and cross-references.
Use headings, subheadings, and diagrams.
Keep notes brief but full enough to still make sense to you in six
months' time. Make sure they're legible.
4. Summarise
A summary is a collation of your notes, recording the main points
the writer makes. Making a summary from your notes has two main benefits.
It allows you to test yourself on your understanding of the
materialyou have been reading - sometimes it is only when you try to put the
writer's ideas into your own words that you uncover difficulties.
It provides you with a compact account of the text for further
reference.
5. Review and reflect
To capitalise fully on the time you've spent reading an article or
chapter, it's important to review and reflect upon what you've read. This
enhances your understanding and helps you to commit important facts and ideas
to your long-term memory.
Here are some review and reflection exercises you may find useful:
Test your understanding of the material by trying to answer your
preview questions without referring to your notes.
Write down the meaning and usefulness the material has for
understanding other concepts and principles. Indicate what other ideas the
material substantiates, contradicts, or amplifies.
Evaluate the text in terms of its informativeness, soundness of
argument, relevance, and so on. If you are gathering material for an essay or
report, decide which points you want to use and think about how you can use
them.
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