Lecture 5

Reading skills

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 Outline
I. Why is reading important?
II. How to get started?
III. Reading strategies
IV. Reading abstracts

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 I. Why is reading important?
• Reading is something we do in most areas
of our lives, to acquire information,
sometimes for practical purposes, or
entertainment and escapism. This type of
reading is often passive reading and
requires a basic level of information
processing. However, reading for the
purpose of study involves more advanced
comprehension, analysis, interpretation and
application.
• Most of your assignments will require you to read around a topic
and digest, analyze and apply that information to support a
presentation, project or written assignment.

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 I. Why is reading important?
(cont.)
• It is important to actively engage with the reading material so that
you can evaluate its relevance and apply it to your needs.
• Asking questions, picking out relevant key points, taking notes and
summarizing all help you to engage your critical thinking skills.
• Effective reading also helps to broaden your vocabulary and improve
your comprehension and fluency.
• You will be expected to carry out some of your projects or
assignments independently, and this will require that you are well-
equipped and feel confident in your ability to read, take notes and
summarize.

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 II. How to get started?
1. When you begin your research
2. Subject Specific Terminology
3. Applying critical thinking skills

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 1. When you begin your research

• When you begin your research for an assignment, project or

presentation, reaching for a book or an article in a journal may not
always be your natural starting point.
– You may find it helpful to start with watching a short
video or listening to some audio content related to
your assignment.
– Both are useful ways of introducing yourself to a topic
and should not be thought of differently to reading.
– You may still take notes, to support your developing
understanding, and this may help you to make better
use of texts that you read later.
• If you are already familiar with your topic you may want to start
identifying your resources straight away. For further help with this
refer to lecture 4 ‘Searching for information’.

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 2. Subject Specific Terminology
– On your university course, you are likely to read material that uses
language and terminology specific to your subject, some of which may
be new to you and difficult to follow at first.
– The coursebook for your subject may include a glossary of common
terminology. Persevere and familiarize yourself with this terminology,
as you will be expected to use it in your assignments.

Picture of Glossary page

Johnson, G. et al, 11th ed. (2017).
Exploring strategy: text and cases.
Harlow: Pearson.

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 3. Applying critical thinking skills

• Critical thinking skills take time to develop and apply to your

study.
• When approaching any reading material it is important to ask
yourself some questions to help you analyze and evaluate what
you are reading.
• Watch this short video to
learn more about applying
your critical thinking skills to
your reading.
– Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=3hYqQta9WsE

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 Activity 1
Sort the following question types into the correct category.

Who Where What if

So what When How
Why What What next

Identify Analyze and evaluate

information information

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 3. Applying critical thinking skills (cont.)

• Remember, asking yourself questions as you are reading

helps maintain focus and improves your understanding of
the text.
• It is usually a good idea to start off by identifying key
information. As you read, begin to ask yourself more in-
depth questions that encourage you to analyze and
evaluate that information.
• Your chosen subject area can sometimes determine how
you apply your critical thinking skills. It may be helpful to
ask your tutor for advice on developing your skills in the
context of your study or vocation.

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 3. Applying critical thinking skills (cont.)
• Presenting a reasoned argument and analysis
requires critical thinking. You may ask yourself
the following specific questions about what
you are reading and exercise judgement.
– What is the writer’s main line of argument?
– Is the evidence convincing and are there flaws in it?
– What are the implications?
– Are there recommendations for application?
– Who else has written about the subject?
– Do their ideas contrast with the ideas of others?
– Do you agree with the author? If so, why?
– Are you surprised by what you have read?
– How can you use the author’s argument to support your writing, project or
presentation?
– Does it challenge your position or line of argument?
– Do you still have conviction in your ideas or theory?
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 III. Reading strategies
1. Reading purpose
2. Reading for study
3. Specific reading strategies

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 1. Reading purpose
• You will encounter different types of reading material during
your course, including academic articles and books,
professional or technical material, research studies,
newspaper articles and online written, video or audio
content.
• It will help if you can clearly identify the purpose of your
reading, select appropriate source material and use a suitable
reading strategy.
• Consider if the purpose of your reading is to:
– gain general understanding of a topic
– find specific information
– fill a gap in your knowledge
– test a theory
– support an argument.

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 2. Reading for study
• Although you are familiar with reading on a day-to-
day basis, academic articles and books can present
a different challenge to the texts that you are used
to.
• Whether English is your first or second language, it
will be useful to develop some reading skills to help
you to quickly process long or complex texts.

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 Activity 2
Match the definition to the reading skill.

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 III. Specific reading strategies
1. Skimming
2. Scanning
3. Finding key words on
your mobile device
4. Choose the right
strategy

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 1. Skimming
a. What is skimming?
• Skimming is particularly useful if you need an overview of the
material to find out whether it is relevant for your research and suits
your needs.
• When skimming, you preview the text and ascertain the tone and
the main ideas without having to read it in detail.
– If your skimming suggests that the text is relevant to your research, you
will come back to it for a more detailed reading, later.
– Try not to spend too much time reading material in detail only to realize
that, upon finishing, it’s not useful or relevant to the question being
asked.
• Developing good skim-reading skills will save you time in your
research and enable you to quickly identify appropriate and relevant
key source material.

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 1. Skimming (cont.)
b. Skimming process:
• Prepare yourself! You will need to move through pages across
material more rapidly than you may be used to.
• Look out for key words and phrases.
• Pay attention to headings.
• Remember, you don’t need to read every word!
• Don’t forget, you are skimming to identify resources that will be
useful to your research. You will come back to those that are
valuable, so don’t allow yourself to start reading the entire
source even if it looks very useful.

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 1. Skimming (cont.)
b. Skimming process (cont.):

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 1. Skimming (cont.)
c. Skimming tips:
The following tips will help you with your skimming skills. You may
need to adapt your skimming process to suit the reading material.
• Read the table of contents, chapter overview or the abstract
(executive summary) to ascertain the main ideas and how they
have been structured.
• Look at the main section headings, headings within the
chapters, and read the headings of any charts and tables in the
material.
• Read the introduction and conclusion to identify the main line
of argument and conclusions reached.

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 1. Skimming (cont.)
b. Skimming tips (cont.):
• Read the topic sentence and final sentence of the first 2-3
paragraphs to identify the main ideas being discussed.
• Pause and quickly read sentences including key words relevant
to your topic/question.
• If you find something significant as your skimming, stop to read
the whole sentence.
• Read summaries if provided.
• Remember, it is easy to become distracted by information that
may not be relevant to your assignment. Try to stay focused,
and resist reading irrelevant details as you may waste time.

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 Activity 3
• Skimming practice activity
Skim this magazine article. You should finish them in less than 60 seconds
and then answer the questions.

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 Activity 3
• Skimming practice activity
Answer the following questions based on the magazine article you read.

N.B. There are other skimming practices for all the students, IT and Design
students in the practice folder of lecture 5 folder.
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 2. Scanning

a. What is scanning?
• Whereas skimming is used to
quickly ascertain the gist of a text,
scanning is used to find particular
facts or data to support an
argument or to investigate a theory
or process.

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 2. Scanning (cont.)
b. Scanning process:
• Think about your purpose for reading.
• Predict the contents of the text from its title.
• Remember you are looking for specific supporting information!
Stay focused and resist reading irrelevant information.
• If you can’t find what you are looking for using the table of
contents, the index or the find function, you may need to look
for a new source that will be more useful.

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 2. Scanning (cont.)
b. Scanning process (cont.):

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 2. Scanning (cont.)
c. Scanning tips:
The following tips will help you with your scanning skills.
• Table of contents:
– Read the table of contents of the book or online source to locate:
• A preface
• A list of diagrams or tables or illustrations
• An introduction
• A list of chapters or sections
• A conclusion
• A bibliography
• An index
– Table of contents reference:
• Go to the relevant section of the book or article and read the first two paragraphs. They
usually summarize what will be covered in the chapter or section, allowing you to assess
how useful it will be to you.
• If you are still unsure, read the end of the chapter or section.

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 2. Scanning (cont.)
c. Scanning tips (cont.):
• The index:
– Search the index for relevant topics or key words. If it is an
online or digital reference (such as an eBook or PDF) you can
use the find function: CTRL + F (PC) or CMD + F (Mac) to
search for all instances of key words.
– Index reference:
• Go to the corresponding page in the book or article section.
Find and read the paragraph in which the reference appears.
• If it seems unclear, you need more context, read the paragraph
before and after the one referenced in the index.

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 2. Scanning (cont.)
c. Scanning tips (cont.):
• Read the chapter headings to see if they include the
information you need.
• If you find useful information, note the source and page
number or (if it is a physical book)put a bookmark in that
page.
– Web browsers and PDF viewers usually have a ‘Bookmark’ feature,
which can also be used to mark the location.

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 Activity 4
• Scanning practice activity
– Open the ’Scanning practice activity for all students’ worksheet in
Practice folder of lecture 5
– Complete the exercise AS FAST AS YOU CAN. How much time did
you use?

N.B. There are other skimming practices for all the students, IT and Design
students in the practice folder of lecture 5.

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Summary

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 3. Finding key words on your
mobile device
• Watch the videos for more information on finding key words on
websites and in documents using your mobile device.
For IOS For Android
Link: Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E78fIdWm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVNyVOI
VL4&feature=emb_title wspw&feature=emb_title

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 4. Choose the right strategy

• Review the following strategies that you should do before reading, to

gain an overview or to find specific information.
• Before reading:
– Think about your purpose for reading
– Predict the contents from its title
– Look at the abstract or summary to see if it is relevant
• Gain an overview
– Read the topic sentence of the first 2-3 paragraphs
– Read the introduction and conclusion
– Skim through the text, focusing on the main points or key words
• Find specific information
– Use CTRL+F in a digital document or webpage
– Use the index to find all instances where a topic appears
– Use the contents page to find a relevant section or chapter

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 IV. Reading abstracts
• Depending on your subject area, you may need
to read articles or reports on your university course.
• It is a good idea to make yourself familiar with databases such
as Google Scholar and better understand how you can use
abstracts to your advantage when doing a reading task.
– When you search databases like Google Scholar for information on a
certain topic, it will show you a list of all relevant articles or reports
associated with that topic.
– Each has an abstract summarizing the content to help you decide if
the article or report will be useful to you and worth reading in full.
• There are two main types of abstract:
– Informational
– Descriptive

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 IV. Reading abstracts (cont.)

• Informational abstracts:
– Highlight essential points of the article or report.
– State the main results, conclusions and
recommendations.
– Include research methods and scope of the research.
– Can range from a paragraph to a page or two.
– Are typical of reports with extensive primary research
and findings to discuss.
– Allow the reader to decide whether they want to read
the article or report in detail.

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 IV. Reading abstracts (cont.)

• Informational abstract example:

FROM THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Reporting new findings about the reasons for increasing economic homogamy among spouses
Gonalons-Pons, Pilar, and Christine R. Schwartz. “Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative
Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?” Demography, vol. 54, no. 3, 2017, pp. 985-1005.
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 IV. Reading abstracts (cont.)
• Descriptive abstracts:
– Highlight essential points of the article or report.
– Are usually short, often less than 200 words.
– May include research methods and scope of the
research.
– Do not include results, conclusions and
recommendations.
– Are typical of articles with limited primary
research.
– Allow the reader to decide if the article is relevant.

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 IV. Reading abstracts (cont.)

• Descriptive abstract example:

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 Activity 5
• Research and reading activity: (20 mins)
Practice finding information efficiently
– Use Google Scholar to find the articles that help answer one
of the research questions of your major (listed in Lecture 4).
– Use the reading strategies outline in this lecture to read the
articles and make judgement on which one is suitable for
thorough reading later on and which one is not.
– In 20 mins, your target is being able to find out 3 articles that
may be suitable for your research and deserve thorough
reading and note-taking later on.

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 Essential readings

• Online course ‘Reading, note-

taking and summarizing’ by HN
Global.
– You must sign in to access this
course!
– Link:
https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/sh
ort-courses

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