Lectura Académica Estratégica 1

Inglés - Nivel medio - 2020

In order to start this NIVEL MEDIO let’s briefly remember that the courses
developed by the Department of Modern Languages focus on the ACQUISITION
of READING STRATEGIES.

The English Chair sees reading as an active process of selection and abstraction of meaning.

With this idea in mind let’s begin with a short and sweet revision section. Work in groups of
three.

1. Pay attention to the following concepts and what you remember from Nivel Elemental.
In small groups try to define and explain each of the concepts. Be ready to discuss your
ideas with the whole class.

skipping
paragraph boundaries
scanning
academic vocabulary
main idea
paratext
hypothesis
author’s stance
key words
paraphrase
cognates
reference
pseudo-negatives
background knowledge
conceptualization
text type
text semantic organization
efferent reading
hierarchy
subjective discursive signs
connectors
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Inglés - Nivel medio - 2020

2. Which of the concepts presented above are “reading strategies”? Discuss with your
companions and then read the excerpt below from the University of Melbourne site.
(http://services.unimelb.edu.au/academicskills/reading/strategies) and check.

Adopting effective reading strategies

How you read your material depends on what you are reading and why. Are you trying
to gain an overview of a topic, understand the material in depth, or find specific
information? Being clear about what you want from a text ensures you read effectively.

Depending on your purpose and the complexity of the material, you can adopt some of
the following effective reading strategies:

 Scanning. This is the ability to locate facts quickly and to find answers to
specific questions. For example, you scan for information when you try to find a
phone number in a directory. Use scanning when you want to locate a specific
piece of information in a text.
 Skimming. When you skim, you are reading quickly by skipping details, minor
ideas, and examples. Skimming is best used when you are trying to determine if
the text is relevant to your study and, if so, which sections you need to read more
carefully. Whileskimming
o carefully read the introduction, conclusion, and abstract (if there is one),
o look at headings and sub-headings,
o look at diagrams, graphs, tables, images, and
o read the first and last sentences of each paragraph and sections which
present a summary or conclusion.
 Reading in Depth. When you have identified sections you need to read closely,
you need to not only understand the content but also ask questions such as: What
aspect of the topic is this writing addressing? Does the writer have a particular
point of view? How does the writer build that position?
 Lectura Académica Estratégica 3
Inglés - Nivel medio - 2020

 Reflecting. Time to reflect on read material is critical especially when you are
contrasting the ideas and opinions of others or when you are comparing your
own with those of others.

Irrespective of what reading strategy you use, you should take notes of what you have
read. Note-taking helps you write an assignment or study for an exam since it avoids you
having to re-read the original text to find the relevant information.

Work with the whole class now:

3. Complete the diagram below. Classify the concepts discussed so far according to which
moment of the reading process (anticipation, verification or internalization) you
associate them with. Remember that reading is NOT linear and the stages in the process
overlap.
 Lectura Académica Estratégica 4
Inglés - Nivel medio - 2020

4. Can you mention other strategies that can be used? Place them in the diagram.

5. Now, discuss which reading strategies you would use to answer the questions below
about the following 2 texts: “Reading critically” and “Reading Effectively”. Then answer
the questions.

a. Where were these texts taken from?

b. What genre / text type do they belong to?
c. What is the intended audience?
d. What purpose do they follow?
e. Design an OUTLINE to integrate and visualize the most important concepts
expressed in both texts. Share your productions with your companions. You might
be asked to upload them in the forum “Compartimos nuestros OUTLINES” in our
virtual classroom.

6. OUR VIRTUAL CLASSROOM: Visit our virtual classroom and post the answer to the
question below in the corresponding forum.

METACOGNITION:

How would the concepts dealt with in

this class help you with your current
university tasks and projects?

© 2020. Otero, A.M.A. Clase Introductoria - Lectura Académica Estratégica - Ingles Nivel Medio -
Cátedra de Inglés -Departamento de lenguas Modernas - Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - UBA

Esta obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución – No Comercial – Sin Obra Derivada 4.0
Internacional.
  

Reading effectively
Trying to balance comprehension with efficiency
Tertiary level reading is complex and demanding, so it’s
essential to develop strategies for reading effectively.
Surveying the text
Once you have established what you are reading and
Remember that comprehension, or the understanding of
why you are reading it, you might want to conduct a
difficult material, always takes time. Don’t get too
short survey of the text. At the tertiary level, you can
anxious if at the start of semester you only understand
expect to read textbooks, journal articles, reports and
around 60% of what you are reading. By immersing
case studies. The types of texts you will be required to
yourself in the subject matter through reading, listening
read will vary based on your faculty and field of study. A
in lectures and discussing in tutorials you will increase
survey of the text will give you a sense of how it is
your familiarity with new terms and concepts. This
structured, what content is covered, and what sections
means that your comprehension will improve.
you need to read in detail.
Comprehending a text accurately is the first step of the
Tips for surveying a text
reading process at tertiary level. Familiarising yourself
with reading strategies will not only improve your Surveying a book or journal article could take as little as
comprehension skills but also help you in meeting the 5 minutes depending on the length and your purpose for
demands and complexity of your courses and content. reading. The main purpose of the survey is to determine
how the text is organised; which sections you need to
Do not be fooled by commercial speed-reading courses. read in more detail; and which sections you can skim or
These courses tend to focus on making your eyes move even skip.
more quickly over the page. However, such training
takes time and practice, and does not necessarily make When surveying:
you think more quickly or improve your comprehension.  Use your research question or course outline to
In other words, as your speed increases, your prioritise the reading. Establish which sections
comprehension could decrease. should be read first and in what level of detail.
Instead, try to develop reading strategies like those
 Note the author, title, date and publisher
listed below to enable you to read efficiently and
effectively.  Check the table of contents or index for relevant
sections or pages
Finding a focus or purpose  Read the abstract if available
It is important to have a focus or purpose before you
 Read the introductory paragraph(s) or chapter for
begin reading. You are likely to read more efficiently if
relevant information
you have specific questions in mind before you begin to
read. Writing down some questions in your notebook  Read the conclusion
before you start reading will focus your mind, and give
you something to refer back to if you get distracted.  Skim through the text, looking at:
­ chapters, headings and subheadings
If you concentrate on your purpose for
reading both your speed and ­ diagrams / graphs / charts / illustrations and
their captions
comprehension could increase.
­ endnotes, appendices, list of references
Your tutorial and lecture guides may indicate questions
and critical issues to focus on. If you are reading for an  Skim read the first and last sentence in each
essay, brainstorming the essay topic with your friends paragraph, which most likely contain the main
should give you some questions to help you focus. points of the paragraph

Sometimes your teachers will give you a purpose for  Scan for particular facts and figures
reading a text. They might expect you to be critical of a
 If you are reading to answer questions, scan for the
text, to apply what you have read to another situation, or
answers by locating key words and reading the text
to compare one text to another. See the Academic Skills
around those key words.
flyer ‘Reading Critically’ for more about reading with
purpose.

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Tips for improving comprehension

Acquiring vocabulary
You can improve your comprehension and retention of
It is important when embarking on a new course or the material by making notes, making an outline, or
subject that you take careful note of the vocabulary drawing diagrams of the material as you read.
central to the discipline. It may be helpful to build a
system for learning new words. To read more easily:

Tips for learning new vocabulary  Put down your highlighter! Make notes in the
margin instead of highlighting. For example you can
 During pre-reading, look for frequently used, but
write a one-line summary of the paragraph, write
unfamiliar, words and expressions. Make a note of
follow-up questions, agree or protest or write down
them and look their meaning up before you re-read
keywords to help you recall an important point
the text.
 Teach what you learned to someone else. Trying
 A book index (or a glossary) can often help you find
to explain aloud what you have read will help your
definitions for the specialist terms it uses; or you
brain to transfer the knowledge from your short-
could use a subject-specific dictionary.
term to long term memory and you will have a
 Develop your own system to record these words, better understanding of what you do and do not
their meanings and the context in which they understand.
appear.
 Write a summary of a journal article or chapter in
 Try using the words in your writing and while your own words.
participating in lectures and tutorials.
 Use headings and important information to
make up questions about the text as you are
Engaging with the author reading. Try to answer these questions when you
An effective reader engages in an ‘active dialogue’ with have finished reading
the author. This means you should comment and
question the text in the same way you would in a Going beyond the prescribed
conversation. The Academic Skills Flyer Active Learning reading
offers other strategies to engage with your text.
Your course outline will sometimes list prescribed texts
Tips for engaging with the author
for your subject. These are texts that your teachers
Interacting with the author can keep your mind from expect you to read before lectures and tutorials i.e. your
wandering. It also allows for an active reading style by compulsory reading. By reading these texts you will
giving facts and ideas a purpose. The following tips will have a better understanding about what the lecturer is
give a purpose to your reading: talking about. Additionally, there are sometimes
 Think about what the author is really saying; what is recommended or supplementary texts. Theses texts are
the underlying message? optional and are meant to enrich your understanding of
the subject.
 Criticise or question the authors’ ideas
However, if the theoretical perspectives or key concepts
 Check that the author is correct; cross reference ideas on which the material is based are unfamiliar, you may
need to explore some of the references that the
 Relate what the author is saying to your own writer(s) cites in the text and at the end of the
experience paper/book. Alternatively, you may need go back to a
Example: Author: Your reading speed is adjustable – more basic textbook which explains them.
you can change your speed to suit your purpose.
Reader: Is this true? It could be the author’s opinion.
Although it is true for me, it may not be for everyone. I Works Cited
don’t read every word in the newspaper. In fact, I read Marshall, L., & Rowland, F. (1998). A guide to learning
newspapers quickly and textbooks at a slow and steady independently (3rd ed.), Melbourne: Addison Wesley
speed. Longman.

Improving comprehension McGraw for Undergraduates (2008). Active reading

strategies. Retrieved July 14, 2011 from
A text may be difficult because it uses a structure that is http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-
unfamiliar to you, draws on technical vocabulary that you students/remember-reading/.
have not yet acquired, or addresses abstract concepts
and ideas that are new to you. This is going to happen Further Resources
especially when reading a complex text. Using
Active Reading Comprehension and Rate (2011)
strategies to overcome complex texts can improve your
Retrieved July 14, 2011 from
ability to comprehend and recall what you have read.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/reading.html

 
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Reading critically
Ways to develop your critical reading skills
What is critical thinking? Find out about the author
Find out what work the author does, what else they have
Critical thinking is the central intellectual skill that a
published and how widely cited they are by others in the
tertiary education seeks to develop in students. It
field.
involves taking an attitude of ‘reflective skepticism’
(McPeck, 1981) towards information and ideas. This This information may point to the author’s purpose, the
means thinking deeply about the ideas you encounter in audience they typically write for, who they typically
readings, lectures other course material and questioning collaborate with in research, and their ideological
their validity or reasonableness. orientation or conceptual framework.
Note the publication date
Knowing when the author is writing in relation to other
‘Critical’ in this context does not mean scholars in the field can help you better understand their
looking for mistakes and weaknesses. It perspective. Furthermore, the author’s thinking and
preoccupations may be influenced by the broader
means analysing and evaluating historical context in which they are writing.
somebody’s ideas and arguments.
If the text is ‘old’ (i.e. more than a decade or so) ask
yourself whether you should find a more recent resource.
Note the publication format, e.g. book, journal article
What is critical reading? etc.
Critical reading means applying critical thinking to a In an edited book that is a collection of articles on a
written text, by analysing and evaluating what you read. particular topic, the editor’s introduction may provide a
useful summary of each article, some background on the
An important foundation for critically evaluating a text is authors and the overall theoretical and research context
trying to understand the writer’s ideas and arguments as of the volume.
it’s difficult to evaluate something you don’t understand!
You should then seek to identify the strengths and Be aware that certain journals in each discipline are
limitations in the author’s argument and evidence, and to considered important, and are often associated with
challenge any assumptions the author might have made. particular theoretical approaches.

The following strategies will help you develop your

critical reading skills:
2. Reading the text
As you read, develop the habit of asking and answering
1. Previewing the text questions. The following questions, adapted from
Marshall and Rowland (2006, p.152) could provide a
Quickly looking over the whole text will help you to build useful approach:
your understanding of the context in which it was
written. This will help you to read more critically. The author’s purpose
 Why has the author written the material? Are these
Understand the disciplinary context:
purposes explicitly stated? Are there other implicit
Be aware that authors present their ideas in the context purposes?
of a specific discipline. This will influence their overall
perspective, their conceptual framework, the way in  For whom is the material intended?
which they present their evidence and how this evidence The author’s approach
might be used to support an argument. For example,
approaches and assumptions used in medical research  What theoretical perspective has the author taken?
might not be appropriate in a History or Sociology paper, How does this perspective relate to other material in
and vice-versa. the field?
 What are the author’s underlying assumptions? Are
these explicitly stated?

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 What information is given about the sample (the

 Is there any evidence of bias in the interpretation of people or materials selected for study)?
material or in the choice of sources and information?
(identifying emotional language can help to detect  Were the data collection and analysis methods
this.) appropriate?

Content  What was measured?

 What is the nature of the content? For example, is  What were the results?
the author presenting information, reporting on some
 What do the authors conclude?
research or putting forward an argument?
 Can you accept their findings as true?
 If an argument, what is the author’s thesis (the
statement or proposition that they are arguing)? How  Can you apply their findings to your own work?
do they develop the thesis? What evidence,
examples or explanations are used to support the  What if different studies have contradictory results?
thesis?
 Which aspects of the topic has the author chosen to
concentrate on? Which aspects have been left out? 3. Developing your own view
 Are there alternative explanations for the material or Your own knowledge and experience can help you to
data presented? Has the author addressed these critique a text. Do the ideas and arguments make sense
alternative explanations? in terms of your own experience and knowledge? Does
the text lead you to question your own assumptions and
 If there are any visual or graphic materials (e.g. prejudices?
images or charts), how are these linked with the
written text? Ideas presented in lectures and from other course
readings will also help you develop your thinking in
 Which of your own questions about the subject topic relation to a text. These offer points of view that you can
does the author answer? Which are not answered? use to help you evaluate the text.
 Do any items puzzle or intrigue you? Comparing authors with different points of view on the
same topic can also help you to identify their ideological
Structure
frameworks and their assumptions. Can the assumptions
 Is a clear, logical framework used to organise the each author makes be challenged? Why and how are
material? these writers interpreting the same events, data or
 How does the author introduce the argument? How is evidence differently?
the supporting material organised and developed If you are having difficulty identifying the argument
within the framework? and/or finding things to say about the text, try discussing
the text with friends, with classmates in tutorials and
 Does the author recapitulate what has been said at
with anyone else who might be interested. Discussion
appropriate points?
can generate ideas and help you clarify your thinking.
Style and format
 In what style has the material been written? For
example, formal/informal, descriptive critical, didactic, Works Cited
persuasive, narrative or analytical? McPeck, J. E. (1981). Critical thinking and education. Oxford, UK:
 How does the style and format influence your own Martin Robertson.
Marshall, L., & Rowland, F. (2006). A guide to learning
reaction to the material?
independently (4th ed.). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education
(Source: Adapted from Marshall & Rowland, 2006, p.152) Australia.

Note that not all of these questions will be relevant to all Further Resources
your reading; you also need to keep your own purpose in Cottrell, S. (2005). Critical thinking skills: developing effective
mind. Nevertheless, reading for assignments, lectures, analysis. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
and tutorials always requires some level of critical Kurland, D. (2010). Dan Kurland's www.criticalreading.com.
analysis. Retrieved from http://www.criticalreading.com
Research-based articles Gillett, A. (2012). Using English for academic purposes: a guide
Research articles are typically structured in a particular for students in higher education. Retrieved from
http://www.uefap.com/reading/readfram.htm
way (Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion). In
addition to the above types of questions, the following
questions are useful:
 What were the authors trying to discover?
 Why is the research important?

 
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