Foundation in Arts/Science

UCS1713 ENGLISH I

CHAPTER 1: APPROACHES TO READING ACADEMIC TEXTS

1. What is an academic text?

 Academic text is a text that is specifically written for use by college instructors
or students, or it is a text your instructor has assigned because of its usefulness
in your college course.
 Usually academic text has one central theme and every part contributes to the
main point.
 Academic text answers a specific question, or questions, using a set of well-
structured, logical arguments.
 The arguments are often based on research carried out by the writer or other
researchers.
 Academic text is relatively formal. Therefore, the language used must be
precise and accurate. It must be in the standard written form of the language.
 The diagram below indicates the different types of academic texts:

1. Article

7.
Conference 2. Essay
Paper

TYPES OF
ACADEMIC
TEXTS
6.
3. Report
Dissertation

5. Thesis 4. Review

 It is important to know the different types of academic texts because different

types of academic texts are meant for different purposes and they are also
written in different ways.
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 The text shown below is an example of academic text:

Growing old involves a slowing down of most biological processes (Grayson,

1993). Some researchers have assumed that there is a parallel decrement in
intellectual function (Choun, 1992). Specifically, intelligence has been thought
to 'decline progressively after reaching a peak somewhere between the ages
of 18 and 25' (Westerman, 1993, p. 135). This assumption has been supported
by research using a cross-sectional methodology (Jones & Conway, 1988). In
contrast, studies adopting a longitudinal methodology have shown a less
pronounced rate of decline (Owen, 1995). The present essay discusses why
different methodologies can produce different results. It supports the use of a
cross-sequential method (Shalley, 1994): one which reveals little or no decline
with age, and also avoids certain problems associated with other methods.

2. The skills of participation and prediction

 Participation
The skill of participation involves three steps: reading actively, non-verbal
language and writing reviews.

1. Reading
actively

2. Non-verbal
language

3. Writing
reviews

PARTICIPATION
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1. Active reading/Reading actively

 Definition: Responding to a text and being an active participant in the
reading process.
 Can help a person to become better reader.
 Can lead to a better understanding of the topic and help to find the
main idea.
 Involves a lot of books.
 Involves active reading with an open mind.
 How to read actively?
I. Using stationery – pen or highlighter can be used to highlight key
points, vocabularies, topic sentences and supporting details in the
texts.
II. Lists down queries.
III. Summarizes the main idea.

2. Non-Verbal Languages
 Facial Expression
I. A gesture executed with the facial muscles.
II. The feelings expressed on a person's face; "a sad expression"; "a
look of triumph"; and "an angry face".
III. The diagram below shows several examples of facial expression:

Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/facial+expression
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 Body language
I. Silent (non-verbal) messages communicated through the sender's
body movements.
II. The diagram below shows several examples of body language:

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/body-language.html

3. Writing reviews
 Definition for review: An overview of a text.
 Includes discussions in the text, authors’ theories and hypotheses.
 Usually done in written form.
 An effective review must:
I. Have short, compact and precise sentences.
II. Avoid incomplete statements.
III. Keep everything short and simple.
IV. Use appropriate punctuations.

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STRATEGIES TO EFFECTIVE
1 Participate actively.

PARTICIPATION
2 Agree, disagree.
a

3 Ask questions, probe, clarify.

4 Respond to questions.

1. Participate actively
 Getting students to be more involved and active in the classroom.
 This is a very crucial element for learning.
 Learning process will be more effective and information can be
retained longer.
 Strategies to encourage participation are listed as below:
A. Graded participation
 Marks are given upon participation.

B. Incorporating ideas and experience into discussion

 Include real life examples.
 Students can benefit from experiences.

C. Active facilitation
 Challenge a student or individual to answer.
 Always ensure a student or individual does not dominate a
discussion.

D. Asking effective questions

 Questions must be relevant to the topic being discussed.

E. Supportive classroom environment

 Should not laugh or make unfriendly remarks.

F. Affirm contributions and provide constructive feedbacks

 Acknowledge contributors.
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2. Agreeing and disagreeing

 When someone is wrong about something, you may disagree.
 When someone is right about something, you may agree.
 Students are encouraged to use polite English.
 Below are few examples of terms that can be used in agreeing and
disagreeing:

AGREEING DISAGREEING
I couldn’t agree with you more I don’t think so
That’s so true No way
You’re absolutely right I beg to differ
Exactly Not necessarily
There is no doubt about it That’s not always true
Me neither That’s not always the case
You have a point there. No, I’m not so sure about that

3. Ask questions, probe, clarify

 While studying, make a list of questions.
 General strategies for asking questions:
I. When planning questions, keep in mind your goals.
For example: Do you want students to master core concepts?
Do you develop critical thinking skills?
II. Ask one question at one time.
III. Avoid asking “leading” questions.
A leading question suggests its own answer, therefore,
discourages students from thinking on their own.
Example of leading question: Were you at KFC last night?
IV. Use “yes-no” question for confirmation.
V. Aim for direct, clear and specific question.
Avoid too many questions in one sentence. Questions should be
easily understood.

 Reasons for asking questions:

I. To actively involve students in the lesson.
II. To increase motivation or interest.
III. To evaluate students.
IV. To develop critical thinking skills.
V. To review previous lessons.
VI. To stimulate independent learning.
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4. Respond to questions
 Often used in teaching and learning process.
 Able to direct an individual to the next step.
 Steps to effective responding:
I. Step 1: Listen
Listen for best responses.
II. Step 2: Understand
Clarify the area of enquiry before going any further.
III. Step 3: Communicate and involve
To get the audience interested and engaged, get them to
involve in the discussion via active participation.
IV. Step 4: Respond
Keep the response as focused as possible for clearer answer.

 Prediction
 Involves thinking ahead of reading (pre-reading activities), anticipating
information and events, etc.
 Usually a hypothesis or purpose is generated to meet expectation.
 An accurate prediction will lead to effective understanding.
 When we predict in reading, we use information from a text including
titles, headings, pictures, and diagrams together with our personal
experiences.
 A prediction usually start with “If”
For example: If she manages to score “A” for his English test, perhaps I
will buy her a new laptop.
 How does the skill of predicting help students?
I. Making predictions keeps students actively engaged in the
reading process.
II. Being engaged promotes comprehension as it prompts active
and critical thinking.
III. Constantly thinking about predictions for confirmation
motivates the readers to be more focused.
 What happens during prediction?
I. Readers always search for clues.
II. Prior knowledge is used to make inferences.
III. Readers constantly think about their predictions to confirm or
revise them.
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 Stages of prediction in reading:

2. DURING •Confirm predictions,

questions, thoughts via
•Questions are asked READING discussion, writing and
and predictions are retelling.
made. •Validation of connections
•Constant questioning,
•Reason: To set the justifying and predicting. about what it meant to
purpose for reading and them and what it meant to
•An excellent strategy for
to activate prior the writer may be done.
teachers to use is the
knowledge. •Able to develop writing
“Think Aloud.”
styles.
1. BEFORE •Allows reflection and
READING connection.

3. AFTER
3. Pre-reading activities
READING
A. What are pre-reading activities?
 According to Smith and Ragan (2005), pre-reading activities are effective
because in order for information to be meaningful, it must be integrated with
or related to prior knowledge.
 According to Mayer (1994), pre-reading activities are able to demonstrate
facilitative effects of activating reader’s prior knowledge relevant to
understanding of the new text.
 According to Hansen (1981), pre-reading activities prepare the audience for the
concepts that follow. It also helps to make reading task easier by connecting new
concepts more meaningfully to prior knowledge. Pre-reading activities make reading
a more enjoyable task.
 Pre-reading activities refer to any classroom activity conducted before lessons.
 It brings background knowledge to connect with the new information.
 Pre-reading questioning activities can stimulate the learners’ use of their
schema.

B. What do pre-reading activities do?

 Provides an overview.
 Increases reading speed and efficiency.
 Involves looking at titles, chapter introductions, summaries, headings,
subheadings, study questions and conclusions.

C. Purpose of pre-reading activities:

 Introduction to a larger theme, conflict, concept, historical concept, etc.
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 Allows general sense of what a text is about and how it is organized.

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 Vital links between existing knowledge and new information.

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D. Types of pre-reading activities.

1. Word
Association
9.
2. Discussion
Wordsmithing

8. Problem-
TYPES OF 3. Text
solving PRE- Surveys

READING
7. Pre-
ACTIVITIES
4. Previewing
planning

6.
5. Knowledge
Anticipation
Ratings
Guides

1. Word Association
 Word association tasks generally involve stimulation.
 As many as possible ideas regarding the subject are given.
 Suggestions are written on the board for mind-mapping.

2. Discussion
 Able to activate what students know through the exchange of information.
 Enhances the knowledge of the subject.
 Celce-Murcia (1991) – discussion can be initiated by asking questions about the
content of the text.
 Nuttal (1982) – discussion promotes critical thinking that good readers use. Group
work is effective because in groups, even weaker students should be active and
learning.

3. Text Survey
 Used with longer stretches of discourse, such as chapter from a textbook
 Purpose – to quickly determine the structure of the text and to identify the key
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4. Previewing
 Recall necessary concepts and processes.
 Connect previous knowledge with new knowledge.
 Approach the new content with curiosity and interest.
 Guidelines for previewing a text:
I. Read the main heading.
II. Check if the passage is divided into parts.
III. Read the first few sentences.
IV. Read the first sentence of each paragraph after that.
V. Read the final sentences of the passage.

5. Knowledge Ratings
 Blachowicz (1986) – charts that require the student to assess their prior
knowledge are called knowledge ratings.
 A list of concepts or topics to survey prior knowledge is distributed before reading.
 Purpose of knowledge ratings:
I. Make study plans.
II. Observe problem areas and gaps in learning for students.

6. Anticipation Guides
 Herber (1978) – anticipation guides are lists of statements that challenge an
individual to explore their knowledge of concepts prior to reading.
 The individual will be asked to agree or disagree with a few statements.
 Then, he or she will read the text and determines whether the text or author
agrees with each statement.

7. Pre-planning
 Langer (1981) – a large-group brainstorming activity.
 Key concepts of a text will be given prior to brainstorming.
 Purpose of pre-planning:
I. Activate prior knowledge.
II. Hear and reflect on peers’ ideas.
III. Clarify, refine and enlarge knowledge.

8. Problem-Solving
 The process of resolving the confusion or mystery of an unfamiliar situation.
 Ensure better understanding.
 Place more focus on the understanding phase of problem solving.
 Build confidence in an individual’s problem-solving skill.

9. Wordsmithing
 Wordsmith – a person who coins new words.
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 Students actively search for new words and consider what the words mean.
 Encourage students to learn new words.
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 Ensure students become good at defining terms in their own words.

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4. Analyzing
A. What is analyzing?
 Analyzing is the process of breaking down of something into its component
parts. When that something is an academic text, the reader is examining
different aspects of the academic text.
 When analyzing an academic text, you tend to ask different questions about it
so that you can offer an interpretation of the academic text.
Source: http://www.panix.com/~squigle/dcp/analysis.html

B. Why we need to analyze an academic text?

 To give a closer reading of the academic text.
 To bring background to bear upon the text. (For instance, if you know
something about the author, you can understand the text in a deeper way; if
you know something about the type of text it is, you can understand the text
in a deeper way.)
 To compare with other texts.
Source: http://www.panix.com/~squigle/dcp/analysis.html

C. The steps in analyzing an academic text:

D.
3. Read the essay or
2. Quickly read through
1. Have a pen in hand. chapter again, noting
the essay or chapter.
key points.

4. Annotate in the
6. Read for evidence and 5. Outline the structure
margins or take notes of
credibility. of the essay or chapter.
important information.

9. Identify the audience

7. Distinguish
1. between 8. Look for concessions
and purpose of the
facts
2. and opinions. to other points of view.
reading.
3.
4.
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1. Have a pen in hand.

 You need a pen to underline difficult words and important information in the
reading.
 You may want to take notes, so have your pen handy.
 Pencil will fade with time and wear, so pen is the best.

2. Quickly read through the essay or chapter.

 Quickly read over the essay or chapter and underline the difficult words.
 Quickly read over the text will give you some sense of the main idea and
structure of the reading.
 Once you have finish reading the text, look up the difficult words that you have
underlined and write the definitions in the margins where the word appears
or in your notes.

3. Read the essay or chapter again, noting key points.

 At this stage of reading, plan to go through the essay or chapter more slowly,
paying attention to the major points.

4. Annotate in the margins or take notes of important information.

 If you own the book, annotate any important passages in the margins,
indicating the major points, points that you agree or disagree with, and
examples or details that you find interesting.
 Make your own system of annotating and make a legend of your marks in front
or back cover of the book for future reference.
 You might use one star for fairly important information, two stars for major
points, and smiley faces for amusing and interesting statements or examples.
 If the book belongs to the library, you can take notes and indicate your
comments in the margins of your page. Remember to write in your notes the
page number where the information is found.

5. Outline the structure of the essay or chapter.

 In your notes, write down the major points of the reading.
 Look for topic sentences that indicate major points and you may also want to
note the type of examples or details that author uses to support major points.
 If you own the book or have a photocopy of an article/essay, you may also
want to mark where the main points occur.

6. Read for evidence and credibility.

 An author is credible if his or her claims are supported by sufficient and
accurate evidence.
 Always consider how the author supports claims by asking several questions
such as:
I. Does the author support claims with such data as statistics,
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observations, or personal information?

II. Does the author offer sufficient and accurate data?
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III. Does the author indicate how the data was obtained?

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7. Distinguish between facts and opinions.

 Make a note of the statements of facts (reliable information that can be
verified) and statements that are opinions (judgements or inferences).
 You will learn more about separating facts and opinions in the following
chapter.

8. Look for concessions to other points of view.

 If the author is arguing for a particular position, look for indications that other
points of view are valid.
 A good argument acknowledges other perspectives.
 If the author does acknowledge other points of view, note how the author
treats or portrays the opposition.

9. Identify the audience and purpose of the reading.

 The purpose of the essay or chapter may be to explain, instruct, persuade or
convince.
 To discover the purpose of the reading, consider how the author presents
information.
I. Is the author arguing a position or merely offering information about a
subject?
II. Is the author trying to move the audience to action or merely trying to
convince them?
III. Is the author instructing the audience about how to perform a task or
explaining a concept?

Source: http://www.harbrace6e.nelson.com/read.html

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