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Strategies To Improve Reading Skill

The document provides 7 strategies for improving reading skills: [1] purposeful reading, [2] scanning, [3] skimming, [4] marking texts, [5] note-taking, [6] managing vocabulary, and [7] reading with others. It then provides 4 strategies for improving writing skills: [1] reading as much as possible to improve grammar, vocabulary, and structure, [2] brushing up on grammar, [3] learning to write outlines, and [4] having others review written work. In conclusion, the document acknowledges that reading and writing at a university level is difficult but can become enjoyable with time and effort.

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Tri Kurniawati Marjadianto
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204 views

Strategies To Improve Reading Skill

The document provides 7 strategies for improving reading skills: [1] purposeful reading, [2] scanning, [3] skimming, [4] marking texts, [5] note-taking, [6] managing vocabulary, and [7] reading with others. It then provides 4 strategies for improving writing skills: [1] reading as much as possible to improve grammar, vocabulary, and structure, [2] brushing up on grammar, [3] learning to write outlines, and [4] having others review written work. In conclusion, the document acknowledges that reading and writing at a university level is difficult but can become enjoyable with time and effort.

Uploaded by

Tri Kurniawati Marjadianto
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Strategies to improve reading skill

Reading strategy 1: purposeful reading


If you tend to begin reading like this: “I need to read Chapter 6 – here it goes! …”, you
may need to rethink your approach. Specifically, you will need to create a purpose for
reading. You can create this purpose if you:

Refer to:
• assessment tasks
• lecture slides
• tutorial questions
• textbook questions

Create:
• questions based on lectures or tutorials
• questions based on a skim of the text
• (contents, headings, subheadings, diagrams, introductions, etc)

Consider:
• what you already know
• related knowledge or experiences

Purposeful reading of this nature can help you read faster and more selectively. It can
also help your concentration and your ability to remember.

Reading strategy 2: scanning


Scanning is reading quickly to search for specific information. You may not realise it, but
you are already good at scanning. You scan, for example, when checking a TV guide
or a phone book. Scanning may allow you to ‘read’ up to 1,500 words a minute.

One reason to scan an academic text that you have found while researching is to
locate key terms as a means to assess the text’s relevance.
Reading strategy 3: skimming
Skimming is reading quickly to gain a general idea. Skimming may allow you to ‘read’
up to 1000 words a minute.

Skimming helps you identify whether or not to continue reading, what to read carefully,
and where the best place is to begin. Skimming an academic text immediately before
you read it carefully can help you consider what you already know and can help
you develop a purpose for reading. An initial skim can also help maximise your interest
in the text and your understanding and reflection on the material.

As with scanning, skimming does not involve reading every word. Instead, you may
skim by reading:

• titles
• subheadings
• words in that are in bold, in italics or underlined
• diagrams
• a report’s abstract, introduction or conclusion
• the first sentence of every paragraph
• chapter questions
• chapter objectives
• chapter summaries

Reading strategy 4: marking the text


If the text you are reading is your own copy, you could also underline key words,
highlight with a marker, or make notes in margins, or alternatively, if you don’t own
the text, you could use little ‘post-it’ labels.

This process of marking texts can help you concentrate (and keep reading!) and can
help you identify key points and make the book easier to survey later when you need to
use it again for your assignment or to revise for an exam. revise effectively later

Reading strategy 5: note-taking


If you don’t take notes well, or don’t take them at all, now is the time to develop this
essential skill! Note-taking can help you gain deeper understanding and reflection, a
better ability to remember and good exam preparation materials for later.

When taking notes, pay keep in mind the following 7 principles:

1.Record publication details


Always note publication details of any text you may use. Specifically, record such
things as the title, author, date, publisher, place of publication, URL, and page
numbers.

2.Preview the text before you take notes


As mentioned earlier, scan, skim and ‘surface read’ the text before noting to help
you develop understanding of the text and awareness of what is important to note.
Taking notes of everything is a slow, boring, ineffective exercise.

3.Maintain a central place for your notes.


Where record your notes is up to you. Some people prefer using a computer, while
others use flash cards, folders, or exercise books. What is important is that you will
Reading strategy 6: managing vocabulary
Even if you are a native English speaker, you may at times feel overwhelmed by the
amount of unfamiliar vocabulary you encounter. Of course, as a university student, you
have a great opportunity and need to build you vocabulary (discipline specific and
general), so consult glossaries and use a dictionary. Keep a list of new words: record
their definitions and write example sentences which show meaning and usage.

When using your dictionary, be discerning. Know which words can be ignored, and see
if it is possible to guess the meanings of words. You may be able do this if you:
1. Guess using context:
The patient suffered from respiratory ailments, skin problems, anacritis, and hypertension

What could anacritis mean? (NB. Not a real word!)

2. Guess using prefixes, suffixes and word stems


• Antichocoflavourism
• Aquaengineacousticology

What could these words mean? (NB. Not real words!)

Reading strategy 7: reading with others


Consider getting a “study buddy” or study group. Be careful to keep focussed on what
you need to do and you may find that by sharing notes, explaining, asking and quizzing
each other, you can increase you ability to understand, reflect upon and remember
key points in texts.
B. Strategies to improve writing skill
1. Read as much as you can
Just as we say that listening is closely related to speaking, reading is closely related to writing so
our number 1 tip for improving your English writing would be to read as much as you can!
This will help you improve your vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and show you there
are many different ways to communicate ideas. For example: If you need to write a description
of a house or a bio of yourself, a great idea is to read some other bios or house descriptions,
from books, magazines, brochures, the internet or whatever source you can think of. After
having read others, then you can attempt to write your own. You’ll realize it’s much easier than
trying to write without any previous input!
2. Brush up your grammar
Even though you don’t have to “study” grammar, your English writing will improve a lot if you
work on grammar exercises. Also, remember that grammar is more important when you write
than when you speak because it is usually more formal and more structured.
Learn how to organize a paragraph
An useful way to improve your English writing skills is to start your paragraphs with a topic
sentence: i.e. a sentence that explains what you are going to write about. Continue with
supporting sentences: i.e. sentences that provide more information about the topic. Finish with
a conclusion: i.e. it is generally a summary of the ideas developed in the body of the paragraph.
Learn how to make transitions between paragraphs to signal relationships between ideas so as
to create a fluent body of text.
3. Write an outline
Even in a very simple piece of English writing you have to keep some kind of an organization to
convey the message you want in a clear orderly way. There are many different ways to write
outlines and these have much to do with the way you organize things in your mind.
4. Try to get someone to read what you’ve written
A teacher, a tutor, a native speaker: whoever masters the language and can help you understand
and correct whatever mistakes you may have made both in grammar or spelling and in the way
your paragraph text has been organized.
Writing in English is not really something you can achieve immediately, but with hard, efficient
work and gradual improvement you should definitely get there. Start writing very simple
sentences and then get the challenge to write more elaborate pieces. Just give it a try!

Finally
Reading and writing at university level is difficult!

However, if you put in the time and effort you may start to enjoy the challenge!

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