Passage Comprehension

Reading Techniques
 Reading Techniques
• There are several types of reading techniques.
• These several types may occur in the classroom
(reading techniques may also occur in
combination).
• For example:
A. Oral
B. Silent
I. Intensive
II. Extensive
a. skimming
b. scanning
 Intensive Reading
 Brown (1989) – intensive reading "calls attention
to grammatical forms, discourse markers, and
other surface structure details for the purpose of
understanding literal meaning, implications,
rhetorical relationships, and the like."

 “zoom lens” strategy.

 Also called ‘narrow reading’.

 Intensive Reading- Characteristics
• usually classroom based
• reader is intensely involved in looking inside the text
• students focus on linguistic or semantic details of a reading
• students focus on surface structure details such as
grammar
• students identify key vocabulary
• students may draw pictures to aid them (such as in problem
solving)
• texts are read carefully and thoroughly, again and again
• aim is to build more language knowledge rather than
simply practice the skill of reading
• seen more commonly than extensive reading in classrooms
 Extensive Reading
• Brown (1989) – extensive reading is carried
out "to achieve a general understanding of a
text."
• Long and Richards - extensive reading as
"occurring when students read large amounts
of high interest material, usually out of class,
concentrating on meaning, "reading for gist"
and skipping unknown words."
 Extensive Reading- Characteristics
• Students read as much as possible.

• A variety of materials on a range of topics is available.

• The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure,

information and general understanding.

• Reading materials are well within the linguistic competence of

the students in terms of vocabulary and grammar.

• Reading is individual and silent.

• Reading speed is usually faster than slower.

 Scanning
• Scanning is a quick reading, focusing on
locating specific information.
• Scanning involves quick eye movements, not
necessarily linear in fashion, in which the eyes
wander until the reader finds the piece of
information needed.
• Scanning is used when a specific piece of
information is required, such as a name, date,
symbol, formula, or phrase, is required.
 Scanning
• Scanning is used often with technical,
scientific or professional materials to locate
specific information.
• Scanning is a valuable skill for second
language learners to develop because often
they do not require a detailed read of a text.
• There are many everyday uses for scanning,
relevant to a purpose, such as reading a
schedule.
 Scanning – Get only what you need.

• Scanning is rapidly running your eyes over

the text in order to locate specific details.
Three steps to scanning include:
Less reading
search for key move quickly
and more
words over the page
searching
 SCANNING
Search for specific information ( key words )

Particular Name Number

Telephone Number Program

Date
Now let’s scan for the info we selected.
In recent years, evidence has been collected which suggests
that the proportion of British children and teenagers who are
unhappy is higher than that in many other developed countries
around the world. For example, a recently published report set
out to measure ‘ well-being’ among young people in nineteen
European countries, found that the United Kingdom came at
the bottom of the list. The report was based on statistics and
surveys in which young people answered questions on a wide
range of subject. The United Kingdom is a relatively unequal
country with a relatively high proportion of young people living
in households. With less than half the national average
income. This seems to have a negative effect on how they feel
about themselves.
How many European countries are in mentioned in the report?
Nineteen
 Skimming

Skimming is a quick reading to get to know the

general meaning of a passage, to know how the
passage is organized, that is, the structure of
the text, and to get an idea of the intention of
the writer.
 When skimming
• Don’t read everything.
• Read the introduction and the summary.
• Read the first and the last line of all the
paragraphs.
• Read a few examples until you understand the
concepts.
 How to skim

First step
Second step
Read the
title Third step
Read the
subtitle and Fourth step
the Fifth Step
introduction Read the Notice any
first pictures, Read the
sentences of charts / summary /
all the graphics last
paragraphs
paragraph to
know the
conclusions/
result.
 Skimming
Choose a heading that best matches the upcoming
paragraph. Remember to underline your key words.

• Parents are to blame for the state of children today.

• A report with many conclusions and worries about the
United Kingdom.
• Growing up unhappy generation.
• There are so many social problems young people face
today.
In recent years, evidence has been collected which suggests
that the proportion of British children and teenagers who are
unhappy is higher than that in many other developed
countries around the world. For example, a recently published
report set out to measure ‘well-being’ among young people in
nineteen European countries, found that the United Kingdom
came at the bottom of the list. The report was based on
statistics and surveys in which young people answered
questions on a wide range of subject. The United Kingdom is a
relatively unequal country with a relatively high proportion of
young people living in households. With less than half the
national average income. This seems to have a negative effect
on how they feel about themselves.
So what’s our answer?
 Choose the heading that best matches the previous paragraph.

a. Parents are to blame for the state of children today

b. A report with many conclusions and worries about the United Kingdom
c. Growing up unhappy generation
d. There are so many social problems young people face today
 Use Skimming
• When reading with some general
question in mind.
• In making decisions on how to
approach a text.
• Skimming is used to build student
confidence and an understanding that
it is possible to gain meaning without
reading every word in a text.
 Skimming and Scanning
Skimming
Skimming involves a thorough
overview of a text and implies
a reading competence.
Scanning
Scanning is more a limited
activity, only retrieving
information relevant to a
purpose.
 Task- Choose which of these reading
skills would you use: Intensive,
extensive, scanning, skimming
1. To get the general news of the day from the
newspaper.
2. Business and travel brochures (to get quick
information).
3. A conference guide.
 Contd…
4. Magazines (to discover which articles you would
like to read in detail).
5. A train schedule.
6. Magazine articles that interest you.
7. An insurance claim.
8. A contract.
9. A novel you read before going to bed.
 Answers
1. Skimming
2. Skimming
3. Scanning
4. Skimming
5. Scanning
6. Extensive reading
7. Intensive reading
8. Intensive reading
9. Extensive reading
 Developing Reading Skills
• Employ different reading techniques- skimming,
scanning, intensive and extensive reading
techniques, survey- question-read- recite-review
techniques.
• Understand the author’s point of view-
– Identify the primary purpose.
– Identify the areas- author’s agreement/ disagreement.
– Identify the author’s tone.
– Identify the author’s style of presentation.
– Identify the different examples that the author brings
out and try to establish the undercurrent implied.
 Developing Reading Skills
• Identify the central idea-
– Never read a passage in a laid-back manner.
– Carefully read the beginning and the end of the
paragraph- look for introducers, developers and
terminators.
– Predict and anticipate certain views.
– Pay careful attention to each of the linkers and
establish their function.
– Think about a suitable title and make an effort to
determine its tone as well.
 Developing Reading Skills
• Inferring lexical and contextual meaning.
• Employing discourse analysis -
– Inferring the style of the write-up: factual,
analytical, descriptive, informative, abstract etc.
– Analyzing the tone of the author: subjective,
objective, detached, aloof, mater-of-fact,
reverential, eulogizing, critical, sarcastic,
humourous etc.
– Knowing the use of symbols, imagery and figures
of speech.