Unit I:

Reading
and
Thinking Strategies
Across Text Types
 Reading and Critical
Thinking Skills

• SHS students or the 21 Century Learners:

s t

face more challenges than before; and

bombarded with information brought by social media
platforms and the Internet.

Thus, the ability to select, discern and make sense of the

information overload characteristic becomes vitally important.

As a critical reader, you must know how to ANALYSE, ASSESS,

and DECIDE on whether the information is believable or not.

In the end, you must be able to evaluate the worth of reading

material, both from print and internet sources.
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Recognize a written text as
connected discourse.
• Describe why a specific written
text is a good sample of
connected discourse.
Do not English me if you cannot know
how.

Simple English you cannot

afford? How can you graduation?
LESSON I
TEXT AS CONNECTED DISCOURSE
(Collins & Hollo, 2000)
• TEXT is defined in linguistics as “a stretch
of language which is perceived as
purposeful connected whole.”
• A text may be spoken or written, produced
by one person or more, and is created by
text-internal cohesion & text-external
coherence.
• Some linguists use the term
interchangeably with discourse.
A TEXT is generally considered as
written material, especially longer
pieces of writing as in a book, a letter,
or a newspaper.
 QUALITIES OF TEXT
by: Jorgensen and Phillips

The parts are connected

1. COHESION
The overall text has meaning
2. COHERENCE
3. INTENTIONALITY The writer’s attitude and
purpose can be discerned.
4. ACCEPTABILITY
5. SITUATIONALITY The text is recognized.
6. INTERTEXTUALITY There is a quantity of new or
expected info.
The text’s topic is
situationally and culturally
appropriate.
Written text is described as
written discourse, especially when
a simple analysis of it reveals that
it is connected discourse.
e.g.
it uses cohesive devices, connectives,
conjunctions, and repetitions.
 WT is CONNECTED DISCOURSE when:
1. Its ideas are linked logically.

Some steps to make a logical division of idea

paragraph:
a. Begin a logical division of paragraph with a topic
sentence.
b. In the supporting sentences, discuss each point
one after the other.
c. Introduce each new point with a signal word or
phrase.
d. In addition, support each point with a convincing
detail such as an example or a statistic (number,
amounts, percentages, etc.)
e. Finally, end a logical division paragraph with a
concluding sentence.
 Connectives for listing arguments
• FIRSTLY
This can be used for the first supporting argument

• SECONDLY, FURTHERMORE, MOREOVER, IN ADDITION

These can be used for any further supporting arguments
(except, of course, for “Secondly” which can only be used
for the second.

• FINALLY
This can be used for the last supporting argument.
Note: This is not a concluding connective and also you can
use “Furthermore,” “Moreover,” or “In addition” for the last
argument if you wish.
 CONCLUDING CONNECTIVES
• IN CONCLUSION
• IN SUMMARY
• THUS

These are all carry roughly the same

meaning. They should be used to indicate
that you are making final statements that
cover all the supporting arguments in a very
general way.
• In fact/Indeed

These two connectives have almost the same

meaning an both can be used in the following
situations:

1.To connect a more detailed statement with a

preceding general statement

ex:Today is very warm. In fact (or indeed) it is 35

degrees Celsius.

2.To connect a statement which is more factual and

exact with a preceding statement that is more
debatable and general.

ex:The internet is very popular in Australia. Indeed,

Australia has the highest proportion of Internet users
per head of population of any country in the world.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

a. Do your parents
own a credit card?
How about you, do
you plan to own a
credit card when
you graduate and
get work? Why?
b. Compare the
writer’s attitude
towards credit
cards with her
friend Sara’s.
c. How are the
paragraph’s ideas
logically linked
WT is CONNECTED DISCOURSE when:
2. There is logical organization and development of the theme
In considering the logical organization of a discourse, consider
its central theme. A central theme is the key, the core, the
significant message of a reading selection.

How to get the theme?

Imagine this scene: A close friend stops by to visit you for a
few minutes on the way to work. You invite him and ask him to
sit down. He glances briefly at the headlines on the front page
of the newspaper lying on the floor. Not having time to hear all
the details, he asks, “What’s this about?”

The summary you give – neither too long nor too short – is a
statement of the central theme, in this case of the news article.
Questions to Ponder BEFORE reading the selection:

a. What is the topic sentence in the selection?

b. List down four supporting sentences

c. Rewrite the paragraph to achieve better organization of

ideas.
 How to have a Stress-free Holiday
Hotels and transportation on trips can be
expensive if you don’t book them plenty of time in
advance. When you go on a trip, you need to think
about how much money to allot for things like
transportation, food, and hotels. It is important to
plan your trips carefully. Planning your trip carefully
will allow you to have a more relaxed trip. Another
thing to plan for is how much time you want to
spend sightseeing and doing different sorts of
activities. Even though you may want to do
everything, you have to remember that there are
only so many hours in the day!
• How to have a Stress-free Holiday
• Hotels and transportation on trips can be
expensive if you don’t book them plenty of
time in advance.
• You need to think about how much money
to allot for things like transportation, food,
and hotels.
• Planning your trip carefully will allow you to
have a more relaxed trip.
• Another thing to plan for is how much time
you want to spend sightseeing and doing
different sorts of activities.
• When you go on a trip it is important to plan
your trips carefully. You need to think about
how much money to allot for things like
transportation, food, and hotels. Hotels and
transportation on trips can be expensive if
you don’t book them plenty of time in
advance. Even though you may want to do
everything, you have to remember that there
are only so many hours in the day!
WT is CONNECTED DISCOURSE when:
3. There is use of repetition, reference,
conjunctions, connectives, and other
transitional devices.

Connected discourse flows smoothly and

easily from one sentence and paragraph to
another, clarifying the relationships among
ideas and thus allowing the reader to grasp
connections. Because incoherent writing
fails to do this, it confuses and sometimes,
even irritates, the reader.
For the next article, answer the following
questions:

• What words are repeated?

• What effect is created by the repeated words?

 Nobody owned any part of theland . Sotopo’s
father owned many cattle, and if the cows
continued to produce calves, he might as well
become the next chief. Old Grandmother owned
the beautifully tanned animal skins she used as
coverlets in winter. And Sotopo owned his polished
hard-wood assegais. Butlandthe belonged to the
spirits who governed life; it existed forever, for
everyone, and was apportioned temporarily
according to the dictates of the tribal chief and
senior headman. Sotopo’s father occupied the
hillside for the time being, and when he died the
older son could inherit theland,
loan – but no
person or family ever acquired ownership.
• Land
• Owned
• chief
• For more emphasis and
increase retention of the
readers about the topic.
 Learning objectives
• Identify the most common
connectives and conjunctions.
• Use these properly in writing coherent
paragraphs.
 4 Basic Mechanical Considerations
in Providing Transitions between
Ideas
1. Transitional Expressions
2. Repeating Keywords and phrases
3. Using pronoun reference
4. Using parallel form
 Examples of Connecting
Words for a Variety of Writing
Styles
 1. To add to a statement or
viewpoint
• equally important • Firstly (secondly,
• finally thirdly and so forth
• • Not only this… but
further
also
• furthermore • In fact
• what is more • Another way to
• moreover • Besides
• As well as • In general
• In addition • More specifically
• To expand • No matter what
 2. To show similarity

• Likewise • Also
• Similarly • Even so
• In a similar manner • In other words
• Like • In general
• In the same way • More specifically
• Such as • At the same time
• At any rate • In addition to
• For the same
reason
 3. To contrast
• But • However
• Meanwhile • Nevertheless
• After all • Rather
• Otherwise • Whereas
• Alternatively • But
• Nonetheless • Yet
• Notwithstanding • On the other hand
• Regardless • On the contrary
• In any case • By comparison
• Even • Compared to
• Yet • Although
• Despite this • Conversely
 4. To express alternative

• or
• Either …or
• Whether…or
• Conversely
• This can be relevant in
at least two
• Firstly or secondly
5. To place statement in a
particular context.
• In this connection
• From this perspective
• From this viewpoint
• This point of view
• In this school of thought
• From this standpoint
• So conceptually one could argue
6. To place statement in a timely fashion
• Previously • While
• Before this • Meanwhile
• To begin with
• At first
• Furthermore
• Ultimately • Sometimes
• Later • Eventually
• Then • Finally
• Since then • Lastly
• After that • Summing up
• Soon
• Next • In summation
• gradually • In conclusion
 7. To show cause and effect
• As a result
• Consequently
• As a consequence
• Hence
• Due to
• In view of
• On account of
• Accordingly
• For this reason
• Therefore
• Following on from
this
• That is why
 10. To give an example of an
earlier point of view
• For example
• For instance
• In this case
• To illustrate
• As an illustration
• To take another example
• Namely
• That is
• As shown by
• As illustrated by
• By far
• Even if
 11. To repeat, insist on or refer
back to an earlier point
• As previously
mentioned
• As I have said
• In brief
• As I have noted
• As has been noted
 12. To emphasize when adding a
conditional statement
• Indeed
• Obviously
• Patently
• Apparently
• Accordingly
• Without a doubt
• Certainly
• Undeniably
• Understandably
• In accordance
with
• According to
• Otherwise
• As far as
13. To conclude a paragraph or an
essay
• Thus • As I have
• Lastly said
• In brief • In summary
• In short • To
• On the summarise
whole • In
• To sum up
conclusion
• In
• ultimately
conclusion
• As I have
 Good to remember
1. COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
join ideas together (fanboys )
1. CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS
always work in pairs (either…or, both…and,
neither…nor, not only… but also)
1. SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS
join ideas together that are dependent on each
other (after, although, as if, because, before, if,
since, though, until, when, while, that)
Exercise 1
Directions. Each of the following ten sentences containsat least
one conjunction – either a coordinating conj. or a correlative
conj. (or both). Identify the conjunction(s) in each sentence.

1. “Syrio says every swordsman should study

cats. They’re as quiet as shadows and as
light as feathers. You have to be quick to
catch them.” (Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
, Game of
Thrones, )
2011
2. “Canadian Thanksgiving celebrates explorer
Martin Frobisher’s valiant yet ultimately
unsuccessful attempt to find the northwest
passage.” (Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky,
How I
met your Mother, 2007)
3. “Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo?
It’ll be spring soon, and the orchards will be
in blossom. And the birds will be nesting in
the hazel thicket. And they’ll be sowing the
summer barley in the lower fields and eating
the first of the strawberries with cream. Do
you remember the taste of strawberries?”
The
(Sean Astin as Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,
Sam,
2003)
4. “You know, Penny, there is something that
occurs in beehives that you might find
interesting. Occasionally a new queen bee will
arrive while the old queen is still in power.
When this happens, the old queen must either
locate to a new hive or engage in a battle to
death until only one queen remains.” (Jim Parson
, The Big Bang Theory,
as Sheldon )2009
5. “A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble
for his own gratification. He can be destroyed
or locked up. But if you make yourself more
than just a man, if you devote yourself to an
ideal, and if they can’t stop you, then you
become something else entirely.” (Liam Neeson as
Batman Begins,
Henri Ducard, 2005)
7. “When their enemies were at the gates, the
Romans would suspend democracy and
appoint one man to protect the city. It wasn’t
considered an honor; it was considered a
public service… You either die a hero or you
live long enough to see yourself become the
villain.” (Aaron Eckhart as Harvey, The
DentDark Knight,
) 2008
8. “There’s a moment a sailors call slack tide,
when the tide is neither coming in nor going
out, but perfectly still. It’s a moment frozen
in time.” (Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan,
Dexter, 2009)
 9. “There’s this café on the banks of the
Arno. Every fine evening, I’d sit there and
order a Fernet Branca. I had this fantasy that
I would look across the tables and I’d see
you there, with a wife and maybe a couple of
kids. You wouldn’t say anything to me, nor
me to you. But we’d both know that you’d
made it, that you were happy.” (Michae Cane as
The Dark Knight Rises ,
Alfred, 2012)
10. “Music is at once the product of feeling
and knowledge, for it requires from its
disciples, composers and performers alike,
not only talent and enthusiasm, but also that
knowledge and perception which are the
result of protracted study and reflection.”
(attributed to both Hector Berlioz and Alban Berg)
 11. “I do not know what strength is in my
blood, but I swear to you I will not let the
White City fall, nor our people fail.” (Viggo
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of
Montensen as Aragorn,
the Ring, 2001)
Exercise 2
Directions. Indicate the number sequence on the space
provided before each sentence so that a coherent
paragraph will be formed.

A. ____ These knights fight over land and ladies and power.
B. ____ The best movies are those in the days of knights
and castles.
C. ____ And of course, the good knight always wins,
getting the land and power, and kissing the lady.
D. ____ I really love historical movies.
E. ____ These movies feature battles with sword fights
between knights in full armor.