20 Effective Ways to

Improve Reading

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 Aims of Pre-Reading Activities
• Arouse interest in the topic
• Activate the schemata
• Prepare key vocabulary / language
• Opportunity to predict content

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 Pre-Reading Activities
• Previewing a text
• Mouth reading or eye reading?
• Selecting the appropriate reading style

3
 Reading for Specific Information
• Find specific information
• Impose time limits
• Look for key words
• ‘Reading without reading’

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 Reading for Gist
• Look at pictures and headlines
• Find the topic sentences

5
 Reading for Detailed Understanding
• P3RU Procedure
– PREVIEW the text
– READ the text carefully
– RECORD the main points
– REVIEW the text by reading quickly
– USE the information from the text

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 Reading Between the Lines
• Training students to infer
• Can you really infer?
– True
– False
– Don’t know

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 Reading Beyond the Lines
• Projective reading
– Would you behave in the same way as the
central character?
– Could this happen in your country?
– Do you think the story is true?

8
 Critical Reading
• Understand what the writer is trying to
communicate
• Analyse the writer’s techniques

9
 Graded Reading for Pleasure
• Preparation for authentic reading
• Reading aloud
• Short reading texts
“They didn’t enjoy their holiday because the hotel
was bad and the weather was terrible”

10
 Vocabulary Problems in Reading
• Ignoring unknown vocabulary
• Don’t zoom in, zoom out!
• Examine the grammatical context
• Examine prefixes and suffixes
• Use a dictionary – but use it well!

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