Reading for academics

Reading is a major platform for any kind of study. At all levels of education, students will, at all costs, find reading a prerequisite. Students have a common problem they find with reading especially how to get through the huge amount of material given for each subject or course. As a student, this is what you have to do: Read efficiently even if there is not enough time to read every line. Reading something always depends on the reason why you want the information in the text. As you read, you need to find the most relevant section of the text. When you pick up a book for the first time, use the index, preface or publisher’s comment on the cover, table of contents and glance through them quickly in order to identify the relevant sections. For example, look at the chapter table; look out for the most useful ones considering your purpose of reading. Look at the sub-headings too. This is done by quickly reading the first few lines of each paragraph or by reading the first and last paragraph. When you think you have identified the useful sections of your text, scan through them by reading the conclusion then you will be sure they are the important ones. Since it is difficult to read everything in the library, it is not advisable to rely on pain stalking by reading slowly word-by-word. Scan the library to find the correct shelves because you will not go through all books that suit your purpose. After you have found the book you need, find out the relevant chapters and then read in detail. Read efficiently and with a purpose You need to involve both the eyes and the brain when reading. Efficient reading means reading fast without wasting time and also have reason why you are reading the text. In everyday life you read different things differently. When you have a question, you read to find an answer to it. For example when you are reading a newspaper and you want to know about entertainment, you go straight to the entertainment page. This is, however, different with reading a novel where you start from the beginning and slowly read towards the end. With academic reading, the purpose is to find answers that will help you to solve examination problems. Therefore, you need to be flexible as you read. You may start by reading quickly to find the relevant sections, then later read slowly and carefully when you have found what you want to read about. The following will give you a strategy when reading an academic text: 1. Think about why you want to read the text. You may be interested because it is your subject or related to it. Sometimes you are going to have a debate or a discussion and you want to know the writer’s views, or you are going to write an essay on the subject in the text later. Survey the text and make sure it has the important information. If you want a specific data read only the part where you think the information is. 2. Look at the title, headlines subheadings, photos and illustrations. These will help you to predict what the text is all about and think about what you already know about the topics. 3. Write down what you would like to find out from the text. In other words, note the questions you want the text to answer. Identify your main ideas and what your first reaction to this text is. Do you find it interesting, informative, well argued, boring, illogic, or inaccurate? This helps you to decide whether to absorb what you have read or not. 4. Give the text a second more reading trying to identify new words that are important for your understanding. 5. Revise what you wrote down as main ideas and then decide what the subsidiary ideas are and how they relate to the main. After all this get all the ideas noted down for reminder and reference. Vocabulary As you read, you meet new and difficult words or word groups. First try to guess the meaning using the context in which the sentence is written, you may use a word function and word form. If the exact meaning is needed, endeavour to consult a dictionary or ask other students or teacher. After reading, make a list of those words you think will be useful for you in future. Give their definition, indicate whether they are nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Show phrases in which the words occurred and give other words with the same meaning. It is also very important to evaluate what you have read. Find out how much it fits into what you wanted to know and what you already know. Does what you what you have read confirm your ideas, does it add any meaning to them or conflicts with them? Lastly, if there are opinions, try to find out whether you agree or you disagree. The writer is a teacher