improving acaemic reading skills

I Made Sujana
EED, Faculty of Education, The University of Mataram

IMPROVING ACADEMIC READING SKILLS

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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WHY ARE YOU CALLED ‘STUDENTS’?

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

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Academic Reading?
 a very sophisticated, multi-layered skill,

requiring practice and fine tuning.
 Reading an academic text differs in many
ways from reading comics, novels and
magazines.

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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How does the Acad. Reading differ from other types of
reading (novel, comic, etc.)?

 What we read?  content and style of

academic texts
 How we read?  what readers of academic
texts are expected to do.

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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What do authors in academic texts do?
(Content and style)

 Raise abstract questions and issues
 Present facts and evidence to support their
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claims
Use logic to build their arguments and defend
their position
Conform clearly-defined structures
Choose their words carefully to present the
arguments
Try to convince us to accept their positions
Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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When reading academic texts, what are expected from the
readers?
 Recognize the authors’ purposes and possible
bias

 Differentiate between facts and authors’
opinions.
 Challenge questionable assumption and

unsupported claims.
 Integrate information across multiple sources
 Identify rival hypothesis, possible contradictions
and competing views
 Evaluate evidence and draw their conclusion
Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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Why is Reading Academic Texts Difficult?
 They are written originally for native speakers

of English, not for non-Native Speakers
(NNS)

 Sources of Difficulty:

 Linguistics  the store of technical terms of each subject matter
which differs from the other field, the focused syntax and special
linguistic features

 Rhetoric  the organization of the language, the presentation of
the knowledge, and the writer’s assumptions about the readers

 Conceptual the knowledge of the subject matter that the
reader brings to the text

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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WHAT NEED TO BE DEVELOPED IN ACADEMIC READING?
 Being an effective reader (related to reading

speed, understanding structures of texts, making
decision about text)

 Being an active reader (retaining information
and note-making)

 Being a critical reader (related to interaction
with texts (questioning the opinions), making
judgment/evaluation to opinions)

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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Getting Started for being a Critical Reader
 Ask yourself:

 Can I believe everything I read?

 Are experts always right?

 What make me take more notice of one academic

writer and less to another?
 What make research findings weak or strong?
What make a scholarly, rigorous piece of
research?

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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NOTE-MAKING
 Good notes require:
 Speed

 Accuracy

 Clarity

 Note-making is a two stage process:

 The notes that are taken from a piece of writing
 The notes are read and used later

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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THREE ELEMENTS IN GOOD NOTE-MAKING
WHAT YOU DO

HOW YOU DO IT

Reading and planning

Accurate analysis of text

Note-making

Rapid note writing

Note reading and
developement as
writing/speaking

Accurate and easy readback

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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REMINDER - IN ACADEMIC READING:
 DON’T read only for INFORMATION (Surface

Reading Approach)
 DO read for UNDESTANDING (Deep Reading
Approach)

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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Let’s Start the Academic Reading
Choose an article and find out answers to the following
questions:
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Who is the author’s audience?
What are the central claims of the text?
What is the main evidence?
What assumptions lie behind the evidence or arguments?
Do you think the assumptions are founded on adequate
proof?
 What methodology was used?
 What are weaknesses and strengths of the text?
 What do other experts say about this topics/claims?
Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

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References
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Reading Academically accessed from
http://www.personal.psu.edu/scs15/Reading
Academic Reading accessed from
http://telem.openu.ac.il/RoadsToAcademicReading/BarHome?do=home
Page&page=academicReading
Academic Reading Strategies accessed from
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/esl/resources/academic-reading-strategies/

Sujana, I Made, 2012. Integrating a Mind Mapping Technique and
Information Gap Activities in Teaching Academic Reading in English
English for Specific Purposes World, ISSN 1682-3257, accessed from
http://www.esp-world.info, Issue 36, vol. 12, 2012

Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

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ENJOY YOUR ACADEMIC READING FOR
SUCCESS OF YOUR STUDY

THANK YOU
Improving Academic Reading Skills @I Made Sujana UNRAM

11/21/2016

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