Textbook Reading

drawing of a stack of three books

What is Reading?

A marlup was poving his kump. Parmily a narg horped some whev in his kump. "Why did vump horp whev in my frinkle kump?" the marlup jufd the narg. "Er'm muvvily trungy," the narg grupped. "Er heshed vump horpled whev in your kump. Do vump pove your kump frinkle?" "Yes!"

Answer these questions:

1. What did the narg horp in the marlup's kump?
2. What did the marlup juf the narg?
3. How trungy was the narg?
4. How does the marlup pove his kump?

You can probably answer the questions, yet you have no idea what the paragraph is about, right?

Understanding a bit about the reading process may help you better deal with the textual information you will receive as a student.

When reading a college textbook or any other material that you are expected to ``learn'', your approach to reading must be active. You must develop a strategy that allows you to manipulate the material actively and inquisitively. You must retrain yourself to read for ideas, not just pronounce words.

Understanding comes from the reader, not the print. Print serves as cues to stimulate understanding. We draw on our prior knowledge to help us respond to cues.

Read the following sentence:

Black and white penguin a in water the cold swims.

The sentence sounds wrong because our ``background'' includes an intuitive feel for the syntax (the proper order of words) of our language.

A marlup was poving his kump. Parmily a narg horped some whev in his kump.

You were able to answer the questions about the marlup because of your "Basic Background" in the STRUCTURE of our language. You know that "marlup" is a noun. What tells you its a noun? The letter "A." You know "poving" is a verb because of the "was" and the "ing." Do you remember what the "ly" tells us "Parmily" is?These structure cues are the same whether you are reading a nursery school book or a doctoral thesis, as long as they were written in English.

But what is keeping you from understanding the meaning of the paragraph? While you know that "Marlup" is a noun, you don't know what it means. So the problem is vocabulary. You need to learn the content specific vocabulary for the classes you will be taking. If the words in your texts seem as nonsensical as the words in the Marlup, then you may have difficulty comprehending your texts.

So how can we improve our vocabulary?

GLAXBOT

Can you pronounce this word?

Do you know what it means?

When you looked at the word you said to yourself, "H'mm, it has 2 consonants in the middle, so I probably divide between the consonants. Both syllables end in a consonant so the vowels are probably short! It begins 'gl' like in 'glass ,' short 'a,' final 'x' has a 'ks' sound, 'b' as in 'boy,' short 'o,' and a final 't.'" Right! Well, maybe not consciously, but if your PHONICS skills are good, that was how you learned to "sound out" the word. You were taught phonics in grade school and by now you have internalized them so much you aren't even aware you use them.

Being able to sound out a word is helpful in learning words because of your "FOUR VOCABULARIES."

Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.

That is, all the words you know and understand when you hear them (Listening), or all the words you would use when you speak (Speaking), or all the words you recognize and understand when you read (Reading), and finally all the words you use when you write (Writing). Many words are in all four of your vocabularies, but some words may be in your speaking and not in your reading. When you sound out a word, you hear it and hopefully will recognize it as something you already know.

But what does it mean? The men rowed the glaxbot out to the larger boat.
	Because of how it is used in the sentence (Context), it seems that a glaxbot is a small rowboat. That makes the most sense. But, that bundled thing on the floor of the boat could also fit the context. Context clues can help, but be aware of their limitations.
Another strategy to get the meaning of words is to look at their structure. English is a language with many words from other languages. Learning word origins and basic word parts can help us figure out some words. Check out my links or do a google search and find many more.	The word origin and word part links are not a part of this site. Please use your "Back" button to return.
	If you have difficulty with the cues or the print of our language, you may need to first spend some time building background in phonics, context, sight words or word parts (prefixes, suffixes, roots). Without these skills your task of dealing with college texts will be more difficult.

A Definition of Reading:

INTERACTION OF THE READER WITH TEXT

“Reading is the process of constructing meaning from written text … [It] is a process in which information from the text and the knowledge possessed by the reader act together to produce meaning.”

from "Becoming a Nation of Readers"

Regardless of your level, EFFECTIVE READING IS THOUGHT GUIDED BY PRINT.

As you read you will be:

ASSOCIATING---What do I already know about this? What is
familiar?
PREDICTING---What is this about? What do I need to Know? What
will I learn?
CONFIRMING---Were my predictions correct? Did I learn what I needed to know?

Critical Reading

College reading does not involve simply recalling literally what the author has stated. It includes being able to critically analyze the material.

Read the following nursery rhyme:

Three blind mice, three blind mice;

See how they run, see how they run;

They all ran after the farmer's wife;

Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.

Did you ever see such a sight in your life?

As three blind mice.

On reading this simple rhyme, most people would assume that the farmer's wife didn't like the mice. After all, she was trying to cut off their tails. A critical reader however would realize that the author has not stated that the wife didn't like the mice. They may have been her favorite pets and they had cancerous growths on their tails that needed to be cut off to save their lives.

In critical reading, it is important that you are not thinking the author has said something that wasn't actually stated.

The following list contains twenty questions which you as a critical reader should internalize and be asking about anything you read. They are also good questions to analyze information you hear in lectures, political speeches, or even commercials.

Twenty Questions for Critical Reasoning:

What kind of publication is this, a primary source or a secondary source?
What is the author's background in this subject?
To whom is the author writing? Is it written for a special audience?
Am I assuming the author has said things that aren't really said at all?
What has the author assumed to be true? Which of these assumptions are stated and which are not stated?
Does the author make inconsistent statements?
Does a particular statement depend on context for its intended meaning?
What does the author imply or insinuate? What might the reader infer?
What is the author's motive or purpose in writing?}
What is the author's attitude? (positive, negative, objective, subjective, apathetic)
What are the author's biases?
What tone does the author use? (angry, bitter, cynical, defensive, enthusiastic, fearful, gloomy, happy, ironic, jovial, kind, loving, miserable, nostalgic, objective, pessimistic, quiet, respectful, sarcastic, satirical, threatening, ugly, virtuous, whimsical, xenophobic, youthful, zingy)
Does the author use slang, idioms, or figures of speech or is the text to be taken literally?
Do some of the words used have special connotations which affect interpretation?
Which of the author's statements are facts, and which are opinions?
Does the author use propaganda techniques to influence the reader?(sentiment, name calling, flag waving, terror, horror, or other emotional appeals)
Which of the author's statements are supported and which are not? Which statements should be supported?
What conclusions does the author reach? Which conclusions are justified and which are not?
Does the author use patterns of clear thinking or do the arguments contain faults? (special pleading, avoiding the question, circular reasoning)
Question Authority. Do not accept information passively. When presented with information you disagree with, ask for clarification.

Anita Harnadek, Critical Reading Improvement, 2nd. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1978)

Types of Reading

Type/Speed	Purpose	Material	Comprehension
Slow 100--300 WPM	Through Understanding Study Reading	Technical & Text Books	80--90%
Normal 300--500 WPM	General Understanding Adequate Retention	Journals, Magazines, & Non-fiction	70%
Fast 500--900 WPM	Partial Retention Casual Interest	Fiction, Newspapers, Magazines, & Correspondence	60--70%
Skimming 900 WPM plus	Previewing for Ideas, Reviewing	Textbooks, Manuals, Newspapers	50%
Scanning Very Fast	Locate Specific Information	Any	100%

Kathleen T. McWhorter, Efficient And Flexible Reading (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1983)

SQ3R, a Strategy for Reading

SQ3R--Survey Question Read Recite Review, is a study-reading technique developed by Francis P. Robinson of the Ohio State University. By following the steps of the technique you should be able to read your textbook chapters more efficiently.

SURVEY

The SURVEY gives you a PURPOSE for reading.

ASSOCIATE---Read the Title and think what you already know about the
subject.
PREDICT---Read the introduction (or first paragraph) and predict what
you think you will learn.
QUESTION---Use who, what, when, where, why, and how, to make up questions from each heading (main heads and subheads).
RELATE---Look at illustrative information (pictures, graphs, charts, diagrams). What do they tell you about the subject?
CONFIRM---Read the summary to confirm your predictions about what was
covered in the chapter.
ANSWER---Read the questions at the end of the chapter to find out what
you learned in your survey and what you still need to learn when you read the
chapter.

Note---the survey for most chapters should only take about 5 to 10 minutes.

QUESTION,

READ,

RECITE

Back to the beginning to read.

QUESTION---Look at the first heading and think of the questions you made during your survey.
READ---Slowly and deliberately read down to the next heading trying to find the answers to your questions.
RECITE---When you get to the next heading, stop, turn away from your book, and say aloud the answers to your questions.
LABEL---After you have answered the question you asked about the heading it is time to mark where those answers are in the text. Underlining or highlighting is not enough. You need to think of labels which explain what the information tells you about the topic. These labels are to be written in the margin of the text, or as questions on 3x5 cards. Labels may point to examples, names, definitions, dates or concepts. Later you can cover the text and use the labels to generate questions for review.

What is Machu Pichu? (Templed citadel)

Who built it? (the Incas)

Who rediscovered it? (Hiram Bingham)

When? (1911)

How would you get there? ( A railway now links the city with Cuzco, and the five-mile long Hiram Bingham Highway climbs the approach to the ancient citadel.)

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu, Ma'choo Pek'choo (Also known as Machipicchu or Macchu Picchu). Templed citadel of the Incas, situated about 50 miles Northwest of Cuzco, Peru. A natural fortress, it is perched at an altitude of about 6,750 feet on a narrow ridge between the mountain heights Machu Picchu (old peak) and Hyayna Picchu (young peak); 2,000 feet below is the Urubama River. The age of Machu Picchu is unknown, but it appears to have been the residence and last stronghold of the Incas after the Spanish conquest. When the last ruler was slain in the 16th century, it was abandoned and lost. Hiram Bingham of Yale University rediscovered the city in 1911, calling it Machu Picchu, although the Inca name was probably Vilcapampa. Its mortarless stonework of white granite survives today in fair condition. A railway now links the city with Cuzco, and the five-mile long Hiram Bingham Highway climbs the approach to the ancient citadel.

Where is it? (50 miles Northwest of Cuzco, Peru.)

Why did they pick that spot? (natural fortress), (altitude of about 6,750 feet), (2,000 feet below is the Urubama River)

How old is it? (age of Machu Picchu is unknown)

What is it's history? (residence and last stronghold of the Incas after the Spanish conquest.)

What is the Inca name? (Vilcapampa.)

What is it made of? (mortarless stonework of white granite)

REPEAT---Continue the QUESTION/READ/RECITE/LABEL cycle with each heading in your chapter. Do not go to a new section until you understand and can answer your questions from the previous section.

REVIEW

There are two types of review, immediate and periodic.

IMMEDIATE---Immediately after reading, close your book and on a sheet of paper, force yourself to remember as much as you can about what you read. Just as in note taking, this forced recall interrupts the forgetting process so you can hang on to the information longer.

This Periodic review should be the majority of the studying that you do. It should account for almost 75% of your study time. Remember that the only way to move information is to use it. This is how you "use" the information you are getting in your classes. You turn it into questions and continually test yourself!

PERIODIC---At least once a week, go back over each chapter you have read. Look at the headings and again think of your questions for each section. Can you still answer them? If not, re-read only that section. When you first went through the chapter, you labeled the important information in each section. Use these labels to generate test like questions to use for your review or practice study. These questions can be put on 3x5 cards so that after reading the chapter one time, you only have the cards to study from. They are easier to carry. See "Hurwitz Study Principle."

Walter Pauk, How To Study In College, 2nd. ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974)

SQ3R, Exercises:

The SQ3R exercises on the links below are designed to take you through the process step by step. Use a chapter you have been assigned to read. Since the exercises require you to write down information you would normally just think about, the exercises will take longer than normal. Keep this in mind when making judgments about using SQ3R.

Before going to the chapter, let's find out more about the whole textbook. That book is a tool to help you understand the subject. To better know the tool, complete the following survey. You may want to do this survey for all your texts. The chart below may be helpful.

Parts Of A Textbook
Listed with each part of a textbook is the type of information it provides

Title page---The general subject covered by the text and the name of the author(s)
Copyright page---The copyright holder, the publisher, the date of first publication and the dates of later editions and, printings.
Preface, introduction, or forward---The overall purpose of the book and some suggestions for studying it.
Table of contents---The organization and basic content of the text.
Bibliography---The titles of books and articles on related subjects. This may be found at the end of the book or at the end of each chapter.
Appendix---Information supplemental to the text
Glossary---A dictionary of specific subject words used in the text.
Index---Gives the pages on which specific information is discussed.
Chapter parts:

Chapter title---The topic of the chapter.
Chapter introduction---A survey of the chapter's content or an explanation of it.
Chapter subheadings---The specific points discussed under the overall topic of the chapter.
Chapter conclusion---A summary of the main points: covered in the chapter.
Illustrative information; charts, graphs, maps---Provide a visual representation of the information covered.
Footnotes---A reference to the source of the quoted information. They may be at the bottom of the appropriate page or at the end of the chapter.
Review questions---These questions allow you to test yourself on the chapter information.

Carl A. Lefevre and Helen E. Lefevre, Reading PowerAnd Study Skills For College Work, 2nd. ed. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1984)

Survey: Textbook - this activity can be completed for each of your textbooks.

Survey: Chapter

Question/Read/Recite

Marking Your Text

Immediate Review

Periodic Review

NOTE: The marlup and some of the other examples on these pages came from a training, many years ago at Sinclair Community College. Other items have come from personal research or conferences I have attended. I have tried to cite the sources of most of the material. If I missed something, please let me know.