Unit I

The Reading Process

What is Reading?
Is defined as a cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to derive meaning from a
text. It is always an interaction between the text and the reader. We read in order to gain and
share information and ideas, whether for academic, personal, or professional purposes.
Reading is a skill that can be improved through consistent practice.

Applying Effective Reading Strategies

We use some strategies to increase our understanding and comprehension of the text that
we are reading. We need to employ several strategies to help us make sense of any literary
text like poems and novels.
Below are some reading strategies that will definitely help us understand text’s content.
1. Previewing
Means looking at the readily visible parts of the text, like titles and subtitles,
and also visuals and graphs, and charts. It helps you to be familiarize with the
contents of selection, and focuses on the important information in the text.
2. Skimming
Means you look for the main point of the reading and identify the ideas that
develop it. It is also means physically moving your eyes rapidly along the
page and tracing your finger along the lines of the text to speed up you
reading.
3. Scanning
Looking for specific information. In order to scan the text effectively, you need
to have an idea of the details you are looking for. This strategy also involves
physically moving your eyes quickly along the lines of text.

Technique in Improving Reading Comprehension

Using Context Clues

 These are words, phrases, and sentences that surround an unfamiliar word.
 Help you recognize the meaning of an unknown word because the text gives you
information about.
 It allows you to read more fluently and increases your vocabulary.
Common Types of Context Clues
1. Synonyms
Used when the text has words or phrases that are similar in meaning to the
unknown word. Though their meanings are similar, they are not exactly the
same because a word may have different associations with it. Synonym clues
may be signaled by the following words: “like” or “as.”
 Example:

 Humpty Dumpty took great pleasure in obfuscating the poem’s meaning for
Alice. His explanations about the poem were confusing and complicated.

2. Antonyms
A word that reveals the opposite meaning in relation to the unknown word.
When you see words like “although,” “but,” despite,” “instead,” “in contrast,”
“unlike,” “however,” “even though,” “on the contrary,” and conversely,” these
usually precede antonyms because these are used to show contrasting ideas.

Example:

 The boy in the poem surreptitiously set out to find the monster. He did not
tell anyone about his plans because he did not want them to worry.

3. Examples
These are specific details in a text that are used to clarify the meaning of a
word.

Example:

 There are many eccentric creatures in the forest, such as mome raths and
borogoves.

4. Explanations and definitions

This may begin as clues to describe an unknown term. When phrases like
“because” or “that is” follow a word, these may be explanations. Meanwhile,
definitions may follow an unfamiliar word. Terms like “is,” “means,” is defined
as,” and “refers to” are used with definitions.

Example:

 Humpty Dumpty told Alice that “brillig” means the same things as four
o’clock in the afternoon, because that is when people started broiling things
for dinner.