Learning competencies in reading and writing

A. Critical reading as looking for ways of thinking

There are two types of reading:

Simple reading – involves identifying and recognizing the meaning of a text.
Critical reading – is a more advanced form and a higher level of reading. Involves
reflecting and judgement.
Critical reading - means that a reader applies certain processes, models, questions,
and theories that result in enhanced clarity and comprehension. There is more
involved, both in effort and understanding, in a critical reading than in a mere
"skimming" of the text. Simply put, more thought is put into reading and analyzing
the text.

Components of critical reading as looking for ways of thinking

1. Getting the main idea – identifying the general idea in a text.

2. Summarizing – includes recalling all relevant information and thinking how to
compact them all in a summary.
3. Inferring – a process used by a reader to understand an idea that the author does
not state explicitly.
4. Drawing conclusions – after reading the whole text, figure out much more than what
the author says directly.
5. Analyzing sequence – considers the order of arrangement of events present in the
text.
6. Determining fact from opinion – self-explanatory, determine what is concrete or
subjective.
 B. Identifies claims explicitly or implicitly made in a written text

Claims – are synonymous to belief, argument, assertion, or stand. A good claim should be
argumentative and debatable, specific and focused, interesting and engaging, and logical.
Explicit claim - is directly and clearly stated in the text. It is when you can easily point out
the information in the passage.
Implicit claim - is indirectly expressed in the text and you need to look for clues or make
inferences to understand its meaning.

1. Claim of Fact – makes an assertion about something that can be proved or

disproved with factual evidence.
I. Inappropriate claim of fact – a statistic or fact that is not debatable.
II. Appropriate claim of fact – makes a claim that is debatable using factual evidence.

2. Claim of Policy – It argues that something should/should not be done, believed,

banned, etc.
I. It argues for a course of an actions.
II. It is also called the Problem Solution Technique.
III. A claim of Policy usually has the modals such as should, must, and ought to.

3. Claim of Value – a claim that asserts some things are more or less desirable that
others. It states that one thing or idea is better than another
I. Right vs Wrong
II. Either “good” and should be kept or “bad” and should be discarded.

C. Context in which a text was developed.

Context - the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on
its meaning. The interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs.
The context may be social, cultural, historical, and political.
 1. Social - the way in which the features of the society it is set in impact on its meaning.
There are two aspects to social context: the kind of society in which the characters
live, and the one in which the author's text was produced.
2. Cultural - helps the reader understand what is happening and why. It is made of up
several factors including setting/location, background, cultures, beliefs, and
community. Each of these items affects how a reader looks at and understands what
is happening in that text.
3. Historical - refers to the social, economic, political, and religious events of the past
that influenced the writing of a text.

Important techniques in analyzing the context of a text’s development:

1. Hypertext - Hypertext is simply a non-linear way of presenting information. Rather
than reading or learning about things in the order that an author, or editor, or
publisher sets out for us, readers of hypertext may follow their own path, create
their own order-- their own meaning out the material.
2. Intertext – Intertext is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. It is the
interconnection between similar or related works of literature that reflect and
influence an audience’s interpretation of the text. A literary text that is related to
one or more other texts, especially through the use of allusions to these texts

D. Critical Reading as Reasoning

It is the ability of someone to defend something by giving out reasons justifying a stand
based on prior and existing knowledge and experiences needed to arrive at a decision.
As a critical reader, you should be able to use the textual evidence when asked by your
teacher to support analysis of the implicit and explicit information presented by the writer
in a text.

E. Formulates evaluative statements about a text read

Evaluative statement – A statement that presents a value judgment based on a set of

criteria.
It is a way of giving a better explanation to show the strengths and the weaknesses of
something through writing. It is used in giving a sound judgment – a judgment that can be
backed up or supported by valid reasons or proofs.
You may compose your evaluative statements in two steps:
1. Formulate assertions about the content and properties of a text read.
2. Formulating a meaningful counterclaim in response to claims made in the text read.

Two types of evaluative statements:

Assertions – are declarative sentences that give one’s belief about something else as if it is
true though it may not be. It is expressed as an argument. Usually, these assertions contain
languages that expresses evaluation such as useful, significant, important, insightful, detailed,

comprehensive, practical, impressive, etc.

1. Assertions of Fact – A statement that can be proven objectively, by direct

experience, testimonies of witnesses, verified observations, or the result of research
2. Assertions of Convention – Is a way in which something is done similar traditions
and norms. Its truthfulness can be verified only by reference to historical
precedents, laws, rules, usage, and customs. Something to note about conventions is
that they may sound factual due to their being derived from customs, but because
they are socially accepted ways of doing things, they cannot be verified objectively
by measurements.
3. Assertions of Opinion – Is a statement based on facts but difficult to objectively
verify because of the uncertainty of producing satisfactory proofs of soundness.
4. Assertions of Preference – States a personal choice in which the writer is under no
obligation to support or prove the truthfulness of the statement. They are subjective
and cannot be objectively proven or logically attacked.

Counterclaims - A critical reader is not only interested in the claim of the origin text,
understanding the text provided by the writer as well as its counterclaims is needed to
evaluate an argument.
These are claims to rebut a previous claim. Or in other words, these are statements that
disagree with the claim. The viewpoints differ from the author’s previous statements. When
stating your counterclaim you must consider the value of hedges

Hedges – are words that minimize the negative impact of criticism. It is useful in giving a
courageous tone in your writing. Some examples of hedges you could use in formulating
your counterclaims are:
Modals – may, could, would, should, etc.
Frequency Adverbs – usually, generally, commonly
Probability Adverbs – probably, possibly, presumably, etc.

F. Determines textual evidence to validate assertions and counterclaims made

about a text read.

Is information gathered from the text that supports your assertion or counterclaim about
the text. In expressing your judgment about the text, First, state your idea about the text.
To determine evidence from the text, look for clues and keywords that support your idea
about the text.