Critical Reading as Looking
to complex in order for him/her to eventually realize that a text is always connected to
LESSON 5 for Ways of Thinking
WEEK 5
Most Essential Learning Competencies:
 Explains critical reading as looking for ways of thinking. EN11/12RWS-IIIij-5
 Identifies claims explicitly or implicitly made in a written text. EN11/12RWS-IIIij-6
 Identifies the context in which a text was developed. EN11/12RWS-IVac-7
KNOWLEDGE ENRICHMENT
USING CRITICAL READING FOR THINKING AND REASONING
Some authorities share their piece of knowledge about the significance of reading and
ways how to develop thinking and reasoning.
Baraceros (2005) expressed that critical reading is necessary for the students to know
how to examine critically what they see, feel and read to be able to make good
judgement or decisions for the welfare of their countrymen.
In addition, Anthony Shadid, journalist, 2012 articulated that to non-critical readers,
many texts offer the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. To the critical
reader, any single text provides but one portrayal of the facts, one individual's "take"
on the subject.
Likewise, Kurland 2010 noted that to non -critical readers, texts provide facts. Readers
gain knowledge by memorizing the statements within a text. Critical readers thus
recognize not only what a text says, but also how that text portrays the subject matter.
They recognize the various ways in which each and every text is the unique creation
of a unique author. According to him, there are three steps or modes of analysis which
are reflected in three types of reading and discussion:
What a text says – restatement (talks about the same topic as the original text)
What a text does – description (discusses aspects of discussion itself)
What a text means – interpretation (analyzes the text and asserts a meaning for the
text as a whole)
This essential skill in reading leads to the development of critical thinking by reasoning
and vice-versa. As a matter of fact it is how one progresses his/her thinking from simple
human experiences. In effect, one is guided on how to see things both in the micro
and macro levels. To attain this, the reader needs to be equipped with ways for
thinking.
To become a critical reader, this book offers tips/techniques of becoming a critical
thinker:
Some Techniques to Develop
A. Thinking
It is the act of constructing and deconstructing ideas in both spoken and
written form based on a given context.
1. Check and analyze the title. Read further how it is developed and/or
argued in the succeeding statement.
2. Identify the aim of the text. Make initial arguments about its context.
3. Skim the reading material and give focus on the entire body. Identify
what might have caused certain issues/situations and offer feasible
solutions.
4. Make some relevant associations of the text to your life. In the course of
making connections, the reader may either be sympathetic or
apathetic depending on the experiences he/she may have had which
are relevant to the text.
5. Evaluate the reading material. Ascertain if the entire text calls for a
debate and eventually come up with a sound decision/judgement.
B. Reasoning
It is the process of expressing ideas and opinions as well as justifying a stand
based on prior and existing knowledge and experiences needed to arrive at a
decision
1. Dare to read every day. Citing relevant ideas of experts and authorities
in reading materials definitely help strengthen one's stance of an issue.
2. Learn to focus to the main ideas (explicit or implied) and supporting
details mentioned in the argument.
3. Examine the pros and cons of your argument/resolution. This will help
you weave the flow of your thoughts presented.
4. Organize your thoughts. Arrange ideas either in chronological order or
by emphasis (general to specific or vice versa.) Once organized, oral or
written expression becomes meaningful.
 5. Note points for improvement. After having justified an issue, recheck
your stand based on your power to convince the reader/audience.
Moreover, practice, practice so that you become conscious of
becoming better every time you reason out.
Below is an evaluation guide to help develop your critical reading ability.
As you peruse any reading material, you need to check its content, objectivity and
relevance in order for you to be able to connect and find its significance to your life.
Elements for Evaluation Explanation Guide
Content This is the substance of the text.
Are the input/ideas present comprehensive– covering the
breadth and depth of the text? Is it comprehensible?
As a whole, is it appealing to the readers?
Objectivity This is the stand of the author about an issue/article.
Are facts presented? Does it present both sides of the
argument? Does the author possess ethical and moral
consideration in his/ her article?
Significance This is the intention, the entire meaning and the value of
the issue/article to the reader’s life.
Can the reader readily connect the issues to his/her life?
Is it open for interaction? How is it valuable to the reader?
IDENTIFYING EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT CLAIM IN A TEXT
del Gandio J. 2008, said that a claim is an arguable statement– an idea that a rhetor
(that is, a speaker or writer) asks an audience to accept. A claim is an opinion, idea,
or assertion. Here are three different claims: 'I think we should have universal health
care.' 'I believe the government is corrupt.' 'We need a revolution.' These claims make
sense, but they need to be teased out and backed up with evidence and reasoning."
Campbell and Huxman define a claim as an assertion. They stress how it is an inference
beyond the facts. In strategic discourse, a claim is a statement we make to an
audience with an anticipation that they should agree with it.
 It is a statement. A claim is discourse.
 It involves a speaker's awareness of an audience. The very idea of a claim
involves a wish about an audience.
 It deals with a search for agreement. The wish is that the audience will agree
with the statement.
 It involves anticipation. To anticipate the audience's agreement means we
look hopefully to it, but we are anxious that they may not give it.
 A claim thus forwards a statement that we worry the audience will not agree
to, but wish them to agree to.
If we are certain that an audience will agree, it is not really a claim. If we are certain
they will not, it also is not a claim. A claim works with contingency - a question of
whether the audience will agree or not.
Types of Claims
a. Claim of Fact: A claim asserts some empirical truth.
 Something that can be determined by careful observation of past,
present,
 Generally, the truth of the assertion will be determined by events. But
the speaker will offer information or explanation that predicts or
characterizes the events.
 Claims of fact are those we think about rightly as being true or false. Of
course, sometimes we cannot prove something true or false, but we
have to say "How likely is it that it is true?" But the reasons we give are
the reasons we believe the statement is true or false.
 Argument usually turns on strength of evidence presented as reason for
arguer's belief in the claim.
Examples:
1. Research studies are conducted to improve human condition.
2. Climate Change has already become an issue in the country.
3. Success of teaching depends upon the creativity of the
teacher.
b. Claim of Judgment or Value: A claim asserts a judgment of some sort.
 Look for key words that are a matter of judgment rather than fact:
good, well, kind, useful, desirable, etc.
 Speakers provide the reasoning for their judgment, but ultimately, it is
assent to the reasons rather than comparison to fact that determines
the agreement to the claim.
 A claim is based on things we like or dislike. Thus it deals with goals, with
things we find attractive.
 Your feel for the argument by judgment or value has to be different
than that of fact. Disagreements over values are not "wrong" in the
sense that they are inaccurate. Rather, they turn on what is important
 to us and how the things that are important to us come to bear on a
situation.
 Argument usually turns on whether the underlying value of the claim is
accepted as a public good.
Examples:
1. Musical comedy is the best form of entertainment.
2. Staying with the family with a limited income is more valuable
than being away earning a lot.
3. Communication is better than computation.
c. Action or Policy: A claim asserts that an action should be taken.
 Be sensitive to calls that some action be taken.
 Look for key words "should" or "ought." These words may not always be
present, but if they are, actions are usually called for.
 Decisions about whether we should take an action or not are the most
complex of arguments. They turn on many claims about what happens
if we do take an action or what happens if we fail to act.
 Argument usually turns on whether the reasons for taking the action
outweigh the possible costs of taking the action.
Examples:
1. Fetal tissue should be banned in any research undertaking.
2. The government should continue to offer scholarship programs
especially to the poor but bright students.
3. Gender equality needs to be strengthened in the academe.
USING CONTEXT IN TEXT DEVELOPMENT
Intertextuality, as defined by Michael Riffaterre, (2010) "depends on [a system of]
limitations in our freedom of choice, of exclusions, since it is by renouncing
incompatible associations within the text that we come to identify in the intertext their
compatible counterparts." He further states that this intertextuality is the complete
opposite of hypertextuality because the former builds a "structured network" of limits
that will keep the reader on track (towards the "correct" interpretation), the latter is a
"loose web of free association."
Intertextuality may also involve connections built on social meanings in which
participants make intertextual links in order to build social relationships or connections
(Bloome & Egan-Robertson, 1993). For example, participants in conversation may
allude to shared experiences to foster a social bond or an insider reference to exclude
others. Participation in on-line chat exchanges engages early-adolescents in using
intertextual links to foster social interaction (Beach & Lundell, 1997; Lewis & Fabos,
2000).
Intertextuality is a literary device that creates an 'interrelationship between texts' and
generates related understanding in separate works ("Intertextuality,” 2015). These
references are made to influence that reader and add layers of depth to a text, based
on the readers' prior knowledge and understanding.
Intertextuality is a literary discourse strategy (Gadavanij, n.d.) utilized by writers in
novels, poetry, theater and even in non-written texts (such as performances and digital
media). Examples of intertextuality are an author's borrowing and transformation of a
prior text, and a reader's referencing of one text in reading another. Intertextuality does
not require citing or referencing punctuation (such as quotation marks) and is often
mistaken for plagiarism (Ivanic, 1998).
Hypertextuality according to K. Amaral, 2010 is simply a nonlinear 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.
This is accomplished by creating "links" between information. These links are provided
so that readers may "jump" to further information about a specific topic being
discussed (which may have more links, leading each reader off into a different
direction). For instance, if you are reading an article about marine mammal
bioacoustics, you may be interested in seeing a picture of a dolphin. Or you may want
to hear the sound it makes(~80K). Or you may even be interested in seeing what a
marine mammal sound "looks like" in a spectrogram.
You might even want to find out more about sounds made by other animals in the sea,
thus leading you on a completely different, detailed path. As you can see by these
examples, this medium is not limited simply to text. It can incorporate pictures, sound,
even video. So it presents a multimedia approach to gaining information--hypermedia.
Moreover, hypertext is used because in general, humans learn better associatively.
That is, we are better able to figure out material if we are allowed to move at our own
pace, investigating that which interests us, and stimulating more senses through
multimedia.
There are three main pedagogical benefits provided by the incorporation of hypertext
in the composition class:
1. Hypertext promotes dialogue.
 2. Hypertext can be constructed as a collaborative medium, and it makes
possible forms of collaboration that emphasize the social construction of
meaning.
3. Hypertext can be used in nearly any computer-facilitated classroom.

Reference:
Abao, E., Bacus, R., & Dayagbil, F. (2016). Critical Reading and Writing for the Senior High School.

CHARACTER ENHANCEMENT
REFLECTION
Why is critical reading as a way of thinking and reasoning significant especially
in this era of technology?