CRITICAL

READING
Activity: Consider the following statements
that are read in a magazine:

1. Girls most likely do well in academics

during high school years but boys get
ahead of them in college.
2. Female teenagers are more concerned
with their physical appearance than male
teenagers
Do you believe and agree with the
statements after reading them? How
would you react after reading the
statements?
If you question the validity of the statements
by asking the person to give the basis for
his/her assertions, then you are one step
closer to becoming a critical reader.
Critical Reading –involves scrutinizing any
information that you hear or read.
- is an active process of discovery because
when you read critically, you are not just
receiving information but also making an
interaction with the writer. The
interaction happens when you question
the writer’s claim and assertions and
when you comment on the writer’s ideas.
Ramage, Bean and Johnson(2006) identified the
following requirements in critical thinking:
1. The ability to pose problematic questions.
2. The ability to analyze a problem in all its
dimensions -to define its key terms, determine
its causes, understand its history, appreciate its
human dimension and its connection to one’s
own personal experience, and appreciate what
makes it problematic or complex.
3. The ability to find, gather, and interpret
data, facts, and other information relevant
to the problem.
4. The ability to imagine alternative
solutions to the problem, to see different
ways in which the question might be
answered and different perspectives for
viewing it.
5. The ability to analyze competing
approaches and answers, to construct
arguments for and against alternatives, and
to chose the best solution in the light of
values, objectives, and other criteria that
you determine and articulate.
6. The ability to write an effective
argument justifying your choice while
acknowledging counter-arguments.
 How to become a Critical Reader
1. Annotate what you read – One of the ways to
interact with the writer is to write on the text,. You
can underline, circle or highlight words, phrases or
sentences that contain important details, or you can
write marginal notes asking questions or
commenting on the ideas of the writer. There are no
clear and definite guidelines to annotating a text; you
can create your own style. For instance, you can
circle unfamiliar words or underline ideas that you
think are questionable.
2. Outline the text – identify the main
points of the writer and list them
down so you can also identify the ideas
that the writer has raised to support
his/her stand. You don’t necessarily
have to write a structured sentence or
topic outline for this purpose;you can
just write in bullet or in numbers
Outline of the essay,” Why Do they
Say that our English is Bad?”

Thesis Statement: The concept of

Standard English is problematic
because there is no clear definition
of what standard is.
Supporting details:

Point 1: The author gives a scenario in

the Philippine classrooms in which
English teachers get frustrated because
of students’ grammatical errors.
Point 2: The author mentioned that
research studies are being conducted in
order to improve teaching English as a
second language but failed to mention
what those specific studies are.

Point 3: The common errors that Filipino

college students commit in their writings
are mentioned.
3. Summarize the Text – Aside from
outlining, you can also get the main
points of the text you are reading and
write its gist in your own words. This
will test how much you have
understood the text and will help you
evaluate it critically. A summary is
usually one paragraph long.
4. Evaluate the text – you question
the author’s purpose and intentions,
as well as his/her assumptions in the
claims. You also check if the
arguments are supported by evidence
and if the evidence are valid and are
from credible sources.