STUDY AND WRITING SKILLS
114
11.5
STUDY SKILLS
IMPROVING READING SKILLS
1
a
Think about when you read in English. Which
of the following techniques do you use and in what
situations?
Do you:
1
focus on headings and subheadings?
2
only look at summaries and conclusions?
3
read every word very carefully?
4
predict what comes next?
5
ask yourself questions about what you are reading?
6
use your finger to help you follow what you read?
7
have questions to which you want to know the
answers before you read?
8
read aloud?
9
focus on the unknown vocabulary?
1
b
Compare your ideas with a partner.
2
11.8
Listen to part of a radio programme on the
subject of reading and answer the questions.
1
Who is the guest and what has she written?
2
What does she say about the benefits of reading?
3
What advice does she give?
3
Listen again. Which techniques in Exercise 1a does
the guest mention?
There are different techniques for improving reading
speed and ability. Do Exercises 4–6 to try them out.
4
Reading and chunking
If you want to improve
reading speed, it’s important to look at groups of
words rather than individual words. You can read the
sentence below one word at a time.
All | cultures | develop | from | a | range | of | diverse |
influences.
However it is better to ‘chunk’ groups of words as below:
All cultures | develop from | a range of | diverse influences.
The cosmopolitan atmosphere | of many world cities | is
a result of | centuries of immigration.
How are the sentences above chunked? Do you
notice any patterns? Divide the sentences below into
appropriate chunks.
1
He wrote a brief history of Western culture.
2
Many people argue that American culture will soon
take over the world.
3
Cultural Studies is becoming an increasingly popular
university course.
5
a
Guessing unknown words
The context will
help with the meaning of vocabulary items because
of the following.
•
the position of the word in the sentence
•
the part of speech (e.g. noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
•
the use of prefixes and suffixes
Match the prefixes below with their meanings.
1
pre
date
a
after
2
inter
national
b
before
3
post
war
c
between
4
multi
cultural
d
many
5
sub
culture
e
opposite
6
mis
understanding
f
bad or wrong
7
anti
social
g
against
8
counter
culture
h
under
5
b
Identify the suffixes in the words below. Decide if
they are noun or adjective suffixes.
1
sociology
5
responsible
2
sexism
6
development
3
timeless
7
communication
4
valuable
5
c
Add some more words with the same suffixes.
5
d
Look back at the texts on page 111 and identify as
many prefixes and suffixes as you can (look for verbs,
nouns and adjectives).
6
Reading linkers
Focusing on linking expressions
will help you to understand how the ideas in a text
are connected. Match the common formal linking
expressions 1–8 with their functions a–h.
1
alternatively
2
on the contrary
3
provided that
4
in addition
5
similarly
6
nevertheless
7
in order to
8
therefore
a
adds something
b
introduces a result
c
gives the purpose of something
d
introduces a surprising piece of information
e
introduces another choice
f
suggests a condition
g
makes a comparison
h
makes a contrast
7
a
Work with a partner. You will each read a different
text, then summarise it orally for your partner. What
ideas are similar in both texts?
Student A
: turn to page 156.
Student B
: turn to page 159.
7
b
Identify the prefixes, suffixes and linking phrases
in your text. How did you chunk the text as you read?
Discuss your ideas with your partner.
