Cognition of Critical Reading in Language Learning.doc

在语言学习中对批判阅读的认识cognition of critical reading in language learningcontents abstract-1i. introduction -2ii. definition of critical reading-3iii. the key element and importance of critical reading- 4i. defining critical reading practices-4ii. self-awareness- -4iii. inquisitiveness-4iv. connectivity-5v. open-ended synthesis- 5iv.steps to be a critical reader-6i. prepare to become part of the writers audience-6ii. prepare to read with an open mind-6iii. consider the title-6iv. read slowly.- -6v. use the dictionary and other appropriate reference works-6vi. make notes.- - -7vii. keep a reading journal -7vii. reading to remember-7v. critical reading strategies-9i. previewing: learning about a text before really reading it-9ii. contextualizing- -10iii. questioning to understand and remember-11iv. outlining and summarizing-11v. evaluating an argument- -12vi. comparing and contrasting related readings- -12. six basic principles-15i. read the first third of passage carefully- -15ii. focus on the main idea- -15ii. get the general idea of each paragraph - 15iv. dont memorize details- -15v. arguing with the passages-16vi. be aware of classic wrong answers-16. conclusion-16 reference-16cognition of critical reading in language learning摘 要：作为一个读者，你不仅仅是一个被动的参与者，而是文章整体意义的积极构造者。抱着一种批判的态度去阅读会使你不论是在工作中还是在生活中都变得更加丰富、有用。这种批判的态度可以帮助你更有效地批判阅读以便成为一个优秀的批判阅读者。批判阅读是在2002年由jamie提出的一种深入的阅读。学生们经常认为自己很犹豫无法对自己所读文章做出一个明确的观点。然而这种现象在大学生中也非常普遍。你当然要给出充分的论据去支持你的论点和立场，这在刚开始会有难度但至少你可以尝试去批判地思维和逻辑分析。这会有助于你的作品提高到一个新的高度。因此我在论文中将浅析语言学习中对批判阅读的认识以便我们成为一个出色的批判阅读者。关键词： 批判 阅读 方法 认识 abstract：as a reader, you are not a passive participant, but an active constructor of meaning. critical attitude towards what you read will make anything you read richer and more useful to you in your classes and your life. this guide is designed to help you to understand and engage this active reading process more effectively so that you can become a better critical reader. critical reading which is posted by jamie september 7, 2002 is a further dimension of in-depth reading. students often comment that they are very hesitant to take a stand or provide a definite point of view on a topic. however, this is what academic study involves at a high level; to draw conclusions from research and/or reading. of course you need to justify and supply evidence to support your thesis statement or position. this can be difficult at first but after a while , at least making an attempt to critically think, as well as using a sense of logical reasoning, will help produce essays of a higher standard. so in my paper i will explore the cognition of critical reading in language learning to all of us who want to be a better critical reader.key words: critical reading strategy cognitioncognition of critical reading in language learningiintroductionreading, as one of the basic skills of english study, plays a very important part in english study. it is a good way to improve our comprehensive ability and help us learn english well. it is critical if you want to succeed in a professional career. on a more personal level, reading develops your imagination consistent reading helps you do everything more creatively. too many college students are capable of only some types of reading, and that painful lack reveals itself when they have a difficult text and must read critically about it. when we read critically for interpretation, we read to discover meaning in a text, that is, to determine what conclusions can be drawn about the various messages the text contains. so as a reader, you bring a wealth of relevant opinions, experiences, and language strategies with you to do work, in many ways the strategies you use to understand other complex situations. meanwhile the most important one is critical reading which is posted by jamie on september 7, 2002. some logicians call it critical reading. others call it close reading, or active reading, or a host of other terms. the current type of reading in language study can be classified as factual reading , critical reading and aesthetic reading . here i supply some information for critical reading.one of the core learning goals in nearly all of my courses is to develop my abilities as a critical reader. the term “reading” may imply the simple task of decoding a text, but i use it in a much broader and more complex sense. critical reading involves a continuing process of exploring and investigating a text, and it works on multiple levels: the text itself, the readers interaction with the text, and the interactions of both the text and the reader with their respective contexts.thus, a critical reading of a text does not end with the text but is always contextualized. i approach critical reading with the underlying assumption that the significance and “meaning” of any text is multilayered, shifting, complex, and often contradictory. for students, however, this way of thinking about reading can be challenging, partly because it contradicts the assumption they have been taught about texts: that texts have set meanings that are available for identification by the informed reader, and that the purpose of reading a text is to locate and define its meaning.too often, students inquiries are guided by neither their own interests nor any genuine questions. rather, they read to find “the answer.” more to the point, students have learned that to exaggerate just slightly here - “research” means going out to find a couple of quotes to add to their papers to show that they did research. one reason for this is the structure of learning in higher education.for many students, reading has become a task to complete in preparation for class and or the first step in finding an argument for an assigned paper, not a process of exploration, reflection, or contextualization. this project explores another approach, one that builds student inquiry into the course structure, that replaces the usual expectation that students will produce a final coherent argument with the expectation that they will pursue their own questions about a text, and that models and provides support for students as they engage in various critical reading practices.iidefinition of critical readingwhat is critical reading? critical reading means that a reader applies certain processes, models, questions, and theories that result in improved/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. what is the difference? if a reader “skims” the text, superficial characteristics and information are as far as the reader goes. a critical reading gets at deep structure, that is, logical consistency, tone, organization, and a number of other very important terms. critical reading is a vital part of the writing process. in fact, reading and writing processes are alike. in both, you make meaning by actively engaging a text. as a reader, you are not a passive participant, but an active constructor of meaning; and exhibiting an inquisitive, critical attitude towards what you read will make anything you read richer and more useful to you in your classes and your life. a few group students think carefully about the reading, and do it pretty diligently. a large group in the middle either reads a lot of the material but not critically or they read critically but not a lot of the material. a few at the bottom fall behind on both counts. to me, critical reading is one of the most important skills that a history class will teach them. i think of a critical reader as a student who will get through the material and come away with his own way of putting the material together. i care that they have a way of putting the material together. their political position is not really important. ideally, good readers will come up with a sense of the argument buried in the reading. critical reading involves using logical and rhetorical skills. identifying the authors thesis is a good place to start, but to grasp how the author intends to support it is a difficult task. more often an author will make a claim (most commonly in the form of the thesis) and support it in the body of the text. the support for the authors claim is in the evidence provided to suggest that the authors intended argument is sound, or reasonably acceptable. the first step towards critical reading is to keep your purpose in mind when you read. dont let the arguments in the book distract you from your reading agenda. before beginning to read, take a few moments to think about what it is you are expecting from the article or chapter. previewing or prereading can help you focus your thoughts. skim the headings and the abstract of the piece, perhaps look at the first line of each paragraph and the conclusion with the following that: a) do you need to read everything with equal attention?b) can you see where the arguments are headed? c) preread before you copy you may not need to copy every page critical reading is the process of actively engaging with a text as you read it, going beyond simply following the authors arguments or explanation. it involves examining the underlying assumptions not made explicit in the text, both in the initial framing of the issue and in the reasoning from evidence to conclusions. in doing so, you place the text in a larger context, relying on your own knowledge of the field (this part will get easier as the course progresses), your knowledge of related fields, your own personal experience, and the text itself. also critical reading is not criticizing. you can read a text critically and come out the other end liking it or disliking it. in either case, youll have a better idea of why. also critical reading benefits you because the more actively you engage with the material, the more you make connections between this material and other classes and experiences. the more you make such connections, the better your retention will be.iii. the key element and importance of critical reading:. defining critical reading practicesnote that “text” refers to all kinds of written, visual, material, and multimedia materials. these ideas should be applicable to reading of literature, photography, visual arts, architecture, music, film, and so on. self-awarenessgood critical reading requires that the reader not only observe the text but also observe him or herself. readers bring a lifetime of experience, previous reading, culture, attitudes, and knowledge with them to every text. good readers are aware of how their own biases, assumptions, habits, and knowledge shape their reading, and they recognize that their own perspective will change over time. in these cases, self-awareness is demonstrated through comments about the readers history with a text or a group of texts, the readers responses, the readers biases, positions, attitudes, etc. iii. inquisitivenessgood critical readers ask questions all the time about the text, the texts creator(s), the context, themselves, related texts, ideas, meanings, references, everything related to the text.ideally, these questions become more focused over time, though they may vary from wide-ranging, almost theoretical questions to very specific questions. but specific “informational” questions get one only so far.critical questioning means asking why things are the way they are, how readers might respond, how a text does its work, and so on. it also means asking questions about ones own questions, as in “am i asking something useful? is this really what i want to know? why is it important to know this? in looking for evidence of inquisitiveness, look for places where readers pose questions and places where they comment on their own questions. look, too, for how questions change over time.iv. connectivitygood critical reading uses connections and comparisons with other texts as tools to reveal elements of the text being studied. these two paired ways of looking, connection and comparison, allow the reader to see an individual text as part of and/or different from larger patterns, which may be textual (among a group of texts), historical (ideas and issues of a particular moment in time), geographical (among different texts from different places), and so on.the patterns revealed through connectivity in turn provide clues about aspects of a text to examine further. thus, connectivity may direct a reader to look again at some aspect of the text, or it may prompt new questions, about why a text differs from others or how it carries out a theme that ties a group of texts together. the easiest way to identify connectivity in these cases is to look for references to other novels, to the type of immigrant literature, and to the history of immigration in the us. v. open-ended synthesisultimately, good critical reading should lead the reader to new insights into the text, as well as (perhaps) insights into the texts context and the readers own perspective. synthesis refers to the way new readings are made possible by the four previous elements of critical reading, or, more specifically, the way that readers pull ideas from multiple resources (their own responses, their questions, multiple rounds of looking at the text, and related texts and materials) and by identifying connections between them, explores possible meanings or conclusions.yet the nature of the other elements of critical reading should make it impossible for a good critical reader to claim any definitive meaning or conclusion, since there is always the possibility that ones own perspective blinds one to possible meanings, that another look at the text would reveal new information, that further questioning could uncover new layers or aspects of the text, and that other texts might reveal new possibilities. and any arguments and analyses should somehow acknowledge the complexity of texts and their contexts, recognize their own limitations, and at least gesture towards the possibility of error or that further investigation would reveal a different view.to non -critical readers, texts provide facts. readers gain knowledge by memorizing the statements within a text. to the critical reader, any single text provides but one portrayal of the facts, one individuals “take” on the subject matter. 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. a non-critical reader might read a history book to learn the facts of the situation or to discover an accepted interpretation of those events. a critical reader might read the same work to appreciate how a particular perspective on the events and a particular selection of facts can lead to particular understanding. non-critical reader is satisfied with recognizing what a text says and restating the key remarks. critical reader goes two steps further. having recognized what a text says, it reflects on what the text does by making such remarks. is it offering examples? arguing? appealing for sympathy? making a contrast to clarify a point? finally, critical readers then infer what the text, as a whole, means , based on the earlier analysis this guide is designed to help you to understand and engage this active reading process more effectively so that you can become a better critical reader. what does it take to be a critical reader?ivsteps to be a critical reader:there are a variety of answers available to this question, here are some suggested steps:. prepare to become part of the writers audience.after all, authors design texts for specific audiences, and becoming a member of the target audience makes it easier to get at the authors purpose. learn about the author, the history of the a