English Reading Skills

1 English Reading Skills Practice I An Brief Introduction to this Course 1 The importance of reading For a foreign language learner input is very important Without input there will be no output What is input Input here means taking in language material through listening and reading Common sense tells us that if you have never come across a phrase or a pattern you will not be able to use it So the more you are exposed to the language the better you are in communication In terms of input reading is very important Why First reading is the best way to improve your understanding of the language And understanding is the first step to graspe the language Reading is the main source of language material You can look up dictionary and think You can go back to the material and reread it This is the advantage of reading Reading will open windows to the world enrich your knowledge of the world of cultures in other countries and in history Reading can acquaint you with the subtlety and beauty of the language 2 Two types of reading A Intensive reading 1 To concentrate effort on a short piece in order to learn the basic skills of the language The piece is used as an example to show you what are the things you should pay attention to and why Then it will become a tool for you to be used in reading other things by yourself 2 Goals of intensive reading 1 To introduce you to the different features of the English language 2 To improve your reading comprehension 3 To arouse your interest in the texts in articles written in English by native speakers 4 To help you develop your ability in working independently 3 The steps taken for studying a text A Before class 2 1 Surveying a text to get an overview of what it is about is very useful This should be the first step In doing survey you are not expected to look up words or expressions in dictionaries 2 Reread the text paragraph by paragraph trying to understand as much as you can B In class 1 Listen to the teachers explanation carefully Compare notes 2 Your understanding is correct a review 3 Your questions take down the explanation 4 Your surprise those things you think you understand but it turns out that your understanding is not correct C After class 1 A careful analysis of the things you find difficult in preview and try to pinpoint where the problem lies 2 A study of the language used in the text B Extensive reading 1 Goal The goal is different from that of intensive reading The emphasis is on speed and quantity So you need to read easier things and to read more 1 To form the habit of reading faster and being able to get the gist Break away from the habit of translating every sentence in mind into Chinese and then feeling you understand the thing 2 To expose yourself more to the language Do not look up a word unless the word unless the word appears for the third time 3 To acquire more information through reading 4 To have more material for speaking and writing 2 Materials Reading material should be easier than what you are having in intensive reading Otherwise you cannot read quickly 3 1 Simplified books read 40 50 books of which 20 or so should be read at least three times 2 Readers Digest or easy originals Book of Knowledge 3 DevelopingDeveloping ReadingReading SkillsSkills Tips for Increasing Reading Speed As our eyes move across the page they make a series of jerky movements Whenever they come to rest on a word that is called a fixation Most people fixate once on each word across a line of print In order to make our speed increase we must take in more words with each fixation rather than make our eyes move faster 1 Try to avoid focusing on every word but rather look at groups of 2 to 3 words For instance this sentence could be grouped in this manner for instance this sentence could be grouped in this manner 2 Work on vocabulary improvement Familiarize yourself with new words so you don t get stuck on them when you read them again 3 If you find yourself moving your lips when reading force yourself to read faster by following 1 above so that you can no longer move your lips 4 Read more 15 minutes a day of reading an average size novel equals 18 books a year at an average reading speed 5 Determine your purpose before reading If you only need main ideas then allow yourself to skim the material Don t feel you must read very word 6 Spend a few minutes a day reading at a faster than comfortable rate about 2 to 3 times faster than your normal speed Use your hand or an index card to guide your eyes down the page Then time yourself reading a few pages at your normal speed You ll find that often your normal reading speed will increase after your skimming practice 7 If you have poor concentration when reading practice reading for only 5 10 minutes at a time and gradually increase this time 8 There are several books on increasing reading speed available in most bookstores If you are serious about increasing your rate you may want to work systematically through one of these books 附 附 英英语阅读语阅读技巧技巧 4 1 阅读方法主要有精度和泛读 精读是对文章仔细阅读 咀嚼与消化 对精度课 文必须从语法 词汇 文章结构等多方面予以分析 理解和掌握 藉以奠定语言 基础 培养语言能力 泛读就是要广泛 大量地阅读 阅读时不过多注意细节 不 作多方面的要求 只要求理解文章的基本意思 泛读阅读的材料 难易程度应与 读者的水平相适应 2 培养 整体阅读 的习惯 努力提高阅读水平 多数同学都有一个不好的阅读习 惯 即要把遇到的每一个生词都查清 才肯往下读 结果阅读速度慢得惊人 常 常是读到后面 前面的内容已忘记 整体阅读 法要求阅读者集中注意力于整个 篇章内容 而不是个别词语 在阅读过程中 阅读者辨认出篇章开头的某些关键 性词语时 头脑立刻开始了对篇章内容的预测 接着在继续阅读的过程中 通过 对部分词语的辨认 不断证实 修正开始时的预测 或者对它否定 而产生新的 预测 最后达到对篇章内容的全面理解 通过 整体阅读 训练 能帮你放弃原来 的 只见树木 不见森林 的逐词逐句阅读法 掌握 整体阅读 法 可提高你的阅 读速度 并对篇章内容的把握方面也十分有益 1 阻碍阅读效率的几个因素 A 阅读心理与观念 过去许多人习惯于基础阶段字 词 句 译的初学模式 并形 成了一种较固定的阅读模式 词语 句子 语法 翻译 习惯于只注重词汇 语法 等语言知识的学习 这种阅读习惯阻碍了阅读能力的发展 也会对阅读产生概念 错误 认为阅读只是学习词汇 语法 句式 修辞等知识 结果不仅读速慢 而且 不能把握文章的命脉 易忽略整体的领略 缺乏宏观的阅读思维能力 对此 我 们应首先改变观念 要认识到阅读主要目的是获取信息 而不是词汇 语法研究 5 要树立整体篇章概念和速度效率概念 才能克服不良习惯 消除其负迁移作用 B 阅读习惯与速度 由于 求精 求细 求知识 的阅读模式 不少同学养成了一些不良阅读习惯 这些不良阅读习惯反过来又制约了阅读效率 这些不良阅读习惯诸如 a 阅读视幅小 视幅指眼睛每停留一次所能清晰地感知文字的广度 视幅对阅读的影响表现 在两个方面 一是每看一眼或称定置能看清字数的多少 二是眼睛定置的次数与 时间 好的读者不会以单词为注视点 逐字阅读 而是以意群为注视点 请看下 面的例子 高效率的读者阅读时可能会这样切分 Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman 要想提高阅读效率 需克服小视幅的阻碍 我们可以在平时的阅读中有意识 地训练自己 利用末稍视觉扩大以意群为组块的视幅 例如一行文字只作二 三 次切分 如开始做不到 可以先多一些切分 逐步减少 持之以恒 则会有收效 b 声读或心读 声读是指在阅读时喃喃自语地把每个单词念出声来 有时也可能是无声地动 动嘴唇 亦称唇读 另一种较难察觉的声读形式是心读 即在内心想象着或默吟 着每个单词的发音 且往往手指着读 这种习惯不仅有碍阅读速度 且由于过分 依赖言语而忽略语义 影响到阅读理解的广度与深度 克服声读 心读需要自觉 地锻炼扩大视幅 加快读速 加强眼球运动训练 养成成组阅读的习惯 c 回读 回读是再度倒回来重新阅读的现象 又称倒读或复视 这是由于对已看过的内 容 句子等感觉不放心所致 回读虽不能完全避免 但次数过多 则会影响阅读 效率 回读习惯也是由于过于重视微观语言现象 注意力过细而担心漏看所致 6 回读读者习惯于有对应的汉语翻译 否则会有不安全感 这样会导致对阅读缺乏 自信 如此不仅影响阅读效率 还会阻碍英语思维的发展 C 思维习惯与背景知识 语言的思维习惯也会影响阅读效率 中英文两种语言由于在文字 文化方面的 巨大差异 需要读者在英语阅读加工过程中 采取不同于中文的思维定势和心理 策略 中文句式表达的特点是次要的描述性在前 重要信息在后 而英文句式的