OVERVIEW

SKIMMING
01 &
SCANNING

DETERMINING THE
02 MEANING
OF WORDS

TOPICS TOPIC OF A
03 PARAGRAPH

04 MAIN IDEA

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SKIM & SCAN

• Finding important ideas in a text

• Quickly run through the text and understand using
key words
SKIMMING • Tips: read the title, headings, illustrations, captions,
italicised/boldfaced words, introduction &
conclusion.
• Example: newspaper, article, menu, reports, etc.

• Finding specific information in a text

• Tips: - Focus on the information you’re looking for
SCANNING - e.g.: date, name, reasons, steps, etc.
- Only look for that specific information
• Helps to save time, skip unimportant information

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 DETERMINING THE DEFINITION
MEANING OF WORDS • Definition of a particular word or phrase is given
by the author in a sentence.
Contextual Analysis 1
• Clues; known as, defined as, means and that is.
• E.g.: Arachnophobia, that is an intense and
- Helps readers make intelligent unreasonable fear of spiders can happen
guess by using hints/clues from because of past bad experience.
the text.

EXPERIENCE
• Using readers’ experience and prior
5 2 EXAMPLE
knowledge related to the text, • Consists of examples given by the author to
• E.g.: Going to the waterfall areas for picnic can explain the meaning of unfamiliar words.
give the chance to the tourist to experience CONTEXTUAL • Clues; for example, for instance, such as and
such serene surrounding. CLUES like.
• E.g.: One of the most common mistake in
grammar is the wrong usage of articles, such
as a, an, and the.
INFERENCE
• Helps readers guess the meaning using
rationale, reasoning skills and the information
provided in the text. 4 3 CONTRAST
• E.g.: Open burning activity will exacerbate the
situation of haze which is already bad in • Opposite meanings are crucial to contrast clues
Sumatera. • Clues; however, although, but and nevertheless
• E.g.: Although the food is not palatable, it is considered okay because of the cheap
price.
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DETERMINING THE
MEANING OF WORDS PARTS OF SPEECH
Examples:
PREFIX & SUFFIXES She is facing a lot of obstacles in
Word Structural Analysis Affix that is added in front
Noun, Verb, Adjective,
planning the event.
Adverb
or after the root word. • Noun (plural)
• Problems, issues, difficulties
Examples: • problem, issue, difficulty
re-, un-, mis-, in-, etc.
i. Insignificant = not significant The actress is prettier during the
ii. Unpredictable = not dinner as compared to the
predictable i ii award night.
iii. Mispronounce = wrongly • Adjective (comparative)
pronounce • More beautiful, lovelier
• beautiful, lovely

-able, -less, -er, -ly I purchased the bananas yesterday.

i. doable = can be done • Verb (past tense)
ii. boneless = without bone • bought
iii. prettier = more pretty* • buy, purchase

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TOPIC & MAIN IDEA
2
TOPIC
Words or phrases that
1 STATED
IMPLIED
A single sentence formulated
by the reader (using own
word) to describe the focus
describe the focus of the A complete sentence that
of the paragraph.
text. describes the author’s
Clues: title of a passage, overall purpose for writing
the various prints (e.g. Tips: read, re-read, and
the paragraph.
boldface, italics, etc.) and summarise the gist of the
any recurring words paragraph, must contain
It can be directly located in
only significant point
the paragraph; usually the
earlier part (first sentence),
sometimes in the middle or
end.

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 SKIMMING
01 &
SCANNING
SAMPLE 1
Sim, who was part of the Malaysian team at the opening ceremony of the
Games on Friday (July 23), had two close-up shots of his masked face
during the live telecast of the event. Since then, pictures of Sim have been
circulating on China's social media platforms with people asking who he is.
The 24-year-old from Sarawak is among 30 athletes representing Malaysia

CLUES
at the Games. Chinese netizens did a "cyber hunt" for him and reposted his
photographs and biography on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like site. The
Malaysian team has a shuai ge (handsome man), wrote Zixi. "I immediately
went searching for his Instagram account," said another user named
Wanzhai. Others posted that his name was Shen Weisheng (Sim's name in
The word ‘nicknamed’ anglicised Chinese), was 181cm tall and nicknamed the "Malaysian
Flying Fish Prince" (“Malaysian Olympic Swimmer”, 2021)
Punctuation marks (‘’ ’’),
Headline case (M F F P)
What is the nickname given to the subject of attention based on
his sportsmanship performance?

Answer: Malaysian Flying Fish Prince

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 SKIMMING
01 &
SCANNING
SAMPLE 2

JERUSALEM: Israel launched deadly air strikes on Gaza Monday

in response to a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas and other
CLUES Palestinian militants, amid spiralling violence sparked by unrest at
Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. At least 20 people were
killed, including nine children and a senior Hamas commander, and
Numbers (20, 65)
65 others wounded, Gaza authorities said. (“20 Killed As Israel
Strikes Gaza”, 2021)
Keywords;
(killed, wounded)
How many victims were killed and wounded in the air strikes?

Answer: 85 victims

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 DETERMINING THE
02 MEANING
OF WORDS
SAMPLE 1
…There is a balance between two worlds

CLUES
One with an arrow and a cross
Regardless of the balance, life has become
Cumbersome
Too heavy, too light, too black or too white
Keywords; Too heavy, too Too wrong or too right, today or tonight
light, too black or too white Cumbersome…
– a mix of negative and
positive words
(‘Cumbersome’, Pollock, 1994)
Other words in the excerpt
(use rationale, reasoning Based on the lyrics, find the meaning of the word
skills) Cumbersome.

Answer: complicated / difficult / inefficient

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 DETERMINING THE
02 MEANING
OF WORDS
SAMPLE 2
Limerick which is popular for its short form, humorous

CLUES
poem that is often nonsensical and frequently ribald must
present five lines, rhyming aabba, and the dominant metre
is anapestic, with two metrical feet in the third and fourth
lines and three feet in the others.
Keywords;
(which is, must present) (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015)
– indicate meaning

Other words in the excerpt What is a limerick?

(short, poem, humorous,
nonsensical)
Answer: a short and humorous poem / a short
nonsensical poem

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 04 MAIN IDEA SAMPLE 1
In modern times, the gifting of mooncakes during the eighth
lunar month (the month of the Mid-Autumn Festival) is an
CLUES important tradition for businesses all across China and East
Asia too. For such businesses, the act symbolizes the
STATED MAIN IDEA reinforcement of partnerships as well. It is not uncommon
Keywords: for some companies to set aside significant budgets each year
Words or phrases that describe the for such gifts. (Yong, 2021)
focus (mooncakes, businesses,
gifting);
A complete sentence
with complete focus CLUES IMPLIED MAIN IDEA

Answer: Keywords:
In modern times, the gifting of Words or phrases describe the focus
mooncakes during the eighth lunar (mooncakes, businesses, not uncommon);
month (the month of the Mid- Summarise the gist of the paragraph
Autumn Festival) is an important
tradition for businesses all across Answer:
China and East Asia too. It is common for businesses all across China and East Asia to give
out mooncakes during the festival for partnership reinforcement.

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REFERENCES
MAIN REFERENCE
Johari, A. & Selvaraj, B. (2017). Developing reading skills. Oxford University Press.

EXAMPLES & TEMPLATES

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2019, July 5). Limerick. Encyclopedia
Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/limerick-poetic-form

Education Infographic PPT (n.d.). Tiny PPT. https://tinyppt.com/education/page/3

Malaysian Olympic swimmer Welson Sim catches eye of Chinese netizens.

(2021, July 25). The Star
https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/swimming/2021/07/25/malaysian-olympic-
swimmer-welson-sim-catches-eye-of-chinese-netizens

Pollock, J. (1994). Cumbersome [Lyrics]. Retrieved from

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sevenmarythree/cumbersome.html

Yong, C. (2021, February 16). 9 facts about Chinese mooncakes: history, culture, legends.
Delishably. https://delishably.com/world-cuisine/mooncake-facts

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