ACADEMIC

READING
Topics for Discussion
 Skimming
 Scanning
 Browsing
 Note-taking
 Organizing
 Outlining
Skimming & Scanning
 Two very different strategies for speed reading
 For flexible readers
 They read according to their purpose & get the
information they need quickly without wasting
time
(1) Skimming
 Reading rapidly in order to get a general overview
of the material
 Looking only for general or main ideas, and work
best with non-fiction (or factual) material
Ex. Doing research on a long chapter or a web site
 By reading the first few paragraphs in detail, you
will get a good idea of what information will be
discussed
 Then, begin to READ ONLY THE FIRST
SENTENCE OF EACH PARAGRAPH
 Also called topic sentences, they can give you the
main idea of the paragraph
Continued…
 Remember: your overall comprehension will be
lower than if you read in detail
 While skimming, you feel you are grasping the
main ideas, then you are skimming correctly
Ask yourself the following to decide
whether or not to skim
 Is this material non-fiction?
 Do I have a lot to read and only a small amount of
time?
 Do I already know something about this?
 Can any of the material be skipped?
(2) Scanning
 Rapidly reading in order to find specific facts
 You look only for specific information without
reading everything
Ex. SCAN when you…
 Look for your favorite show listed in the cable
guide
 Look for friend’s phone number in a telephone
book
 Look for the sports scores in the newspaper
The material you SCAN is typically
arranged in the following ways:
 Alphabetically – A-Z
 Chronologically – arranged in time or numerical
order
 Non-alphabetically – such as television listing
 By category – such as auto part catalog
 Textually – also known as textual sense, as in
encyclopedia entry
Use your hands when Scanning
 Helpful in locating specific information
To locate word in a dictionary
To find a meeting time on your calendar
To read a train or bus schedule
Use Peripheral Vision when Scanning
 Let your eyes work for you when searching for
information
 Keep the concept of key words in mind while
scanning
 Your purpose will determine the key words
Continued…
 Ex.When you are looking for the time a train
leaves from Recto for Katipunan
 Key words: “from Recto” and “to Katipunan”
 Ex.Looking for a cost of a computer printer with
the code PX-710
 Key word: PX-710
When to Scan?
 When your aim is to find specific pieces of
information
 Ex. Doing research for an oral presentation, you
could scan the index of books, web sites &
reference materials
 Important benefit: help you become a flexible
reader
(3) Browsing
 The act of looking through a set of information
quickly, without a specific sense of purpose
(techopedia.com)
 In the context of the internet, it usually refers to
using the world wide web.
 The term may imply a sense of aimlessness, with
the user just wasting time on the internet.
Browsing in the context of internet
 Typically means using a web browser
 This can be with specific purpose: using email or
updating one’s status on a social media site, or just
using the web with no purpose in particular, as in,
“Oh, I’ just browsing.”
(4) Note Taking
 the practice of recording information captures
from another source
 By taking notes, the writer records the essence of
the information, freeing their mind from having to
recall everything
Techniques & Tips for Listening &
Note Taking
 Write phrase, not full sentences
 Skip words like “the” and “a”
 Retain key technical or discipline-specific terms
 Take notes in your own words
 Paraphrase what you hear
 Try to rephrase everything except where
information need to be noted exactly
Techniques & Tips for Listening &
Note Taking
 Structure
your notes with headings, subheadings
and numbered lists
 Use headings to indicate topic areas or to include
bibliographic details of the sources of information
 Use outline form and/or numbering system and
indenting to help you distinguish major from minor
points
 Code your notes
 Use colour and symbols to mark structure and emphasis
Techniques & Tips for Listening &
Note Taking
 Usecolour to highlight major sections, main
points and diagrams
 You can also use different colours to classify and
lick concepts or information by topic
 Don’t focus too much in colour coding when you’re
in the lecture, just when you’re revising your notes
later
Techniques & Tips for Listening &
Note Taking
 Underline, circle, star etc. to identify key
information, examples, definitions, or other
important materials
 If you miss something, write key words, skip a
few spaces, and get the information later.
 Leave a space on the page for your own notes and
comments
Abbreviations and acronyms for note taking
1. Common
etc . (etcetera) and the para = paragraph
rest
ch = chapter
e.g. = for example
no. = number
info = information
diff = different
i.e. = that is
C19 = nineteenth
n.b. = note well, century
important

p= page (pp = pages)

Abbreviations and acronyms for note taking
2. Discipline -
Specific
There should be whatever is frequently used in
your field of study.

In chemistry: Au for gold, Mg for magnesium

In case of quantities and concepts, these are

represented by Greek letters in many fields

A or a (alpha) B or b (beta)
Abbreviations and acronyms for note taking
3. Personal
Develop you own set so that you don’t have to
write every word in full. You can shorten any
word that is commonly used in lectures.

• Gov = government
• nec =necessary

Work out a system you’ll remember and use it

consistently. Introduce a few symbols and
abbreviations at a time to help you remember
them.
Abbreviations and acronyms for note taking
4. Acronyms
Some abbreviations are so well known and
widely used that they have become acronyms
– abbreviations pronounced as words. For
example:

Laser = Light Amplification by Stimulation

Emission of Radiation

ABC = Australian Broadcasting Corporation

 Symbols for note taking
= equal/is equal to < less than

≠ Is not equal to/ is not the - less, minus

same as
is equivalent to gives, causes, produces, leads to,
results in, is given by, is
produced by, results from, comes
from
. therefore, thus, so rises, increases by
. .
. . because falls, decreases by
.

+ and, more, plus a proportional to

> morethan, greater than a not proportional to

Use concept maps and diagrams
 Begin in the middle of the page and add ideas on
branches that radiate from the central idea or from
previous branches
 Arrows and words can be used to show links
between parts of the concept map
 Colour and symbols are important parts of concept
maps, helping illustrates ideas and triggering your
own thoughts
(5) Organizing
 Can be used to convey an idea, relay information,
assemble a procedure and seal a deal
 Method of organization create order and direct the
thoughts of the audience interacting the
information
 For creating a report, sorting data, presenting an
idea or organizing a facts
Patterns of Organization & Method of
Development
Can help the readers follow the ideas
within the essay and paragraphs
Major Patterns of Organization
Read the following sentences:
1. Now take the pie out of the oven and let it cool
on the stovetop.
2. Mix the dry ingredients with the liquid
ingredients.
3. Set the pie crust side while you make the filling
How did you feel?
 A bit confusing, right?
 Steps of making a pie were not well organized
 Steps don’t include enough detail (like what are
the dry and liquid ingredients?)
General to Specific or Specific to
General
General to Specific Specific to General

vs

Big picture information first, moving then

to more detailed and often more personal Starts with specific, small scale information
later first , then more global, big picture stuff
Ex. Topic: Air Pollution in Portland,
Oregon
 Many people consider Portland, Oregon, to be an
environmentally friendly, pollution-free place to
live. They would be shocked to know how many
pollutants are in the air causing a multitude of
health problems in Portland’s citizens.

 (general-to-specific)
Ex. Specific-to-General
 When Nancy moved to Portland, Oregon with her
husband and two kids, she expected to find a
clean, pollution-free city. She was shocked and
angered when daughter was diagnose with asthma
caused by air pollution.
Ways of Organizing your ideas:
 Most important information first (consider what
you want to readers to focus on first)
 Chronological order (the order in time that events
take place)
 Compare and contrast (ideas are organized
together because of their relationship to each
other)
Exercise: Choose one of the following topics, and practice writing a few opening sentences. Once using the
general-to-specific format and once using the specific –to-general.
1. Facing fears
2. Safety in sports
3. Community policing
4. Educating prisoners
5. Sex education
6. A book or movie that impacted you
7. One thing you would change about your community
8. Beauty standards
9. Toxic masculinity
10. How the media affects identity formation
Exercise: Choose one of the following topics, and practice writing a few opening sentences. Once using the
general-to-specific format and once using the specific –to-general.
11. Gender roles
12. Race in America
13. The value of art in society
14. Travel as part of a well-rounded education
15. Drugs and alcohol
16. Advice to new parents
17. Advice t teachers
18. The value of making mistakes
19. How you’d spend a million dollars
20. What a tough day at school taught you about yourself or others
Methods of Development
A. Cause and Effect (or Effect and Cause)
B. Problem-Solution
C. Chronology or Narrative
D. Comparison and Contrast
A. Cause and Effect (or Effect and Cause)
 May be used to identify one or more causes
followed by one or more effects or results
 Ex. The causes of water pollution might be
followed by its effects on both humans and
animals
 Transitional devices: cause, effect, result
B. Problem-Solution

 Used in identifying something that’s wrong and in

contemplating what might be done to remedy the
situation. Here are 3 possibilities:
 Describe the problem, followed by the solution
 Propose the solution first and then describe the
problems that motivated it
 Or a problem may be followed by several solutions,
one of which is elected as the best
C. Chronology or Narrative

 Material arranged as it occurs in time

 This pattern may be used to establish what has
happened
 Can be a great way to introduce your essay by
providing background or history of the topic
 Transitional devices: then, next, finally
D. Comparison and Contrast

 Useful in extending a definition, or to show like or

unlike subjects
 Transitional Devices: by contrast, in comparison,
while, some, and other
(6) Outlining
 Tool use to organize written ideas about a topic or
thesis into a logical order
 Outlines arrange major topics, subtopics, and
supporting details
 Use in order to know which topic to cover in what
order