UNIT 3 READING AND WRITING SKILLS, Study notes of Information Technology Management

Download UNIT 3 READING AND WRITING SKILLS and more Study notes Information Technology Management in PDF only on Docsity! 42 Learner Support: Development of Skills UNIT 3 READING AND WRITING SKILLS Structure 3.0 Introduction 3.1 Learning Outcomes 3.2 The Reading Process 3.3 Stages of Reading 3.3.1 Perception and Word Recognition 3.3.2 Comprehension 3.3.3 Evaluation and Reaction 3.3.4 Application 3.4 Developing Reading Skills 3.4.1 SQ3R Technique of Reading 3.4.2 Skimming and Scanning 3.4.3 Intensive and Extensive Reading 3.5 The Writing Process 3.5.1 Planning 3.5.2 Translating 3.5.3 Reviewing/Editing 3.6 Developing Different Types of Writing Skills 3.6.1 Paragraph Writing 3.6.2 Essay Writing 3.6.3 Letter Writing 3.6.4 Report Writing 3.6.5 Sharpening Your Writing Skills 3.7 Enhancing Reading and Writing by Using Technology 3.7.1 Acquiring Reading and Writing Skills by Using Internet 3.8 Let Us Sum Up 3.9 References and Further Readings 3.10 Feedback to Check Your Progress Questions 3.0 INTRODUCTION There is virtually no systematic teaching of reading and writing skills at higher levels of education. Consequently learners suffer in developing these skills at advanced stage. Therefore, in this unit we have made an attempt to present the basic concept and nature of reading and various stages in the process of reading. As the learner moves from lower to higher stages of reading, his/her critical and creative levels of comprehension improves a lot, which helps in developing divergent and convergent thinking. Various skills and techniques of reading help the learners as active consumers of information. Skills of skimming and scanning, intensive and extensive reading help the readers to benefit from various forms of reading materials at higher levels. Recent researches on writing have provided us with an important insight: good writers go through certain processes which lead to successful pieces of written work. They plan the intent and put their thought in an appropriate language and style. The final draft is prepared through reviewing and editing. Writing skills for different 43 Reading and Writing Skills types of written forms differ in its approach and style. These skills could be developed and sharpened by constant practice of reading and writing varied forms and formats of written material. 3.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES After going through this unit, you should be able to:  Define ‘reading’;  Describe reading process;  Identify the stages in reading;  List important reading comprehension skills;  Teach SQ3R technique to your learners and adopt it effectively for your study purposes;  Describe writing process;  Be familiar with different forms of writing; and  Distinguish the salient features of each of these types of writing skills. 3.2 THE READING PROCESS Reading is a process whereby a reader brings meaning to and gets meaning from print. This implies that readers bring their experiences as well as their emotions into play in order to derive meaning from text. Reading for meaning is the activity we normally engage in when we read books, journals, newspapers etc. It involves looking at sentences in a text and understanding the message they convey, in other words, making pause of a written text. Reading is thus an active process. When we read, we do not merely sit as passive receivers of the text. We also draw or help us guess what the text will pay next. Thus reading may be defined as a multifaceted and layered process in which a reader by actively interacting with the text, tries to decide what has been encoded by the writer/author. In this process the learner establishes a meaningful communication with the writer. Thus reading is an interactive process. It is purposeful, selective and text based. The reading speed varies according to one’s purpose in reading and the content of the text. It involves complex cognitive skills. Some one has called it a ‘psycholinguistic guessing game’ as it involves guessing, inferring and predicting the coming events based on the given situation. Check Your Progress 1 Notes: a) Write your answer in the space given below. b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit. State why reading is seen as active interaction with the reading material. Your answer need not exceed eight lines. .............................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................. 46 Learner Support: Development of Skills creative reading, the skills to be employed may be: finding the central idea, generalization, drawing inference, prediction on the basis of given facts, analysis and synthesis, critical evaluation of the material read, etc. Besides these, the following techniques and skills may also be employed for successful readings:  SQ3R Technique of Reading  Skimming and Scanning  Intensive and Extensive Reading 3.4.1 SQ3R Technique of Reading Students at higher level are normally provided a lengthy list, but they cannot afford to spend time to read everything. Moreover, different texts require different approaches depending on what the learners are expected to get from them. The implication is that the strategy should be flexible in tackling text materials. The one strategy that gained wide acceptance is the SQ3R technique. SQ3R stands for the initial letters of five steps that should be taken in studying a text. The five steps are: 1) Survey 2) Question 3) Read 4) Recall 5) Review Survey It refers to a quick glance through the preface, chapter headings, summary, index, etc. of the text. Surveying a text helps the readers grasp the main ideas. The preface helps to decide whether or not the book deserves his/her attention. A quick survey of contents tells what topic the author is dealing with and how the themes have been organized. The index tells instantly whether or not the text contains what are needed. Questioning After surveying the preface and contents you may ask questions like:  How far can I depend on this book?  Will the book be helpful to me as its preface suggests?  Whether the book deals with the topics that I want to go through in detail? Since questions are generally more helpful if given at the beginning or and of a chapter by the author himself, it is always better to note them during the survey. Having made your survey and started to question, you are now ready for the third step – reading the text. Read Reading text material demands critical and creative skills. Use of these skills for comprehension have already been discussed in section 3.4. Unless we read actively and intensively the intended textual material, 47 Reading and Writing Skills the questions which have been formulated can never be answered satisfactorily. Recall What has been read needs to be recalled for retention. Regular attempts to recall will help improve your learning in three ways improving concentration, giving you a chance to clarify your doubts and remedy your misinterpretations and developing your ability to evaluate, react and apply what you have read. Review The purpose of reviewing is to check the validity of our recall. We must review the material read periodically. The best way to do this is to do a quick repeat of the four steps discussed earlier i.e. survey, question, read and recall. Check Your Progress 3 Notes: a) Write your answer in the space given below. b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit. Surpose you are teaching SQ3R technique to your students. Say in about 10 lines whether you would ask them to strictly follow the logical order in which SQ3R is presented. Substantiate your answer. ............................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................. 3.4.2 Skimming and Scanning By Skimming we mean glancing rapidly through a text to find out its general content, central idea or gist. We do this, for example, when we want to find out whether a certain article is relevant to our own area of study or research, or when we glance over a page of newspaper to see if there is anything worth reading in detail, or when we go through a book to find out its subject matter. By scanning on the other hand, we mean darting over much of a text to search for a specific item or piece of information that we wish to discover. This skill also involves the ability to reject or pass over irrelevant information. It is the kind of reading we do when, for example we read through a biographical account to find out the date on which a certain event happened, or glance through the telephone directory looking for a person’s telephone number. We may also see the table of contents or index of a book to find out whether certain aspect of a problem has been dealt within the book. 3.4.3 Intensive and Extensive Reading The aim of intensive reading is to arrive at a detailed and thorough understanding of the text. It involves the learners working through the 48 Learner Support: Development of Skills short passage and examining it closely and in detail. The material for intensive reading is chosen with a view to developing the student’s power of judgment and discriminative reading of interpretation and appreciation. Students learn to read with careful attention and concentration. Extensive reading, on the other hand, involves reading in quantity for one’s own enjoyment. It provides the students an excellent opportunity to increase reading speed, developing reading interests and reading habits. Extensive reading is normally carried out by the students on their own, outside the classroom. It complements the learning that takes place in the classroom as it provides valuable reinforcement of language already presented in the classroom as well as gives students useful practice in skills such as inferring meaning from the context when structures and vocabulary are not familiar. 3.5 THE WRITING PROCESS Recent research on writing has provided us with an important insight. Good writer goes through certain processes which lead to a successful piece of written work. He/she starts off with a plan and thinks about what is to be conveyed and when. After writing the first draft, the writer is constantly reviewing, revising and engaging in the creative process. In this process the writer goes through the following stages:  Planning  Translating  Reviewing/Editing. 3.5.1 Planning Before putting pen to paper, a good writer always tries to answer the following questions:  What subject matter, format and style should I select for my writing?  Who is supposed to read this? The planning stage is also known as the prewriting stage. While writing, the plan need not be strictly adhered to. As an author goes on writing, the plan may change slightly according to the mood of the writer or on the demand of the composition. In real life, writing normally arises out of a genuine need to communicate something to somebody but in the classroom that need has to be created in such a way that students are motivated to write on their own. 3.5.2 Translating Here, translating means putting ones thoughts into appropriate language and style, i.e. finding the right words and sentences as well as choosing the right style of presentation. For example, sometimes in a few sentences while illustrating his/her point of view the authors used to provide appropriate examples. Few authors provide the main central idea in the concluding sentences or at the end of the paragraph. The chosen form of writing may be prose or poetry. If it is prose, its format may be essay, story, letter, dialogue, one act play, 51 Reading and Writing Skills Letters are of two types: formal and informal. Formal letters are written for business purposes usually among strangers. Informal letters include all correspondence between members of a family, friends, relatives, etc. The important parts of a letter are: the writer’s address, date of writing, the receiver’s address, salutation, body of the letter, writer’s signature and full name. 3.6.4 Report Writing A report describes an event or an experience. Reports are of several kinds: newspaper reports, reporting events of a social, political or religious function, national or international games/sports competitions, scientific inventions, business meetings, etc. The following are the salient features of a report: 1) A report is brief and complete. 2) It is usually written in third person. 3) It includes only relevant details. 4) It is accurate and has no digressions. 5) Ideas are logically arranged. 6) It avoids emotional overtones. 3.6.5 Sharpening Your Writing Skills It you are one who has a hard time finding the right word or expression for writing, don’t feel that you are alone. Developing strong writing skills needs practice and patience. For many people writing clearly and concisely does not always come easily. However, there are general ways, you can sharpen your skills. There are some suggestions. a) Write everyday or at least as often as you can. Keep a daily journal. Content is not important here, but the act of writing is. Consistency is the key when you develop your writing skills. b) Read as much as possible. Exposing yourself to what others have written is a great tool. Read books, newspapers and magazines. This will help you understand more about style, sentence structure and word usage. c) Join professional writing class or an online course to help you develop your writing skills. d) Learn basic grammar rules. Writing guides such as “The Elements of Style” can be found in the reference section of any library. Once you have mastered the basics, writing skills will be easier to develop. e) Prepare to write more than one draft. No one’s writing is perfect the first time. Read out loud what you have written – this can help pick up errors you might not have noticed otherwise. Perhaps you can ask a trusted colleague to proofread your work as well. 52 Learner Support: Development of Skills Check Your Progress 5 Notes: a) Write your answers in the space given below. b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit. 1) Write an attractive introduction and conclusion on one of the following topics: a) The India of my dream b) The computer age c) Secularism Introduction ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... Conclusion ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... 2) Differentiate between letter writing and report writing by giving three characteristics of each: a) Letter Writing: ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... b) Report Writing ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... 3.7 ENHANCING READING AND WRITING BY USING TECHNOLOGY In this technological world, reading and writing do not limit to only print version, rather they encompass technological medium also. Here, the term ‘technology’ is treated as ‘computer’ and ‘internet 53 Reading and Writing Skills enabled computer’ although it has some other meanings attached with other tools, such as: telephone, audio/video cassettes, radio, etc. Just by seeing the texts of a book learners may not interest in reading, in a similar way by holding a pen in front of a white paper does not arise any interest in writing. The mechanism or procedures required to develop reading and writing skills have been discussed in the previous sections. In this section, the analysis will focus on how technology improves learners’ learning in DE contexts. Learners in the information technology enabled world are pleased to read and write by using technological tools, and more prominently with internet enabled computer and computer machines. Computer as a tool does not only help learners to read the text on screen but also assists them to edit text in parallel with reading. While reading on internet they can listen audio, watch video, and do many other activities of their interest. This is so because of the multimedia insertion in the computer machine. It is assumed that learning becomes interesting and creative in its approach. Advances in technology have provided learners word processors, e-mail, interactive websites, video games, pod casts, and DVD facilities to use in their reading and writing purposes. These new media facilitate different ways to convey information. Distance learners by adapting technology medium do navigate the required information and become master on new techniques. Thus, it is asserted that to acquire reading and writing skills through technology, one should become proficient in using computer, internet, and related technologies. Reading online guides learners to acquire critical thinking and research strategies to search for the correct information that they require for their studies. For example, to search a simple information a learner needs to assess a list of suggested sites and then analyze web contents for relevance to the question at his/her hand. 3.7.1 Acquiring Reading and Writing Skills by Using Internet Reading on internet gives pleasure to learners because, unlike a paper book, it is enabled with texts, videos, audios, and links to different other websites. Some of the reading benefits learners derive from online platforms are as follows, though these are not considered as the complete list. i) Learners can get their preferred learning styles, such as; visual, hands-on, auditory, etc. ii) Websites offer content clues and organized structures of contents, such as subheads, diagram, and clickable definitions of unfamiliar terms, which help emerging readers to develop stronger comprehension skills. iii) Navigating and exploring websites make learners predict what they will read next. 56 Learner Support: Development of Skills making. This in turn increases learners’ attention and motivation, provides opportunities for them to practice reading strategies and work independently with texts (Castellani, 2000). Table 1: Reading and Writing with the Internet Time Reading Writing Using the Frame Activities Activities Internet Source: Castellani, J. and Jeffs, T. (2001), P.66  Complete Interest Inventory  Scan for pictures  Prepare (preview) links ahead of time, bookmarks  Search for information, locating text sites on grade level  Find materials for grade level (Flesch-Kincaid or 90% rule)  Find information on the Internet, based on student preferences or by conducting individualized student searches (using browsers that automatically spell check, etc.)  Make decisions about interest and authenticity of materials and student motivation  Transfer pictures and text to a disk or word processor for further work with information  Create booklets on Internet sites and have students rate the story site (rate the stories)  Search for related future reading activities and extensions Before  Recognize reading level  Identify vocabulary and begin creating word list for new or difficult words, prepare prediction questions or questions specific to the text you have found on the Internet  Use fundamental skills, software skills (Laureate) During  Use text readers, grammar, abbreviation expansion  Reread text, have computer read, take turns reading with student  Use an available electronic dictionary, thesaurus After  Provide comprehension activities with extended activities through different learning modalities  Look at suggested readings on similar topics by the same author  Recognize writing level  Use visual concept organization software, such as inspiration, graphing software (Flowchart)  Use fundamental skills software  Answer questions to expand on story and provide detail  Use writing templates and word-prediction software  Use graphic- based writing software  Turn questions and answers into sentences  Publish and share work with others on the Internet  Create a literacy portfolio for each student  Create booklets on Internet sites and have students 57 Reading and Writing Skills3.8 LET US SUM UP In this unit we learnt that: Reading is an integrative and interactive process, and it is difficult to give a single definition of reading. Reading process involves four stages, i.e. perception/word recognition level, comprehension, evaluation/reaction and application levels. Comprehension consists of literal, critical and creative levels. These levels are also known as reading ‘on the lines’, ‘between the lines’ and ‘beyond the lines’. A good reader always evaluates the material read, reacts to it as per his/her own experience and background, and finally applies the assimilated ideas in his/her own life. Among the various skills of reading, we discussed SQ3R technique – Survey, question, read, recite and review. The basic skills of reading are skimming for gist, and scanning for specific information. The two types of reading are: intensive reading that involves examining a text closely and in detail, and extensive reading that involves reading fluently for immodest ending the plot and enjoyment. Writing is basically a creative process. The writer goes through the stages of planning, translating and reviewing/editing while writing any composition. A good writer first plans the content, format and style of the writing according to the need and interest of the reader. After planning he/she translates the subject matter into appropriate language and style. Thus the first draft of the writing is prepared. Later on this draft is reviewed and edited in order to make it comprehensible to the reader. Writing various forms of composition require respective writing skills which need to be developed and sharpened by constant practice and patience. For example paragraph wiring requires unity and organization of ideas while essay writing requires effective introduction, well organized body and concluding remarks. A good writer should read prominent author’s writings, and develop mastery of the language, expression and style of his/her own. On the internet, the interest inventory provides a blue print for selecting writing and reading topics of learners’ interest. By searching internet tools, learners access to their reading level materials of their interest. By using text readers’ software, learners can track the texts, convert texts to speech, learn unknown vocabulary and avail opportunity to work on higher level passages. In addition to these, searching the internet for useful educational text can be overwhelming, given the current limited time for planning. 58 Learner Support: Development of Skills 3.9 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS Castellani, J.D. & Jeffs, T. (2001). Emerging Reading and Writing Strategies Using Technology. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 33(5), 60-67. Castellani, J.D. (2000). Universal Accessibility and the Design of Digital Educational Materials. Virginia Society for Technology in Education, 4(3), 407. Cognition and Technology Group (1992). Technology and Design of Generative Learning Environments. In T.M. Duffy and D.H. Jonasen (Eds.), Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Dully, G. et al. (1987). Teaching Reading Skills as Strategies. The Reading Teaching, 40(4), 414-418. Grellet, F. (1981). Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge: University Press. Hedge, T. (1988). Writing. Oxford University Press, ELBS. Rubin, D. (1983). Teaching Reading and Study Skills in Content Areas. New York: CBS College Publishing. Shall, J.S. (1983). Stages of Reading Development. New York: McGraw- Hill Book Company. Xavier, L. and Ramani, P.N. (1987). Written Communication I & II. Pondicherry University, Pondicherry. 3.10 FEEDBACK TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS QUESTIONS Check Your Progress 1 When we read a text, whatever it may be, we do not passively absorb what is given in it. We normally interact with it actively and breathe meaning into the words to get the writer’s message. Hence, reading is defined as active interaction with the text. Check Your Progress 2 1) Four levels of comprehension are: Literal, interpretative, critical and creative. 2) A good reader after comprehending the text, evaluates the events, ideas, characters or the intention of the author. At the same time he/she should react ideationally and intentionally about the author’s expressed ideas and intentions etc. Check Your Progress 3 Although the steps in SQ3R are in logical and natural order, sometimes overlapping and repetitions may be found among them. For example, even while we are passing through survey or reading, we may be repeating our survey while recalling or reviewing.