Reading Strategies

STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING READING SKILLS

Problem 1

There are too many unfamiliar words.

Use Advance Organizers

Advance organizers are features of the text that can help you build up expectations about its content. Here are three obvious ways to use advance organizers:

Look at titles and subtitles. A title will reveal what an article is about and will help you anticipate its content. By looking at a title that says Woman Attempts to Jump Off Bridge, you know that the article will probably provide information about the identity of the woman, the time and the location of the event, rescue efforts, etc. Then you can read the article and confirm whether your predictions were correct.

Look at Illustrations. Pictures, photos, and other illustrations are often used to emphasize a message. An article about a train wreck is likely to have a picture of overturned railroad cars. You can build up your expectations about the content and compensate for your imperfect knowledge of the language by using information provided in the pictures.

Look at the format. Sometimes you can get your first overall impression of a text by looking at its general format. Right away you can tell whether it is some sort of schedule, a document, a newspaper piece, or a scholarly article. You can use this information to help you decide how you will approach the reading of the text and the kinds of information you will look for.

Use your background knowledge

As you know from reading in your native language, it is always easier to read about familiar topics. This is even more true when reading in a foreign language because topic familiarity helps the nonnative reader to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words. For instance, if you are familiar with baseball, it will be easier for you to read a foreign language text about it than if you had no knowledge of the game.

Use Efficient Word Attack Strategies

Vocabulary plays an important role in reading comprehension. Since...