Name of Student:
Grade: 11
Subject :English for Academic Module for `
Purposes Final (1)
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Fundamentals of Reading Academic Texts
By the end of the lesson, you will have been able to
Determine the purpose of reading:;
Identify the feature of academic text;
Differentiate academic text from nonacademic texts;
Use critical reading strategy in reading academic text.
Annotate academic text;
Discuss key ideas or information; and
Write a synthesis of information from various academic texts read.
Let’s Warm Up
1. The teacher will read various passages from various texts. After each passage is read
you have to determine whether it came from a formal publication or from fictional
story.
2. Anyone who guesses the most number correctly wins.
Self-Audit
After completing Let’s Warm –Up, tick the column that determines how often you practice what
the following statements say. Do this as objectively as possible. You can use your performance in “Let’s
Warm Up as basis in completing this task.
Usually Sometimes Seldo Never
m
1. I can differentiate academic texts from nonacademic
texts.
2. I establish my purpose when reading academic texts.
3. I use graphic organizers to see the relationships of the
ideas in the text.
4. I read the title first then ask myself essential questions
about the topic.
5. I make inferences based on the title.
6. I check the evidence and arguments presented to prove
the main idea or thesis statement.
7. I annotate a text to identify essential information,
comment on the author’s arguments, or relate new
ideas to existing ones.
8. I read to answer my own questions posed before
reading a text.
9. I make a summary or synthesis of what I read.
10 I read and re-read the text until my questions have been
. answered or until I understand it’s arguments.
Total
Grand Total /30
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Let’s Learn
The texts you read in school are different from the text you read during leisure time.
While the text you read for pleasure, such as graphic, novels or magazines, can be likened to
the appeal of sweet desserts, academic texts are more like the heavy main course. More often
than not they need to be chewed and savored for a long time before their meanings can be
fully digested.
Below are examples of academic texts.
Academic Text Description
Articles Published in scholarly journals, this type of academic text offers results of
research and development that can either impact the academic
community or provide relevance to nation-building.
Conference These are papers presented in scholastic conferences, and maybe revised
Papers as articles for possible publication in scholarly journals.
Reviews These provides evaluation or reviews of works published in scholarly
journals.
Theses, These are personal researches written by a candidate for a college or
Dissertations university degree
Based on the examples, it can be said that in academic reading, full concentration and
comprehension are required for you to understand the key ideas, information, themes, or arguments of
the text.
Aside from the fundamental differences in content and form, the difference between
academic and non-academic texts, lies in the approach you take when reading.
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Reading Goals
It is important that you know your purpose for reading early on, so you can save time and
improve your comprehension.
Before you read an academic text, ask yourself the following questions.
1. Why am I reading this text?
2. What information and pieces of information do I need.
3. What do I want to learn?
General Purposes Reading an Academic Text.
To better understand an existing idea
To get ideas that can support a particular writing assignment
To gain more information
To identify gaps and existing studies
To connect new ideas to existing ones.
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Structure of Academic Text
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Academic Text are typically formal. They are a clearly structured Introduction, Body, Conclusion.
They also include information from credible sources which are, in turn, properly cited. They also
include a list of references used in developing the academic paper.
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Content and Styles of Academic Texts
Academic texts include concepts and theories that are related to the specific discipline
they explore. They usually exhibit all the properties of a well – written text i. e; organization,
unity, coherence and cohesion, as well as strict adherence to rules of language use and
mechanics.
In general, authors observe the following when writing academic texts.
They state critical questions and issues.
They provide facts and evidence from credible sources.
They use precise and accurate words while avoiding jargon and colloquial
expressions.
They take an objective point - of view and avoid being personal and subjective.
They list references.
They use hedging or cautious language to tone down their claims. Here are some
examples of hedging expressions used in academic texts.
Types Examples As used in the sentence
Modal auxiliary May, might, can, could, The measure might have
verbs would, should negative effects on the
patient’s health.
Modal lexical verbs To seem, to appear, (epistemic verbs) to believe, The discussions appear to
doubting and to assume, to suggest, to estimate, to tend, to have positive implications.
evaluating rather than think, to argue, to indicate, to propose, to
merely describing speculate
Probability Adjectives Possible, probable, un/likely A number of possible
changes are possible.
Nouns assumption, claim, possibility estimate, There are a number of
suggestion claims pertaining to the
possibility of divorce.
Adverbs Perhaps, possibly, probably, practically, likely, The proposal is practically
presumably, virtually, apparently an answer to the
confusion.
Indicators of degree, Approximately, roughly, about, often, Fever is present in about a
quantity, frequency, occasionally, generally, usually, somewhat, third of cases.
and time somehow, a lot of
Introductory phrases believe, to our knowledge, it is our view that, we The committee believes
feel that that the issue needs to be
explored.
“If” clauses If true, if anything If anything, the opinion
holds a number of truths.
Compound hedges Double hedges: seems reasonable, looks This probably indicates that
probable; it may suggest that; it seems likely the assigned personnel is
that; this probably indicates; misinformed.
Treble hedges: it seems reasonable; to assume
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that
Quadruple hedges: it would seem somewhat
unlikely that;
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Critical Reading Strategies
Reading academic texts requires focus and understanding. You have to interact with the text by
questioning its assumptions, responding to its arguments, and connecting it to real life experiences and
applications. Critical or reflective reading helps, you identify the key arguments presented by the author
and analyze concepts presented in the text.
Before Reading
Determine which type of academic text [article, review, thesis, etc.) you are reading.
Determine and establish your purpose for reading.
Identify the author’s purpose for writing.
Predict or infer the main idea or argument of the text based on its title.
Identify your attitude towards the author and the text.
State what you already know and what you want to learn about the topic.
Determine the target audience.
Check the publication date for relevance. It should have been publish
at most five years earlier than the current year.
Check the reference list while making sure to consider the correctness of the formatting
style.
Use a concept map or a graphic organizer to note your existing ideas and knowledge on
the topic
During Reading
Annotate important parts of text
Annotating a text can help you determine essential ideas or arguments, and
new information or ideas. Here are some ways to annotate text.
Write key words or phrases on the margins on the bullet forms.
Write something on the page margin where important information is found.
Write brief notes on the margin.
Write questions on the information that you find confusing.
Write what you already know about the ideas.
Write the limitations of the author’s arguments.
Write notes on the reliability of the text.
Comment on the authors biases.
Use a concept map or any organizer to note down the ideas being explained
React on the arguments presented in the text.
Underline important words, phrases, or sentences.
Underline or circle meaning or definitions.
Mark or highlight relevant/essential parts of the text.
Use the headings and transition words to identify relationships on the text.
Create a bank of unfamiliar or technical words to be defined later.
Use context clues to define unfamiliar or technical words.
Synthesize author’s arguments at the end of chapter or section.
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Determine the main idea of the text.
Identify the evidence or supporting arguments presented by the
author and check their validity and relevance.
Identify the findings and note the appropriateness of the research
method used.
After Reading
Reflect on what you learned.
React on some parts of the text through writing.
Discuss some parts with your teacher or classmates.
Link the main idea of the text to what you already know .
Based on the information you learned from the conclusion of the study, answer one of the questions below.
What do you think is the implication of this new knowledge on how to use Twitter?
Do you think one’s personality affects the use of technology? Or do you think technology affects one’s
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personality? Why?
How does this knowledge affect your notions about twitter users?
Discuss your answers with us through video recording.
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Other Reading Strategies
In addition to the given strategies before, during, and after reading there are other
reading strategies that you can employ to ensure critical reading not only of academic texts, but
also of other texts in general.
a. SQ3R Method of Reading (This method stands for Survey{or skim},Question, Read,
Recite{Recall},Review
Stage Guidelines
Skim the target text.
Check the headings and tables, diagrams, or figures presented in the
text.
Survey
Read the first few and last sentences of the text to determine key
information.
Get a feel of the text.
Annotate the headings with your questions
Question Develop questions on the types of information you expect from the
text.
Look for answers to your questions as you read the text.
Stop and slow down if the passage is not clear.
Read
Make sure to proceed reading only when you already understand the
previous text.
Recount the main point of the text.
Recall by writing a summary or synthesis based on what you
Recite
understand of the text.
Highlight or underline the important points you read.
After finishing the text, go back and re-read the questions you wrote
and see if you can answer them; if not, refresh your memory.
Review
Evaluate what you learned to ensure that you are convinced and
satisfied with the information presented in the text.
b. KWL METHOD
- It guides you in reading and understanding a text. To apply the KWL,
simply make a table with three columns. In the first column, write
what you know about the topic (K); in the second, list down what
you want to learn (W); and in the last column, write down what you
learned (L).
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KWL sample chart using an article which focuses on language and gender.
K W L
What I (K)now What I (W)ant to know What I have (L)earned
There is a Are women really Women are reported to
connection more talkative than speak 20,000 words a
between language men? day while men speak an
and gender. What accounts for the average of 7,000 words.
Women and men difference in the Foxp2 protein is one of
are on different frequency of language the genes associated
levels of use between men and with language.
talkativeness. women? It was shown that
women have higher
levels of this protein
than men.
Checking for understanding
Write T if the statement is true and F if it is false.
____ 1. Academic reading requires concentration and comprehension.
____ 2.Academic texts are completely different from non-academic text in terms of structure,
structure, and style.
____ 3. Authors of academic texts usually present facts to support their main argument.
____ 4. Completing academic readings appears to be a challenge in which students fail.
____ 5.Critical reading strategies lead the readers to a full understanding of the text.
____ 6. Essentially, the language of academic text is precise and accurate.
_____ 7. One has to determine his/her purpose before reading.
_____ 8.Reading strategies differ from one person to another.
_____ 9. Successful readers of academic texts generally integrate valuable information or ideas from
one source to another.
_____ 10. Through writing annotations, readers are guided on important ideas presented in the text.
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