Analysis of the Skill of reading English Text
a) How important is reading in English?
Reading in English is an excellent way to enrich your vocabulary and improve your written comprehension. There are a thousand and one ways to read in English every day: follow a blog you like, read the English press, starts a new novel or stock up on comic books.
Like other language skills, reading is also a multifaceted skill involving a number of simultaneous operations. So far, we know very little about the complex mental processes associated with the learning and the use of language; and therefore, any attempt at an analysis of the skill of reading is bound to the largely speculative in nature. The one given below tries to sort out some of the more obvious aspects of this complex skill.
b) How to assess reading comprehension?
During an assessment, the student may be asked a set of tasks of a very different nature: extract information, identify the gist of the text, the general idea, understand the implicit, deduce information, interpret, make necessary inferences, and Make pragmatic inferences…
c) What is the purpose of reading?
Reading develops analytical and critical thinking
Reading requires your critical thinking and analytical skills. Each page turned strengthens the web of knowledge in your mind and ultimately helps you better understand the world around you.
d) How to Evaluate a Reading?
The student must be able to read a sentence aloud and associate it with the correct intonation according to the punctuation observed. The handover is individual: the child reads a paragraph or a short text to the teacher. One minute is often enough to see the student’s level.
e) A person who comprehends written English can:
a) Read a passage at normal speed;
b) Understand the lexical and the structural meanings of the words phrases and sentences;
c) Take in complete phrases or groups of words at once and when reading aloud, use appropriate sounds, juncture, stress and intonation patterns;
d) Guess the meaning of an unfamiliar word from the context;
e) Consult a dictionary to find out the meaning of an unfamiliar word;
f) Skip over unnecessary passages while skimming for information;
g) Read silently without moving the lips;
h) Distinguish between the writer`s opinion and statement of facts;
i) Locate the ‘topic sentence’ of a paragraph;
j) Make a summary of the important points of the passage;
k) Infer the mood of the writer, e.g. serious, jocular, sarcastic, etc.;
l) Recognize the meaning of various graphic signals, e.g. punctuation marks, paragraph indentation, capitalization, etc.
