How to Read

This section will:

1. Explain the importance of reading for understanding
2. Demonstrate an effective way of reading academic texts
3. Provide extra examples so that you can practise your reading techniques
4. Give some thought to the issue of critical thinking.

1 – Reading for understanding

Whether you are planning to study for an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, you’ll have many books, chapters and articles to read in the most effective and efficient way possible. So we’ll teach you how to read challenging texts, using a useful technique that encourages you to read for meaning, not necessarily to read word-by-word.

This technique works best for short pieces of writing, so if you have something to read that’s longer, you’ll need to break it up into small sections.

Our focus in this section on ‘how to read’ will be people who have a different cultural and/or linguistic background: students from overseas who are studying at university; Indigenous patients who need treatment for kidney disease.

You’ll practise the technique ‘how to read’ on the article ‘Why are you giggling? An exploratory investigation of communication educators’ interactions with international students’. It’s a thoughtful and informative article, and it’s written about postgraduate students whose language and culture aren’t English.

Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: merits of ethnographic fieldwork [PDF]

2 – How to read

when you’re thinking about how to read, first think about what you’re going to read. So, first, think about the article as a whole, to predict (give an educated guess) what it might be about. This will help you to have a preliminary idea of the article. The best way to do this is to read important parts, like the title of the article, the abstract, the headings and the subheadings.

Abstract
noun: abstract
A brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, or conference proceeding.

The abstract should be particularly useful because it will contain (in brief) the essential information about the article. Headings and subheadings are also really useful because they break down the information into manageable parts.

[wpsqt name=”Quiz: How to read” type=”quiz”]

Professor Smallhausen, your academic mentor for ‘How to Read’, suggests that, when you are reading for an essay or a dissertation, it’s a good idea to buy yourself a notebook that you can use for all of the useful words you’ve learned. One aspect of reading that’s very important is to build up an extensive vocabulary, especially those words that relate to your area of research.

I’m going to write these words in my vocabulary notebook. I’ll include the meaning and the part of speech, and I’ll write down the sentence where I found the word, so I’ve got a good example of correct use of the word.

Then I’m going to write my own sentence using each of the words. I need to understand the words, but until I can use them with confidence, they’re not really ‘my’ words.

So here are my words and sentences.

Many international students face challenges when they first come to a new country but their adaptation to the new environment can be faster if they mix with other students in an informal way.

Integrating into a new culture is not a simple process because it relates to two issues: positive attitudes correlated with determination and a sense of humour.

For many of the international students, although language is a challenge, adjusting to cultural change is more of an obstacle.

Make sure you write a sentence of your own for each of the words you’ve found.

As we mentioned before, when you’re researching for your postgraduate study, it’s important that you read useful texts and apply them to your research.

Let’s think about our research topic: We are focussing on challenges facing international students at tertiary institutions.

Let’s use the article we’ve just read: Once I’ve read the article and made sure I understood it, then I’ll look for something that relates to the research topic.

I’ve found a section ‘International students’ major difficulties’  that focuses on the two main challenges confronting these students: learning a new language; culture shock.

I particularly like this section because it provides answers to the following questions:

1. In what way is it relevant to your research topic? If it is relevant, how much of it will you use?   This is a big issue, because you will have to consider very carefully not just what you are reading, but why it will be useful. If you are a postgraduate student using about twenty sources, then you have a lot of material to keep track of.

Let’s think about this. Professor Smallhausen tells us that the section that comes under the heading ‘International students’ major difficulties‘ mentions two of the most pressing problems that international students have to deal with.  They clearly relate to challenges, so this section is  relevant to my research. I’ll focus on using this section of the article. The other sections are interesting, and I may use them later.

2. Is this information valid? Are the author’s statements backed up with evidence?

Professor Smallhausen says that in this section the evidence is based on the answers to research questions that the author of the article asked experienced educators. The author uses qualitative research.

Qualitative research
Research used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions and motives.

3. How does it fit in with your ideas? Does it suggest something new or different to you?

You might be a student who has come from another country to study for an undergraduate or postgraduate degree; do you agree with this information?

Professor Smallhausen says that there are many challenges facing international students who are studying overseas.  These two specific challenges are very significant, so they fit in with my thinking.  One aspect of the challenges — that international students have major problems with their speaking — suggests a new way of thinking to me.

4. Does it agree with what other people have said on the same topic? If not, which source would you agree with? Which one is more persuasive? You cannot agree with everyone, but you can still use the source. You are quite entitled to tell your reader that you take issue with what someone has said. This can strengthen your case and show that you are capable of creating a valid academic argument.

You won’t have read any other articles on this subject yet, so Professor Smallhausen will answer this question for you.  Other articles also mention these problems.  I am convinced by the arguments put forward in this article, so I will use it.

I can find an in-text reference from this section.

Li (2007/8) explains that: ‘Besides learning a new language, international students might also find it difficult to get used to a different cultural and educational system.

This quote will be very useful for me and for a start I can use the information in an essay or in my literature review.

3 – Practice your reading techniques

We have another article for you to read: ‘Language and anxiety: an ethnographic study of international postgraduate students’.

A multicultural work force in KSA [PDF]

It’s very thought provoking and informative, and its focus is on students who experience English as a second language.

Professor Smallhausen will guide you through the activities by telling you the steps to take. Write your answers down.

1. You are going to predict what the article will be about.                         

• First of all, read the title: ‘Language and anxiety: an ethnographic study of international postgraduate students’.
• Now read the abstract. After you have read the title and the abstract, you should have a good idea of what the article might be about.
• Your next task is to read the headings – they set out what will be included in each section.
• Now write your prediction: ‘I predict that the article will be about…’

2. Now quickly read the whole article. If there are any words you don’t understand, use your sticky notes to highlight them.

3. Remember, understanding is very important, so think about them in their context, try to work out their meaning, and then look them up in your English-English dictionary to confirm the meaning. Can you write them in your vocabulary notebook (don’t forget to include part of speech and the sentence where you found the word).

4. It’s also important that you feel you are confident to use the words, so now you can write a sentence of your own using each of the words.

5. Professor Smallhausen wonders if this article could be used to explain anything about the challenges facing students whose first language isn’t English.

Practice reading another article

Service providers’ perspective [PDF]

We’ve found you another interesting article to read: ‘Service providers’ perspectives, attitudes and beliefs on health services delivery for Aboriginal people receiving haemodialysis in rural Australia: a qualitative study’.

This will be a useful article because it focuses on the issues we’ve been discussing, that is, on cultural and linguistic differences. The article doesn’t mention students, but the focus on cultural differences is very important.

This time, Professor Smallhausen wants you to work on reading the article independently. Use the reading techniques: go through the 5 steps you have learned.

4 – Critical thinking

‘How to read’ includes a number of issues.  We’ve talked about how to read for understanding and we’ve thought about ways we can use the material we’ve read.  We’ve thought about whether we agree or disagree with the material.  Now we can think in more detail about evaluating the point of view in the texts.

Evaluate (noun)

Form an idea of the value of something; assess it

If you are thinking critically about a text, that is, if you are evaluating the text, you will be considering the value of the arguments.  You will be deciding what you accept or believe.  You don’t have to agree with the arguments mad by an author, but you must have a reason for agreeing or disagreeing. You will:

• Reflect on the accuracy of the information or the point of view
• Consider whether the information challenges your own beliefs
• And then assess it.

Let’s think about the first article we read: ‘Why are you giggling? An exploratory investigation of communication educators’ interactions with international students.’

One of the most important parts of this article is the section: ‘Different ways to provide assistance’.  I know that international students do need help and I have given a lot of thought to the most effective way to assist students.  The article mentions ‘mutual understanding and trust building’, which is very important. Here is an important reference from this section of the article:

The interview data showed that mutual understanding and trust building were very important.  A consensus among the educators interviewed was that they should be more understanding of student’s difficulties.  They also had to be patient in their communication with students and give much feedback.

What is your response to this section?

Professor Smallhausen has had a lot of experience in this area.  he says:                      

I thought about helping students in terms of the three points mentioned above.

• The first point is that this information relies on data from educators, so I believe that it is accurate.
• The second point to consider is whether it challenges my own beliefs.  Over many years, I have learned to work closely with international students and allowed them to talk about their problems.  In this way, I can be supportive.  Therefore, the article does not challenge my beliefs.
• Now I can assess the information.  I agree that developing mutual trust and understanding is one of the useful ways of helping students.  Therefore this information is useful and I agree with it.

We have read the article and have now thought about it in a critical way. This is very important. Professor Smallhausen accepted, believed and agreed with the point of view presented here, but this isn’t always the case.  You can certainly disagree, but you must always have a reason for disagreeing, and this reason will be based on careful thinking.

Put your skills to further use

University libraries now provide tutorials that explain how to access texts, and in particular journal articles, so you should be able to find an article that relates to your dissertation topic. It’s better if your article is quite short, especially because you’re still building up your skills in reading for understanding. Let’s see how you go practising ‘how to read’ when you follow the instructions and find your own text.

First, outline the steps you took to find the article. Write down any problems you encountered. Explain how you overcame these problems.

Second, once you have found the article, use the reading techniques to read it. Remember to go through the 5 steps you have learned. Write down each step and your response to it.

We have now worked through ‘how to read’.  I hope you have found this technique helpful and that you will use it when you access texts for your undergraduate or postgraduate reading.  Remember, you can come back to this section as often as you like, so that you gain more confidence with your reading.