Academic reading is an important yet sometimes difficult skill to learn; however, if you approach it strategically you will find it much easier to master!

About academic reading

When you get to university, you’ll find you need to get through a lot of readings either from your reading list, or for wider reading in preparation for an assignment. These may be journal articles, chapters in edited books or chapters in textbooks. Many of these academic texts will seem quite difficult, especially to begin with. Don’t despair! You may not have to read every article on your reading list. If you learn how to preview your readings first, you can select those readings or sections of a reading that are most relevant to your needs. There are a range of strategies that you can use to make the task less overwhelming.

Identify your purpose for reading

Your Unit Handbook or Study Guide will have a reading list. This list will usually be divided into required readings and recommended readings. Always begin with the required readings. Ideally, these will be general texts that can give you an overview of the topic. Once you have a general idea of the course content, more specific or detailed texts will be easier to understand.

You will be required to read for a number of situations. For example, you may need to read for: (click to see hidden text)

To make the most of your reading, you need to be able to identify your purpose. In many cases, this purpose will be identified in questions included in the Unit Handbook or Study Guide. These questions will make it easier to understand what you are reading.

If there are no questions, you need to identify more specific purposes for reading because why you are reading will determine how you read. The way you read a novel, a newspaper, a telephone book and an academic article will be different because your purpose for reading will be different each time. There are three main types of reading that people do:

• Reading for quick reference – when you need to find particular information
• Reading for pleasure – to relax, for fun, because you like the writer’s style
• Critical reading – to understand/analyse ideas or concepts

Some reasons for reading might be:

• to locate names or numbers
• to find a description of an event
• to find details of an experiment
• to gain an overall impression
• to identify the main theme
• to identify the structure of an argument
• to identify main points
• to evaluate the style
• to evaluate the author’s point of view

Some reading techniques

Because there is so much to read when you’re studying at university, you need to read selectively. The pre-reading stage is an important step in the reading process.

Pre-reading

Before you begin to read, preview the text. What is the title? Who is the author? When was it published? Who is the publisher?

When you need to find specific information such as a name or a date, you can scan the text. When you scan, you do not actually read the text; instead you search for a particular item. You can also scan a text to identify the sections that are important for you.

To gain an overall impression of a text, you can skim the text. The technique involves reading the title, the first paragraph, the first sentence of each of the body paragraphs and the last paragraph. Also look at any graphics in the text. By skimming a text you can decide if it’s relevant and you can prepare yourself for a more detailed reading of the text. Since you have already gained an overall impression, your detailed reading will be more meaningful.

Effective reading

There is a range of strategies that you can use to ensure you get the most out of your reading.

Be active while you read.

You can do this is by asking questions, making notes and keeping a vocabulary list.

Asking questions

These may be about the purpose:

• Why has the author written the text?
• What theoretical perspective does the author take?
• Are the purposes stated explicitly, or are there underlying biases?

Or about the content:

• What is the main idea/theme in the text?
• What evidence is used to support the main points?
• What are the main points to support it?
• Is the evidence convincing? Why / why not?

Making notes

When you read a text in detail, you should make notes. Many students indiscriminately highlight material as they read. If you do use a highlighter, use it only on key words and phrases, and always follow up with some sort of written note or summary. Making notes is much better than underlining and highlighting. You are not only summarising the text, but you will also be more likely to remember what you have read.

You don’t need to stick to writing words when you make your notes. Be creative. Draw diagrams and pictures if these help.

What to note:

• Key elements, such as the theme/thesis/argument, central ideas, major characters or crucial information.
• The author’s purposes and assumptions (explicit and implicit).
• Single phrases or sentences that encapsulate key elements or the author’s purpose and assumptions.
• Details or facts that appeal to you, such as a useful statistic or a vivid image.
• Items to follow up, such as a question, an idea that offers further possibilities, a puzzling comment, an unfamiliar word, an explanation you do not understand or an opinion you question.
   

Keeping a vocabulary list

As you read, write down any new or difficult words. Look these up in a dictionary and try to use them in a sentence or explain what they mean in your own words. This will help you to remember the word. Compile a glossary of key terms and concepts in your discipline.

SQ3R

This means:

Overcoming reading difficulties

As a student, there are times when the reading you need to do makes little sense, even after you have applied various reading techniques. Here are additional ideas to help clear your head and put you back on the road to success.