crwt

• Critical reading does not require you to be critical about everything you read
• Critical reading involves engaging with the text by asking questions like "what does the author mean?" or "what message is being conveyed in the text?"
• Being a critical reader means achieving a higher level of comprehension, staying open-minded, and embracing knowledge and wisdom outside your own standards and beliefs
• Critical reading is applying discretion to what you read and not taking everything at face value
• It is important to critically examine everything you read for intentional and unintentional omissions, grounds for arguments, and inconsistencies
• Reading critically involves reflecting on the content, descriptions, and interpretation of the text
• Critical reading allows understanding the content, descriptions, and interpretation of the author to scrutinize elements like style, composition, and language
• Reading for academic purposes should be an active process that leads to the development of the reader
• Reading develops from understanding letters and words to comprehending meanings and connotations, challenging facts, adopting a skeptic attitude, and integrating reading and learning
• Transitioning from data gathering to analysis and evaluation is crucial for personal development and professional advancement
• The goal of reading should be to learn and develop, not just to pass a subject
• Many students read to memorize rather than comprehend, analyze, and interpret the text
• In critical reading, learning meaning and identifying value is encouraged over absorbing everything at face value
• Maintain a positive attitude in reading by learning meaning, identifying value, following the story flow, and making inferences
• Equip yourself with tools like a quality dictionary and emotionally detach yourself from the text to maintain objectivity
• For critical readers, a text provides the author's interpretation of facts, not just facts to be memorized
• Critical readers recognize not only what the text says but also how it discusses the topic, validating interpretations with logical or scientific explanations
• Critical readers link information from different sources to create a timeline connecting past, present, and future
• Key questions to raise about the nature of the text:

  • What is the title and does it reflect the topic?
  • What details, style, and arguments can be expected?
  • What is currently known about the topic and are there any gaps in knowledge?
  • Is there a need for background reading before diving into the text for better understanding?
• Stakeholders in the issue:

  • Who is concerned with the issue?
  • Who controls the outcome of the issue?
  • Who are the key decision-makers or contributors in creating and resolving the issue?
  • Who is affected by the issue?
• Information about the author:

  • What is the background of the author?
  • What are the author's goals in writing the text?
  • Consider the publication date, location, and publisher to understand any inconsistencies in the text
• Distinguishing academic and non-academic texts:

  • Academic articles are written by field experts, undergo peer-review, use formal language, and provide references for credibility
  • Non-academic articles are for the general public, can be written by anyone, prioritize creativity over credibility, and do not require references or consistency
  • Academic articles are primary sources, systematically researched, and undergo strict peer-review, while non-academic articles are secondary sources and should not be prioritized for references
• Developing the Habit of Critical Reading:

  • Genuine desire to learn and discover new things is essential
  • Compelling reason to stick with critical reading is to develop oneself and achieve competitiveness in the future
• Practical strategies to develop critical reading as a habit:

  • Prioritize reading by allotting a time-specific schedule
  • Find informative books of good value for substance and wisdom
  • Consider author's credibility, publishing company reputation, curation, and endorsements
  • Start reading books aligned with existing hobbies, skills, interests, or field of specialization
  • Set a daily reading schedule, lasting from 30 minutes to several hours
• Planning your reading habit:

  • Identify and remove time-wasting activities
  • Designate a reading spot and set up a mini-library
  • Avoid reading in stressful places
  • Consider quantity-based reading activity if time-bound reading is impractical
  • Have reading essentials prepared alongside books
• Do not limit your reading habit:

  • Read as much as possible and as often as desired
  • Reading more can improve writing skills due to constant learning
• Benefits of being a morning reader:

  • Reading early in the morning enhances concentration and learning capacity
  • Mind is clearer and body is most relaxed in the morning
• Speed reading tips:

  • Cover and finish books faster without sacrificing comprehension
  • Target specific information, apply reading patterns, and skip unnecessary parts
  • Remove distractions, use a timer, read 10 pages, and practice speed reading for 20 minutes daily
• Steps in Critical Reading Process:

  • Analyze critical reading components
  • Practice pre-reading activities
  • List down questions
  • Take notes
  • Evaluate the text
  • Mind map from memory
  • Consolidate knowledge for writing assignments
• Effective Steps for Note-Taking:

  • Highlight key words or phrases for focus and easy reference
  • Make written notes including content summaries and reactions
  • Review and revise notes
  • Organize notes for easy retrieval
• Construction


  The reader connecting information from the written message with previous knowledge to arrive at meaning and understanding
• Understanding


  Determined by reading purpose, context, nature of the text, readers’ strategies, and knowledge
• Psycholinguistic guessing game


  The object of reading is to make sense of print and construct meaning
• Cline et al (2006): 'Reading is decoding and understanding written texts'
• Critical reading is an analytic activity where the reader identifies patterns of elements in a text to assert an underlying meaning
• Phonological awareness


  • Includes the ability to segment sounds, rhyme, and identify syllables
• Orthographic knowledge

  • Understanding of the writing system to represent language, including spelling, punctuation, and capitalization
• Understanding

  Nature of the text: structure, purpose, context, audience, academic or non-academic
• Understanding


  Purposes: to be entertained, get information, understand ideas or theories, understand the author’s viewpoint, support one’s view
• Reading


  Decoding and understanding written texts