Reading to search for simple information and reading to skim

TRABAJO PRÁCTICO N° 3
Contenidos teóricos a consultar:
ESTRUCTURAS VERBALES (pp. 43-47)
TEXTO: GRABE, WILLIAM and STOLLER, FREDRICKA L. (2002). Reading to search
for simple information and reading to skim. Reading to learn from texts. Section 1:
Understanding L2 reading in Teaching and Researching Reading. Applied Linguistics in
Action Series. Edited by Christopher N. Candlin & David R. Hall. Longman, Great Britain,
pp. 11-12.
1-A medida que lea el texto observe el uso del verbo BE y determine si es verbo auxiliar o
verbo principal.
2-Observe en el texto las palabras terminadas en –ing y determine si son verbos,
sustantivos o adjetivos.
3-La lectura destinada a la búsqueda de información le demanda al lector el empleo de
diversas estrategias. Desarrolle el planteo.
4-¿Qué ocurre con la lectura en un contexto académico-profesional? ¿Cómo se lleva a
cabo? ¿Cuál es el rol de la inferencia en este tipo de lectura?
Reading to search for simple information and reading to skim
Reading to search for simple information is a common reading ability, though some
researchers see it as a relatively independent cognitive process. It is used so often in reading
tasks that it is probably best seen as a type of reading ability. In reading to search, we
typically scan the text for a specific piece of information or a specific word. As an
example, we usually search through a telephone directory to find key information, either an
address or a phone number. In prose texts, we sometimes slow down to process the
meaning of a sentence or to search for clues that might indicate the right page, section, or
chapter. Similarly, reading to skim (i.e. sampling segments of the text for a general
understanding) is a common part of many reading tasks and a useful task in its own right. It
involves, in essence, a combination of strategies for guessing where important information
might be in the text, and then using basic reading comprehension skills on those segments
of the text until a general idea is formed.
Reading to learn from texts
Reading to learn typically occurs in academic and professional contexts in which a person
needs to learn a considerable amount of information from a text. It requires abilities to
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remember main ideas as well as a number of details that elaborate the main and
supporting ideas in the text
recognise and build rhetorical frames that organise the information in the text
link the text to the reader’s knowledge base
Reading to learn is usually carried out at a reading rate somewhat slower than general
reading comprehension (primarily due to rereading and reflection strategies to help
remember information). In addition, it makes stronger inferencing demands than general
comprehension to connect text information with background knowledge (e.g. connecting a
character, event or concept to other known characters, events or concepts; or connecting
possible causes to known events).