ENGLISH LANGUAGE O LEVEL(FORM THREE) NOTES – READING FOR INFORMATION FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES

READING FOR INFORMATION FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES

READING FOR INFORMATION FROM DIFFERENT MEDIA SOURCES

Reading Intensively for Comprehension

When reading any comprehension, one needs to recognize the logical and grammatical relationship among parts of the concepts. Information can be obtained from newspapers, internet, television, radio, and other public documents. Usually, information should be researched and must have facts. Most comprehensions are with questions to be answered by the reader. There are some important things to understand before one attempts to answer the questions.

Things to consider when reading comprehension questions

i) Comprehension questions are designed to test how well one understands what he/she reads.

ii) However competent you are on the subject, don’t use outside knowledge to answer the comprehension unless stated by the questions.

iii) You have to concentrate o n the passage and come out with all the answers to the comprehension questions.

iv) Before reading a passage, read the questions that follow it in order to know what information is being asked.

Reading Extensively for Comprehension

This involves reading a variety of books/stories for information and pleasure from different sources, particularly the library and other books centers. This part also provides students with sample short stories. However, students should be provide with a number of books which have various stories, both for information and pleasure. Remember to write a summary of the story after reading it.

Extensive reading involve reading novels, plays ,short stories ,poems, biographies, autobiographies,magazines,journals and many other reading materials.

Extensive reading will improve you English language, will give you information entertain you

Tips on how to read extensively

Read the blurb and the table of contents
If you are reading a non-literary task, like history, lines book, take notes of the main points and supporting point you read
If its literary text, at the end of you reading write a report showing :

The title of the book , novelist, playwright or poet
The setting of the story
The plot of the novel , play or poem
The central character in the story
The main theme or central message of the literary work
Any new vocabulary or expressions that you have come across

Exercise:

Read any novel or a play that is not part of the literature set texts and then write a report using the guidelines above

Language patterns

Negative sentences

We form negative sentences by adding the word not between the auxiliary verb and the main verb, when these is no auxiliary verb in the affirmative sentences, we add do, does or did

In less formal language use, the auxiliary and the word ‘not’ are contracted so that we get can’t from can not , doesn’t from does not , didn’t from did not etc

Exercise
Change the following statement to negative sentences
1. Your house is made of wood
2. The car i traveled in was fast
3. This hurts are built on a hall
4. She can play a piano

WRITING A BIOGRAPHY

When you write about someone else, it is called Biography .It includes information like where the person was born, who the person’s family is, where they went to school, what job they have had, how and why they made major decisions in their life and the impact of those decisions on themselves and those around them. When you write about someone else you need to know this person very well. You can not write anything that is not true or that you can not prove . The best way to know this person is to conduct the research. Find information from different sources like newspapers, radio or internet.

Exercise

Write a brief biography about your best friend.

Reading intensively
This is the reading where by you read widely and deep

READING SKILLS

Skimming Reading

This involve reading a text quickly in order to pick out the main features , including:

1. How it is organised

2. The general nature and purpose of the text

3. Key points of information and opinion

How to skim a book

a) Read the cover review and the information about the author.

b) Read the table of content

c) Read through the sections and subsection headings if there are any

d) Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph, they often contain the major points.

e) Take note of names of persons, places and events

Scanning Reading

Looking quickly of a passage but this time it is in order to identify relevant features or information.

This skill is useful when reading a passage that requires you to answer questions at the end of the passage.

How to scan a book

a) Skim the book first

b) Read the questions at the end of the book