how reading help academic success essay

Reading these problematic passages aloud can often help circumvent that block and help you to form a visual of what the text is trying to convey.

Tip 3: Re-read (or Skim) Previous Sections of the Text

For the most part, reading is a personal activity that happens entirely in your head. So don't feel you have to read just like anyone else if "typical" methods don't work for you. Sometimes it can make the most sense to read (or re-read) a text out of order.

It is often helpful to glance backwards through a piece of text (or even re-read large sections) to remind yourself of any information you need and have forgotten—what happened previously, what a particular word means, who a person was...the list is endless.

Previous sentences, sections, or even whole chapters can provide helpful context clues. Re-reading these passages will help to refresh your memory so that you can better understand and interpret later sections of the text.

Tip 4: Skim or Read Upcoming Sections of the Text

Just like with the previous step, don't feel that the only way to read and understand a text is to work through it completely linearly. Allow yourself the freedom to take apart the text and put it back together again in whichever way makes the most sense to you.

Sometimes a current confusion in a work will be explained later on in the text, and it can help you to know that explanations are upcoming or even just to read them ahead of time.

So skip forward or backwards, re-read or read ahead as you need to, take the piece in whatever order you need to in order to make sense of the text. Not everyone thinks linearly, and not everyone best understands texts linearly either.

Tip 5: Discuss the Text With a Friend (Even an Imaginary Friend)

Sometimes discussing what you know so far about a text can help clear up any confusion. If you have a friend who hasn't read the text in question, then explain it to them in your own words, and discuss where you feel your comprehension is lacking. You'll find that you've probably understood more than you think once you've been forced to explain it to someone who's completely unfamiliar with the piece.

Even if no one else is in the room, trying to teach or discuss what a passage says or means with "someone else" can be extremely beneficial. In fact, software engineers call this technique "rubber duck debugging," wherein they explain a coding problem to a rubber duck. This forces them to work through a problem aloud, which has proven time and time again to help people solve problems. So if a piece of text has your head spinning from trying to work through it by yourself, start chatting with your nearest friend/pet/rubber duck. You'll be surprised with how much easier it is to understand a text once you've talked it through with someone.

Even if that someone is a duck.

The Take-Aways

Improving reading comprehension takes time and effort, but it can be done. Be patient with yourself, work through your reading comprehension steps, and try not to get frustrated with yourself if you feel your progress is slow or if you feel you're "falling behind." You will utilize your reading skills throughout your life, so go at a pace that works for you, and take care to maintain that balance between reading for pure pleasure and reading for dedicated improvement.

As you begin to incorporate more and more reading into your daily life, you'll find that comprehension will become easier, and reading will become more fun. In every piece of text, there are worlds of meaning to explore, and learning how to uncover them can be the ultimate rewarding journey.

What's Next?

Can't get enough reading? Whether as part of your reading practice or just for fun, check out our picks for the 31 best books to read in high school.

Problems with procrastination? Whether you're studying for the SAT's or studying your reading comprehension vocabulary check out how to beat procrastination and get your studies back on track.

Want to earn better grades? Our guide will help you get that 4.0 you're striving for .

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Courtney scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT in high school and went on to graduate from Stanford University with a degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology. She is passionate about bringing education and the tools to succeed to students from all backgrounds and walks of life, as she believes open education is one of the great societal equalizers. She has years of tutoring experience and writes creative works in her free time.

Student and Parent Forum

Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com , allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Learning Corner

• Where Do I Start?
• All Worksheets
• Improve Performance
• Manage & Make Time
• Procrasti-NOT
• Works Cited/Referenced/Researched
• Remote & Online Learning
• Less Stress
• How-To Videos

You are here

Reading strategies & tips.

Reading is a foundational learning activity for college-level courses. Assigned readings prepare you for taking notes during lectures and provide you with additional examples and detail that might not be covered in class.  Also, according to research, readings are the second most frequent source of exam questions (Cuseo, Fecas & Thompson, 2007). 

Reading a college textbook effectively takes practice and should be approached differently than reading a novel, comic book, magazine, or website. Becoming an effective reader goes beyond completing the reading in full or highlighting text.  There are a variety of strategies you can use to read effectively and retain the information you read.

Consider the following quick tips and ideas to make the most of your reading time:

• Schedule time to read . Reading is an easy thing to put off because there is often no exact due date.  By scheduling a time each week to do your reading for each class, you are more likely to complete the reading as if it were an assignment.  Producing a study guide or set of notes from the reading can help to direct your thinking as you read.
• Set yourself up for success .  Pick a location that is conducive to reading.  Establish a reasonable goal for the reading, and a time limit for how long you’ll be working. These techniques make reading feel manageable and make it easier to get started and finish reading. 
• Choose and use a specific reading strategy .  There are many strategies that will help you actively read and retain information (PRR or SQ3R – see the handouts and videos).  By consciously choosing a way to approach your reading, you can begin the first step of exam preparation or essay writing.  Remember: good readers make stronger writers.
• Monitor your comprehension . When you finish a section, ask yourself, "What is the main idea in this section?  Could I answer an exam question about this topic?" Questions at the end of chapters are particularly good for focusing your attention and for assessing your comprehension. If you are having difficulty recalling information or answering questions about the text, search back through the text and look for key points and answers. Self-correction techniques like revisiting the text are essential to assessing your comprehension and are a hallmark technique of advanced readers (Caverly & Orlando, 1991).
• Take notes as you read . Whether they’re annotations in the margins of the book, or notes on a separate piece of paper. Engage with the reading through your notes – ask questions, answer questions, make connections, and think about how these ideas integrate with other information sources (like lecture, lab, other readings, etc.)

Want to dive in a little deeper? Take a look at Kathleen King's tips below to help you get the most out of your reading, and to read for success. You'll see that some are similar to the tips above, but some offer new approaches and ideas; see what works for you:

• Read sitting up with good light, and at a desk or table.
• Keep background noise to a minimum . Loud rock music will not make you a better reader. The same goes for other distractions: talking to roommates, kids playing nearby, television or radio. Give yourself a quiet environment so that you can concentrate on the text.
• Keep paper and pen within reach .
• Before beginning to read, think about the purpose of the reading . Why has the teacher assigned the reading? What are you supposed to get out of it? Jot down your thoughts.
• Survey the reading . Look at the title of the piece, the subheadings. What is in the dark print or stands out? Are there illustrations or graphs?
• Strategize your approach : read the introduction and conclusion, then go back and read the whole assignment, or read the first line in every paragraph to get an idea of how the ideas progress, then go back and read from the beginning.
• Scan effectively : scan the entire reading, and then focus on the most interesting or relevant parts to read in detail.
• Get a feel for what's expected of you by the reading . Pay attention to when you can skim and when you need to understand every word.
• Write as you read . Take notes and talk back to the text. Explain in detail the concepts. Mark up the pages. Ask questions. Write possible test questions. Write down what interests or bores you. Speculate about why.
• If you get stuck : think and write about where you got stuck. Contemplate why that particular place was difficult and how you might break through the block.
• Record and explore your confusion . Confusion is important because it’s the first stage in understanding.
• When the going gets difficult, and you don’t understand the reading , slow down and reread sections. Try to explain them to someone, or have someone else read the section and talk through it together.
• Break long assignments into segments . Read 10 pages (and take notes) then do something else. Later, read the next 10 pages and so on.
• Read prefaces and summaries to learn important details about the book. Look at the table of contents for information about the structure and movement of ideas. Use the index to look up specific names, places, ideas.

(Reading strategies by Dr. Kathleen King. Many of the above ideas are from a lecture by Dr. Lee Haugen, former Reading specialist at the ISU Academic Skills Center. https://www.ghc.edu/sites/default/files/StudentResources/documents/learn... )

Curious to learn more? Check out our Reading video , and hear what we have to say!

WE'RE HERE TO HELP:

Mon-Fri, 9am to 5pm PST

Our drop-in space will be closed during finals week, but we are available to connect via live chat, phone, and email during business hours.  

Drop in: 125 Waldo Hall

Call us: 541-737-2272

Email us: [email protected]

Use of ASC Materials

Use & Attribution Info

Contact Info

Active Reading: Strategies for Success

#scribendiinc

Written by  Marie Apaloo

What Is Active Reading?

Active reading is the process of engaging with a text; essentially, active reading requires going beyond the gist of a written work and applying critical thinking and learning strategies. It involves processing or reviewing information in a meaningful, purposeful way.

Why Is Active Reading Important for Academics?

Key components of a scholar’s work include understanding, presenting, and evaluating academic texts and using them to inform future research. With these goals in mind, approaches like skimming (or even reading and rereading) a text are likely to fall short, and implementing active reading strategies becomes a key to learner success.

Students often think that the best way to study is to memorize information. However, this faulty concept is built on an outdated model of education whereby students expect teachers, textbooks, and other authorities to simply "inject" information into them (for more on that, check out Freire’s Banking Model of Education ). True learning, particularly at a university level, necessitates understanding, applying, and evaluating information so it can be built on. Without actively engaging with a text, it is extremely difficult to achieve these goals.

How to Read Actively: 4 Helpful Strategies

There are many techniques that you can apply to make your reading more active. In this section, I will outline four active reading strategies to help you get started.

1. Annotate

Annotating is the process of interacting with a reading. This could include writing comments, drawing, creating diagrams, or enhancing text.

Through your annotations, you can ask questions, summarize key points, disagree with an argument, and essentially enter into a dialogue with the author. This allows you to engage with the text in a freeform manner, activating your prior knowledge and focusing on your academic interests and goals.

Bear in mind here that annotating is not highlighting, which can easily turn into a passive approach.

2. Ask yourself, "What is the take-home message?"

Ultimately, will you remember every detail of every paper that you read? No. What’s more important is to remember the key messages of the articles so you can establish your foundational knowledge and mentally file the relevant author, paper, or resource to revisit it later down the line, as needed.

After reading an article, if you can’t recall the take-home message, it's likely that you haven’t entirely understood it or that you read in a way that prevented you from seeing the forest for the trees. If that is the case, review the text again, looking for the key points (e.g., the thesis statement, results, and conclusions) that make up the main contribution of the study.

3. Read selectively

Following the above tip, you should be selective in your reading. Begin by previewing the text and identifying key sections that pertain to your goals.

For example, how do you want to use what you're reading? Do you want to include it in your literature review? Use it to identify research gaps? Check the key findings to see if they are consistent with other sources. Check the methodology to assess its limitations. These goals would all entail a different focus for how you read the paper.

The key point here is that, in most cases, you don't need to read every word. Making an informed decision about which parts you'll read and how deeply you'll engage with those selected parts can ensure that your time and energy are applied where they count.

4. Team up in a study group

As the saying goes, you never truly learn something until you teach it.

Group reading is a great strategy to both improve your engagement with a text and lessen your overall workload. Split your weekly readings with a classmate, assigning an appropriate number of texts to each partner. After reading the articles, reconvene and explain what you read to your classmate, being prepared to answer any questions that they might have. The experience of absorbing the information in a paper, processing it, and then presenting it in your own words is extremely helpful in cementing the newly acquired knowledge and information in your brain.

These are a few of many possible strategies, activities, and techniques that you can use to support active reading. Try them to see what works for you; from there, you can be creative in developing your own active reading approach tailored to your needs.

Active Reading Strategies for Teachers, Instructors, and Lecturers

From an instructor's perspective, you may find yourself frustrated by your students' showing up to class and demonstrating during discussions that they have not engaged with or understood their assigned readings.

Before assuming that your students have not even bothered to open their books, consider that they may not yet know how to read actively.

You'll give your students the best chance for success if you provide them with tools and activities that encourage active reading. Below are two ways that you can do this.

1. Mini quizzes

There is a concept in educational psychology called " the testing effect ," which tells us that testing enhances learning by improving the later retention of study materials. Brief, time-constrained, weekly quizzes are a good way to take advantage of this effect.

The briefness of the quiz means that students will be forced to read in a focused and targeted way, identifying and giving attention to what they predict will be important enough to be included in the test.

Of course, for this to be effective you need to ask the kinds of questions that can't easily be found in the documents with an electronic search. Asking the right types of questions (i.e., ones that require some critical thinking as opposed to straightforward dates, definitions, or facts) in combination with the time restrictions forces learners to read the texts beforehand and consolidate the information they have read.

2. Group discussions

This strategy is very similar to the study group suggestion in the previous section.

To put this into practice as a teacher, put your students into groups. Within each group, have one student be responsible for each reading. So if you assign three readings, each group should have three students in it. Then, have students present the key points (for example, for a scientific paper this would include the aims, methodology, results and conclusions, implications, and limitations) of their assigned paper to their group members.

This is a highly effective activity. The group dynamic requires each student to be accountable for their assigned text, preventing them from "checking out" of the activity. Simultaneously, the overall workload for each student is lightened, meaning that they can focus their time and energy on actively reading a specific text and sharing it with their group. Finally, through collaboration with their classmates, students gain exposure to a wider array of readings, which they can return to later according to their interests or academic goals.

Overall, this strategy encourages student-centered (rather than teacher-centered) learning, giving students a sense of efficacy, an opportunity to engage with their peers, and a strategy to improve their active reading skills.

Active reading is a critical academic skill that supports student success and true learning.

Using the strategies above, you can enhance your own or your students' engagement with academic texts, increasing the value and meaning of the educational experience.

Image source: DragonImages/Unsplash.com

Make Every Word Count with Professional Proofreading

Try our academic proofreading service , or get a free sample, about the author.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

Related Posts

10 Academic Phrases Your Writing Doesn't Need

6 ESL Writing Activities to Improve Your English Skills

When to Spell Out Numbers in Writing: Guide and Examples

Upload your file(s) so we can calculate your word count, or enter your word count manually.

We will also recommend a service based on the file(s) you upload.

English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker.

I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal.

I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package.

I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.

I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread.

I want to sound professional and to get hired. I have a resume, letter, email, or personal document that I need to have edited and proofread.

 Prices include your personal % discount.

 Prices include % sales tax ( ).

5.2 Effective Reading Strategies

Questions to Consider:

• What methods can you incorporate into your routine to allow adequate time for reading?
• What are the benefits and approaches to active reading?
• Do your courses or major have specific reading requirements?

Allowing Adequate Time for Reading

You should determine the reading requirements and expectations for every class very early in the semester. You also need to understand why you are reading the particular text you are assigned. Do you need to read closely for minute details that determine cause and effect? Or is your instructor asking you to skim several sources so you become more familiar with the topic? Knowing this reasoning will help you decide your timing, what notes to take, and how best to undertake the reading assignment.

Depending on the makeup of your schedule, you may end up reading both primary sources—such as legal documents, historic letters, or diaries—as well as textbooks, articles, and secondary sources, such as summaries or argumentative essays that use primary sources to stake a claim. You may also need to read current journalistic texts to stay current in local or global affairs. A realistic approach to scheduling your time to allow you to read and review all the reading you have for the semester will help you accomplish what can sometimes seem like an overwhelming task.

When you allow adequate time in your hectic schedule for reading, you are investing in your own success. Reading isn’t a magic pill, but it may seem like it when you consider all the benefits people reap from this ordinary practice. Famous successful people throughout history have been voracious readers. In fact, former U.S. president Harry Truman once said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” Writer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, inventor, and also former U.S. president Thomas Jefferson claimed “I cannot live without books” at a time when keeping and reading books was an expensive pastime. Knowing what it meant to be kept from the joys of reading, 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” And finally, George R. R. Martin, the prolific author of the wildly successful Game of Thrones empire, declared, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.”

You can make time for reading in a number of ways that include determining your usual reading pace and speed, scheduling active reading sessions, and practicing recursive reading strategies.

Determining Reading Speed and Pacing

To determine your reading speed, select a section of text—passages in a textbook or pages in a novel. Time yourself reading that material for exactly 5 minutes, and note how much reading you accomplished in those 5 minutes. Multiply the amount of reading you accomplished in 5 minutes by 12 to determine your average reading pace (5 times 12 equals the 60 minutes of an hour). Of course, your reading pace will be different and take longer if you are taking notes while you read, but this calculation of reading pace gives you a good way to estimate your reading speed that you can adapt to other forms of reading.

So, for instance, if Marta was able to read 4 pages of a dense novel for her English class in 5 minutes, she should be able to read about 48 pages in one hour. Knowing this, Marta can accurately determine how much time she needs to devote to finishing the novel within a set amount of time, instead of just guessing. If the novel Marta is reading is 497 pages, then Marta would take the total page count (497) and divide that by her hourly reading rate (48 pages/hour) to determine that she needs about 10 to 11 hours overall. To finish the novel spread out over two weeks, Marta needs to read a little under an hour a day to accomplish this goal.

Calculating your reading rate in this manner does not take into account days where you’re too distracted and you have to reread passages or days when you just aren’t in the mood to read. And your reading rate will likely vary depending on how dense the content you’re reading is (e.g., a complex textbook vs. a comic book). Your pace may slow down somewhat if you are not very interested in what the text is about. What this method will help you do is be realistic about your reading time as opposed to waging a guess based on nothing and then becoming worried when you have far more reading to finish than the time available.

Chapter 3 , offers more detail on how best to determine your speed from one type of reading to the next so you are better able to schedule your reading.

Scheduling Set Times for Active Reading

Active reading takes longer than reading through passages without stopping. You may not need to read your latest sci-fi series actively while you’re lounging on the beach, but many other reading situations demand more attention from you. Active reading is particularly important for college courses. You are a scholar actively engaging with the text by posing questions, seeking answers, and clarifying any confusing elements. Plan to spend at least twice as long to read actively than to read passages without taking notes or otherwise marking select elements of the text.

To determine the time you need for active reading, use the same calculations you use to determine your traditional reading speed and double it. Remember that you need to determine your reading pace for all the classes you have in a particular semester and multiply your speed by the number of classes you have that require different types of reading.

Practicing Recursive Reading Strategies

One fact about reading for college courses that may become frustrating is that, in a way, it never ends. For all the reading you do, you end up doing even more rereading. It may be the same content, but you may be reading the passage more than once to detect the emphasis the writer places on one aspect of the topic or how frequently the writer dismisses a significant counterargument. This rereading is called recursive reading.

For most of what you read at the college level, you are trying to make sense of the text for a specific purpose—not just because the topic interests or entertains you. You need your full attention to decipher everything that’s going on in complex reading material—and you even need to be considering what the writer of the piece may not be including and why. This is why reading for comprehension is recursive.

Specifically, this boils down to seeing reading not as a formula but as a process that is far more circular than linear. You may read a selection from beginning to end, which is an excellent starting point, but for comprehension, you’ll need to go back and reread passages to determine meaning and make connections between the reading and the bigger learning environment that led you to the selection—that may be a single course or a program in your college, or it may be the larger discipline, such as all biologists or the community of scholars studying beach erosion.

People often say writing is rewriting. For college courses, reading is rereading.

Strong readers engage in numerous steps, sometimes combining more than one step simultaneously, but knowing the steps nonetheless. They include, not always in this order:

• bringing any prior knowledge about the topic to the reading session,
• asking yourself pertinent questions, both orally and in writing, about the content you are reading,
• inferring and/or implying information from what you read,
• learning unfamiliar discipline-specific terms,
• evaluating what you are reading, and eventually,
• applying what you’re reading to other learning and life situations you encounter.

Let’s break these steps into manageable chunks, because you are actually doing quite a lot when you read.

Accessing Prior Knowledge

When you read, you naturally think of anything else you may know about the topic, but when you read deliberately and actively, you make yourself more aware of accessing this prior knowledge. Have you ever watched a documentary about this topic? Did you study some aspect of it in another class? Do you have a hobby that is somehow connected to this material? All of this thinking will help you make sense of what you are reading.

Application

Imagining that you were given a chapter to read in your American history class about the Gettysburg Address, write down what you already know about this historic document. How might thinking through this prior knowledge help you better understand the text?

Asking Questions

Humans are naturally curious beings. As you read actively, you should be asking questions about the topic you are reading. Don’t just say the questions in your mind; write them down. You may ask: Why is this topic important? What is the relevance of this topic currently? Was this topic important a long time ago but irrelevant now? Why did my professor assign this reading?

You need a place where you can actually write down these questions; a separate page in your notes is a good place to begin. If you are taking notes on your computer, start a new document and write down the questions. Leave some room to answer the questions when you begin and again after you read.

Inferring and Implying

When you read, you can take the information on the page and infer , or conclude responses to related challenges from evidence or from your own reasoning. A student will likely be able to infer what material the professor will include on an exam by taking good notes throughout the classes leading up to the test.

Writers may imply information without directly stating a fact for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a writer may not want to come out explicitly and state a bias, but may imply or hint at his or her preference for one political party or another. You have to read carefully to find implications because they are indirect, but watching for them will help you comprehend the whole meaning of a passage.

Learning Vocabulary

Vocabulary specific to certain disciplines helps practitioners in that field engage and communicate with each other. Few people beyond undertakers and archeologists likely use the term sarcophagus in everyday communications, but for those disciplines, it is a meaningful distinction. Looking at the example, you can use context clues to figure out the meaning of the term sarcophagus because it is something undertakers and/or archeologists would recognize. At the very least, you can guess that it has something to do with death. As a potential professional in the field you’re studying, you need to know the lingo. You may already have a system in place to learn discipline-specific vocabulary, so use what you know works for you. Two strong strategies are to look up words in a dictionary (online or hard copy) to ensure you have the exact meaning for your discipline and to keep a dedicated list of words you see often in your reading. You can list the words with a short definition so you have a quick reference guide to help you learn the vocabulary.

Intelligent people always question and evaluate. This doesn’t mean they don’t trust others; they just need verification of facts to understand a topic well. It doesn’t make sense to learn incomplete or incorrect information about a subject just because you didn’t take the time to evaluate all the sources at your disposal. When early explorers were afraid to sail the world for fear of falling off the edge, they weren’t stupid; they just didn’t have all the necessary data to evaluate the situation.

When you evaluate a text, you are seeking to understand the presented topic. Depending on how long the text is, you will perform a number of steps and repeat many of these steps to evaluate all the elements the author presents. When you evaluate a text, you need to do the following:

• Scan the title and all headings.
• Read through the entire passage fully.
• Question what main point the author is making.
• Decide who the audience is.
• Identify what evidence/support the author uses.
• Consider if the author presents a balanced perspective on the main point.
• Recognize if the author introduced any biases in the text.

When you go through a text looking for each of these elements, you need to go beyond just answering the surface question; for instance, the audience may be a specific field of scientists, but could anyone else understand the text with some explanation? Why would that be important?

Analysis Question

Think of an article you need to read for a class. Take the steps above on how to evaluate a text, and apply the steps to the article. When you accomplish the task in each step, ask yourself and take notes to answer the question: Why is this important? For example, when you read the title, does that give you any additional information that will help you comprehend the text? If the text were written for a different audience, what might the author need to change to accommodate that group? How does an author’s bias distort an argument? This deep evaluation allows you to fully understand the main ideas and place the text in context with other material on the same subject, with current events, and within the discipline.

When you learn something new, it always connects to other knowledge you already have. One challenge we have is applying new information. It may be interesting to know the distance to the moon, but how do we apply it to something we need to do? If your biology instructor asked you to list several challenges of colonizing Mars and you do not know much about that planet’s exploration, you may be able to use your knowledge of how far Earth is from the moon to apply it to the new task. You may have to read several other texts in addition to reading graphs and charts to find this information.

That was the challenge the early space explorers faced along with myriad unknowns before space travel was a more regular occurrence. They had to take what they already knew and could study and read about and apply it to an unknown situation. These explorers wrote down their challenges, failures, and successes, and now scientists read those texts as a part of the ever-growing body of text about space travel. Application is a sophisticated level of thinking that helps turn theory into practice and challenges into successes.

Preparing to Read for Specific Disciplines in College

Different disciplines in college may have specific expectations, but you can depend on all subjects asking you to read to some degree. In this college reading requirement, you can succeed by learning to read actively, researching the topic and author, and recognizing how your own preconceived notions affect your reading. Reading for college isn’t the same as reading for pleasure or even just reading to learn something on your own because you are casually interested.

In college courses, your instructor may ask you to read articles, chapters, books, or primary sources (those original documents about which we write and study, such as letters between historic figures or the Declaration of Independence). Your instructor may want you to have a general background on a topic before you dive into that subject in class, so that you know the history of a topic, can start thinking about it, and can engage in a class discussion with more than a passing knowledge of the issue.

If you are about to participate in an in-depth six-week consideration of the U.S. Constitution but have never read it or anything written about it, you will have a hard time looking at anything in detail or understanding how and why it is significant. As you can imagine, a great deal has been written about the Constitution by scholars and citizens since the late 1700s when it was first put to paper (that’s how they did it then). While the actual document isn’t that long (about 12–15 pages depending on how it is presented), learning the details on how it came about, who was involved, and why it was and still is a significant document would take a considerable amount of time to read and digest. So, how do you do it all? Especially when you may have an instructor who drops hints that you may also love to read a historic novel covering the same time period . . . in your spare time , not required, of course! It can be daunting, especially if you are taking more than one course that has time-consuming reading lists. With a few strategic techniques, you can manage it all, but know that you must have a plan and schedule your required reading so you are also able to pick up that recommended historic novel—it may give you an entirely new perspective on the issue.

Strategies for Reading in College Disciplines

No universal law exists for how much reading instructors and institutions expect college students to undertake for various disciplines. Suffice it to say, it’s a LOT.

For most students, it is the volume of reading that catches them most off guard when they begin their college careers. A full course load might require 10–15 hours of reading per week, some of that covering content that will be more difficult than the reading for other courses.

You cannot possibly read word-for-word every single document you need to read for all your classes. That doesn’t mean you give up or decide to only read for your favorite classes or concoct a scheme to read 17 percent for each class and see how that works for you. You need to learn to skim, annotate, and take notes. All of these techniques will help you comprehend more of what you read, which is why we read in the first place. We’ll talk more later about annotating and note-taking, but for now consider what you know about skimming as opposed to active reading.

Skimming is not just glancing over the words on a page (or screen) to see if any of it sticks. Effective skimming allows you to take in the major points of a passage without the need for a time-consuming reading session that involves your active use of notations and annotations. Often you will need to engage in that painstaking level of active reading, but skimming is the first step—not an alternative to deep reading. The fact remains that neither do you need to read everything nor could you possibly accomplish that given your limited time. So learn this valuable skill of skimming as an accompaniment to your overall study tool kit, and with practice and experience, you will fully understand how valuable it is.

When you skim, look for guides to your understanding: headings, definitions, pull quotes, tables, and context clues. Textbooks are often helpful for skimming—they may already have made some of these skimming guides in bold or a different color, and chapters often follow a predictable outline. Some even provide an overview and summary for sections or chapters. Use whatever you can get, but don’t stop there. In textbooks that have some reading guides, or especially in text that does not, look for introductory words such as First or The purpose of this article  . . . or summary words such as In conclusion  . . . or Finally . These guides will help you read only those sentences or paragraphs that will give you the overall meaning or gist of a passage or book.

Now move to the meat of the passage. You want to take in the reading as a whole. For a book, look at the titles of each chapter if available. Read each chapter’s introductory paragraph and determine why the writer chose this particular order. Depending on what you’re reading, the chapters may be only informational, but often you’re looking for a specific argument. What position is the writer claiming? What support, counterarguments, and conclusions is the writer presenting?

Don’t think of skimming as a way to buzz through a boring reading assignment. It is a skill you should master so you can engage, at various levels, with all the reading you need to accomplish in college. End your skimming session with a few notes—terms to look up, questions you still have, and an overall summary. And recognize that you likely will return to that book or article for a more thorough reading if the material is useful.

Active Reading Strategies

Active reading differs significantly from skimming or reading for pleasure. You can think of active reading as a sort of conversation between you and the text (maybe between you and the author, but you don’t want to get the author’s personality too involved in this metaphor because that may skew your engagement with the text).

When you sit down to determine what your different classes expect you to read and you create a reading schedule to ensure you complete all the reading, think about when you should read the material strategically, not just how to get it all done . You should read textbook chapters and other reading assignments before you go into a lecture about that information. Don’t wait to see how the lecture goes before you read the material, or you may not understand the information in the lecture. Reading before class helps you put ideas together between your reading and the information you hear and discuss in class.

Different disciplines naturally have different types of texts, and you need to take this into account when you schedule your time for reading class material. For example, you may look at a poem for your world literature class and assume that it will not take you long to read because it is relatively short compared to the dense textbook you have for your economics class. But reading and understanding a poem can take a considerable amount of time when you realize you may need to stop numerous times to review the separate word meanings and how the words form images and connections throughout the poem.

The SQ3R Reading Strategy

You may have heard of the SQ3R method for active reading in your early education. This valuable technique is perfect for college reading. The title stands for S urvey, Q uestion, R ead, R ecite, R eview, and you can use the steps on virtually any assigned passage. Designed by Francis Pleasant Robinson in his 1961 book Effective Study, the active reading strategy gives readers a systematic way to work through any reading material.

Survey is similar to skimming. You look for clues to meaning by reading the titles, headings, introductions, summary, captions for graphics, and keywords. You can survey almost anything connected to the reading selection, including the copyright information, the date of the journal article, or the names and qualifications of the author(s). In this step, you decide what the general meaning is for the reading selection.

Question is your creation of questions to seek the main ideas, support, examples, and conclusions of the reading selection. Ask yourself these questions separately. Try to create valid questions about what you are about to read that have come into your mind as you engaged in the Survey step. Try turning the headings of the sections in the chapter into questions. Next, how does what you’re reading relate to you, your school, your community, and the world?

Read is when you actually read the passage. Try to find the answers to questions you developed in the previous step. Decide how much you are reading in chunks, either by paragraph for more complex readings or by section or even by an entire chapter. When you finish reading the selection, stop to make notes. Answer the questions by writing a note in the margin or other white space of the text.

You may also carefully underline or highlight text in addition to your notes. Use caution here that you don’t try to rush this step by haphazardly circling terms or the other extreme of underlining huge chunks of text. Don’t over-mark. You aren’t likely to remember what these cryptic marks mean later when you come back to use this active reading session to study. The text is the source of information—your marks and notes are just a way to organize and make sense of that information.

Recite means to speak out loud. By reciting, you are engaging other senses to remember the material—you read it (visual) and you said it (auditory). Stop reading momentarily in the step to answer your questions or clarify confusing sentences or paragraphs. You can recite a summary of what the text means to you. If you are not in a place where you can verbalize, such as a library or classroom, you can accomplish this step adequately by  saying  it in your head; however, to get the biggest bang for your buck, try to find a place where you can speak aloud. You may even want to try explaining the content to a friend.

Review is a recap. Go back over what you read and add more notes, ensuring you have captured the main points of the passage, identified the supporting evidence and examples, and understood the overall meaning. You may need to repeat some or all of the SQR3 steps during your review depending on the length and complexity of the material. Before you end your active reading session, write a short (no more than one page is optimal) summary of the text you read.

Reading Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary sources are original documents we study and from which we glean information; primary sources include letters, first editions of books, legal documents, and a variety of other texts. When scholars look at these documents to understand a period in history or a scientific challenge and then write about their findings, the scholar’s article is considered a secondary source. Readers have to keep several factors in mind when reading both primary and secondary sources.

Primary sources may contain dated material we now know is inaccurate. It may contain personal beliefs and biases the original writer didn’t intent to be openly published, and it may even present fanciful or creative ideas that do not support current knowledge. Readers can still gain great insight from primary sources, but readers need to understand the context from which the writer of the primary source wrote the text.

Likewise, secondary sources are inevitably another person’s perspective on the primary source, so a reader of secondary sources must also be aware of potential biases or preferences the secondary source writer inserts in the writing that may persuade an incautious reader to interpret the primary source in a particular manner.

For example, if you were to read a secondary source that is examining the U.S. Declaration of Independence (the primary source), you would have a much clearer idea of how the secondary source scholar presented the information from the primary source if you also read the Declaration for yourself instead of trusting the other writer’s interpretation. Most scholars are honest in writing secondary sources, but you as a reader of the source are trusting the writer to present a balanced perspective of the primary source. When possible, you should attempt to read a primary source in conjunction with the secondary source. The Internet helps immensely with this practice.

What Students Say

• How engaging the material is or how much I enjoy reading it.
• Whether or not the course is part of my major.
• Whether or not the instructor assesses knowledge from the reading (through quizzes, for example), or requires assignments based on the reading.
• Whether or not knowledge or information from the reading is required to participate in lecture.
• I read all of the assigned material.
• I read most of the assigned material.
• I skim the text and read the captions, examples, or summaries.
• I use a systematic method such as the Cornell method or something similar.
• I highlight or underline all the important information.
• I create outlines and/or note-cards.
• I use an app or program.
• I write notes in my text (print or digital).
• I don’t have a style. I just write down what seems important.
• I don't take many notes.

You can also take the anonymous What Students Say surveys to add your voice to this textbook. Your responses will be included in updates.

Students offered their views on these questions, and the results are displayed in the graphs below.

What is the most influential factor in how thoroughly you read the material for a given course?

What best describes your reading approach for required texts/materials for your classes?

What best describes your note-taking style?

Researching Topic and Author

During your preview stage, sometimes called pre-reading, you can easily pick up on information from various sources that may help you understand the material you’re reading more fully or place it in context with other important works in the discipline. If your selection is a book, flip it over or turn to the back pages and look for an author’s biography or note from the author. See if the book itself contains any other information about the author or the subject matter.

The main things you need to recall from your reading in college are the topics covered and how the information fits into the discipline. You can find these parts throughout the textbook chapter in the form of headings in larger and bold font, summary lists, and important quotations pulled out of the narrative. Use these features as you read to help you determine what the most important ideas are.

Remember, many books use quotations about the book or author as testimonials in a marketing approach to sell more books, so these may not be the most reliable sources of unbiased opinions, but it’s a start. Sometimes you can find a list of other books the author has written near the front of a book. Do you recognize any of the other titles? Can you do an Internet search for the name of the book or author? Go beyond the search results that want you to buy the book and see if you can glean any other relevant information about the author or the reading selection. Beyond a standard Internet search, try the library article database. These are more relevant to academic disciplines and contain resources you typically will not find in a standard search engine. If you are unfamiliar with how to use the library database, ask a reference librarian on campus. They are often underused resources that can point you in the right direction.

Understanding Your Own Preset Ideas on a Topic

Laura really enjoys learning about environmental issues. She has read many books and watched numerous televised documentaries on this topic and actively seeks out additional information on the environment. While Laura’s interest can help her understand a new reading encounter about the environment, Laura also has to be aware that with this interest, she also brings forward her preset ideas and biases about the topic. Sometimes these prejudices against other ideas relate to religion or nationality or even just tradition. Without evidence, thinking the way we always have is not a good enough reason; evidence can change, and at the very least it needs honest review and assessment to determine its validity. Ironically, we may not want to learn new ideas because that may mean we would have to give up old ideas we have already mastered, which can be a daunting prospect.

With every reading situation about the environment, Laura needs to remain open-minded about what she is about to read and pay careful attention if she begins to ignore certain parts of the text because of her preconceived notions. Learning new information can be very difficult if you balk at ideas that are different from what you’ve always thought. You may have to force yourself to listen to a different viewpoint multiple times to make sure you are not closing your mind to a viable solution your mindset does not currently allow.

Can you think of times you have struggled reading college content for a course? Which of these strategies might have helped you understand the content? Why do you think those strategies would work?

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-success/pages/1-introduction

• Authors: Amy Baldwin
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: College Success
• Publication date: Mar 27, 2020
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/college-success/pages/1-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/college-success/pages/5-2-effective-reading-strategies

© Sep 20, 2023 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

Reading and making notes

• Introduction

Setting reading goals

Choosing the right texts, how many sources should you read, going beyond the reading list, active reading, reading techniques, common abbreviations in academic texts.

• Effective note-making
• Reading e-books for university study
• Using and evaluating websites

This guide will suggest ways for you to improve your reading skills and to read in a more focused and selective manner.

• Reading academic texts (video) Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic.
• Reading academic texts (transcript) Read along while watching the video tutorial.
• The best file formats and how to use them An interactive guide by the Technology Enhanced Learning team on the key features of alternative formats (such as PDF and ePUB), and how to make the most of these in developing your reading habits.

Before starting to read you need to consider why you are reading and what you are trying to learn. You will need to vary the way you read accordingly.

• If you are reading for general interest and to acquire background information for lectures you will need to read the topic widely but with not much depth.
• If you are reading for an essay you will need to focus the reading around the essay question and may need to study a small area of the subject in great depth. Jot down the essay question, make a note of any questions you have about it, and don't get side-tracked and waste time on non-relevant issues.

Below is an excellent short video tutorial on  reading and notemaking  developed by the Learning Development team at the University of Leicester.

• Reading and note making (video) Video tutorial from the Study Advice Team.
• Researching your assignment (video) A brief screencast on what you need to think about when starting your research.
• Researching for your assignment (transcript) Read along while watching the video tutorial.

It is unlikely that you will be able - or be expected - to read all the books and articles on your reading list. You will be limited by time and by the availability of the material.

To decide whether a book is relevant and useful:

• Look at the author's name, the title and the date of publication. Is it essential reading? Is it out of date?
• Read the publisher's blurb on the cover or look through the editor's introduction to see whether it is relevant.
• Look at the contents page. Does it cover what you want? Is it at the right level? Are there too few pages on the topic - or too many?
• Look through the introduction to get an idea of the author's approach.
• Look up an item in the index (preferably something you know a bit about) and read through one or two paragraphs to see how the author deals with the material.
• Look though the bibliography to see the range of the author's sources.
• Are the examples, illustrations, diagrams etc. easy to follow and helpful for your purpose?

To select useful articles from journals or research papers :

• Read the summary or abstract. Is it relevant?
• Look at the Conclusions and skim-read the Discussion, looking at headings. Is it worth reading carefully because it is relevant or interesting?
• Look through the Introduction. Does it summarise the field in a helpful way? Does it provide a useful literature review?
• It is a seminal piece of work – essential reading.
• It is highly relevant to your essay, etc.
• It is likely that you can get ideas from it.
• There is nothing else available and you are going to have to make the most of this.
• It is so interesting that you can't put it down!

If there is no reading list...

• Use the library website and look up  Subject help .
• Find a general textbook on the subject.
• Use encyclopaedias and subject based dictionaries.
• Do a web search BUT stay focused on your topic AND think about the reliability of the web sites. (For help with this, see the Library's guide to  Evaluating websites .)
• Browse the relevant shelves in the library and look for related topics.
• Ask your tutor for a suggestion for where to start.
• The Library also have advice on how to  and a series of brief videos  showing you how to find and access Library resources.
• To help you decide whether a source is appropriate for academic research, try this short training resource from the University of Manchester -  Know your sources 
• Subject guides Guides to specialist resources in subjects studied at the University.
• Evaluating websites Hints on assessing the reliability of information you find on the Internet.
• Library videos A link to Library videos on how to use the Library and access resources
• Know your sources On-line training tutorial from Manchester University on evaluating academic sources

It is not a good idea to rely on 1 or 2 sources very heavily as this shows a lack of wider reading, and can mean you just get a limited view without thinking of an argument of your own.

Nor is it useful (or possible) to read everything on the reading list and try to fit it all into your assignment. This usually leads to losing your own thoughts under a mass of reading.

The best way is to be strategic about your reading and identify what you need to find out and what the best sources to use to find this information.

It can be better to read less and try to think about, and understand, the issues more clearly - take time to make sure you really get the ideas rather than reading more and more which can increase your confusion.

• Use the Library catalogue to find other books on that topic. Either click on the subject headings in the full record of the books you wanted; or make a note of their Call Numbers and check on the shelves for similar titles.
• Look for relevant journal articles using the Summon search box on the Library homepage or using key resources listed on the guide for your subject.
• Use online resources BUT always evaluate them to see if they are appropriate for academic purposes. (For help with this, see the Library's guide to  Evaluating websites .)  
• Ask around to see if any of your fellow students has the books you need. You may be able to borrow them briefly to photocopy any material you need. But be careful to return it promptly - and if you lend a Library book taken out with your ticket to someone else, make sure they take it back on time, or your account will be blocked!
• Don't forget to ask your friendly Academic Liaison Librarian for advice - they are happy to help you find relevant, academic sources for your assignments.
• Contact your Academic Liaison Librarian

Keep focused on your reading goals. One way to do this is to ask questions as you read and try to read actively and creatively. It is a good idea to think of your own subject related questions but the following may be generally useful

• What do I want to know about?
• What is the main idea behind the writing?
• What conclusions can be drawn from the evidence?
• In research, what are the major findings?

Questioning the writing

• What are the limitations or flaws in the evidence?
• Can the theory be disproved or is it too general?
• What examples would prove the opposite theory?
• What would you expect to come next?
• What would you like to ask the author?

Forming your own opinion

• How does this fit in with my own theory/beliefs?
• How does it fit with the opposite theory/beliefs?
• Is my own theory/beliefs still valid?
• Am I surprised?
• Do I agree?

Your reading speed is generally limited by your thinking speed. If ideas or information requires lots of understanding then it is necessary to read slowly. Choosing a reading technique must depend upon why you are reading:

• To enjoy the language or the narrative.
• As a source of information and/or ideas.
• To discover the scope of a subject - before a lecture, seminar or research project.
• To compare theories or approaches by different authors or researchers.
• For a particular piece of work e.g. essay, dissertation.

It is important to keep your aims in mind. Most reading will require a mixture of techniques e.g. scanning to find the critical passages followed by reflective reading.

Good for searching for particular information or to see if a passage is relevant:

• Look up a word or subject in the index or look for the chapter most likely to contain the required information.
• Use a pencil and run it down the page to keep your eyes focusing on the search for key words

Skim reading

Good to quickly gain an overview, familiarise yourself with a chapter or an article or to understand the structure for later note-taking

• Don't read every word.
• Do read summaries, heading and subheadings.
• Look at tables, diagrams, illustrations, etc.
• Read first sentences of paragraphs to see what they are about.
• If the material is useful or interesting, decide whether just some sections are relevant or whether you need to read it all.

Reflective or critical reading

Good for building your understanding and knowledge.

• Think about the questions you want to answer.
• Read actively in the search for answers.
• Look for an indication of the chapter's structure or any other "map" provided by the author.
• reasons, qualifications, evidence, examples...
• Look for "signposts" –sentences or phrases to indicate the structure e.g. "There are three main reasons, First.. Secondly.. Thirdly.." or to emphasise the main ideas e.g. "Most importantly.." "To summarise.."
• Connecting words may indicate separate steps in the argument e.g. "but", "on the other hand", "furthermore", "however"..
• After you have read a chunk, make brief notes remembering to record the page number as well as the complete reference (Author, title, date, journal/publisher, etc)
• At the end of the chapter or article put the book aside and go over your notes, to ensure that they adequately reflect the main points.
• Ask yourself - how has this added to your knowledge?
• Will it help you to make out an argument for your essay?
• Do you agree with the arguments, research methods, evidence..?
• Add any of your own ideas – indicating that they are YOUR ideas use [ ] or different colours.

Rapid reading

Good for scanning and skim-reading,  but  remember that it is usually more important to understand what you read than to read quickly. Reading at speed is unlikely to work for reflective, critical reading.

If you are concerned that you are really slow:

• Check that you are not mouthing the words – it will slow you down
• Do not stare at individual words – let your eyes run along a line stopping at every third word. Practise and then lengthen the run until you are stopping only four times per line, then three times, etc.
• The more you read, the faster you will become as you grow more familiar with specialist vocabulary, academic language and reading about theories and ideas. So keep practising…

If you still have concerns about your reading speed, book an  individual advice session  with a Study Adviser.

• ibid : In the same work as the last footnote or reference (from ibidem meaning: in the same place)
• op.cit: In the work already mentioned (from operato citato meaning in the work cited)
• ff: and the following pages
• cf: compare
• passim: to be found throughout a particular book.

You may also find journal titles abbreviated. You will often find a list in your Course Handbook of the most often used in your discipline. Or ask the Academic Liaison Librarian for your subject.

• << Previous: Home
• Next: Effective note-making >>
• Last Updated: Feb 8, 2024 6:32 PM
• URL: https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/reading

• Reading to Engage and Evaluate
• Effective Critical Reading

Audience and Purpose

Analysis Checklist

• Reading for Evaluation

As an effective critical reader you must be able to identify the important elements of a text and their function.

To analyze means to break a text down into its parts to better understand it. When analyzing you notice both what the author is saying and how they are saying it. Looking deeply into a text beyond the explicit information can tell you the intended audience, the author's agenda or purpose, and the argument. Clues about these areas are often found in the language the author uses such as the word choice, phrasing, and tone. 

Look at this excerpt. Click each number button to learn more about evaluating this text:

How Is Asthma Treated? 

Take your medicine exactly as your doctor tells you and stay away from things that can trigger an attack to control your asthma.

Everyone with asthma does not take the same medicine. 

You can breathe in some medicines and take other medicines as a pill. Asthma medicines come in two types-quick-relief and long-term control. Quick-relief medicines control the symptoms of an asthma attack. If you need to use your quick-relief medicines more and more, visit your doctor to see if you need a different medicine. Long-term control medicines help you have fewer and milder attacks, but they don't help you while you are having an asthma attack. 

Asthma medicines can have side effects, but most side effects are mild and soon go away.  Ask your doctor about the side effects of your medicines. 

Remember -you can control your asthma. With your doctor's help, make your own asthma action plan. Decide who should have a copy of your plan and where he or she should keep it. Take your long-term control medicine even when you don't have symptoms. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC), 2018).

Use of Second Person

The author uses the second person point of view, the "you" pronoun to address the reader. The use of second person point of view is informal and not often seen as scholarly writing.

Scholarly Voice

The author uses contractions like don't and avoids medical terminology and difficult vocabulary.

Talking Directly to Readers

The author seems to be talking directly to readers who are not in the medical profession, giving them advice on how to treat asthma and prevent attacks.

From this analysis we can interpret that the intended audience is individuals with asthma.

The tone, while informal, it is also authoritative and direct. Note and gentle, emotional, or anecdotal information that is included. The author does not highlight statistics about the high rate of asthma or the implications of leaving it untreated. In order to persuade, the writing is presented in an objective manner that supports awareness. From this analysis, we understand that the author's purpose is to inform in a very practical way.

Why does analyzing for audience and purpose matter?

The audience and purpose can tell you whether a source might be appropriate to use in your own research and writing.

For example, because this excerpt was written to inform the general public about asthma, it does not have the level of detail and evidence necessary for scholarly research. 

It is also helpful to know from what point of view the author is writing so you can consider that when evaluating for potential bias. Another benefit of analyzing in this way is that you can apply what you learn to your own writing. For example, when reading an academic essay you may identify that word choice and tone are really effective in communicating with the academic community. You can then try a similar voice and tone in your own writing.

If you find it helpful to follow checklists, consider using this one to practice your analysis skills as you are reading. 

Who is the intended audience?

What is the author's purpose?

How do the audience and purpose influence your reading?

Argument and Evidence

What is the thesis?

What are the main points that support that thesis, and how do those main points connect?

What evidence is used?

Language and Tone

What is the tone the author uses?

How does the author's use of language and tone support the audience, purpose, and argument?

• Previous Page: Reading to Engage and Evaluate
• Next Page: Reading for Evaluation
• Office of Student Disability Services

Walden Resources

Departments.

• Academic Residencies
• Academic Skills
• Career Planning and Development
• Customer Care Team
• Field Experience
• Military Services
• Student Success Advising
• Writing Skills

Centers and Offices

• Center for Social Change
• Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services
• Office of Degree Acceleration
• Office of Research and Doctoral Services
• Office of Student Affairs

Student Resources

• Doctoral Writing Assessment
• Form & Style Review
• Quick Answers
• ScholarWorks
• SKIL Courses and Workshops
• Walden Bookstore
• Walden Catalog & Student Handbook
• Student Safety/Title IX
• Legal & Consumer Information
• Website Terms and Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Accessibility
• Accreditation
• State Authorization
• Net Price Calculator
• Contact Walden

Walden University is a member of Adtalem Global Education, Inc. www.adtalem.com Walden University is certified to operate by SCHEV © 2024 Walden University LLC. All rights reserved.

• +210-882-2673
• [email protected]

Sara Shepard

Book Publishers

Why reading books can help improve your academic writing skills

Outline: 

How literature can help students learn about themselves and the world around them

examples of how different pieces of literature have affected people’s lives

Explain how reading can help students improve their writing skills

Offer a few book recommendations that students might enjoy

If you’re a student who wants to improve your academic writing skills, you may have been told to read more books. And while that advice may seem obvious, there’s actually good reason to believe that reading can help you become a better writer. 

There’s more to literature than just reading for pleasure. While novels, short stories, and poems can provide hours of entertainment, they can also teach us about ourselves and the world around us. In fact, literature can be a powerful tool for helping students learn about other cultures, expand their vocabularies, and develop empathy for others. Here are just a few ways that literature can help students learn about themselves and the world around them.

Literature Can Help Students Develop Empathy

One of the most important things that literature can do is help students develop empathy for others. When we read about the experiences of characters who are different from us, we’re able to see the world from their perspective and understand their feelings. 

This can be especially helpful for students who might not have a lot of exposure to people from other cultures or backgrounds. By reading about the lives of others, students can learn to see things from another person’s point of view and become more understanding and tolerant of others.

Literature Can Help Students Expand Their Vocabularies

Another way that literature can help students is by expanding their vocabularies. When we encounter new words in a book, we’re more likely to remember them because we’re engaged in the story and invested in the characters. 

This is a much more effective way of learning new words than simply memorizing definitions from a dictionary. And as our vocabularies grow, so does our ability to express our thoughts in academic writing. For instance, IB students from different countries name reading as one of the main sources of ideas while completing their Internal Assessments, ToK essays and Extended essays. A lot of students use IB internal assessment writing service to succeed with their international baccalaureate papers. 

Literature Can Help Students Learn About Other Cultures

In addition to helping students develop empathy for others, literature can also help them learn about other cultures. Reading about the customs and beliefs of people from different parts of the world can give students a greater understanding and appreciation for other cultures. This is especially important in today’s globalized world where we are increasingly connected with people from all over the globe. By learning about other cultures through literature, students can become more informed and open-minded citizens of the world.

Examples of how different pieces of literature have affected people’s lives

The right story can transport you to another world, make you laugh, make you cry, and even change the way you see the world around you. Here are a few examples of how different pieces of literature have affected people’s lives.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was first published in 1960 and has since become a classic of American literature. The story is set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression and tells the story of Atticus Finch, a white lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape. 

The novel deals with themes of racial injustice and the destruction of innocence, and it had a profound impact on the way many people view race relations in America. In fact, To Kill a Mockingbird is often credited with helping to bring about the Civil Rights movement. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the history of race in America.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular novels in the English language, and it’s easy to see why. The story follows Elizabeth Bennet, a young woman living in England in the early 19th century as she navigates complicated relationships with her family, friends, and potential suitors. 

Austen’s novel is widely praised for its sharp wit and social commentary, and it continues to be one of the most popular books ever written. Pride and Prejudice is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the complexities of human relationships.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is one of those rare books that seems to speak directly to teenage angst. The novel follows Holden Caulfield, a teenager from New York City who is kicked out of his boarding school and decides to run away from home. 

Holden’s journey takes him all over New York City, and along the way he learns some hard lessons about life. The Catcher in the Rye is required reading for anyone who wants to understand what it’s like to be a teenager.

How Reading Can Help Improve Your Writing Skills

When it comes to academic success, there is no magic bullet. However, if there was one piece of advice we could give students that would help them in nearly every subject, it would be this: read more.

You might be wondering how reading can help improve writing skills. After all, aren’t they two completely different skills? The answer is yes and no. While reading and writing are certainly different skills, they are also intimately connected. In fact, reading can actually be a powerful tool for improving writing skills. 

Here’s a closer look at why reading can help students improve their writing skills.

Reading Helps Students Develop an Ear for Language

One of the most important things that reading does for students is help them develop an ear for language. When students read regularly, they are exposed to a wide variety of sentence structures, vocabulary words, and literary devices. 

This exposure helps students internalize the building blocks of language and makes it easier for them to use these elements in their own writing.

Reading Helps Students Practice Analyzing Texts

Another way that reading can help improve writing skills is by providing students with practice analyzing texts. When students read critically, they learn to pay close attention to the details in a text and think deeply about what they mean.

This type of analysis is essential for writing strong papers and essays. By reading regularly, students can hone their analytical skills and become better writers as a result.

Reading Helps Students Write More Creatively

In addition to helping students develop an ear for language and practice analyzing texts, reading also helps them write more creatively. 

When students are exposed to great works of literature, they can see how creative writers use language to paint pictures in readers’ minds and create unforgettable characters and worlds. This exposure can inspire students to take their own writing in new and exciting directions.

Three Books to Help Improve Your Academic Writing

The first book we recommend is The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. This book is a classic when it comes to writing well. While the book was originally written for writers of fiction, the advice contained within is relevant for all types of writing, including academic writing. 

The Elements of Style will teach you how to write clearly and concisely. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to improve their writing skills.

The second book we recommend is A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian. This book is specifically geared towards helping students improve their academic writing skills. 

It covers everything from choosing a topic to conducting research to formatting your paper correctly. If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to help you with your academic writing, then this is the book for you.

The third and final book we recommend is Writing for Sociology by Randall Collins. This book is geared towards helping sociology students improve their writing skills. However, the advice contained within is relevant for all students who want to improve their academic writing skills. 

Collins provides advice on how to choose a topic, how to conduct research, and how to write a paper that makes an impact. If you want to write better papers, then this book is definitely worth checking out.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, reading books can help improve your academic writing skills in a number of ways. By expanding your vocabulary, teaching you about different cultures and worlds, and helping you to better understand yourself, literature can be a useful tool for becoming a more successful student. If you’re looking for some good book recommendations to get started, why not try 1984 by George Orwell, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee? All three are classics that have had a lasting impact on readers around the world.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Advertisement

Bridging to academic success: the impact of reading gains in an English bridging program on GPAs

• Published: 01 February 2024

Cite this article

• Daniel Schmidtke   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6518-9778 1 ,
• Seina Yamada 1 &
• Anna L. Moro   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7431-0261 1  

113 Accesses

3 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

Although research has established that students enrolled in pre-sessional English for academic purposes (EAP) programs make gains in English reading ability, the evidence base for whether gains made during this period of instruction make a difference to future academic outcomes is nonexistent. We report a multi-cohort longitudinal study of a 28-week university-level EAP program that was designed to improve the English language skills of international students in preparation for undergraduate study. The sample comprised N  =  405 EAL students who completed the same EAP program in a Canadian university. At the beginning and end of the EAP program students completed a battery of 12 measures, including reading comprehension, reading fluency, and other established component skills of second language reading ability. We investigated whether the change scores of these measures, as markers of skill growth, predicted the post-EAP program undergraduate grade point averages (GPAs) of these same students. The Random Forests nonparametric regression technique was used to estimate the relative importance of all change scores of the reading skill tests, as well as their scores at the beginning of the program. This method identified reading fluency change during the EAP program as a high-ranking predictor of future GPAs. Additional stepwise linear regression modelling confirmed that reading fluency change made unique significant contributions to GPAs in such a way that greater growth in this measure translated into higher GPAs. These findings suggest that reading speed development during an EAP program has a long-term and beneficial impact on the academic flourishing of EALs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

The State of Current Reading Intervention Research for English Learners in Grades K–2: a Best-Evidence Synthesis

Garrett J. Roberts, Colby Hall, … Jacklyn Van Ooyik

Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Tier 2 Type Reading Interventions in Grades K-3

Jeanne Wanzek, Sharon Vaughn, … Philip Capin

Reading Instruction for English Learners in the Middle Grades: a Meta-Analysis

Colby Hall, Garrett J. Roberts, … Sharon Vaughn

Data availibility

Analysis code for this study is available by emailing the corresponding author. Data for this study are not publicly available due to ethical protocols.

Unfortunately no data currently exists on how long bridging program students remain enrolled in bridging programs despite the minimum study duration.

As a result of the testing restrictions imposed by COVID-19 regulations, not all participants that were tested at \({\textit{t}}_{1}\) for Cohort 3 were able to return at \({\textit{t}}_{2}\) . For this cohort, only participants that completed a test in-person at both timepoints were included in analyses.

It was not possible to compute empirical reliability estimates for Rapid symbolic naming (CTOPP), or Sight word efficiency and Phonemic decoding efficiency (TOWRE) because of the timed nature of these tests and the fact that there is only one form per test. We therefore note that the reliability scores for these tests as provided in their respective test manuals are within the high range.

The program embeds both mentoring (where senior undergraduate students are the mentors to students in the bridging program) and co-curricular activities (e.g., book-club, collaborative story writing, movie nights, cultural showcases, conversation circles). Students are not forced to complete specific co-curricular activities; it is their choice which activities they wish to participate in. But on average, they are expected to attend one co-curricular activity and one mentoring session per week.

The texts adopted for the program are quite challenging at the outset for many students. The texts, which are intended to have the rigour of university level materials, target the CEFR B2 to C1 level, which is the level the students are expected to reach by the end of the program.

Archibald, A. (2001). Targeting L2 writing proficiencies: Instruction and areas of change in students’ writing over time. International Journal of English Studies, 1 (2), 153–174.

Google Scholar  

Bayliss, D., & Raymond, P. (2004). The link between academic success and L2 proficiency in the context of two professional programs. Canadian Modern Language Review, 61 (1), 29–53. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.61.1.29

Article   Google Scholar  

Beaulac, C., & Rosenthal, J. S. (2019). Predicting university students’ academic success and major using random forests. Research in Higher Education, 60 (7), 1048–1064. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-019-09546-y

Beglar, D., & Hunt, A. (2014). Pleasure reading and reading rate gains. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26 (1), 29–48. https://doi.org/10125/66684

Bigozzi, L., Tarchi, C., Vagnoli, L., Valente, E., & Pinto, G. (2017). Reading fluency as a predictor of school outcomes across grades 4–9. Frontiers in psychology, 8 , 200. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00200

Breiman, L. (2001). Random forests. Machine Learning, 45 (1), 5–32. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010933404324

Buck, J., & Torgesen, J. (2018). The relationship between performance on a measure of oral reading fluency and performance on the Florida comprehensive assessment test (FCRR Technical Report No. 1). Talahassee, FL: Florida Center for Reading Research.

Cain, K., & Oakhill, J. (2006). Profiles of children with specific reading comprehension difficulties. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76 (4), 683–696. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709905X67610

Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE). (2021). International Students in Canada. [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from https://cbie.ca/infographic/

Cattell, R. B. (1966). The scree test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1 (2), 245–276. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr0102_10

Cooper, B. R., Moore, J. E., Powers, C., Cleveland, M., & Greenberg, M. T. (2014). Patterns of early reading and social skills associated with academic success in elementary school. Early Education and Development, 25 (8), 1248–1264. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2014.932236

Daller, M. H., & Xue, H. (2009). Vocabulary knowledge and academic success: A study of Chinese students in UK higher education. In B. Richards, M. Daller, D. Malvern, P. Meara, J. Milton, & J. Treffers-Daller (Eds.), Vocabulary studies in first and second language acquisition (pp. 179–193). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230242258_11

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Dooey, P., & Oliver, R. (2002). An investigation into the predictive validity of the IELTS test as an indicator of future academic success. Prospect, 17 (1), 36–54.

Douglas, S. R., & Landry, M. (2021). English for Academic Purposes Programs: Key trends Across Canadian Universities. Comparative and International Education, 50 (1), 48–73. https://doi.org/10.5206/cieeci.v50i1.10925

Faulkner, F., Ryan, D., Hurley, A., & Wang, Q. (2017). A comparison of the progression of international students to first year undergraduate studies by entry route in an Irish higher education institution: Part one—A quantitative study. Irish Journal of Academic Practice, 6 (1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.21427/D75H9B

Fife, D. A., & D’Onofrio, J. (2022). Common, uncommon, and novel applications of random forest in psychological research. Behavior Research Methods, 55 , 2447–2466. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01901-9

Genuer, R., Poggi, J.-M., & Tuleau-Malot, C. (2010). Variable selection using random forests. Pattern Recognition Letters, 31 (14), 2225–2236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patrec.2010.03.014

Green, A. (2007). Washback to learning outcomes: A comparative study of IELTS preparation and university pre-sessional language courses. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 14 (1), 75–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/09695940701272880

Hapfelmeier, A., Hothorn, T., Ulm, K., & Strobl, C. (2014). A new variable importance measure for random forests with missing data. Statistics and Computing, 24 (1), 21–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11222-012-9349-1

Hardman, J., Paucar-Caceres, A., & Fielding, A. (2013). Predicting students’ progression in higher education by using the random forest algorithm. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 30 (2), 194–203. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2130

Hothorn, T., Buehlmann, P., Dudoit, S., Molinaro, A., & Van Der Laan, M. (2006). Survival ensembles. Biostatistics, 7 (3), 355–373. https://doi.org/10.1093/biostatistics/kxj011

Huffman, J. (2014). Reading rate gains during a one-semester extensive reading course. Reading in a Foreign Language, 26 (2), 17–33. https://doi.org/10125/66879

Ihlenfeldt, S. D., & Rios, J. A. (2023). A meta-analysis on the predictive validity of English language proficiency assessments for college admissions. Language Testing, 40 (2), 276–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/02655322221112364

Institute of International Education. (2020). Project Atlas. [Data set]. Retrieved from https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Project-Atlas/

Issitt, S. (2017). Evaluating the impact of a presessional English for academic purposes programme: A corpus based study (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Birmingham.

Jeon, E. H., & Yamashita, J. (2014). L2 reading comprehension and its correlates: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 64 (1), 160–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12034

Jeon, E. H., & Yamashita, J. (2022). L2 reading comprehension and its correlates. In E. Jeon & Y. In’nami (Eds.), Bilingual processing and acquisition (BPA). Understanding l2 proficiency: Theoretical and meta-analytic investigations (pp. 29–86). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.13

Jones, E., Coelen, R., Beelen, J., & De Wit, H. (2015). Global and local internationalization . Springer.

Korinth, S. P., & Nagler, T. (2021). Improving reading rates and comprehension? benefits and limitations of the reading acceleration approach. Language and Linguistics Compass, 15 (3), e12408. https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12408

Kuperman, V., Matsuki, K., & Van Dyke, J. A. (2018). Contributions of reader- and text-level characteristics to eye-movement patterns during passage reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 44 (11), 1687–1713. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000547

LaBerge, D., & Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6 (2), 293–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(74)90015-2

Lao, C. Y., & Krashen, S. (2000). The impact of popular literature study on literacy development in EFL: More evidence for the power of reading. System, 28 (2), 261–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(00)00011-7

La Paro, K. M., & Pianta, R. C. (2000). Predicting children’s competence in the early school years: A meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research, 70 (4), 443–484. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070004443

Latifi, S., & Gierl, M. (2021). Automated scoring of junior and senior high essays using Coh-Metrix features: Implications for large-scale language testing. Language Testing, 38 (1), 62–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532220929918

Mano, Q. R., & Guerin, J. M. (2018). Direct and indirect effects of print exposure on silent reading fluency. Reading and Writing, 31 (2), 483–502. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9794-5

McLean, S., & Rouault, G. (2017). The effectiveness and efficiency of extensive reading at developing reading rates. System, 70 , 92–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.09.003

Millar, M. (2002). Post-foundation progress: A case of rakes or pilgrims. BALEAP PIM report, 16 . Retrieved from https://www.qmlanguagecentre.livecodehosting.com/baleap/archive/baleap/conference-events/pims/pim-reports/foundation-courses/post-foundation-progress-case-rakes-or-pilgrims.html

Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: A meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 137 (2), 267–296. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021890

Mora, H. G. (2010). Oral reading fluency: predicting outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Utah.

Oliver, R., Vanderford, S., & Grote, E. (2012). Evidence of English language proficiency and academic achievement of non-English-speaking background students. Higher Education Research & Development, 31 (4), 541–555. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2011.653958

Pearson, W. S. (2020). The Effectiveness of pre-sessional EAP Programmes in UK Higher Education: A Review of the Evidence. Review of Education, 8 (2), 420–447. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3191

Pikulski, J. J., & Chard, D. J. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58 (6), 510–519. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.58.6.2

R Core Team. (2021). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing [Computer software manual]. Vienna, Austria. Retrieved from https://www.R-project.org/

Rasinski, T. V., Padak, N. D., McKeon, C. A., Wilfong, L. G., Friedauer, J. A., & Heim, P. (2005). Is reading fluency a key for successful high school reading? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49 (1), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.49.1.3

Reschly, A. L., Busch, T. W., Betts, J., Deno, S. L., & Long, J. D. (2009). Curriculum-based measurement oral reading as an indicator of reading achievement: A meta-analysis of the correlational evidence. Journal of School Psychology, 47 (6), 427–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2009.07.001

Ricketts, J., Sperring, R., & Nation, K. (2014). Educational attainment in poor comprehenders. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 , 445. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00445

Ronimus, M. M., Tolvanen, A. J., & Ketonen, R. H. (2023). Is there hope for first graders at the lowest percentiles? The roles of self-efficacy, task avoidance, and support in the development of reading fluency. Learning Disability Quarterly, 46 (2), 120–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948722108697

Sanzana, M. B., Garrido, S. S., & Poblete, C. M. (2015). Profiles of Chilean students according to academic performance in mathematics: An exploratory study using classification trees and random forests. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 44 , 50–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2015.01.002

Schmidtke, D., & Moro A. L. (2021). Determinants of word-reading development in english learner university students: a longitudinal eye movement study. Reading Research Quarterly, 56 (4), 819–854. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.362

Schmidtke, D., Rahmanian, S., & Moro, A.L. (2023). Tracking reading development in an English language university-level bridging program: evidence from eye-movements during passage reading. Cambridge University Press, 26 (2), 356–370. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728922000542

Segal, M. R. (2004). Machine learning benchmarks and random forest regression. UCSF: Center for Bioinformatics and Molecular Biostatistics, 1–14. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/35x3v9t4

Share, D. L. (2008). Orthographic learning, phonological recoding, and self-teaching. In R. Kail (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior (Vol. 36, pp. 31–82). Elsevier.

Silberglitt, B., Burns, M. K., Madyun, N. H., & Lail, K. E. (2006). Relationship of reading fluency assessment data with state accountability test scores: A longitudinal comparison of grade levels. Psychology in the Schools, 43 (5), 527–535. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20175

Spencer, M., Kaschak, M. P., Jones, J. L., & Lonigan, C. J. (2015). Statistical learning is related to early literacy-related skills. Reading and Writing, 28 (4), 467–490. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9533-0

Stage, S. A., & Jacobsen, M. D. (2001). Predicting student success on a state-mandated performance-based assessment using oral reading fluency. School Psychology Review, 30 (3), 407–419. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2001.12086123

Stanovich, K. E. (1980). Toward an interactive-compensatory model of individual differences in the development of reading fluency. Reading Research Quarterly . https://doi.org/10.2307/747348

Thorpe, A., Snell, M., Davey-Evans, S., & Talman, R. (2017). Improving the academic performance of non-native English-speaking students: The contribution of pre-sessional English language programmes. Higher Education Quarterly, 71 (1), 5–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12109

Tichá, R., Espin, C. A., & Wayman, M. M. (2009). Reading progress monitoring for secondary-school students: Reliability, validity, and sensitivity to growth of reading-aloud and maze-selection measures. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 24 (3), 132–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5826.2009.00287.x

Titz, C., & Karbach, J. (2014). Working memory and executive functions: Effects of training on academic achievement. Psychological Research, 78 (6), 852–868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-013-0537-1

Trenkic, D., & Warmington, M. (2019). Language and literacy skills of home and international university students: How different are they, and does it matter? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 22 (2), 349–365. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672891700075X

Ushioda, E., & Harsch, C. (2011). Addressing the needs of international students with academic writing difficulties: Pilot project 2010/11, Strand 2: Examining the predictive validity of IELTS scores. Unpublished manuscript. Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick. Retrieved from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/research/groups/llta/research/strand_2_project_report_public.pdf

Welten, M., de Kroon, M. L., Renders, C. M., Steyerberg, E. W., Raat, H., Twisk, J. W., & Heymans, M. W. (2018). Repeatedly measured predictors: A comparison of methods for prediction modeling. Diagnostic and Prognostic Research, 2 (1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41512-018-0024-7

Whitten, C., Labby, S., & Sullivan, S. L. (2019). The impact of pleasure reading on academic success. Journal of Multidisciplinary Graduate Research, 2 (1), 48–64.

Wihlborg, M., & Robson, S. (2018). Internationalisation of higher education: Drivers, rationales, priorities, values and impacts. European Journal of Higher Education, 8 (1), 8–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2017.1376696

Yeniad, N., Malda, M., Mesman, J., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Pieper, S. (2013). Shifting ability predicts math and reading performance in children: A meta-analytical study. Learning and Individual Differences, 23 , 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.10.004

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Linguistics and Languages, McMaster University, MELD Office 4045, L.R. Wilson Hall, Hamilton, ON, L8N 1E9, Canada

Daniel Schmidtke, Seina Yamada & Anna L. Moro

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Schmidtke .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This work was partially supported by a Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant awarded to Daniel Schmidtke and Anna L. Moro (430-2022-00369, PI Daniel Schmidtke) and a post-doctoral fellowship appointment (Daniel Schmidtke) supported by the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file 1 (pdf 1389 KB)

Rights and permissions.

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Schmidtke, D., Yamada, S. & Moro, A.L. Bridging to academic success: the impact of reading gains in an English bridging program on GPAs. Read Writ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-024-10514-x

Download citation

Accepted : 03 January 2024

Published : 01 February 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-024-10514-x

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Second language reading
• EAP programs
• Academic achievement
• Random forests
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

• Importance Of Reading Essay

Importance of Reading Essay

500+ words essay on reading.

Reading is a key to learning. It’s a skill that everyone should develop in their life. The ability to read enables us to discover new facts and opens the door to a new world of ideas, stories and opportunities. We can gather ample information and use it in the right direction to perform various tasks in our life. The habit of reading also increases our knowledge and makes us more intellectual and sensible. With the help of this essay on the Importance of Reading, we will help you know the benefits of reading and its various advantages in our life. Students must go through this essay in detail, as it will help them to create their own essay based on this topic.

Importance of Reading

Reading is one of the best hobbies that one can have. It’s fun to read different types of books. By reading the books, we get to know the people of different areas around the world, different cultures, traditions and much more. There is so much to explore by reading different books. They are the abundance of knowledge and are best friends of human beings. We get to know about every field and area by reading books related to it. There are various types of books available in the market, such as science and technology books, fictitious books, cultural books, historical events and wars related books etc. Also, there are many magazines and novels which people can read anytime and anywhere while travelling to utilise their time effectively.

Benefits of Reading for Students

Reading plays an important role in academics and has an impactful influence on learning. Researchers have highlighted the value of developing reading skills and the benefits of reading to children at an early age. Children who cannot read well at the end of primary school are less likely to succeed in secondary school and, in adulthood, are likely to earn less than their peers. Therefore, the focus is given to encouraging students to develop reading habits.

Reading is an indispensable skill. It is fundamentally interrelated to the process of education and to students achieving educational success. Reading helps students to learn how to use language to make sense of words. It improves their vocabulary, information-processing skills and comprehension. Discussions generated by reading in the classroom can be used to encourage students to construct meanings and connect ideas and experiences across texts. They can use their knowledge to clear their doubts and understand the topic in a better way. The development of good reading habits and skills improves students’ ability to write.

In today’s world of the modern age and digital era, people can easily access resources online for reading. The online books and availability of ebooks in the form of pdf have made reading much easier. So, everyone should build this habit of reading and devote at least 30 minutes daily. If someone is a beginner, then they can start reading the books based on the area of their interest. By doing so, they will gradually build up a habit of reading and start enjoying it.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Importance of Reading Essay

What is the importance of reading.

1. Improves general knowledge 2. Expands attention span/vocabulary 3. Helps in focusing better 4. Enhances language proficiency

What is the power of reading?

1. Develop inference 2. Improves comprehension skills 3. Cohesive learning 4. Broadens knowledge of various topics

How can reading change a student’s life?

1. Empathy towards others 2. Acquisition of qualities like kindness, courtesy

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request OTP on Voice Call

Post My Comment

• Share Share

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

Counselling

Academic Success for Student Essay

Academic success for any student is what each and every student in learning institutions strive to get. Although every student wants to achieve academic success not each and every one of them manages to achieve academic success. This is because there are certain things that one as a student should follow to achieve academic success. Some of the most important factors that one should put into consideration and practice to achieve academic success include the following.

People smart learning style involves many factors or components and affects all round life of an individual. In order to achieve smart learning style as a student you should strive to ensure that you understand concepts and skills in different academic fields. This style means that one should strive in all fields to achieve good performance. You can not be smart in one area while the rest you are poor and say that you are smart, at least in every area you should be smart. (Littlefield, 2009)

Adopting smart learning style is not that easy it calls for balancing of the entire academic fields. This is because if there is no balance in one area you will be smart while the rest you will fail. Strive to have a balance in all academic as well as social areas in life to achieve smart learning style. (Littlefield, 2009)

Critical thinking is one of the major factors that one should put into consideration as a student in order to achieve academic success. Critical thinking means is a situation or a practice whereby as a student you do not just take the literal meaning of something but you think of that particular situation under all dimensions. Critical thinking involves taking into account all the concepts that are related to that particular situation, after taking note of the concepts then analysis of the concepts follows in order to gain deeper understanding of the situation or the concept.

Taking note and understanding all the concepts related to the situation or area of study one is analyzing is very important. This is because through understanding of the concepts it becomes easier to tackle different fields of study that one is involved in. also the skills that one has can play great role in success of the given student academically. For instance, if you have excellent writing skills you can utilize them to gain high achievements academically. There are also other personal strategies that one may have; these strategies can be used positively to achieve high grades academically. For instance in a situation whereby you do not perform well in certain filed you can involve yourself in research on certain concepts that are challenging and at the end of it you find that you have succeeded academically in that field.

Creativeness is another important factor in gaining academic success, being creative means that out of a small and minor thing you can come up with a big idea. Creativeness can work best for a student when combined together with skills and strategies that one as a student has. In order for a student to gain academic success one has to be creative on how to utilize different opportunities to gain success at the end.

However there is more of being a student than achievement of academic success though is the major goal for every student. One should strive to achieve success in all areas of life and it calls for one to have a balanced life. However gaining balanced life to many people is a challenge and it calls for commitment in all areas of life. As much as one is committed to academics he or she should be committed in other areas of life like social activities since they help in building not only the academic part of life but also building ones character. Also through social activities the mind relaxes such that one can understand different academic fields that are being learned.

In order to have a balanced life as a student there are certain changes that one has to make in life. For instance there are certain routines that one is used to that do not help in building balanced life, in order to achieve balanced life and prosper academically some of the routines should be changed. Change of routines calls for commitment and persistence, this is because routine is something that one is used to so changing from those routines is not an easier thing hence call for commitment and persistence. Through this it will be possible to overcome some of the major academic challenges that one goes through.

The last factor that one as a student should put into consideration is adoption of good habits. Practice of good habits is essential in academic success of a student, this is because practice of a certain habit in ones life results to formation of a relevant character in that person. However changing of habits is not an easy thing it calls for commitment and persistence in practice of the habits.

Learning of good habits or changing one’s habit is not easy, at one point I decided to change my study habit which was not very good and to adopt a good study habit. This is one of the things that I found to be very challenging in my life; this is because it was a must for me to through many different changes in life that I was not used to before. I was one of the students who were known for wasting time and not being very serious in my academics and changing from this kind of a lifestyle was a challenge. Though it has been challenging I am happy that today have managed to adapt good study habits and am still pursuing it.

List of reference

Littlefield J. (2009) Smart study strategies. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, November 2). Academic Success for Student. https://ivypanda.com/essays/academic-success-for-student/

"Academic Success for Student." IvyPanda , 2 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/academic-success-for-student/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Academic Success for Student'. 2 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Academic Success for Student." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/academic-success-for-student/.

1. IvyPanda . "Academic Success for Student." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/academic-success-for-student/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Academic Success for Student." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/academic-success-for-student/.

• The Appropriateness of Classroom Routines
• Academically Competitive Atmosphere
• Is Montessori Math a Pathway for Academically Gifted Students to Advance in Mathematics?
• Mitigating Barriers to Persistence
• The Importance of Classroom Routines
• Classroom Management and Routines
• Haier Company's Organisational Routines Changes
• Academic Achievements: Requirements and Goals
• Explaining Persistence of Discrimination and Privilege
• Accrual Reliability, Earnings Persistence and Stock Prices
• A High Quality Essay: Lecturer Expectations
• Educational Funding and Performance Relationship
• The Relationship of Various Uniform Policies on Academic Achievement
• Secondary and Tech Prep Students’ Categories
• Distinguished Students of Knowsley College

Your path to academic success

Improve your paper with our award-winning Proofreading Services ,  Plagiarism Checker , Citation Generator , AI Detector & Knowledge Base .

Proofreading & Editing

Get expert help from Scribbr’s academic editors, who will proofread and edit your essay, paper, or dissertation to perfection.

Plagiarism Checker

Detect and resolve unintentional plagiarism with the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker, so you can submit your paper with confidence.

Citation Generator

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr’s free citation generator and save hours of repetitive work.

Happy to help you

You’re not alone. Together with our team and highly qualified editors , we help you answer all your questions about academic writing.

Open 24/7 – 365 days a year. Always available to help you.

Very satisfied students

This is our reason for working. We want to make  all students  happy, every day.

I like the fact that it is easy and simple to use

I like the fact that it is easy and simple to use and many professors approve when using the citations from this website, and if not it tells you step by step on how to provide a good citation.

I love scribbr!

Recommended by my University

Recommended by my University, I use this exclusively now and just recently added the plugin for Chrome which grabs info that can't be retrieved using the website. I now have a history of research and citations for each of my subjects and for specific assignments all in different lists . I strongly recommend it.

easy and helpful

its really easy to use and it is very cleanly designed. this website has been really helpful for my academics

Easy to use interface

Easy to use interface. Great integrations with Chrome

Scribber Citation Generator Fan

I love using the citation generator on Scribbr, it's easy to use, correct, and has a massive database to search from.

AWESOME!!!!

The Apa format for citation has helped to improve the reference page on my paper .kudos

This is perfect for my needs

This is perfect for my needs. I have never had a professor question my reference page and I love how everything is saved for future reference. There has never been an issue locating a title I needed. Great job. Keep up the good work.

It works well, you need an account to save sources

The citation generator worked great, but you need an account to save your sources. It makes it easy to copy in text citations as well.

Great tool- as a grad student

Great tool- as a grad student, I used it often!

It works well

It works well, but I have to log back in every time I close the website

Great APA formatting for websites!

The #1 Most Important Paper-Writing Internet Tool for Students

Generating citations is exactly the kind of tedious, nitpicky work that computers are made for. In our modern world, it's refreshing to see a genuinely good use of technology that's convenient and practical. I couldn't have gotten my bachelor's without it!

Great for college research

Great for creating and tracking citations for college research papers.

This cite is fabulous

This cite is fabulous! It is the most accurate citation generator for APA format. It is also extremely easy to use. The ability to make specific lists for specific project and different folders just adds to its usefulness. I only use this site for all of my projects.

Making my life easier since 2020!

Scribbr is the most user friendly citation generator I have used and has made my undergraduate and graduate experience much more enjoyable.

I use it for every one of my papers!

Is free does its job well

Is free does its job well, no adds!

I love how easy and convenient it is to…

I love how easy and convenient it is to cite my sources.

I am having a wonderful time using this…

I am having a wonderful time using this website, especially for getting my classes done.

Everything you need to write an A-grade paper

Free resources used by 5,000,000 students every month.

Bite-sized videos that guide you through the writing process. Get the popcorn, sit back, and learn!

Lecture slides

Ready-made slides for teachers and professors that want to kickstart their lectures.

• Academic writing
• Citing sources
• Methodology
• Research process
• Dissertation structure
• Language rules

Accessible how-to guides full of examples that help you write a flawless essay, proposal, or dissertation.

Chrome extension

Cite any page or article with a single click right from your browser.

Time-saving templates that you can download and edit in Word or Google Docs.

Help you achieve your academic goals

Whether we’re proofreading and editing , checking for plagiarism or AI content , generating citations, or writing useful Knowledge Base articles , our aim is to support students on their journey to become better academic writers.

We believe that every student should have the right tools for academic success. Free tools like a paraphrasing tool , grammar checker, summarizer and an  AI Proofreader . We pave the way to your academic degree.

Ask our team

Want to contact us directly? No problem.  We  are always here for you.

• Email [email protected]
• Start live chat
• Call +1 (510) 822-8066
• WhatsApp +31 20 261 6040

Frequently asked questions

Our team helps students graduate by offering:

• A world-class citation generator
• Plagiarism Checker software powered by Turnitin
• Innovative Citation Checker software
• Professional proofreading services
• Over 300 helpful articles about academic writing, citing sources, plagiarism, and more

Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents . We proofread:

• PhD dissertations
• Research proposals
• Personal statements
• Admission essays
• Motivation letters
• Reflection papers
• Journal articles
• Capstone projects

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker , namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases .

The add-on AI detector is powered by Scribbr’s proprietary software.

The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

• School Login
• Programs for Home
• Login / Register
• Forgot Password

How Reading Intervention Can Help Students Achieve Success in the Classroom

Reading is an essential skill that every student needs to master to achieve academic success. However, not all students are able to develop strong reading skills on their own, which is why elementary and  middle school reading intervention programs  exist. These programs are designed to provide targeted support and instruction to students who struggle with reading comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. In this blog post, we will explore how reading intervention can help students achieve success in the classroom.

Elementary and middle school reading intervention programs offer a variety of approaches to support struggling readers. Some programs focus on providing small-group instruction, while others use technology to deliver reading instruction through reading intervention software. Additionally, some plans offer both  reading and math intervention programs , which address both reading and math skills concurrently.

Small-group instruction is a traditional approach to reading intervention that involves grouping students with similar reading levels together for targeted instruction. In these small groups, students receive instruction that is tailored to their individual reading needs. Teachers use various strategies such as phonics, fluency, and vocabulary instruction to improve students’ reading skills. This approach allows teachers to give students more individualized attention and support, which can lead to significant improvements in their reading ability.

Incorporating Reading Intervention Software into the Classroom

Reading intervention software is an extremely useful resource that has become increasingly popular in recent years. One of the great advantages of these programs is that they can provide students with personalized instruction adapted to their learning needs. The software uses a variety of activities and assessments to track student progress and adjust the instruction accordingly. Reading intervention software is often used in combination with small-group instruction to provide students with a comprehensive reading intervention program. It enables teachers to work one-on-one or with small groups while the other students utilize software.

Reading and math intervention programs are designed to support students who struggle with both reading and math skills. These programs provide students with targeted instruction in both subjects to improve their overall academic performance. By addressing both subjects concurrently, students can develop a better understanding of how these subjects are interconnected and build the skills they need to succeed in both areas.

In addition to these approaches, there are many other strategies that can be used in reading intervention programs to help students achieve success. For example, teachers may use graphic organizers, guided reading, and comprehension strategies to help students better understand what they are reading. Additionally, teachers may provide students with extra reading practice through independent reading, read-aloud exercises, and shared reading activities.

In conclusion, elementary and middle school reading intervention programs offer targeted support and instruction to students who struggle with reading comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. These programs use a variety of approaches to support students, including small-group instruction, reading intervention software, and reading and math intervention programs.  By providing students with the support and instruction they need to develop strong reading skills, reading intervention programs can help students achieve success in the classroom and beyond .