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6 Reading for academic purposes

㈠ Reading is a very important language skill for students to develop in order to study effectively,

because during their academic courses they may be expected to read many pages in a week, possibly hundreds! It seems fairly obvious that the more someone reads the better a reader he/she will become.

Reading will also help in the reader's efforts to develop other language skills. According to Pulido (2003), \you will develop a wider vocabulary”. She goes on to provide statistical evidence to back up her claim. It is generally believed that good readers also make good writers. Reading can act as a model for writing as the reader is exposed to, and absorbs, ever-widening patterns of writing forms and styles. Bassett (2010) expands on this theme below: Reading stories in an extensive reading programme will improve reading fluency by increasing

automaticity in processing, and will also improve proficiency in writing, listening, and speaking-provided that the student really is reading extensively{…} reading 40 or 50 graded readers in a year.

Bassett's focus is on graded readers, but arguably the type of text should suit the needs and

interests of individuals. What is more relevant is the reference to \processing\and how this impacts on other areas of language learning and development. \out of practice and instruction. Automaticity allows students to retrieve words quickly from memory and concentrate on other aspects of reading, such as comprehension” (University of North Carolina, 2011). It seems safe to assume as well that a wider vocabulary will facilitate reading. Developing

vocabulary and grammar unconsciously through reading is often more effective than hours spent working through a vocabulary or grammar book in an effort to memorise words or structures. With growing competence in the language, students should also gain more confidence. The more confident they are, the more they will be motivated to use the target language-to experiment with it and increasingly to improve their competence. All this applies equally to a student's efforts to learn a foreign language as it does to their own first language. ㈡ If the focus is English for academic purposes (EAP) then most of the materials used will

normally be cm academic tropics, or at least topics which are thought to be interesting for \readers. \topics are chosen because it is considered that they should be interesting for language learners to read no matter what they are going to study on their academic courses. Selected texts normally contain examples of vocabulary which are typically academic and the types of language structures commonly found in academic texts. Students will be exposed to language which is directly relevant to their specific fields of study when their own academic programmes begin. The aim of EAP programmes is to help students develop effective reading skills before joining their academic departments. In some cases they may have already begun their academic studies and are attending in-sessional courses; here, texts may be chosen which are more directly relevant to their area of study

7 This will particularly be the case if they have begun what is often referred to as a \course which blends academic English language learning with a particular course such as English for Food Science.

㈢ In academic reading classes, students are often expected to read a selection of different texts

on the same topic. To a greater or lesser extent this simulates what might be expected on their academic programmes, with each text containing different features. Different viewpoints may be expressed, or more detail may be given in one text than in another, or the focus may vary. Students are also often expected to research the topic themselves and so need to develop the habit of reading around the subject. This is an important skill to work on. Students also need to learn how to analyse what they are reading: for example, to read and think

critically about content and style, and the argument put forward by the writer. Kurland (2000) differentiates between critical reading and critical thinking. He describes the former as \”, whereas critical thinking \on the validity of what you have read in the light of our prior knowledge and understanding of the world”. The critical reader would never accept everything in a text being accurate or acceptable, or well written, without careful consideration; likewise, the reader would apply his/her critical thinking powers in order to reach a conclusion about the contents. Some writers try to persuade readers to accept a point of view with which the readers may not agree, whilst some texts may be strongly biased, giving only one side of the argument rather than a balanced view. Readers need to he critical, for example, when researching material on the Internet, as some sources may not be reliable-although the same could be said about many text types and media sources. ㈣ Reading serves a purpose. For example，a novel may he rend simply for entertainment, or

because the reader has read Something before by the same author and liked it; or a book may be picked up to fill the time on a flight Or a train journey. Some people read merely because reading is a hobby. People read newspapers to check on current events. The purpose for reading at university or school, however, is usually to learn something, to complete an assignment, to prepare for a lecture or tutorial, or to revise for an exam. For instance, students might be reading to find information that would help them complete the following assignment: English is referred to as a global language. What are the advantages and disadvantages of

global languages? Discuss. It is important to keep the reading purpose in mind while reading a text; this way, the reader can

make decisions about the most effective way to read that text. By keeping the purpose in mind, the reader can decide whether to read quickly through a text, or skip some of the material and spend time reading carefully through the parts that help achieve the task. ㈤ EAP courses provide the learner with an ideal opportunity to acquire good reading routines.

When students embark on their academic programmes they are expected to read widely and independently. They should get into the habit of reading in English for at least 30 minutes each and every day of the week. The important thing about reading on an EAP course, or reading in general at university, is not to be content with reading only what is supplied. Students must learn to read independently and regularly and to recognise that while this

8 may benefit their academic work specifically, the act of reading is also a reward in itself. There are excellent publications to be found relating to every field of interest; many are now available online. Students may decide that material they read independently should relate to their intended area of study. This is often the case for postgraduate students, especially if they have already been provided with a reading list by the department they are to join. However, in reality it does not matter what is read independently at this stage as long as good reading habits are being developed, and the reader learns to enjoy reading and benefit from the experience. What students read, as well as where and how, relates back to the reading purpose and to the level of concentration required.

㈥ Ultimately, the more one reads, the better reader one should become as long as good

reading habits are developed. There are some interesting statistics to consider in this context. To take vocabulary acquisition as an example, research suggests that readers will need to be exposed to a new vocabulary item (a word or phrase) at least 12 times in different ways before that item becomes \consists of all the vocabulary items that are both passively and actively known. Vocabulary items are said to be \to understand a reading text or to communicate information or ideas. Regular reading will help provide the necessary level of exposure. Further research by Nation (2001) has also shown that learners reading in a foreign language need to understand at least 80% of the words in a text before that text can be read with the same amount of understanding as an educated native speaker. Nation (2001) claims that to read with %unknown vocabulary, language users probably need a vocabulary of 15,000 to 20,000 words': In sum, the more readers read, the quicker and better they should be able to read with understanding.