| DEVISING A READING PLAN |
R8 |
Now that you have read through R1 to R7 you must be thinking
of starting your practice. Before you do so, it is important that
you should come up with a plan first. Here are a few questions you
need to address before making a plan:
- Why do you choose to work on reading?
- What is it that you really want to improve? Do you really want
to improve reading? Or do you actually want to improve on other
skills such as writing or vocabulary?
- How much time do you have for practising this skill?
- Would you prefer to work on your own or with a reading group?
What is a reading plan?
Like any plan you make for your self-access learning, an effective
one should have the following components:
Component |
What is it? |
| Aim |
Write out your learning aim as clearly
as possible. You must know exactly what you want to achieve
at the end of your learning.
|
| Input |
It is important to carry out thorough
research by listing out all the input you plan to use in your
learning. This may include the materials and facilities you
plan to use, as well as people who may be able to help you
with your learning. Try to give as many details as you can
for each input, e.g. title of books and reading materials.
|
| Practice |
Estimate the amount of time you plan to spend on reading,
and write out how you would carry out your reading activities.
For example, you can make reading a daily habit by giving
yourself a fixed time slot for this activity. Also, design
some activities that you would enjoy doing after your reading,
for example, writing down your feelings or talking to someone
about your reading.
|
| Evaluation |
Write out all the strategies and methods
you plan to use for evaluating your reading. |
Depending on your aim, the input, practice and evaluation can be
very different. In any case, there must be a direct and logical
link between your aim and the input, practice and evaluation methods
you choose. If you have problems with making a reading plan, the
following examples may help. But do remember that they are examples
only. Please do not take them as the only way to plan your reading.
Sample reading plan 1
Aim: To be able to read academic articles more quickly
| |
What I plan to do |
Done? |
| Input |
- Read Advice Sheet R4 (Improving Reading Speed) and ‘Practical
faster reading’ for ideas on skim reading and getting
the main idea of a paragraph quickly
- 10 academic articles on my research topic
|
|
| Practice |
Read one academic article each week:
- Read it first using skim-reading techniques to get the
main point of each section and each paragraph. Try to read
as quickly as possible while still getting the main point.
- Then read it again, reading the important sections in
detail, and looking up vocabulary where necessary
|
|
| Evaluation |
- Make a note in my diary of my reading speed (and how
much I understand) from the academic articles each week
(reading speed can be roughly calculated by noting down
the total number of pages an article has, and the total
amount of time I spent reading it)
- Check with my supervisor and colleagues of the same department
every two weeks to see how well I have understood the articles
- Read two similar articles at the beginning and at the
end of my learning cycle, and compare my reading speed &
comprehension
- Discuss my progress with an SAC adviser
|
|
Sample reading plan 2
Reading Group learning plan
Aim: To improve understanding of stories and short texts
through discussions.
| Group members: Janet, Phoebe, Tarzan and Mike Reading
materials (Input):
Short articles and short stories
Sources: SAC, Internet, newspaper, magazine, etc.
Practice:
- Choose suitable materials for the reading group. Each
of us will take turns and look for materials for our weekly
reading discussion. Circulate materials at least three days
before the discussion takes place.
- The discussion time for our group is 4:00-5:00p.m. We
will meet every Thursday for a period of one semester.
- The person responsible for the meeting should book the
seminar room in the SAC or library in advance. To make good
use of time, he or she should come up with questions or
topics for discussion and circulate them by e-mail at least
one or two days before we meet in the discussion.
Evaluation:
- The main purpose of our reading group is to improve our
understanding of stories and short texts. We will write
out our own interpretation of the stories beforehand, and
then compare them with each other during the discussion.
- Each of us will prepare a list of vocabulary that records
words we have problems with. We will discuss the meaning
of these words with the help of dictionaries in our weekly
meeting.
- We will review all the vocabulary we have learned at
the end of the semester.
- We will review all our interpretations of the stories
to see if we have made any progress in the semester.
- When we do not agree with each other, or when we get
stuck, we will consult an SAC Adviser.
|
Now make your own plan, and when you finish, you are most welcome
to discuss it with an SAC adviser
And now...
If you need any further advice:
- see an Adviser,
on duty at the SAC Advice Desk (for details of advisers and their availability, please go to http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/sacadviser.html)
- e-mail lcsac (lcsac@ust.hk) with your query;
- ask at the reception counter of the SAC — if the receptionist cannot help you directly, s/he will pass your query on to one of the SAC advisers.
Good luck and enjoy your learning!
Note
The introductory leaflet in this series is the leaflet How
do you become a better reader? (R1)
This advice sheet is part of the Reading series of leaflets supporting
independent language learning produced by the HKUST Language Centre
SAC team. This leaflet was written by Susanna Ho, 2001. If you copy
this leaflet, please acknowledge the source. Thanks. |
