An Outline Of Reading Theory And Practice

Unit 1 The nature of reading
Section 1 What is reading?
Reading means to understand written or printed texts and get the information one needs as efficiently as possible.
Section 2 Major elements involved in the definition of reading
1. Understanding
Three levels of understanding
Understanding the literal meaning (Reading the lines)
Understanding the figurative meaning (reading between the lines)
Application (reading beyond the lines)
2. Text
Features of a text
Unity: a single idea
Coherence: relationship between ideas
Cohesion: relationship between structures
Function: to narrate, to describe, to explain, to argue and persuade
3. Written texts and spoken texts
Diction
Structures
Levels of Formality
Tones
Emphasis
Audience
4. Information and knowledge
Time factor
Audience factor
Utility factor
5. Efficiency
6. What do we understand?
Form
Language
Purpose and function
Tone
Patterns of development
Relation between ideas
7. How do we understand meaning?
What do we already know?
What we would like to know?
What have we learned?
How to use the knowledge gained as a base of understanding new ideas?
What is meaning after all?
8. Purposes of reading
Reading for survival
Reading for entertainment
Reading for information
Reading for study
Reading for research
Reading for profession
Reading to make sure
Reading to check
Reading to compare
Reading to choose
Unit 2 reading and language
Section 1 reading and vocabulary
Section 2 reading and grammar
Section 3 reading and sound
Section 4 reading and idioms and proverbs
Section 5 reading and figures of speech
Unit 3 reading . society. culture
Section 1 social meaning of reading
Section 2 cultural influence of reading
Unit 4 reading skills
Section 1 preview anticipation predict
Section 2 guess the meaning of new words
Section 3 understanding text patterns
Section 4 purpose and tones of the text
Section 5 main idea and supporting ideas
Section 6 linguistic and non-linguistic information
Section 7 transformation
Section 8 outline and summary
Unit 5 text patterns
Section 1 time order
Section 2 space order
Section 3 comparison and contrast
Section 4 classification
Section 5 general-specific
Section 6 topic-discussion
Section 7 problem-solution
Section 8 question-answer
Section 9 definition
Section 10 cause and effects
Unit 6 understanding short stories
Section 1 characters
Section 2 plots
Section 3 setting
Section 4 conflicts
Section 5 theme
Section 6 climax
Unit 7 understanding poems
Section 1 rime
Section 2 rhythm
Section 3 image
Unit 8 understanding drama
Unit 9 critical reading
Section 1 what is critical reading
Section 2 facts and opinions
Section 3 fallacies of development
Unit 10 comparative reading
Section 1 nationality
Section 2 genre
Section 3 time
Section 4 gender
Section 5 language
Unit 11 understanding non-linguistic information
Charts, tables, pie grid
Unit 12 reading and writing
Section 1 similarities and dissimilarities
Section 2 dialogue between the reader and writer
Unit 13 reading exams
Common types of items
Unit 14 understanding newspaper articles
Section 1 organization of newspaper
Section 2 information structure of articles