Most composition instructors agree that many first-year students need help with reading and the statistics back them up. About 90% of first-year CSULA students are required to take the English Placement Test (EPT) and only about 10% of them score above 151 (the “cut score”) on the reading section. In the CSU system, well more than half of all test-takers score below 151 in reading. While we, as teachers of English and teachers of writing, might feel (correctly) that reading is the responsibility of all departments and courses, the university looks to the English Department to provide leadership in literacy education. But given the level of writing skills in our composition classes, how can we find time to teach reading too?
Experienced instructors already know the answer: we are already teaching reading, at least minimally by modeling for our students the practices and strategies of good readers. What many of us might not be doing is making explicit our assumptions and practices. As writing teachers we probably don’t think twice about talking with students about strategies for developing an argument, and yet we probably rarely discuss with students how we approach a text for the first time, or how we skim a text looking for clues about its organization, or how we decide what to write in the margins as we read. All of us bring to our reading a wealth of expertise that we could make explicit for our students to help them become better readers.
Talking About Reading
What do good readers do? First, they read frequently and for a variety of purposes, including pleasure. Second, they are active readers who seek for ways to understand a text. They read with purpose and attempt to understand the writer’s purpose in writing. And good readers recognize that just as writing requires revision, reading requires re-reading. If we had to summarize these practices, we might begin by saying that
- Good readers preview the reading by reviewing the table of contents, chapter titles, headings and subheadings. They attempt to understand how the text is organized before they start reading.
- Good readers identify a purpose for reading: Why am I reading? What do I hope to get from the reading (information, ideas, pleasure)? How will I know when I’ve accomplished my purpose?
- Good readers place the reading in context. When was it written? By whom? For what purpose? What genre does it belong to and what conventions are associated with that genre?
- Good readers read quickly but are prepared to re-read. Does the writer always use topic sentences? Are paragraphs mostly filled with different kinds of evidence all supporting the same claim? Can parts be skipped or quickly skimmed?
- Good readers engage with the text, ask questions of the text, agree with it, disagree with it, relate it to other readings, and note when it confuses them.
- Good readers are able to summarize the text and frequently will reflect on the experience of reading. What is its main point? What was most/least effective about it? What problems did I encounter while reading?
What Do Good Readers Do?
- Read for a variety of reasons including (or especially) pleasure
- Read at different speeds and intensities: skim, scan, or study depending on need
- Read actively carrying on a conversation with the text
- Read with an awareness of the text’s genre and associated conventions
What Do Good Readers Note About A Text?
- Table of contents, chapter titles, index, introduction, headings, subheadings, and any other hint of global organization
- The genre of the text (i.e. narrative, academic essay, and so on)
- Thesis, topic sentences, transitions and other focusing devices that help identify the writer’s preferred method of local organization
- Biographical information about the author, time, place and purpose of writing, and any other information that might help contextualize the text
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