Методичка Манчевой к Portraits in Words. Учебное пособие по курсу Анализ текста для студентов 3 курса специальности Переводчик в сфере профессиональной коммуникации
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Федеральное агентство по образованию Государственное образовательное учреждение высшего профессионального образования «Ивановский государственный энергетический университет им. В.И. Ленина» Кафедра интенсивного изучения английского языка Учебное пособие по курсу «Анализ текста» для студентов 3 курса специальности «Переводчик в сфере профессиональной коммуникации» (английский язык) Иваново 2008 Составитель Е.Г. Манчева Редактор И.В. Ермакова Данное учебное пособие предназначено для студентов 3 курса специальности «Переводчик в сфере профессиональной коммуникации», изучающих курс «Анализ текста». Оно является логическим продолжением и дополнением учебника Thomas Kral. “Portraits in Words” и может быть использовано для работы с лексическим материалом текстов учебника. Целью пособия является обучение студентов различным видам чтения, развитие навыков анализа текста, совершенствование навыков работы с различными видами словарей, расширение кругозора и углубление фоновых знаний учащихся о науке, истории, экономике, литературе, музыке, архитектуре и других областях знаний. Задачей пособия также является обогащение словарного запаса учащихся и совершенствование навыков перевода с русского языка на английский и наоборот. Предложенные тексты и задания могут использоваться как в качестве дополнительного материала на занятиях по курсу "Анализ текста", так и в качестве заданий для самостоятельной работы студентов. Утверждено цикловой методической комиссией ИВТФ Рецензент кафедра интенсивного изучения английского языка Ивановского государственного энергетического университета Contents
Part 1 Effective Reading ‘Why am I reading?’ is the first question an effective reader asks himself or herself, because how you read depends on your purpose. You may read to locate specific information, to understand reasons and facts and to learn, to enjoy words and descriptions, as in poetry and some prose, etc. As soon as the effective reader defines the purpose of his/her reading, s/he asks another question 'How should I read?' In other words what reading technique or techniques should s/he choose? Effective and efficient readers learn to use many different styles of reading for different purposes. Skimming, scanning and critical reading are considered to be the most important ones. Among others are previewing and predicting, guessing word meaning, recognizing the main idea, making inferences, summarizing and annotating. Skimming Skimming is used to quickly identify the main ideas of a text. When you read a newspaper, you’re probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you’re skimming the text. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. There are many strategies that can be used when skimming. Some people read the first and last paragraphs using headings, summarizes and other organizers as they move down the page or screen. You might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and illustrations. This technique is useful when you're seeking information rather than reading for comprehension. Scanning Scanning is a technique you often use when looking up a word in the telephone book or dictionary. You search for key words or ideas. In most cases, you know what you’re looking for, so you’re concentrating on finding a particular answer. Scanning involves moving your eyes down the page seeking specific words and phrases. Once you've scanned the document, you might go back and skim it. When scanning, look for the author’s use of organizes such as numbers, letters, steps, or the words, first, second, or next. Look for words that are bold faced, italics, or in a different font size, style, or color. Previewing Previewing a text means gathering as much information about the text as you can before you actually read it. You can ask yourself the following questions:
If you are being asked to summarize a particular piece of writing, you will want to look for the thesis and main points. Are you being asked to respond to a piece? If so, you may want to be conscious of what you already know about the topic and how you arrived at that opinion.
Before you read, look at the title of the text. What clues does it give you about the piece of writing? It may reveal the author's stance, or make a claim the piece will try to support. Good writers usually try to make their titles do work to help readers make meaning of the text from the reader's first glance at it.
If you have heard the author's name before, what comes to your mind in terms of their reputation and/or stance on the issue you are reading about? Has the author written other things of which you are aware? How does the piece in front of you fit into to the author's body of work? What is the author's political position on the issue they are writing about? Are they liberal, conservative, or do you know anything about what prompted them to write in the first place?
Sometimes the structure of a piece can give you important clues to its meaning. Be sure to read all section headings carefully. Also, reading the opening sentences of paragraphs should give you a good idea of the main ideas contained in the piece. Critical Reading The purpose of critical reading is to accept or reject a writer's opinion. It involves gaining a deeper understanding of the material. Successful critical readers read with a pencil in their hand, making notes in the text as they read. Instead of reading passively, they create an active relationship with what they are reading by "talking back" to the text in its margins. You may want to make the following annotations as you read:
The thesis is the main idea or claim of the text and relates to the author’s purpose for writing. Sometimes the thesis is not explicitly stated, but is implied in the text, but you should still be able to paraphrase an overall idea the author is interested in exploring in the text. The thesis can be thought of as a promise the writer makes to the reader that the rest of the essay attempts to fulfill. The main points are the major subtopics, or sub-ideas the author wants to explore. Main points make up the body of the text, and are often signaled by major divisions in the structure of the text. Marking the thesis and main points will help you understand the overall idea of the text, and the way the author has chosen to develop her or his thesis through the main points s/he has chosen.
While you are reading, be sure to circle unfamiliar words and take the time to look them up in the dictionary. Making meaning of some discussions in texts depends on your understanding of pivotal words. You should also annotate key terms that keep popping up in your reading. The fact that the author uses key terms to signal important and/or recurring ideas means that you should have a firm grasp of what they mean.
You will want to underline important ideas and memorable images so that you can go back to the piece and find them easily. Marking these things will also help you relate to the author's position in the piece more readily. Writers may try to signal important ideas with the use of descriptive language or images, and where you find these stylistic devices, there may be a key concept the writer is trying to convey.
"Talking back" to the text is an important meaning-making activity for critical readers. Think about what thoughts and feelings the text arouses in you. Do you agree or disagree with what the author is saying? Are you confused by a certain section of the text? Write your reactions to the reading in the margins of the text itself so you can refer to it again easily. This will not only make your reading more active and memorable, but it may be material you can use in your own writing later on.
Identifying personally with the piece will enable you to get more out of your reading because it will become more relevant to your life, and you will be able to remember what you read more easily.
It is important to go back to confusing sections to try to understand as much as you can about them. Annotating these sections may also remind you to bring up the confusing section in class or to your instructor.
Good critical readers are always aware of the sources an author uses in her or his text. You should mark sources in the text and ask yourself the following questions:
Summarizing Summarizing means providing a short account of the most important facts or features of a piece of writing. Guessing word meaning There are various strategies that you can learn which will help you to deduce what a word likely means. Yes, you could just look them up in a dictionary; but, studies show that you most likely won't remember the word after a while. However, by making your brain figure it out, a trail of understanding is left and you are more likely to remember it, thus improving your vocabulary! Perhaps you are taking a standardized test and are being asked about particular words. These strategies will help you immensely! Step 1. Context - If the word is used in a sentence, look at the other words and see if they give you clues to the word's meaning. This may help to guess, at least, part of the word's meaning. Step 2. STRUCTURE- Probably the most important skill when it comes to understanding words. The internal structure of words is called morphology. Morphology consists of morphemes--which are minimal units of meaning, rules for combining them into words, and rules for pronouncing the resulting words. Step 3. Using your understanding of morphology helps you break down a word into smaller pieces so that you can guess what it means. Step 4. MORPHEME- A morpheme may be a word or less than a word. Morphemes cannot be broken down into smaller units. TYPES OF MORPHEMES- Prefixes, Suffixes, Infixes, Plurals, Possessives, and base(root) words. Step 5. Now that you understand what a morpheme is, the next step is to take your word and try to break it down into morphemes. Step 6. KNOW YOUR ROOTS - Sometimes after you break down your word, you still may not know the meaning because you don't know what the base (root) word means. Think of other words you know that have the same base in them. Step 7. With the strategies above you can usually guess what a word means. If you are taking a test, use what you've assumed about the word to help with the process of elimination. Making Inferences Inferences are evidence-based guesses. They are the conclusions a reader draws about the unsaid based on what is actually said. Inferences drawn while reading are much like inferences drawn in everyday life. If your best friend comes in from a blind date and looks utterly miserable, you would probably infer the date was not a success. Drawing inferences while you read requires exactly the same willingness to look at the evidence and come to a conclusion that has not been expressed in words. Only in reading, the evidence for your inference consists solely of words rather than actual events, expressions, or gestures. |