How to Be Effective Readers? I. Introduction of reading

How to Be Effective Readers?
    Good morning, in today’s lecture, we’ll discuss how to be effective readers. I’d like to spend some time discussing with you the following topics: What is reading? How can we read effectively? And what are the skills of reading?
    First of all, I’d say,(1)reading is a method of absorbing written information. It mainly contains two aspects: the degree of comprehension and the reading speed.(2)Our reading ability is closely related to our vocabulary, cultural background knowledge and reading techniques. However, we vary widely in every significant aspect—intelligence, language skills, interest, etc. So we are supposed to recognize our individual differences and work hard to be effective readers. In my opinion, there are many things that we could do.(3)Firstly, we should develop a love of reading by making reading a regular and enjoyable activity. Secondly, we should have a clear purpose in reading.(4)And we should know why we need to improve our reading speed and use different strategies for different reading tasks. Thirdly, developing good reading habits is quite important. We should concentrate on the important parts,(5)skim the rest, and skip the insignificant parts. Sometimes we should read silently rather than read aloud.     Secondly, I’d like to say, generally speaking, reading programs for different levels of readers have different focuses and emphasize specific reading skills.(6)Programs for beginners generally focus on developing a basic reading vocabulary, decoding skills and reading for meaning.(7)Programs for intermediate or advanced readers are shifted to expanding vocabulary,(8)refining comprehension skills and mastering skills. In order to make reading more efficient, it is necessary for us to know some reading strategic skills. Skimming and scanning are two specific reading strategic skills for quick and efficient reading.(9)The purpose of skimming is to find the main idea of the passage. Readers often do skimming when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. When skimming, readers only try to locate specific information and they often do not even follow the development of the story. Scanning is another technique readers often use when looking up a word in a telephone book or dictionary to(10)search for key words or ideas. Scanning involves moving your eyes quickly down the page to seek specific words and phrases.
    Based on this, I will introduce to you three strategies which may help you to conduct effective reading. First, make sure the books are specific to your age and reading levels. Second, find some background information which relates to the book before reading. Third, leave plenty of time for reflection and let yourself be free to develop imagination at the end of the reading.
    OK, today we had a brief look at the ways to be effective readers, and the skills of reading as well. Undoubtedly, reading is always beneficial. I hope you’ll enjoy reading and keep reading after today’s lecture. Thank you for your attention.