ACADEMIC ENGLISH FOR

NURSING
ANGGOTA KEL ;

15 ways to simplify reading texts

1. Shorten
It is difficult for a native speaker to
appreciate just how much the length of a
text can make it difficult to understand due
to factors like not being able to find the
right information to answer a question and
the brain getting tired halfway through.

2. Pre-teach
Interesting ways of
pre-teaching
vocabulary they might
need to understand in
order to cope with the
text include guessing
the story from the preteach
vocab
and
reading to check, or
brainstorming
a
category of vocab that
includes the pre-teach
words
and
expressions. As well as
vocabulary, you might
need
to
pre-teach
grammar,
cultural

3. Introduction
An introduction could
include a summary of
the whole story with the
most interesting bits left
out, the background to
a news story,
explanation of why the
text is important and/ or
interesting, or
instructions on how they
should read the
following text and what
they should look for.

4. Questions that give clues

A way of achieving the same thing as an introduction
without adding an extra paragraph of text is to write
the questions they read before the text so that they
give clues to what they will be reading. This can be
combined with the pre-teach stage by including the
difficult vocabulary etc in the questions and answering
queries about vocab before students start reading.

5. Glossary
Whilst having a glossary slows down reading
speed and is not popular in present EFL
textbooks, some language exams and self-study
materials still include texts with a glossary at the
bottom of the page. It is also fairly common in
graded readers. An advantage of a glossary is
that it is much quicker and easier for the teacher

Another thing you

can easily add to
a text which aids
comprehension is
paragraph
headings, for
example to make
a newspaper
article look more
like a magazine
article. This gives
students clues as
to what
information is
coming next and
makes it easier to
find information
when answering
detailed

7. Conversation
Talking about the topic that they will read
about can help prime students to guess
which of several meanings a word they
get stuck on in the text has. Being able
to predict what they are going to be
reading next and just read to check also
increases reading speed. Easy ways of
starting a discussion that will help their
comprehension include predicting the
story from the headline or key words, or
8.predicting
Pictures the answers of true/ false
questions
before
reading
to check.
Adding
pictures
to a
text that
doesnt have
them helps lighten the load of looking at a
page of text and so make it less daunting,
and can be used for vocabulary pre-teach
and conversation before reading to set the
scene. Students can also put the pictures
into order or match them to words,
sentences or paragraphs in the text much

10. Grammar
9. Vocabulary
Although the grammar in the
If a word in the text is not in text can be set at the level of
the Elementary/ Intermediate/ structures students can
Advanced Learners dictionary understand rather than the
and is important for overall
easier ones they can
understanding and/ or to
produce, and can also include
answer the comprehension
more difficult structures if
questions you should replace itthey arent important for the
tasks, most authentic texts
with an easier word. Words
will include some
that are not so vital for
understanding can stay to givegrammatical forms that are
students practice in ignoring worth simplifying so students
11.
Format
can concentrate on
them
.
One of the easiest ways of rewriting
a textelse.
and making a
something
major change to its ease of understanding is to write it as
a completely different genre of text. Easy forms for
students to understand include notes, postcards and
emails. For example, a magazine article about a holiday

We can often be put off by unfamiliar place names,

peoples names, names of foods etc. that are not
important for the comprehension of the text. Although
these things can provide useful practice is spotting
words that can be ignored or in widening their
international outlook, in texts that are challenging in
other ways and in which you want them to concentrate
on one thing you could try changing these things to
something more familiar such as the name of a local
13.
city.Reference
Another major difficulty that native speakers rarely spot is
the problem of keeping track of what it, that man,
one of those etc refer to. This is often a skill we have in
their own language that they lose when overloaded by
other things when reading English, but this can
particularly be a problem with reference words that do not
easily translate such as one in give me one or when
the students speak a language that uses these kinds of
expression less often. You can replace all these kinds of

Another thing that real English texts do not have

a lot of is expressions such as on the other
hand, as a skilled writer will write the text so
the organisation of ideas will make the logical
connections between sentences obvious. Adding
these to the text can not only help the students
understand how the text is organised and so
predict what information is coming next, but can
also teach them the kinds of expressions they
will need to include in their IELTS Writing etc until
15. Ideas
they reach the same level of writing skill.
Another difficulty that can throw students who
can cope with it in L1 is dealing with mentally
challenging concepts in texts at the same time
as mentally challenging English language.
Although you dont want to explain what they
will read so much that they learn nothing when
they read it, you can give some help with a kind

How to
summarise and
note take reading
material

Taking notes

Taking notes is an
important part of the
life of every student.

There are two main reasons

why note-taking is important:
When you are reading or listening, taking notes
helps you concentrate. In order to take notes - to
write something sensible - you must understand
the text. As listening and reading are interactive
tasks, taking notes help you make sense of the
text. Taking notes does not mean writing down
every word you hear; you need to actively
decide what is important and how is related to
what you have already written.
Notes help you to maintain a permanent record
of what you have read or listened to. This is
useful when revising in the future for
examinations or other reasons.

How to take notes.

When you're reading, first survey the

text to find the main points and how
they are related. Then read for the
subsidiary points; see how they are
related to the main points and to each
other. Then, reduce the points to notes.
Make sure links and relationships
between the ideas are shown.

Good notes need to be organised

appropriately. There are two main methods
for this:

1. List
2.
Diagram

List
The topic is summarised one point
after another, using numbers and
letters and indentation to organise
information in order of importance.
The numbers and letters can be used
by themselves or in combination.

I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X,

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8,9,10,
(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii),
(ix), (x),
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i,
Or using decimals:
1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2,
2.3

D
I
A
G
R
A
M

A diagram of the
information shows how
the main ideas are
related and reflects the
organisation of the
information. You can use
flow charts, tree
diagrams, diagrams,
mind maps (Buzan,
1974) etc. You can also
include circles, arrows,
lines, boxes, etc.

Identifying the main idea

What is the main
idea ?
It may be helpful to first
explain what the main idea
is not. It is not the
information obtained
during the introduction to
the text when the title,
headings, illustrations etc.
are briefly considered, and
linked to background
knowledge, prior to
reading. Although these
text features are often
useful in scaffolding
readers towards finding the
main idea, on their own,
they are not enough.
Readers need to explore

It is also important to note that

the main idea is not simply what
the text is about. To paraphrase
Gerald Duffy (2003), "Charlotte's
Web" is a story about a spider
called Charlotte and a pig called
Wilbur, but the main idea is more
to do with the things that give life
meaning: friendship, love, birth
and death. The main idea then, is
what the author wants readers to
understand is important and
valued in the text, i.e., across the
whole text, not just within
sections of it.

How do you find the main

idea ? Identifying Topics
Identifying Topics

The first thing you must be able to do to get at

the main idea of a paragraph is to identify the
topic - the subject of the paragraph. Think of
the paragraph as a wheel with the topic being
the hub - the central core around which the
whole wheel (or paragraph) spins. Your
strategy for topic identification is simply to
ask yourself the question, "What is this
about?" Keep asking yourself that question as
you read a paragraph, until the answer to your
question becomes clear. Sometimes you can
spot the topic by looking for a word or two
that repeat. Usually you can state the topic in
a few words.

The bulk of an expository paragraph

is made up of supporting sentences
(major and minor details), which help to
explain or prove the main idea. These
sentences present facts, reasons,
examples, definitions, comparison,
contrasts,paragraphs,
and other pertinent
details.
Besides expository
in which
new information is
They are most important because they
presented and discussed, these longer writings contain
sell the main idea.

three types of paragraphs: introductory, transitional,

and summarizing.
Introductory paragraphs tell you, in advance, such things
as (1) the main ideas of the chapter or section; (2) the
extent or limits of the coverage; (3) how the topic is
developed; and (4) the writer's attitude toward the topic.
Transitional paragraphs are usually short; their sole
function is to tie together what you have read so far and
what is to come - to set the stage for succeeding ideas of
the chapter or section. Summarizing paragraphs are used
to restate briefly the main ideas of the chapter or section.
The writer may also draw some conclusion from these
ideas, or speculate on some conclusion based on the

Strategies For Scanning And Skimming Reading

Material
Scanning Related To Nursing
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 quickly down the page
seeking specific words and phrases. Scanning is also used when
you first find a resource to determine whether it will answer
your questions. Once you've scanned the document, you might
go back and skim it.

When scanning, look for the author's use of organizers 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. Sometimes the author will put key ideas in
the margin.

Reading off a computer screen has become a growing

concern. Research shows that people have more difficulty
reading off a computer screen than off paper. Although they
can read and comprehend at the same rate as paper, skimming
on the computer is much slower than on paper.

Skiming
Skimming is used to quickly identify the main
ideas of a text. When you read the newspaper,
you're probably not reading it word-by-word, instead
you're scanning 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. Use
skimming when you want to see if an article may be
of interest in your research.
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. Consider reading the first sentence of
each paragraph. This technique is useful when
you're seeking specific information rather than
reading for comprehension. Skimming works well to
find dates, names, and places. It might be used to
review graphs, tables, and charts.

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