Mp3 Script
Critical Reading at Graduate School: Comprehension

Critical Reading for Graduate Students
Learning Strategies Development, Queen’s University, Kingston

Presentation Two: Reading Comprehension

This presentation outlines strategies to improve your reading comprehension.
 It also highlights the connection between focus and concentration and good comprehension.

Before continuing this presentation, consider assessing your present reading skills. 

It’s important to be aware of your learning style and preferences so that you can choose the most appropriate reading strategies to suit your style and to overcome weaknesses. 

Consider taking a learning styles test. The “Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire” looks at learning styles within four domains: how you grasp information, how you receive sensory input, how you make information meaningful and how you develop patterns of understanding.  

What effects your comprehension?
Level of difficulty and complexity
Level of interest in what you’re reading
Background knowledge
Knowledge of the jargon, new vocabulary
Understanding of English language structure

The SQ4R method of reading: 
Survey
Question
Read
Record (e.g. note-making)
Recite
Review

is a proven technique to help both comprehension and retention. 
It works because you are actively involved in reading at all times.
In this method you begin by surveying the text first (e.g. looking at visuals, headings, numeric information) to get the big picture and sense of overall structure. Surveying will help you to read more efficiently when you move to more detailed and analytical reading. Although it might feel time intensive at the outset, it actually saves you time in the end because you don’t have to reread the material and you prepare a note to use later.  

To see how SQ4R can be applied to textbook reading or any other written genre such as research papers, go to our online module “Critical Reading at Graduate School’. There’ll be tools there which will give you a full explanation.  


Focus and Concentration

For quality reading you need good focus and concentration. 
To ensure good reading time: 
• •Find a “reading place”, somewhere comfortable and conducive to reading and away from distractions. Try to read in that same place every time. •Know your best concentration span and stick to it. If you are highly distracted and tired, don’t expect to sit down for an hour. 20 minutes of good quality reading is better than an hour spent in ‘LaLa Land’. If you are someone who likes to move, you will benefit from doing something while you read. e.g. create a mind map, read out loud, or walk around with your book.  


Relax & Have Guilt-Free Time
Take time to relax and play. This will help your overall concentration because a relaxed mind is a receptive mind, one which can learn and retain better. Organize “guilt-free time” into your weekly schedule as you would any other task.  

This completes our presentation on reading comprehension.