Journal2

Journal II
Discuss readings skills that you have learned in this class, but have rarely used in your reading. Do you think they are really necessary ones for better reading? Why or why not?

In this class, we have learned various kind of reading skills including both separable and hierarchical features. Some of them are frequently used in my reading process, but others are not used at all.

Traditionally, when I read a text, lower level skills are more used like word attack skills and comprehension skills than higher level of skills. Before entering university, most of highschool students including me, have read text materials intensively. Because students have to take the Korean Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT) to enter the university where they want to go to. To get high score in the English part among four categories, they have to more focus on finding appropriate answers than reading and understanding the text itself. For this reason, they are able to detect and analyze the text better than enjoy or explore the text itself. It needs to develop the skills rarely used such as critical reading the text itself and also enjoying the reading.

Firstly, Critical reading skills are needed to enhance the process or reading and to broaden the thinking ability of the reader. Critical reading includes the ability to evaluate ideas and synthesize what the reader read. Through the reading critically the reader get to have the ability to see relationships of ideas. The reader who is constantly looking for new information with an open mind, but at the same time questioning the purpose of the reading can read hidden message between the line. The reader also can apply the previous knowledge and experience into the text during the reading. And lastly the reader can find out how the information in the text accords with his or her opinions, values and objectives of the reading.

Secondly, reading the text extensively, enjoy reading, is very important to give interest to the reader and to broad the area of existing knowledge system of the reader. It also make the reader develop the imagination system inside of the reader. He or she can read and understand the text with a broad perspective. Finally, while the reader enjoy reading, his or her ability to understand English will also improve much more.