Summary Writing - Writing at University by Creme & Lea (page 51-57)

Reading as part of writing

Reading is one of the important parts of making writing, especially in academic content. Many of us feel that firstly when studying at university is so difficult because the material is higher and also many words and terms that are unfamiliar. That is why the material in university seems to be different even though we used to read newspapers, novels, or reports. Then, if we want to understand the material in the university, we have to learn new strategies. 

One of the strategies for understanding academic content is to be able to rewrite the important point of what you have read in your own words. This strategy makes us try to find the important points and also to understand what this writing talking about. It will challenge us to be more focused on reading and also our ability to convey the knowledge that we have gotten. This process also will help us to remember the key points of what we have read.

After rewriting, there is also a part of the reading that cannot be missed when you write something. It is re-reading and revising. Maybe we used to read somebody’s writing and also give any comment on his or her writing. Now we could be both of them, the writer and also the reader of our own writing. 

1. Approaching Reading

Reading academic writing is not the same as the way we read novels, newspapers, or articles on the internet which could be read by skim-reading. We have to put more intention than before to understand and make sense of what the author is saying. So, to build our high concentration, we have to create a reading environment to be comfortable.  Here is the list that probably we could use/add/modify to create the right reading environment.

1. Try to set aside reading time when you will not be interrupted.

2. Try to find a physical environment that is conducive to reading: perhaps at home or maybe in the university library.

3. Make sure, before you start reading, that you have all the things you might want to use for taking notes and highlighting: A4 paper; index cards; different colored pens; highlighters; sticky notes; perhaps a laptop computer.

4. Make sure that you are comfortable and can write notes from your reading without feeling cramped.

5. Take frequent short breaks and during this time try to digest what you have read.

6. Don’t expect to be able to make any useful sense of your reading if you are tired, stressed, or constantly interrupted.

7. If you have family commitments you may have to readjust your time priorities and think through how you will fit in your reading time.

2. Choosing your reading for an assignment

When we do assignments in university, we often need some references to support our answers. We can find them in the library, the books that were advised by our lecturer and also some articles and journals on the article. Here is a list of strategies that we could use to make our reading time more effective.

1. Getting hold of publications

• Use your reading list.

• Ask your tutor.

• Note down other up-to-date references that tutors mention in lectures.

• Ask other students on your course (remember to work together as much as

• possible).

• Use library search (subject or keyword), online databases, and online journals.

2. Checking a publication for relevance

• Check the title.

• Check the index.

• Turn to the relevant chapter.

• Check headings.

• Check the introduction.

• Read a short section to get the feel of its usefulness for you.

• Check the conclusion.

• Does it seem relevant to the assignment question?

3. Photocopying

• Use highlighters and different colored pens to mark your own copy.

• Make your notes and annotations on the copy.

3. Working with your reading

As we have felt when we read academic writing, we have to deal with unfamiliar terms and words and also the length of time that we have spent in reading it. Skimming and Scanning also do not always work well in academic reading which is it is a recursive process. It can’t be done only in on time as if we read novels or newspapers.

Phyllis Creme and Mary R. Lea give proof that every kind of reading has its own way to be read by us. They compared a book called “Wild Swans” by Jung Chang (1993), which is an account of her family’s history in China, with a book about literacy used in a social anthropology course (Street 1995).

Wild Swans	Social Literacies
Chapter just starts	Use of Headings
Generally shorter sentences	Long sentences, e.g. 42 words
Four or more paragraphs on a page	The paragraph may be more than two-thirds of a page in length
I know most of these words	Use of specialist terminology
Easy to understand	Difficult to grasp the main point of what is being said
Use of paragraphs and punctuation (speech marks)to mark a new section	Headings to mark new sections
No need for references and footnotes	Use of references and footnotes
Uniform typeface	Use of different typefaces (bold italics, font size) for different parts of the text
No obvious introduction and conclusion	Introduction at the beginning of each section
Vivid description	Analytical writing
Simple and obvious chain of events	Many different ideas packed into each section
Focus on people, places, and events	Focus on concepts and ideas

4. Thinking about the different texts

The above proves that each kind of writing has its own characteristic and also we have to be smart to choose the way we read each kind of text. If we have understood, we could find the way we read is better than before―effective time and more familiar words.