CHANGE IS GONNA DO YA GOOD

By Ilan StavansFrom http://www.america.gov

Critical reading

• What is critical reading?How to recognize what a text says, what a text does, and what a text means by analyzing choices of content, language, and structure. It shows you what to look for, and how to think about what you find.

What article are you reading?

• What is the title? In other words, what does the author claim it is about?

• What kind of information or discussion do you anticipate?

• What do you know about the topic? What might you want to know?

• Ilan Stavans points out that the challenge for dictionaries and those who produce them is the fact that as soon as a list is made of every possible word, and each word’s meanings, that list, and those meanings, are already beginning to be out of date.

Vocabulary development

• Using a dictionary• Recognizing word forms• Understanding collocations• Guessing meaning from the context

Strategies

• Skim for ideas; scan for specific info

• Find the main ideas• Locate topic sentences• Make inferences about

content• Differentiate between

facts and opinions

• What do you know about dictionaries, the influence of people on dictionaries?

• What questions would you like to ask about that?

• What have you learned from this reading?

Previewing

• How many paragraphs are there in the article?

• Look at the photographs and read the captions. What inference can you draw from the pictures and the captions?

Eight-year-olds look at their new dictionaries

The mix of faces mirrors the make-up of modern society in the U.S., and helps explain how languages blend.

Activities while reading

• As you read, keep this question in mind: What is the most difficult problem for lexicographers?

• As you read, underline important information. Only underline two points in each paragraph. Don’t underline complete sentences.

As you read, fill in the chart.FACTS OPINIONS

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Monitoring comprehensionTips & Warnings• Make sure you've understood the

original text.• Avoid evaluation and opinion.• Use the 3rd person, unless instructed

otherwise.• Use the author's last name.• Focus on the most important ideas.• Mention examples and supporting

points only briefly.• Be sure that your summary is not

based on a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the text.

• Avoid evaluative phrases like, "I think...." or "I didn't like...."

As you finish reading each paragraph, answer the following:State the main point with your own words so that it is clear and understandable to someone who has not read the article.

Critical analysis

• In which lines of the reading does the author give factual information?

• In which lines does the author give his opinion?

Summarizing or paraphrasing

• Write a paragraph in which you summarize the reading

• Write one sentence for each paragraph.

BE SURE TO USE YOUR OWN WORDS. Do not quote directly from the text.

Reflection

• Write a paragraph giving your opinion.