Declaration by the student
I hereby state that the Reflective Reading (EPC-IV) submitted as part of the [Link] course, Semester 3 of
Shadan College of Education, Osmania University, is an original work and no part of this has been
submitted to any other university.
Roll no: 29
Name of the student: Arshya Fatima
Signature:
Reflective Reading
“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting”. – Edmund Burke, British Philosopher
REFLECTION: Reflection is thinking for an extended period by linking recent experiences to earlier ones in order
to promote more complex and interrelated mental schema or patterns. It involves looking for commonalities,
differences and interrelations beyond their superficial elements. The goal is to develop higher order thinking
skills.
Introduction to reflective reading
Reading ability has always been viewed as
critical to academic success (Bernhardt, 1991).
Reading comprehension has
been one of the important skills and maybe the
most important one in Iranian EFL context.
Almost all English tests include
reading comprehension section. Actually, it is
the most commonly used skill for gaining
knowledge, because English is
hardly ever spoken outside the EFL classroom
(Davoudi & Yousefi, 2015). In spite of being
the focus of textbooks and
conventional teaching methods, reading
comprehension of the learners, unfortunately
has not reached the acceptable level.
Students usually lack adequate reading skills
which results in comprehension deficiencies
and lack of reading efficiency
(Ahmadpour, Bagherzadeh, & Valipur, 2014;
Rezaei, Rahimi, & Talepasan, 2012). In EFL
settings like Iran the majority of
learners tend to focus on word by word
reading, sticking at every unknown word. This
hinders their comprehension of the
author’s intended message and limits the focus
of readers’ attention to word level.
Reading ability has always been viewed as
critical to academic success (Bernhardt, 1991).
Reading comprehension has
been one of the important skills and maybe the
most important one in Iranian EFL context.
Almost all English tests include
reading comprehension section. Actually, it is
the most commonly used skill for gaining
knowledge, because English is
hardly ever spoken outside the EFL classroom
(Davoudi & Yousefi, 2015). In spite of being
the focus of textbooks and
conventional teaching methods, reading
comprehension of the learners, unfortunately
has not reached the acceptable level.
Students usually lack adequate reading skills
which results in comprehension deficiencies
and lack of reading efficiency
(Ahmadpour, Bagherzadeh, & Valipur, 2014;
Rezaei, Rahimi, & Talepasan, 2012). In EFL
settings like Iran the majority of
learners tend to focus on word by word
reading, sticking at every unknown word. This
hinders their comprehension of the
author’s intended message and limits the focus
of readers’ attention to word level.
Reading ability has always been viewed as
critical to academic success (Bernhardt, 1991).
Reading comprehension has
been one of the important skills and maybe the
most important one in Iranian EFL context.
Almost all English tests include
reading comprehension section. Actually, it is
the most commonly used skill for gaining
knowledge, because English is
hardly ever spoken outside the EFL classroom
(Davoudi & Yousefi, 2015). In spite of being
the focus of textbooks and
conventional teaching methods, reading
comprehension of the learners, unfortunately
has not reached the acceptable level.
Students usually lack adequate reading skills
which results in comprehension deficiencies
and lack of reading efficiency
(Ahmadpour, Bagherzadeh, & Valipur, 2014;
Rezaei, Rahimi, & Talepasan, 2012). In EFL
settings like Iran the majority of
learners tend to focus on word by word
reading, sticking at every unknown word. This
hinders their comprehension of the
author’s intended message and limits the focus
of readers’ attention to word level.
Reading ability has always been viewed as critical to academic success (Bernhardt, 1991). Despite being the
focus of textbooks and conventional teaching methods, reading comprehension of the learners, unfortunately
has not reached the acceptable level.
Students usually lack adequate reading skills which results in comprehension deficiencies and lack of reading
efficiency. Majority of learners tend to focus on word-by-word reading, sticking at every unknown word. This
hinders their comprehension of the author’s intended message and limits the focus of readers’ attention to
word level.
Poor readers usually cannot distinguish effective and poor strategies and their effects on reading
comprehension. They are
not also well at monitoring activities during reading (NokhbehRousta & Ghazi Mirsaeed, 2012).
Brown and Palincsar
(1985) believe an effective reading instruction program needs identifying complementary
strategies modeled by the
teacher and learnt by the learner believing in their usefulness. As a remedial method for reading
comprehension, reflective
reading has been suggested recently.
Poor readers usually cannot distinguish effective and poor strategies and their effects on reading
comprehension. They are not also well at monitoring activities during reading.
Brown and Palincsar (1985) believe an effective reading instruction program needs identifying complementary
strategies modelled by the teacher and learnt by the learner believing in their usefulness. As a remedial method
for reading comprehension, reflective reading has been suggested recently.
Reflective reading is one of the effective strategies for reading comprehension. Bressoud (2008) has suggested
reading reflection for enabling learners to overcome their reading tasks. Through this practice, learners assert
their reflections about the reading text after accomplishing each reading task and before attending class.
Therefore, learners summarize the main ideas of the reading, and they write about their understanding and
feeling about the reading text. It has been mentioned that reflective reading practice motivates learners to read
regularly and it also improves understanding of the content and boost learners’ development of monitoring,
reflection skills, and self-evaluation (Bressoud, 2008). Learners’ examination, revision, and evaluation of their
beliefs and experiences throughout the texts are highly required in reflective reading.
Abilities to understand the reading process and making meaning based on the personal contexts are the
characteristics of good reading skills (Lew & Schmidt, 2011). Reflective reading encourages learners to examine
the relationship between information and conclusion. Reflective reading shows learners how moving from
information to conclusion is often affected by individuals’ histories, cultures, beliefs, and experiences which are
extra-textual features. Most of the reflective reading strategies includes writing (e.g. journal writing, reporting,
think-aloud etc.), and it is another fortifying factor in helping the learners to understand the text better through
reflective reading.
Reflective Reading
Reflective reading is a branch of reflection concept. In Dewey’s (1933) reflective reading
approach, manipulation of
knowledge towards the generation of knowledge is focused. Reflection occurs when
learner notes that his/her
understanding is different from the reality and then s/he identifies this difference and plans for it (Cowan,
1998, p.16).
One of the reflective reading strategies is Think-Aloud in which the reader can present the internal
dialogue about an
observable text (Walker, 2005). So doing, teachers observe the learners thinking while reading.
Journal writing is another Reflection reading strategies. In reflection journals, writing helps facilitate
reflection. It has
been agreed that writing facilitates learning and helps in integration of new knowledge (Crowe & Youga,
1986). Learners
are forced to think in order to clarify and modify their ideas and understanding through journal writing
and consequently
revise their understanding in a different form. Developing and recognizing the habits of mind
associated with problem
solving is one of the aims of journal writing (Stephien, Gallagher, & Workman, 1998, p. 153).
Writing makes a learner
filter, reconstruct, organize, gather, process, and feel the experiences that s/he has undergone.
Teachers believe that
students can develop their own understanding about subjects through journal writing process, and
construct their own
knowledge base.
Wirth and Aziz (2009) evaluated the effect of reading reflections on reading, learning, and self-awareness of
students. The
learners had reading reflections after each reading task. The reflections encouraged more regular
reading and improved
content mastery, development of monitoring, self-evaluation, and reflection skills. Reading reflections also
facilitated 'just-
in-time' teaching. The results of the study confirmed that reading reflections in the courses resulted in
improvements in
reading and course performance. The researchers mention that reading reflections are useful in
improving learning.
Reading reflections make learners read more regularly before class, read more deeply, and use
various strategies. The
reflections are even more effective for under-performing learners.
Holmes and Moulton (1997), investigated the perspectives of second-language university students on
dialogue journal
writing as a strategy for learning English. The learners had dialogue journal entries 15 weeks, and were
interviewed at the
end. They reported promotion in both writing fluency and motivation. Trites’ (2001) study showed
that leaners enjoyed
sharing their ideas with their teacher and peers, and as a result of journal writing built a closer relationship
with them.
Ghaith and Obeid (2004) instructed think-aloud strategies and found an improvement in overall
reading. The learners
confirmed this finding in the follow-up interview sessions and mentioned that they will use it in future.
The recent attention on reflective learning and the limited number of the studies in the field reflects an
absolute need to
investigate the issue comprehensively. The importance of such studies is even greater in EFL
context of Iran, where
learners not only suffer from sever reading comprehension problems, due to lack of the required skills
and strategies, but
also have no practice on reflection, neither at home nor in educational contexts. Considering these
severe problems, the
IJALEL 6(6):267-273, 2017
269
present study aimed at investigating the probable effect of reflective reading on enhancing reading
comprehension ability
of Iranian adult EFL learners
One of the reflective reading strategies is Think-Aloud in which the reader can present the internal dialogue
about an observable text (Walker, 2005). So, doing, teachers observe the learners thinking while reading.
Journal writing is another Reflection reading strategies. In reflection journals, writing helps facilitate reflection.
Wirth and Aziz (2009) evaluated the effect of reading reflections on reading, learning, and self-awareness of
students. The learners had reading reflections after each reading task. The reflections encouraged more regular
reading and improved content mastery, development of monitoring, self-evaluation, and reflection skills.
Reading reflections make learners read more regularly before class, read more deeply, and use various
strategies. The reflections are even more effective for under-performing learners.
[Link]’s Reflective Cycle
(copy from the pdf I sent)
b.SQ3R -Reading Method
SQ3R is a reading strategy designed to help students improve their
comprehension, memory, and efficiency in reading. Briefly, this strategy aims
to familiarize students with the material for easier understanding and to
illustrate the importance of active review so that information is stored not
only in the short term memory, but also in the long term memory. A basic
premise is that we remember information when it is connected to our
emotions and when we can interconnect the ideas. Finally, this is an
excellent strategy to cut down wasted reading time.
Survey :Read the objectives, introduction, bolded words, conclusion, summary, headings and subheadings, and the
diagrams. This will give you a broad sense of the direction and scope of the topic and allow you to become familiarized
with new terms. As you survey, activate any prior knowledge you have regarding the topic and show interest in the steps
the authors take to reach their conclusions.
Question: Formulate your own questions based on the information you have gathered at the prereading stage: turn
headings into questions, turn boldface or italicized phrases into questions, use the chapter’s questions, and use course
objectives to focus on particular ideas.
Read: Read actively by underlining and marking in your text and by answering your questions. Mark your text and answer
your questions using your own words rather than using the phrases in your text. Match your rate of reading with your
comprehension level and slow down and/or reread if you do not understand.
Recite: Recite, from memory as much as possible, the important points under each heading after you read a section. Out
loud and in your own words, recite the key features of the topic and how it relates to previous sections. This recitation
can be done by writing, but doing it aloud benefits auditory learners and takes less time.
Review: Review immediately after reading a section. This should be relatively brief, not more than 5 minutes, and can
encompass answering your questions and outlining sections out loud and from memory. To inhibit forgetting, try
reviewing weekly, and every time you read another section, review the previous section in the same way.
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