Geethanjali College of Engineering and Technology (Autonomous)

Cheeryal (V), Keesara (M), Medchal Dist., Telangana-501 301

Approved Syllabus
English for Career Development
Classroom Activity based Course. Hence, Lab. is not required.

Course Code: 20EN22P01

L T C
B.Tech II year, II Semester. /
P
COGNITIVE READING - 2 1

OBJECTIVE:
Students would develop the ability to
1. Hone the proficiency of Reading Techniques.
2. Apply the techniques acquired in understanding the given text.
3. Use cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to improve comprehension.

The Skills required for comprehending Cognitive Reading

Reading involves a dynamic process of analysis, interpretation and evaluating a text in
different ways that engage the reader to find the underlying meaning of the text.
Analysis is examining the text to detect the style, viewpoint or tone of the text. In this
process, the reader’s critical thinking skills will be engaged in analyzing the author’s
argument. Interpretation involves perceiving and explaining. While interpreting the text, the
readers often give details of their understanding of the text. The interpretation depends on
whether it is a casual reading or critical reading. It enables the reader to discern facts from
opinions and helps to make inferences and predictions.
Evaluation is a strategy that encourages the readers to form opinions, make judgments and
develop ideas from the text. It involves intellectual or cognitive exploration, judging
aesthetic, moral sense of the text and make generalizations of a given text.
Comprehension is the sum of all the above 3 skills.
To accurately understand the written material, the readers should
1. Think deeply about what they have read.
2. Make logical connections between what they read and what they already know.
3. Decode what they have read.
To comprehend, readers must possess a wide range of skills. These include cognitive skills
such as critical thinking, analytical thinking, inferencing, visualization etc. Few more
Cognitive Skills required are:
  Attention
 motivation (a purpose for reading, an interest in the content being read, self-efficacy
as a reader)
 domain and topic knowledge
 vocabulary
 Knowledge of specific comprehension Techniques- skimming, scanning etc).

There are six types of Comprehension

1. Lexical comprehension
2. Literal comprehension
3. Interpretative comprehension
4. Applied comprehension
5. Affective comprehension (process)
6. Effective comprehension (product)
The above types help the reader to understand any kind of material like user manuals,
encyclopedia, novels, science and fiction, project reports etc.
Overall Comprehension
1. The ability to perceive the main idea.
2. The ability to understand the cohesive and coherent devices.
Comprehension comprises of three components:
 The reader
 The text that is to be comprehended
 The activity in which comprehension is a part/activity of comprehending
Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review (SQ3R)
SQ3R is a comprehension strategy that helps students think about the text they are reading
while they are reading. Often categorized as a study strategy, SQ3R helps students "get it" the
first time they read a text by teaching students how to read and think like effective readers.
This strategy includes the following five steps
 Survey: The readers review the text to gain initial meaning from the headings, words
in bold, highlighted parts of the text, charts, diagrams, graphs etc.
 Question: The readers interrogate (generate questions)while previewing the contents.
 Read: The readers need to look for answers to the questions they formulated during
their preview of the text.
  Recite: As readers move through the text they should rehearse the answers to their
questions and make notes about their answers for later understanding.
 Review: After reading, the readers should review the text to answer the difficult
questions and review the previously answered questions. If necessary make
modifications..
The benefit of using the SQ3R is that it activates thinking, understanding and reviewing
skills.
There are four types of reading strategies.
1. Intensive reading
This is a technique that involves slow and in-depth reading making sure that every
word is understood. In intensive reading, the emphasis is on the details that support the main
points. While skimming a text, it is important to concentrate on the visual forms rather than
content of the text. This enhances the level of comprehension. In most of the writings, the
concepts are interrelated and needs an extra reading which is called Scanning, leads to
Intensive Reading.
2. Extensive Reading
Extensive reading is generally associated with reading longer texts at an extended
period and the aim is to get an overall understanding of the material. Further, the readers are
more concerned with the meaning of the text than the meaning of the individual words or
sentences which leads to language acquisition. Adequate exposure to the language,
interesting material, and a relaxed, tension-free learning environment are important to
enhance language acquisition. This type of Reading is for enjoyment. The skills learned
through Extensive Reading are transferred to other areas of language such as writing and
speaking.
3. Prediction
It is a strategy that involves the ability of the Readers to obtain meaning from the Text by connecting
their existing knowledge to the new information given in the text. It is an important sub-skill of
reading.
Without this skill, the reader’s understanding ability would slow down or sometimes marred.

Another advantage of prediction is that it helps in grasping quickly and effectively.

Techniques of Prediction

 Use clues from the text

 Analyse titles, subtitles, writing styles etc.
 Use knowledge and ideas.
  Guessing and inferring the meaning of unfamiliar and unknown words.
 Contextual clues should be used to guess.

4. Evaluation

It refers to the skill by which the Reader reads a particular text considering and understanding the
writer’s intention with the help of his/her prior knowledge and experience. The level of
understanding of a text depends on the purpose which in turn influences the evaluation of the same
text.

Skills required to Evaluate:

 The ability to judge the accuracy, acceptability, value, etc., of the statements made by the
author.
 The ability to respond to the theme, aims, attitude revealed by the author.
 The ability to discriminate facts and opinions.

RAPID READING or Vertical Reading.

Vertical Reading is reading rapidly from top to bottom of a page. It is also reading laterally
understanding the gist of the text. The reader relies, solely on the source to determine the
validity and the reliability of the information given. Readers often quickly look at logos,
references, the website domain etc.This is usually the initial step in reading research or news
or stories. It is a method to evaluate resources and digital media.It is to determine the false
credibility of the piece of information. Vertical reading does not lead to deeper reading.

Do’s of Vertical Reading:

1. Read, recognize the sources.

2. Evaluate the content.

3. Practice Word–Chunking

4. Use Peripheral Vision

5. Set a Goal

6. Use a Timer

7. Use a Marker to highlight the points.

8. Work on Improving Your Vocabulary

9. Skim and give priority to note the Main Points.

10. Read multiple times.

Don’ts of Vertical Reading:

 1. Do not concentrate on the complicated Words in the Page.

2. Stop the Inner Monologue.

Meta-Cognition

Meta cognition is the pooling of awareness, thoughts, experiences, knowledge and opinions
of the Reader.

Cognitive skills include instructional objectives, components of a learning hierarchy,

remember, recall, reason, review, and the other components in information processing.

Metacognitive skills include strategies for reading comprehension and

writing. Metacognition is based on the views of reading comprehension, emphasizes the
interactive nature of reading and focuses on the constructive nature of comprehension. It is
relating new experiential stimuli to past experiences and to past learning. The past
experiences vary because of the instructional background and the knowledge of a learner. The
use of cognitive strategies can increase the efficiency in taking up academic tasks.

It is important to give training in the use of reading strategies to the average readers. It is
important to attend to the cognitive needs of these readers and improve their reading skills for
better understanding.

CLOZE TESTS

A cloze test is an exercise, test, or assessment consisting of a portion of language with certain
items, words, or signs removed, where the participant is asked to replace the missing items. It
is an exercise where the candidate is provided with a paragraph and the paragraph has
missing words or blanks which have to be filled.

Approaches to solve cloze test questions-

1. Read the passage.

2. Analyse the theme of the passage.

3. Concentrate on supporting or contradicting connectors.

4. Deduce the answer after checking the options.

5. Choose the correct contextual word.

Types of Cloze Test:

The first type is long passages containing blanks where each blank in the passage is marked with
a number or a symbol or an alphabet. Following the passage, the options corresponding to the
number or symbol will be provided. One has to complete the passage with the help of words that
are provided.
In the second type, each blank in the passage is accompanied by a word in the brackets. One has
to find if the word needs to be replaced or modified with the given options. Make sure that only
one of the appropriate options fits in the blank. Sometimes, the blank requires ‘no change’ too.

ACTIVITY-1

The UNO was …..1……in 1945 to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
Responsibility for the .........2........of international peace and security.......3........ largely in the
UNO's Security Council, a .......4..... in which five permanent members....5..... veto powers.
The veto ....6...... upon these five powers a .... .....7....... immunity, due to which the world
organisation has no way of .....8..... them to book for ......9..... acts of international.....10..... of
which there are many.

1 a) found b) made c) founding d) founded

2. a) keeping b) maintenance c) peace. d) Ensuring

3. a) vest b) rest c) vests d)rests

4. a) body b) party c) committee d)meeting

5. a) enjoys b) enjoyed c) enjoy d) enjoying

6. a) confer b) conferred c) gives d) confers

7. a) certain b) great c) greater d)least

8. a) claiming b) bringing c) blaming d) brings

9. a) there b) its c) their d) our

10.a) peace b) security c) justice d)delinquency

ANSWER-
1.d 2. b 3. c 4. a 5. c

6.d 7.a 8.b 9. b 10.d

ACTIVITY-2

Groups and group.............. (Mnemonics) are a little like the weather something that nearly
everyone talks about and only a few do anything about. ---------------- (findings) practice, and
education about Group Dynamics are currently in a ferment state. In the world of practice, we
hear leaders speaking out to.................. (Possess) teamwork, to support empowering people,
and to establish................. (Department) culture that promote total quality management. Each
initiative depends on understanding the groups well and acting effectively with them.
 1 A. mnemonics B. dynamics C. activities D. teams B
2 A. research B. search C. explore D. survey A

3.A. empower B. encourage C. inspire D. courage B

4. A. social B. organizational C. managerial D. departmental B

Paragraph Jumbles
Para jumbles are jumbled paragraphs. Normally instructions for this type of questions will
read "Choose the most logical order of sentences from the given choices to construct a
coherent paragraph". Para jumbles are the group of independent sentences usually five or six,
which are altered and presented. It is a task to identify the logical order of sentences in order
to form a meaningful paragraph.

Basic Strategies for solving Para-jumbles:

1. Try to locate the introductory sentence: While you go through the labelled sentences,
try to look for one that makes a fresh beginning. It should not be a sentence that is
extending previous ideas.

2. Check for Conclusive or Last Sentences: Test setters are smart. There are multiple
options beginning with the introductory sentence. So you need more than one clue.
The last sentence in the paragraph summarizes and has links to previous sentences.

3. Anticipate the order of the sentences: You must clearly work towards generating some
kind of order in your mind, before you look at the options. This will help to save
precious time.

4. See if there is any logical sequence among sentence pairs: Often, a pair of sentences
are chronologically arranged. Standard clues include references to a person or a thing.

Skills required to Solve Para-jumbles:

1. Understanding the central theme of the paragraph: One should be able to discriminate
between the topic and supporting details. The subject of individual sentences forms
the most important clue for establishing links between various sentences.

2. Understanding the information flow and approach of the author: The second thing that
is pivotal is to identify the exact purpose of the paragraph. Is it to narrate, explain, or
to criticize is to be understood. Being able to identify the purpose in the paragraph
will obviously help to establish the correct order of sentences.
 3. An voracious Reader always has an edge over non-readers to comprehend para jumble
sentences well.

ACTIVITY-1

JUMBLED PARAGRAPHS

A. We get our norms, our notions of how to behave, from the people around us, especially the
people who raise us. As young children, we observe our parents, our siblings and peers,
and imitate what they do or say. Over time we internalise these behaviours, and they
gradually become unconscious and instinctive, so that we no longer have to think about
what to do or say in a given situation; we just know and what we know is what we have
taken in by observing the world around us.
B. Every society has its own ‘norms’ or standards of behaviour we need to understand
where these norms come from, and why we are so ready to impose our own norms on
people who do not belong to our culture.
C. But not everyone observes the world in the same way. People from different cultures see
the world differently. They come away with a different set of standards of behaviour.

Answer- BAC

ACTIVITY-2

Arrange the following jumbles sentences in order.

A. Having a strategy is a matter of discipline.
B. It involves the configuration of a tailored value chain that enables a company to offer
unique value.
C. It requires a strong focus on profitability and a willingness to make tough trade-offs in
choosing what not to do.
D. Strategy goes far beyond the pursuit of best practices.
E. A company must stay the course even during times of upheaval while constantly
improving and extending its distinctive positioning.
F. When a company’s activities fit together as a self-reinforcing system, any competitor
wishing to imitate a strategy must replicate the whole system.
1. ABCDEF 2. ACEDBF 3. ADBCEF 4. AEDBCF Ans.2

OUTCOMES:

At the end of the Module the students:

 Acquire Rapid Reading Skill to suit different purposes.

 Use and interpret a text.
 Perform well in Competitive Examinations.
REFERENCE BOOKS:
1. Raman Minakshi & Sharma Sangeeta: Technical Communication, Oxford University
Press; 2nd edition.
2. Edgar Thorpe and Showick Thorpe: Objective English, 4 th Edition, Pearson
Publications.

Online sources (for activities):

1)
https://www.labschool.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/EvaluatingaWebsitebyRea
dingLaterally.docx.pdf
2) https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-ways-increase-your-reading-
speed.html
3) https://www.toppr.com/guides/english-langauge/reading-comprehension/jumbled-
paragraphs/