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Higher certificate in accountancy (BCN 1101/1001)

Reading and note taking
Objectives
 In a normal business day, people encounter a variety of texts
that they need to read in order to obtain information being
communicated to them
 The reader who has superior reading skills is, therefore, at an
advantage in accessing information this information in the
shortest possible time
 Upon completion of this chapter you should be able to:
 Apply various approaches to reading according to your
purpose
 Retrieve information effectively by scanning
 Use skimming techniques in surveying, previewing, and
reviewing
 Apply study reading skills to material that must be studied
intensively
 Choose the appropriate reading technique for a given task
 Reduce a text to a meaningful set of notes
 Demonstrate your ability to summarise the main points of a
Reading and context
 Reading skills are important in a business career and
environment. Business people deal with a variety of texts and
they have to access this information in a short period of time
 Reading involves interacting with a text
 Where you encounter the text is the context in which you read
it
 Context can be divided into the context of the passage/text
and the context of the reader:
 The context of the text/passage: This refers to the
circumstances in which the reading occurs, when we
encounter a passage at leisure, in a magazine, it is very
different from encountering the same passage in a language
exam or business meeting. Context , then, affects the type of
reading that follows
 The context of the reader: This refers to the personal
characteristics that each individual brings to the text. These
characteristics are unique to each individual and can include
the following:
Reading and context
 Knowledge of the language
 previous knowledge of the subject
 Life experiences
 purpose of reading
 Culture, gender and etc.
 Reasons for reading
Reading as a process
 When we read, we do not focus on the individual
words but rather on groups of words with
meaningful phrases. In other words, we focus on the
meaning created by the combination of words
 Words in isolation have very limited meaning but
the possibilities of meaning grow as words are
combined
 Examples of meaningful phrases are:
 with the result
 Be that as it may
 The rainbow nation and etc.
Purpose of reading
 There is always a reason why you read. When you read for fun and
leisure, you might pick up a novel, or magazine but when you read
for an exam, you might pick up a textbook or an academic article
 That will have an effect on how you approach the reading material
 The following is a list of reading purposes with the reading style
appropriate to that purpose:
 To find information: e.g. the meaning of a word in a dictionary or a
specific number in a telephone directory. This type is called
scanning
 To preview: When looking for information for an assignment, you
would try to get an overview of an article. This type is called
skimming/skim reading
 To study: This is when you need to understand difficult concepts or
remember details for an examination. This is called study
reading/reading for comprehension
The writer’s purpose
 The writer also has a goal in mind with his/her
writing
 it is important to distinguish between:
 factual, objective language
 descriptive, subjective language
 You can then determine whether the primary
purpose in, for example, business writing is to:
 Inform
 persuade, or
 satisfy a need/promote
Types of reading
 Scanning
o Scanning is the fastest reading technique. It is
used to locate specific information within a
webpage or text
o it is done by having a clear idea of the
information needed, then letting the eyes
glance quickly over the webpage or text until
the particular detail is found
o it does not involve an understanding of the
whole passage
o You basically search for what you are looking
for
Examples of texts that you scan quickly

Yellow pages
 Telephone directory
 When you search for your
name in on a class register
 List with examination marks
Types of reading
Skimming
 This is a very fast type of reading-not every word is read
 The general purpose is to get a an overall view of the text
 Here we look at the headings and the possible links to the
information we are looking for
 You should use the scheme read technique when you want to:
 Preview: This involves reading the first and last paragraph to
determine what the text is about
 Survey: Here you look for techniques that draw the reader’s
attention i.e. bold print, underlined words and phrases
 Review: Think of yourself revising a book that you have already
studied. Your aim would be to remember or remind yourself of the
content
Types of reading
 Study reading(critical reading)
 This is intensive reading
 It is usually done slowly and carefully, and involves reading in
order to understand, to remember and to be critical
 Effective study reading demands that you interact with the text
rather than simply read without thinking
 Tips
 Survey the text to get an overview of the content
 Now read the text carefully, focus on what you are reading
 Identify the central idea and supporting information
 Underline all key words and phrases