Reading at University: A Guide for Students

Reading at University: A Guide for Students

Gavin J. Fairbrain and Susan A. Fairbrain

Open University; openup.co.uk

A List of the Sections and Sub-sections

By: Mezemir Girma, mezemirgirma@gmail.com

The authors are introduced as such: “Gavin published widely on education and applied ethics. One of the books he co-authored is entitled ‘Reading, Writing and Reasoning’. Susan works with the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service teaching literary skills in Manchester Schools.” One can easily say that they are avid readers deeply concerned about teaching and education. Surprisingly, the couple are not from the fields of language studies.

What I did in this piece is presenting to you a list of all the sections and sub-sections of the book. One of my aims is to help people who can’t access the book consider the issues in it. They can search the web to acquaint themselves with these issues. My second objective is to motivate people to read the book. If you, for example, have access to Debre Birhan University Libraries, you can get a copy at the social science library. You may also buy a copy from Amazon or anywhere abroad.

I really liked the book and the way it is presented. I wish I read it when I was a freshman. There are things I have been doing wrongly which I hope will change soon. I am considering my reading, note taking, writing and research skills and ways of improving them. As you might know, I am also obsessed with speed reading. This book has enlightened me on that too. Such new issues like ‘picking up intellectual cargo’ are also impressive for those of us reading books and articles written by experts in our fields of study. Do we really find this activity simple or difficult? There is also barking at text. This is like a disease in the reading community! Let us proceed to the contents of the book in question:   

 

An introductory note

The importance of reading as a student

Better readers make more successful students

Who is this book for?

What’s the point of reading as a student?

Is learning to read better really worth the time and effort?

But aren’t most students already competent readers?

Getting to know this book

What do we hope to achieve?

How to read this book

Tasks

Language and Style

Essays or assignments?

Style

First, second or third person?

Gender

Part 1: Thinking about reading and about yourself as a reader

Thinking about reading

So what is reading?

Growing as a reader

Old habits die hard

 Thinking about yourself as a reader

Slow reader

What are you like as a reader?

How do you read?

What do you read and why?

Part 2: Reading as a student

Thinking about your carrier as an academic reader

What and how do you read as a student?

Where and when do you do your academic reading?

Why do you read as a student?

Good and bad, positive and negative reasons for reading as a student

Academic readers of different kinds

What kind of academic reader are you?

Part 3: Developing your skills as a reader

Read faster? Read better?

Make your reading speed fit your purposes

Speeding up your reading

Thinking about your eyes

Guessing ahead, key words and meaningful chunks of text

Skimming, scanning and sampling

Is skimming worthwhile?

Visiting a book for the first time

 

Part 4: Active reading: developing a relationship with texts and their authors

Don’t be a passive reader and take what you read at face value

Overreliance on the authority and the reliability of academic texts

Approaching academic reading

How do you read newspapers and magazines?

Developing a strategic approach to reading

Sorting out your reasons for reading

Sorting out your purposes and expectations

Active reading: developing as a disciplined reader

Make meaning as you read

Evaluate the author’s success in communicating her ideas

Engage with the author

Decide on further reading

Approach the text with questions: decide what you want to get from it

Have specific questions in mind as you read

SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review

‘Having’ and ‘Being’: two ways of approaching reading

Part 5: Deciding what to read

What books to read: text books or academic books and articles?

Where should you begin to read when you are reading for an assignment?

Using reading lists

What do reading lists list?

Is it worth reading? Using structural features of academic texts

Using structural features of books

Title, blurb, publishing history

Contents, preface, acknowledgements, foreword

Index

Reference list/bibliography

Layout

Gutting a book

Using the structural features of journals and journal articles

Part 6: reading and note taking

Note taking as a student reader

The mindless note taker

How do we take notes?

Note taking that suits your own learning style

Approaching note taking in different ways

Underlining/highlighting and making notes on the text

Linear notes

Key wording

Pictorial notes/web diagrams

Comparing the usefulness of linear and diagrammatic notes

Using note taking to uncover content

Note taking as a way of focusing on content

Note taking as interrogation

Some important advice

Summarizing texts: paraphrase or precis?

Précising your own work

Part 7: Reading and writing

Reading and writing: two sides of the same coin?

Using your reading to develop your text

The patchwork approach

Citation and referencing: the practicalities

To quote or not to quote?

Part 8: Where to read and when?

Where to read?

Reading in familiar surroundings

Reading in libraries

Libraries aren’t always the best places to read

Grazing on library shelves

Reading in unfamiliar and strange surroundings

Reading in a cupboard

Strange libraries

Reading on journeys

Reading at work

When to read

Finding the best times and places for different reading tasks

Have you tried doing it standing up? (or reading when everyone else has gone to sleep)

Reading while waiting for others

Reading on holiday

Part 9: share your reading with friends

Sharing reading

Share books and other texts

Share out the legwork of reading

Developing your ideas by sharing your reading with others

Develop reading skills with friends from a different subject

A range of benefits

Part 10: reading your own work

Drafting and redrafting your essays

Read your work as if it were written by someone else

Copy-editing and proof-reading

Postscript

Getting round to reading

Rewards and carrots

Eating elephants – breaking down mammoth tasks

Reading for me and reading for them

አርአያ - የመጽሐፍ ማጠቃለያ

ደራሲ - ግርማቸው ተክለሐዋርያት

የታተመበት ዘመን 1951

ዘውግ - ልቦለድ

ይህን መጽሐፍ ያገኘሁበት ታሪክ በራሱ መነገር አለበት፡፡ በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የድህረ ምረቃ ቆይታዬ በ2003 ዓ.ም. ነው እጄ የገባው፡፡ ስድስት ኪሎ ግቢ በር ላይ ዘርግቶ ከሚሸጥ ነጋዴ አግኝቼ በዐስር ብር ይመስለኛል የገዛሁት፡፡ ሳላነበው እስከዛሬ አቆየሁት፡፡ ይሄው ጊዜው ደርሶ ለመነበብ በቃ፡፡ ይህ የመጽሐፉ ቅጂ የጄኔራል ዊንጌት ትምህርት ቤት ንብረት የነበረ ነው፡፡ ተማሪዎች ያነበቡት ስለሆነ የያዙት ማስታወሻ፣ ያሰመሩበት፣ የቃላት ፍቺ የጻፉበት ሁሉ አለበት፡፡ በ1950ዎቹና 60ዎቹ አማርኛን እንዴት በቁምነገር እንደሚማሩት ተገንዝቤያለሁ፡፡ አማርኛውን በእንግሊዝኛ የፈቱበትም አለ፡፡ አብዛኛው የተጉለት አማርኛ ዘዬ ነው መጽሐፉ የተጻፈበት፡፡ ለማናቸውም የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤት ተማሪ ልቦለዱን ማንበብ ግድ ነበር፡፡ ይህ ትምህርት (ዊንጌት) ቤት የመጻሕፍት ክምችቱን ለምን እንደሚያሰርቅ አላወኩም፡፡ አሁንማ ቴክኒክ ትምህርት ቤት ስለሆነ ልቦለድ ላይኖረውም ይቸላል፡፡

መጽሐፉን ክፍል አምጥተው አለፍ አለፍ እያሉ ያነበቡልንና ያሳዩን በንዑስ አማርኛ እማር ስለነበር ተባባሪ ፕሮፌሰር ዘሪሁን አስፋው ነበሩ፡፡ ዝርው ልቦለድ የሚል ትምህርት አስተምረውናል፡፡ የኢትዮጵያን ልቦለዶች ታሪክ ያስቃኘን ይህ ትምህርት ብዙም እንድናነብ አያስገድድም ነበር፡፡ በቅርቡ ዶክተር ፈቃደ አዘዘ ፖለቲካው ዩነቨርሲቲ ስለገባ ይህን ጉዳይ በጽሑፍ ግልጽ ዓይነት ፈተና ቀርቶ የደራሲ ስምና ዓመተ-ምህረት መጠየቅ ጀምረናል ብለዋል፡፡ አዲስ ተማሪ ሆኜ ስገባ ገለጻ ያደረጉልን እኚሁ ዶክተር ቁጭታቸውን ያኔም አይቻለሁ፡፡ ምን ታደርጉታላችሁ! እኛም ብዙም የምናነብ ዓይነት አይደለን - በኔ እይታ የእንግሊዝኛ ተማሪዎች የንባብ ልምዳችን የደከመ ነው፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ ስነጽሑፍ ቅኝት የተባለው ትምህርት የተሻለ አስነብቦናል፡፡ መምህርት ሠላማዊት መካ እናመሰግናለን! ለአስር ማርክ አሳይመንትሽ አምስት ልቦለድ ማንበብ ግድ ነበር፡፡

አርአያ የገጸባህሪው ስም ነው፡፡ ከሸዋ ተወላጆች ሐረርጌ ላይ ይወለዳል፡፡ በትምህርቱ ትጉህ ስለነበር አንዲት ፈረንሳዊት ወደ ፓሪስ ወስደው አስተማሩት፡፡ በዚያም የዩኒቨርሲቲ ትምህርቱን ፈጽሞ በእርሻ ሙያ ከተመረቀ በኋላ ወደ እናት አገሩ ተመለሰ፡፡ ትንሽ የቢሮክራሲን ውጣውረድ አየ፡፡ በእናት አገሩም እየሰራ ሳለ ኢጣሊያ ኢትዮጵያን ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ ትወራለች - በ1928 መሆኑ ነው፡፡ አርአያም ወደ ማይጨው ይዘምታል፡፡ በማይጨው ጦራችን ከደረሰበት ሽንፈት በኋላም በአርበኝነት ተሰማራ፡፡ አርአያ ሚስቱን ስርጉትን ያገኘው በዚሁ በአርበኝነት ዘመን ነው፡፡ አገሪቱ ነጻ ስትወጣም ወደ አዲስ አበባ ገብቶ ህይወቱን ጀመረ፡፡ ልቦለዱ ታሪካዊ ልቦለድ ሲሆን የወቅቱን ታሪካዊ፣ ፖለቲካዊና ማህበራዊ ሁኔታዎች ያስገነዝባል፡፡ የፍቅርና ሌሎች አማላይ ልቦለዶች ማንበብ ለለመደ ሰው ሊሰለች ቢችልም በታሪክ ላይ ፍላጎት ላለው ሰው ሁነኛ የእውቀት ምንጭ ነው፡፡

ከረጅም ባጭሩ አርአያ ይህን ይመስላል፡፡ ከኢትዮጵያ ቀዳሚ ዘመናዊ ልቦለዶች ውስጥ አንዱ ነው፡፡ በመሐል በመሐል ስዕሎች አሉት - በእማእላፍ ሕሩይ የተሳሉ፡፡ አርአያም ስምን መልአክ ያወጣዋል እንዲሉ ለትውልድ አርአያ እንዲሆን ይመስላል የስሙ አሰያየም፡፡ የሃምሳዎቹ ልቦለዶች ስነምግባር ስለሚመክሩ ይህ ጭብጥ የተለመደ ነው፡፡ መጽሐፉ በ1930ዎቹ መጨረሻ ተጽፎ ቆይቶ ነው የታተመው፡፡ የደራሲው ቤተሰብ ታሪክም መሰል ይላል፡፡ የአባታቸውን ታሪክ ማንበብ ለዚህ ይረዳል፡፡ የፈረንሳይኛ ቃላት፣ አገላለጾችና ጥቅሶች በመጽሐፉ አሉ፡፡ ዛሬ እንግሊዝኛ ጣል እንደሚደረገው መሆኑ ነው፡፡ ግማሽ መቼቱም ፈረንሳይ፣ ፓሪስ ነው፡፡

ከድርሰቱ የወሰድኳቸው ጥቅሶች፡-

‹‹አዎን ለዘላለም በሚያስደንቅ ተአምር ኢትዮጵያ ነጻነቷን መልሳ  አገኘች፡፡ ነገር ግን እንግዴህ እንዳለፈው ተመልሳ ትተኛ ይሆን?፤ ያንድነትን ጥቅም የነጸነትን ዋጋ በዚህ ባምስት ዓመት መከራ አጥንታውና ተረድታው ይሆን? ጠላት ካደረገባት የጉዳት ስራ ውስጥ ወደ ፊት የሚጠቅም ትምህርት አግኝታበታለችን?፤ ኀይልና ሥልጣኔ ከምን እንደሚገኝ ተረድታዋለችን? ወዳጆቿንና ረዳቶቿን ለወደፊት ለይታ ዐውቃለችን፤ ደማቸውን አፍሰው የተሠዉላትን ቸሮች ልጆቿን ለወደ ፊት ታስባቸዋለችን? አንድነትና ኅብረት፣ ሙያና ምግባር የነጻነቷ ዋስ መሆናቸውን ተገንዝባው ይሆን? … እንደዚህ ብዙ ነገር ይስብ ነበር፡፡››

ለጥያቄው መልስ አለዎት? 

“Le Plus grand defaur de la penetration ce n’est pas de n’aller point jusqu’au bout, mais c’est de depasser”

‹‹ሲራቀቁ ያለው ታላቅ ጉድለት በነገሩ ባለመድረስ አይደለም፡፡ የነገሩን ወሰን አልፎ በመሄድ ነው እንጂ›› ፈረንሳዊው ዱክ ደ ላሮሽኩኮ

‹‹ጥበብን የሚፈልግ ከተፈጥሮ ጓደኛው በታች አይውልም፡፡›› ቀ. ኃ. ሥ

‹‹ገንዘብን ቆጥባት፤ ነገር ግን አትውደዳት፣ ፍቅሯ ኃይለኛ ነው፤ ሳይታወቅኽ ባሪያዋ እንዳታደርግኽ፡፡››

‹‹የጊዜን ዋጋ የማያውቅ ትልቅ ሊሆን አይችልምና፣ ጊዜህን በከንቱ እንዳታባክን››

‹‹በጣም አስቸኳይ የሆኑ ብዙ ጉዳዮች እያሏችሁ በሌሎች አትድከሙ፡፡››

“Celui qui voie les interets permanents en souffrance ou en peril et qui se tait, ne trahit pas seulment la verite, il trahit son pays.” DE LAMARTINE

‹‹መሰረታውያን ጥቅሞች ሲጎዱ ወይም ባደጋ ላይ ሲሆኑ ዝም የሚል እውነትን ብቻ አልካደም፤ አገሩንም ከዳ›› ደ ላማርቲን

‹‹እኛ የተማርነውን ወጣቶች አገራችን ስንገባ ገዢዎቻችን በደኅና ዐይን አይመለከቱንም፡፡ ለነጻነት ፍቅር እንዳለንና በተለይ ላገራችን ጥቅም ማሰባችንን ስለሚያውቁት የምናድግበትንና ቁም ነገር የምንሠራበትን መንገድ ሁሉ ተከታትለው ይዘጉብናል፤ ስለዚህ ሁሉ ወደ ፈተና እንጂ ወደ ደስታ እንደማልሄድ ይታወቃል፡፡››

‹‹ኢትዮጵያ አገራችን ምንም ባንድ መንግሥት ያለች አንድ አካ ብትሆንም በያውራጃዎቹ የመቀናናትና የመናናቅ መንፈስ መኖሩ የተረጋጠ ነው፡፡››