Academic texts will be explored by students considering the following reading activities and analysis:
Looking for academic texts in databases, academic journals, or websites.
Chose an academic paper of your field of interest. You may find an academic paper in this database:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/journals
The university also counts on databases available for the academic community using the username and password.
http://sinab.unal.edu.co/index.php/recursos-bibliograficos/bases-de-datos
This is one example of academic paper that you can use for the analysis.
file:///C:/Users/ProfeLab/Downloads/11.pdf
Do the following analysis with the paper you chose:
1. Recognition of Topics:
Recognize the topics of the text (Write the key words of the paper).
2. Analysis of sections of the text:
Identify the titles, subtitles and headings. Write on the margins the sections of the paper (introduction, paragraphs with specific ideas or topics, conclusion)
Look at the following example:
Introduction: The importance of bats for the environment
A. General features of bats
1. Bats Feeding
2. Bats Behavior
B. Benefits and importance for the environment
1. Bats as pollinators
2. Bats as food chain regulators
Conclusion: recommendations to preserve them
3. Analysis of Paragraphs:
- Underline or highlight the main idea of each paragraph with one color.
- Underline or highlight the secondary supporting ideas with other color.
- Write the topic of each paragraph on the margins of the text. Remember that the topic of a paragraph is expressed in key words or concepts. Ex: Common bats behavior
4. Analysis of terminology and parts of speech:
Build a glossary with 15 terms or words from the text. Write the definition of the word in English and the part of speech of it. You can use a monolingual dictionary to define the words:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/es/diccionario/britanico/
If the word is a specific term of a field of knowledge you can use Technical Dictionaries:
http://www.engineering-dictionary.org/Materials-Science-and-Engineering-Dictionary/
http://dictionary.babylon.com/science/
5. Graphic Organizer:
Organize, classify and summarize the information of the text using an appropriate graphic organizer. Remember that the purpose of a graphic organizer is to represent graphically the main themes or ideas of a text and the logical relations existing among them.
You can use the following graphic organizers according to the text you chose:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/
http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/spanish/
http://edhelper.com/teachers/graphic_organizers.htm
You can also design your own graphic with an online tool:
SpiderScribe
SpiderScribe es una herramienta web online desarrollada en Flash. Permite generar un mapa al que iremos añadiendo diferentes nodos arrastrándolos hasta la zona principal de la aplicación, disponiendo de nodos de textos, de archivos, de imágenes, de localización y de calendario. Nuestros mapas mentales pueden ser privados o bien permitir el acceso a una serie de usuarios concretos, ya sea para visualizarlo o bien para que puedan efectuar modificaciones. Si queremos hacer público nuestro mapa mental, podemos permitir el acceso a quienes facilitemos el enlace.
Es una aplicación online gratuita que facilita la creación de diagramas o mapas del tipo brainstorm(lluvia de ideas). Su servicio posibilita el trabajo colaborativo, la opción de embeber o incrustar los diagramas en cualquier web, y la exportación de mapas en formato de imagen. No es necesario crear una cuenta para utilizarlo, aunque para guardar los mapas online sí es necesario. Su interfaz es muy sencilla e intuitiva, aunque también limitada en lo que se puede agregar a nuestro mapa. Perfecta para crear esquemas directos y rápidos, sin elementos que distraigan de las ideas.
(Tomado del Curso virtual Producción Audiovisual de Materiales Pedagógicos, Universidad Nacional - Sede Medellín. Profesora Alejandra Agudelo)
6. Analysis of connectors or linking words.
Select 10 sentences from the text that include linking words or connectors. Specify what kind of connector is. Recognizing connectors or linking words will help you analyze the logical relations existing among themes or ideas in the text.
You can find a summary of connectors below:
7. Analysis of word and grammatical choices
Each text uses a range of verb tenses, word choices, or grammatical structures that correspond to the genre and purpose of it. In this activity, you should analyze the main verb tenses, the use of active or passive voice, modals, imperatives, kind of adjectives to describe or give opinions, style (personal or impersonal), level of formality, etc.
8. Analysis of Context, Purpose and Audience of texts
To recognize the context of a text you should ask questions such as:
Who wrote the text?
When was the text written?
Where was the text written?
Where was the text published?
To recognize the purpose of the text you should consider the following intentions:
Does the text intend to Inform, narrate, recount, describe or illustrate a fact? These are some text types and their purposes:
Recount
Retells past events or
experiences
Sequences events in
the order they happened
Narrative
Tells a story mainly
used to entertain, motivate or teach
Aims to get attention
and maintain interest
Ex: a real life drama,
a fable, a fairy tale story, mystery,
Information Report
Provides information
by stating facts
Describes or
classifies information
Description
Describes the
characteristics of a particular thing
Often used in other
text types
Procedure
Tells how to make or
do something
Give instructions
Ex: a recipe or
machine manual
Discussion
Presents both sides of
an issue
Outlines arguments for
and against the topic
Persuasion - Exposition
States a point of view
with supporting evidence
Influences opinions or
sells something
Response
Describes personal
reactions to a subject or event
May be used for a
review, feedback or an assessment
To recognize the audience of a text you should ask the following questions?
According to the level of difficulty of the language used, the topics or ideas complexity, the organization of the text, or the level of formality, is the text written for...
-Children
-Elementary students
-High school students,
-University students of any field
-Researchers
-A specific community
These are some sample texts analysis of a Reading Comprehension Class. These students gave permission to share this material with the university community:
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
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