Reading tips, the purpose of texts and spotting mistakes

Speaker 1: Mobile phone offers, local newspapers.

Speaker 2: Can you see anything that looks like an electricity bill?

(TO AUDIENCE) You go away, you come home to loads of mail.

But every piece of writing has a different purpose and that makes sorting it easier.

Speaker 1: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) Hey, you’ve got two free hair gel samples.

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) Their purpose is to make me buy their hair gel.

Others might be about providing news, comments, criticism.

Speaker 1: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) These magazines are all about entertainment.

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) When you know the purpose of a piece of writing, it’s easier to decide how to respond or if you even need to.

Speaker 1: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) I’m going to put the oven on for dinner.

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) Whereas key words like 'overdue', 'final bill', 'payment needed now', means that we’re late in paying our electricity bill.

Speaker 1: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) Oh! No electricity.

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) No dinner.

Speaker 1: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) There was a two-for-one pizza offer in there.

Speaker 1: (TO AUDIENCE) Beth’s meeting the boss at the health centre tomorrow to talk about a new job.

Speaker 2: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) Well, here it is: the entire history of the health centre.

Speaker 1: (TO AUDIENCE) She’s been asked to learn about their aims and values.

Speaker 2: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) Let’s just do a quick scan of the brochures.

Speaker 1: (TO AUDIENCE) Sometimes when we read we’re looking for specific information. This is when scanning becomes useful.

It’s a way of looking quickly through lots of information to find specific detail.

You’ve probably done it already when you’re looking something up in the dictionary.

And you can do the same online by scanning categories, and drop-down menus to find what you’re looking for.

Speaker 2: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) About, aims and objectives.

Speaker 1: (TO AUDIENCE) Now she’s found the right bit, Beth can skim the text to get an idea of the aims and values.

Skimming is a great way to get the gist in time for tomorrow’s meeting.

Scanning information for a specific detail, or skimming a piece of writing for a general idea of the contents, are great techniques of making reading and research easier.

(TO OTHER PEOPLE) So, aims and values sorted, yeah?

(TO AUDIENCE) She’s normally more of a morning person.

Speaker 1: It’s official. We’re the worst team in the league. Check this out.

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) All writing conveys meaning.

But how can we tell if what we’re reading is factual or someone’s opinion?

(TO OTHER PEOPLE) 'The lads have looked tired every time they’ve run onto the pitch.'

(TO AUDIENCE) The words 'have looked' tell me that this is the writer's opinion.

Speaker 3: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) 'My 11-year-old son has more chance of getting the ball on target than this striker.'

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) That line’s meant to be funny, there’s a bit of exaggeration in there and it’s very unlikely to be factual.

Speaker 3: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) This is a more factual analysis: 'We’ve scored more goals so far this season than at this point in the last five years.'

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) This analysis is more reliable.

Evidence is given, figures are printed and the tone is more formal.

(TO OTHER PEOPLE) Let’s see. 'Crowd attendance is up 23% on the previous season.'

(TO AUDIENCE) One writer is trying to stir up argument and debate.

The other is presenting information to give us more knowledge.

Both types of writing are important so long as we understand the difference in the writers’ intentions.

(TO OTHER PEOPLE) So, you still coming to the match?

Speaker 1: Yeah, but we won’t win though.