Reading nonlinguistic texts

The speaker discusses the concept of non-linguistic texts and their importance in reading comprehension. Non-linguistic communication uses visual clues and can be stored in the memory as images or physical sensations. The speaker talks about different types of non-linguistic representations, such as graphic organizers, pictures or illustrations, pictographs, generating mental images, and using realia and manipulatives. They also mention the importance of activating background knowledge and provide strategies for comprehension, such as SQ3R and DRTA. Text mapping and predicting are other strategies discussed, and the speaker explains how tables and figures can be interpreted. Learners, today I am going to talk to you about reading non-linguistic texts. The principal features of non-linguistic texts are they offer freedom for readers and pursue conceptual support in interpreting textual structures. So, what is non-linguistic communication? Non-linguistic communication is an alternative form of communication where there are non-linguistic clues and these non-linguistic clues are universal and they are limited. So, in this talk I will be talking to you about the need of activation of background knowledge, the non-linguistic representations and their uses and designing activities with non-linguistic representations. Non-linguistic representations are charts, drawings, diagrams. They are conveyed without using language. So, how is non-linguistic information stored? It is stored in the memory in form of images or physical sensations such as touch, smell, visuals, sound, etc. So, while learning new concepts and items, learners come out with their own mental images of non-linguistic representations to get the terms and thus visualization empowers and facilitates learning. So, what are the kinds of non-linguistic representations or types of non-linguistic representations? So, let us look into them one by one. First, I will talk about a graphic organizer. Graphic organizers are tools used for organizing thoughts and they are used by students for connecting texts and establishing better reading comprehension. So, designing a graphic organizer for instructional purpose is a challenge for the language teacher and thus graphic organizers are used before a reading lesson to figure out the level of the student with respect to the reading content. During a lesson, the learners may design graphic organizers while working on cognitive activities and they can be used for taking ongoing comprehension. After a lesson, graphic organizers can act as summarization techniques to understand and improve on the reading comprehension. Graphic organizers have many forms. They can be story maps, timelines, web content maps, semantic maps, structured overviews, etc. So, how does a graphic organizer work? So, you can say that there is a main idea with two branches. The two branches are supporting details, one on the left and one on the right. The supporting details on the right may have two branches again with facts and opinions and the supporting details on the right may have another fact and opinion. So, the next point which I would like to discuss is pictures or illustrations. Pictures are generally learners created and they are provided by the teachers. Learners can draw on a paper or illustrate on vocabulary items and other activities. For example, learners are invited to study a picture. So, for example, if you have a picture of a girl walking away from the room or somebody skiing on snow or somebody sleeping on papers and exercise books or somebody at the study table or somebody out in a camp or walking with snow to prepare a snowman. So, these pictures can be shown to the learners who can then write full sentences or they can come up with individual words on what comes to their mind on looking at the pictures. For example, the winter clothes may bring in the idea of cold or maybe the study table may bring in the idea of books and exercise copies and so on or exams. If there is anything they do not know how to say in English, they can write it in their native language and next they can work in groups to share the ideas. A pictograph is a pictograph which uses pictures or symbols to represent an idea. So, for example, there are five ice cream cones and the ice cream cones are represented by the category chocolate and then you have three ice cream cones for strawberry, vanilla for two and a half ice cream cones and so on. And the learners may be asked which is the least popular flavor and how many cones and how many flavors are sold. So, how many chocolate flavor cones were sold and so on. So, this is a bit of, you know, numbering system learning or playing with number games. Pictographs are visual representations with logical representation of data. The key on the left-hand category or the picture of the cones represent the idea or the data on the right-hand and that matches with the left-hand side and both left-hand and right-hand as it is systematically presented in a table. Reading pictograph requires coordination of the two columns. Generating mental features and kinesthetic activities is the third category of non-linguistic text. So, incorporating the senses of creating mental images are used in activities such as imagine yourself in a place and you generate a picture of that place. Another activity is looking for the details from the next text and mark where the author has given a clear picture. For creating mental pictures, authors use vivid words, phrases, actions and so on. The fourth category is realia and manipulative. Realia can be used for classroom learning of two types, digital realia and traditional realia. Realia stimulates the learner's mind, it saves for lengthy explanations and encourages creativity. Realia can be used to teach descriptive writings, it decreases dullness in teaching, it increases students' memory about vocabulary use and also it brings about more accurate use of vocabulary at the elementary level. In activating background knowledge, I will talk to you about SQ3R as a comprehension method where there are five steps. SQ3 is 3R, that is S for survey, Q for question and the 3R that is read, recite and review. So, when we question to guide our reading, that is we are surveying. For example, when we are reading a text on activating background knowledge, we create a question, what is activating the background knowledge? Is it a picture? Is it a graph? Is it a pictograph? Is it a realia? We have thus created a purpose for our reading while we search for an answer to the question. When we look for answers, we read. And while reading, we use few tips. That is the first sentence of the paragraph usually contains the main idea which is followed by the writer's intention. And we look for the transition words, for example, in addition to, next, therefore, however, etc. After reading, we look at the questions that we created and try to answer them. And if we cannot answer, then we go back to the reading again. And then, for maximum comprehension, we review whatever we had read within next 24 hours. And if we don't review, we lose 80% of what we have learned. And SQ3R is a reading strategy that allows students to think about text while they are reading. So, for example, students review a text for reading the headings, graphs, bolded text. So, this is a survey. Students generate questions after reviewing it. This is also a survey. Then, students look for answers to the question and focus on the reading. So, this is question and read. Q, and then students make notes, recite and answer the questions while reading and recite the answers again and reviewing the text. So, this is read, recite and review. Does SQ3R prove strategies for the three phases of reading, before reading, while reading and after reading? Of course, it does. Survey and question is before reading. Read is while reading. And recite and review is after reading. So, DRTA or direct reading thinking activity is another reading comprehension strategy that encourages students to ask questions about the text, predict the answers and then read the text to confirm the predictions. So, DRTA or direct reading thinking activity provides suggestions, ideas and concepts. They help students to develop their own thinking abilities and reasons for their predictions. They can work in groups and they can be asked to fill up a prediction chart during DRTA training, a strategy used. Text mapping strategies. This visual strategy can be used for organizing a content as how information is used. It can be used for understanding and retention of content from textbooks. So, text mapping features are glossary, index, table of contents, picture with captions, label diagrams. These are all text mapping features. And if they are not clearly stated, they are loosely related to the content. Text mapping can be used for pre-teaching, teaching vocabulary, previewing a text and focusing on developing skills, such as stating the main problems, summarizing, drawing, inferencing and so on. Predicting is another strategy. It is an important strategy for reading and predicting content includes revealing phrase by phrase or small chunks of the text and asking learners to predict what will come next. Information from text such as pictures, headings, diagrams is used for prediction. Expository text can be used for teaching prediction. For example, text with problem solution, text with comparison, text with causation or relating an antecedent to its consequent or description that is relating to collection of more specific information to an idea or event. So, comparison and causation are better recall and retention than description. So, when you keep something in mind, some information by comparing two things or maybe discussing the cause or cause effect, then that information is better stored in the memory. All text structures lead to the main idea of the text, whatever text structure it is, whether it is description, whether it is causation, whether it is comparison or problem solution, they lead to the main idea of the text. Skilled reading is an approach to a text or is approaching a text with the knowledge of how it is organized. So, in interpreting tables and figures, you know, I would like to discuss the signal word. For example, if you use correspondingly, this is cause and effect. In a similar way or on the contrary or on the other hand, these are contrasts. By contrast is a contrast text, as a result of is a cause. For this reason is a cause. After all is a description. So, these are the signal words which are used in the particular type of text type. Because is also a cause. Interpretation of tables, okay, is the fifth category of non-linguistic text that I would like to discuss. So, in interpreting tables, you know, we talk about finding out the cumulative frequency of the tables, of figures and facts and then the frequency distribution and then drawing histogram graphs, which can be easily understood and which are more attractive to visualize the data all in a single view. And there are different types of charts, bars, pie diagrams, stacked bar diagrams, or scattered line and column graphs and they represent patterns in comparing the data in various ways. So, this was some of the points which I was, I thought of sharing with you. Now, you may please answer the questions which followed from the text. Thank you.