FINAL EXAMINATION

OF ENGLISH CLASS

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By :
SHERRY V. SAHETAPY
1317134125

POLYTECHNIC OF AMBON
STUDY PROGRAM FOR APPLICABLE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
2019
NOTE-TAKING
Notetaking is not just a product. It is the primary process/tool you can use to identify critical
information, to interpret the information, to increase memory, and to practice critical thinking. In
fact, good notetaking skills serve seven major functions:
1. Effective notetaking considerably reduces your daydreaming.
2. It helps you identify patterns of information; thus reading and listening efficiency is
increased.
3. These patterns lend themselves to organizational systems.
4. Organization means you understand better.
5. Organization and understanding increase your memory.
6. Organization leads to hierarchical thinking (better critical thinking skills).
7. We all know it is easier, less time-consuming and more effective to study from a well-
prepared set of notes than from a textbook.
The following are six notetaking systems. A good notetaker can use all six systems
interchangeably. A good student will use several of these systems simultaneously. For example,
you could record on flash cards all vocabulary words from a chapter and then rearrange the cards
into a hierarchy for identification of subtopics and key words for the understanding of each area.
Maps, charts, diagrams, and cards are more effective than outlines because you can quickly
compare and contrast information within and between categories.
SIX GUIDING PRINCIPLES
1. Thoroughness: the content of the notes must reflect the content of exams.
2. Be concise.
3. The Magic 7: the notes should include seven or fewer categories of information for
each topic and subtopic. Usually, four to six categories is sufficient.
4. Visibility of Categories: the categories must be easily seen at a glance.
5. Organization: precise relationships between categories should be obvious.
6. Parallelism: the information should be arranged so you can quickly compare and
contrast information within and between categories. Thus equivalent information is
placed in the same row or column.

Six Different Notetaking Systems

Types of Notes Description When to Use (Advantages)
Map Shows spatial relationships (super- Describes structures (types, parts).
ordinate, subordinate, & coordinate) Describes functions (types, parts, leads
between categories. to).
Describes concepts (attributes, range
of examples).
Describes phases & subphases for
procedures.
Note: Extremely flexible procedure for
showing relationships. Excellent for
all procedural knowledge courses.
Chart Shows relationships between topics Creates parallelism between & within
(informat- and subcategories of information about categories, thus making it easy to
ionall matrix) the topics. compare and contrast. Excellent for
any subject matter that requires the
student to learn the same categories of
information about topics.
Note: Requires synthesis skills--makes
studying easier.
Diagram Shows exact or abstracted Helps develop an image of a structure,
representation of a structure, function, function, or procedure.
or procedure.
Graph Show numerical relationships. Useful when numerical comparisons
are included in a text.
Cards or slips Any types of notes recorded on a card Extremely useful procedure. Easily
of paper or slips of paper. used in conjunction with maps (move
card around on table) or charts. Allows
student to readily construct super-
ordinate, subordinate, and coordinate
relationships.
 Outline Major topics in super-ordinate- Not recommended as primary
subordinate relationship. notetaking technique. Does not allow
for rapid comparisons within or
between categories. Tendency to
reproduce authorís organization.
Should use in conjunction with other
techniques.

SUMMARIZING

Definition Summarizing
Buckley (2004), in her popular writing text Fit to Print, defines summarizing as reducing text to
one-third or one-quarter its original size, clearly articulating the author’s meaning, and retaining
main ideas. Diane Hacker (2008), in A Canadian Writer’s Reference, explains that summarizing
involves stating a work’s thesis and main ideas “simply, briefly, and accurately” (p. 62).

Purpose
The purpose of summarizing is to briefly present the key points of a theory or work in order to
provide context for your argument/thesis.

Process
Read the work first to understand the author’s intent. This is a crucial step because an incomplete
reading could lead to an inaccurate summary. Note: an inaccurate summary is plagiarism!
In your own words, write the thesis and main ideas in point form.
Decide which points are crucial to an accurate summary of the author’s work. It is very
important that the summary does not misrepresent the author’s argument.
Edit the summary by deleting extraneous descriptors, details, and examples.
Reread the original work to ensure that you have accurately represented the main ideas in your
summary.
Opposite to solid essay writing, the goal is to be brief and general rather than supporting all
statements with facts, examples, or other details.
When summarizing is useful
Summarizing is useful in many types of writing and at different points in the writing process.
Summarizing is used to support an argument, provide context for a paper’s thesis, write literature
reviews, and annotate a bibliography. The benefit of summarizing lies in showing the "big
picture," which allows the reader to contextualize what you are saying. In addition to the
advantages of summarizing for the reader, as a writer you gain a better sense of where you are
going with your writing, which parts need elaboration, and whether you have comprehended the
information you have collected.

You can summarize:

 results of studies you are reporting on
 methods or approaches others have taken in an area you are describing
 various researchers’/authors’ viewpoints on given issues
 You have the tools. We’ll help you use them. points you have made in an essay at any
juncture or in a conclusion contents of a text you are reviewing
 issues peripheral to your paper but necessary for providing the context for your writing
 historical events leading to the event/issue/philosophy you are discussing.

MAIN IDEA
What is a main idea?
The main idea is the central point or thought the author wants to communicate to readers. The
main idea answers the question, “What does the author want me to know about the topic?” or
“What is the author teaching me?” Often the author states the main idea in a single sentence. In
paragraphs, a stated main idea is called the topic sentence. In an article, the stated main idea is
called the thesis statement. When the author does not state the main idea directly, it is called an
implied main idea. An implied main idea requires you to look at the specific statements in the
paragraph and consider what idea they suggest.

Why is identifying the main idea important?

Finding the main idea is a key to understanding what you read. The main idea ties all of the
sentences in the paragraph or article together. Once you identify the main idea, everything else in
the reading should click into place. The rest of the reading is the evidence provided to support
that main idea.

Finding the Main Idea

• Find the topic first. You have to know the topic before you can determine the main idea.
Preview your text and ask yourself, “What or who is the article about?” or “What is the
author teaching me about?” (For further help, see Identifying the Topic skill sheet.)
• Ask yourself. “What does the author want me to know about the topic?” or “What is the
author teaching me about the topic?” You can answer this by finding the idea that is
common to most of the text or what opinion all the parts support.
• Use these clues to help find the main idea:
1. Read the first and last sentences of the paragraph (or the first and last paragraphs of the
article). Authors often state the main idea near the beginning or end of a paragraph.
2. Pay attention to any idea that is repeated in different ways. If an author returns to the
same thought in several different sentences (or paragraphs), that idea is the main or
central thought under discussion.
3. Look for a sentence that states the main idea. This is the stated main idea or topic
sentence.
4. Look for reversal transitions at the beginning of sentences. These signal that the author is
going to modify the previous idea. When a reversal transition opens the second sentence
of a paragraph, there’s a good chance that the second sentence is the topic sentence and a
stated main idea. Some samples of reversal transitions:
But Nevertheless Still
Conversely Nonetheless Unfortunately
Even so On the contrary When in fact
However On the other hand Yet
In contrast Regardless
5. At times the main idea will not be stated directly. This is called an implied main idea.
 o Read all of the specific statements, not just the ones that open the paragraphs.
o Think of a general statement that could sum up the specifics as effectively as any
stated topic sentence. As there will not be a topic sentence, you will have to write
one. The main idea you write must be a complete sentence that contains a subject
and a verb and expresses a complete thought.
6. Once you feel sure that you have found the main idea, test it. Ask yourself if the sentence
could act as a summary of the other sentences in the paragraph. Do the examples,
reasons, and facts included in the reading explain or give evidence supporting the main
idea you have in mind? If they do, then you are right on target. If they don’t, you may
want to revise your main idea.

SKIMMING FOR GENERAL INFORMATION

According to Liao (2011), skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal
reading. Readers often skim when they have masses of materials to read in a limited amount of
time. In skimming, readers only have to take the most important information and the main idea
rather than read all of the words (Sutz & Weverka, 2009). As skimming is related to speed,
Abdelrahman and Bsharah (2014) propose that to improve reading speed, readers also need to
increase concentration, improve memory and recall, and reduce sub vocalization, interruptions,
procrastination and stress. They also provide the procedure of the skimming technique into three
steps as follows (Abdelrahman & Bsharah, 2014):
• read first sentence of paragraph
• read last sentence of paragraph
• read key words in between
They further added two skimming patterns in the process (Abdelrahman & Bsharah, 2014):
1. For formal style, and this is typical of most text books (with long involved sentences and
long paragraphs), therefore readers should read using the three steps outlined above.
2. For informal style (shorter sentences and paragraphs), the readers should read using first
two steps only.
In teaching, the students are taught to skip words and learn to select key words or phrases to
captivate important information with concentration and practice. To conclude, because skimming
technique deals with the process of rapid coverage of reading a text to determine its gist or
main idea (Brown, 2003), therefore, students are likely to depend more on top-down
processing (Ueta, 2005). This is done so that they do not have to translate detailed information in
the text. And so, it is typically recommended to read the first and the last sentence of the
paragraph, because the main idea of the text is usually stated in those parts.

SCANNING FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Scanning is unlike skimming, because readers are not concerned with the broader meaning of the
text, but the detail (Sutz & Weverka, 2009). In this technique, the readers look for specific
information within a text such as dates, names, and places, among others. Moreover, Brown
(2003) explains that scanning is the process of quickly searching for particular piece or pieces of
information in a text. The purpose of scanning is to extract specific information without reading
the whole text. It is basically fast reading (Mikulecky & Jeffries, 2007). To do so, it involves
moving your eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words or phrases (Sutz & Weverka,
2009).
Scanning is important to improve reading skill. The procedures of scanning technique are
(Olson & Ames, 1972; Thamrin, 2014):
• Keep in mind only the particular information to be found out.
• Make a choice, which clues would support the finding of the required information.
• Have a rush view and sweeps down the page quickly to find out the clues. If the clues are
found out, read that section to get the information needed.
While conducting the procedures above, readers should have full concentration while
reading, be able to scan for the two or three search terms that describe the information needed
and look for italicized, bolded or underlined words which may carry specific information in the
text (Sutz & Weverka, 2009). Table and index within the text can also lead the reader into the
information needed.
 REFERENCES

Abdelrahman, M. S. H. B., & Bsharah, M. S. (2014). The effect of speed reading strategies on
developing reading comprehension among the 2nd secondary students in English
language. English Language Teaching, 7(6), 168-174.
Alvermann, D., & Earle, J. (2003). Comprehension instruction. In A. P. Sweet & C. Snow
(Eds.), Rethinking reading comprehension (pp. 12-30). New York: Guilford Press.
Brown, F. A. (2010). Vocabulary knowledge and comprehension in second language text
processing: A reciprocal relationship? The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 12(1), 88-
133.
Brown, H. D. (2003). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. San
Francisco, CA: Pearson Education.

Buckley, J. (2004). Fit to Print: The Canadian Student’s Guide to Essay Writing. (6th ed.)
Toronto:

Nelson. Hacker, D. (2008). A Canadian Writer’s Reference. (4th ed.) Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s.