EAP Reading Resources

Reading comprehension is improved by purposeful, regular reading. Find some resources to practice your reading fluency and reading comprehension at

Reading Strategies

Helpful Reading StrategiesPreview: This means to briefly look over what you will be reading. Here are some steps to help you preview.
  • Read the title to determine the topic. What can you learn from reading the title?
  • Read the first sentence to see if you can find out the writer's purpose for writing this article or story. 
  • Read the last sentence determine the writer's final thoughts. 
  • Skim the entire article or story and look for information like names, dates, or numbers that will help you understand the reading better.

Read for Meaning: This means to make sense of what you are reading.
  • Work on concentration by focusing on what you are reading. Avoid distractions.
  • Read in thought groups by seeing meaningful combinations of words like phrases, clauses, or sentences. 
  • Ask questions in your mind as you read like What does this mean? or How can I use this information?

Find Main Ideas: This means to look for the main idea of the selection. What is this about?
  • Find the Topic Sentence by finding the sentence that has the main idea which are is usually followed by supporting details.
  • Notice the Paragraph Structure by finding the purpose of the selection. Does the paragraph define, inform, illustrate, or explain?
  • Notice how the ideas relate by seeing relationships between ideas and how they are put together.

Reading Comprehension is important as you work towards understanding what you read.
  • Recall of facts will help you answer comprehension questions. 
  • Understand the main ideas by asking What is the main thing that the author is writing about?
  • Try to understand words in context by using the surrounding words to determine the word meaning.
  • Notice the facts versus opinions by determining if the statement can be proven or not.
  • Determine the order of events by looking for words like first, next, finally, before, during, at the end, after, later etc.
  • Notice Inferences that are being made by looking for what is writing is suggesting without saying it directly.

Here is a website with timed readings and comprehension questions that will help you improve fluency and comprehension. Try it at http://www.eslhome.org/ESLstudent/read/readdo2.html

Timed Reading Plus in Science, Book 4. (2002) New York: Jamestown Education.