Well with loads of information available to us today, we need to be able to select what we require and read that which interests us. Thus reading forms a part of our routine.
Reading Techniques
Scanning
Scanning through the text is a reading strategy that is used for getting some specific points by looking at the whole text.
For highlighting the important points of a book the readers can skim through the summary or the preface or the beginning and end chapters of that book.
For example, this technique is used for looking up a name from the telephone guidebook.
Skimming
This reading technique is used for getting the gist of the whole text lead.
We generally use this technique at the time of reading a newspaper or magazine.
Active Reading Style
Active reading aims to get an in-depth understanding of the text. Under this technique, the reader actively involved with the text while reading it.
Getting in-depth knowledge of the text at hand is not possible by reading to skim through or scan through the text.
Detailed Reading
This technique is used for extracting information accurately from the whole text. Under this technique, we read every word for understanding the meaning of the text.
In this careful reading, we can skim the text first for getting a general idea and then go back to read in detail. We can use a dictionary to find the meaning of every unfamiliar word.
Speed Reading
Speed-reading is actually a combination of various reading methods.
The aim of speed-reading is basically to increase the reading speed without compromising the understanding of the text reading. Some of the strategies used in speed reading are as follows:
- Identifying words without focusing on each letter;
- Not to sounding-out all words;
- Not sub-vocalizing some phrases;
- Spending less time on some phrases than others;
- Skimming small sections.
Structure-Proposition-Evaluation
This is an interesting reading technique suggested by Mortimer Adler in his book How to Read a Book.
This reading technique is mainly applicable to non-fiction writing. This technique suggests reading as per the three following patterns:
- Studying the structure of the work;
- Studying the logical propositions made and organized into chains of inference;
- Evaluation of the merits of the arguments and conclusions.
Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review
This method aims to facilitate a clear understanding of the text that the reader would be able to teach whatever he has learned during the process of reading.
The process involves five different steps, which are as follows:
- Survey
The survey involves getting a quick idea of the whole writing piece. For example, reading the introduction or summary of a book will be enough to get an idea of that book. - Question
We are not just reading the words or looking at the words but are actually trying to make out the underlying meaning of the text. So we should prepare questions in our mind and look for the answers while reading the text. - Read
The reader should read selectively if they are looking for any specific. - Recite
The reader should answer the questions in his own words using only the keywords that are required to sum up the complete idea. - Review
The reader should review the entire things in his mind.
