Chapter 4

Reading Skills

Chapter Index

S. No

Reference

No

Particulars

Slide

From-To

1 Learning Objectives 3

2 Topic 1 What is Reading? 4-6

3 Topic 2 How Do We Read? 7-8

4 Topic 3 Enhancement of Reading Ability/Purpose

of Reading 9

5 Topic 4 Style of Reading 10-16

6 Topic 5 Guidelines for Effective Reading 17-18

Learning Objectives

Explain the concept of reading and its elements

Discuss how reading ability can be enhanced

List the different styles of reading

Describe how to read effectively

What is Reading

Reading is defined as the

process of decoding a series of

written symbols and getting

meaning from them.

The primary purpose that

reading serves is to let the

reader receive

information by

understanding text.

Reading is a form of

communication that is

primarily used to receive

information.

Reading is typically an

individual activity, but it can

also be a group activity when

a person reads out loud for

the benefit of other listeners.

Elements of Reading

According to Gough and Hillinger (1980), reading is an unnatural act

unlike speaking and listening which are innate skills. Reading is harder

to learn than speaking and requires decoding written symbols.

During reading, our brain is engaged in a number of activities simultaneously.

The first mental process is that the reader decodes a text to construct

meaning by connecting the information suggested in the text with prior

knowledge that the reader has.

The second process is the interaction occurring simultaneously

amongst the different elements of reading that results in

interpretation of the text.

The five elements of the process of reading to work together are:

Reading

Phonemic Awareness

Phonics

Vocabulary Fluency

Comprehension

How Do We Read?

Verbal and sub-verbal intellectual learning approaches contribute to how we read.

Sub-lexical reading involves learning to

read using phonics. It involves

converting the written units of a word to

its phonological counterparts.

Lexical reading involves learning to

recognise words in their whole form i.e.

acquiring whole words or phrases

without breaking them down to the

characters that compose them.

Both the Sub-lexical and Lexical reading approaches are

essential to become fluent in reading and comprehension as

sub-lexical abilities allow you to learn new words while

lexical abilities enable you to distinguish between similar

words and build a glossary of learned words.

Below are the 5 sequential stages of actual reading process:

Pre-reading Pre-reading is the process by which a reader’s interest is initiated by

previewing a text to identify key ideas.

The second stage is where the reader reads the material from start to end

using an appropriate type of reading. Reading

In this stage, the readers respond to what they read by connecting what

they have learnt from past experiences and real life situations. Responding

In this stage, the reader will re-read certain things in the text, learn more

vocabulary, examine the style of writing, and explore new ideas. Exploring:

In this stage, the students evaluate their experiences while reading, or

apply what they have learnt through reading in real life. Applying

Enhancement of Reading Ability/Purpose of Reading

In order to enhance the reading ability, the first step is to define reading goals

clearly. This helps to keep track of the improvement and achievement. S

tra

tegie

s to

En

han

ce R

ea

din

g

Abil

ity

Predicting

Imagining

Relating

Questioning

Summarising

Resolving

Inferring

Style of Reading

Intensive and extensive reading refer to two styles of reading that people use,

when reading for a purpose and pleasure respectively.

• Intensive reading is done with clear goals in mind. It

involves reading in detail, and increasing one’s

knowledge is the primary focus. It involves total

comprehension and is more time consuming; that is

why it works better with shorter texts.

Intensive

Reading

• Extensive reading involves reading for the purpose of

enjoyment. Total comprehension is not necessary for

extensive reading and it works better with the text

that is appealing to the reader.

Extensive

Reading

Styles of

Extensive

Reading

Slow Reading

Normal Reading

Skimming Surveying

Scanning

Different styles of extensive reading are shown in the following figure:

Slow Reading

Slow reading involves voluntarily reducing

the rate of reading to facilitate enhanced

comprehension or pleasure from a text.

It can reduce anxiety and stress.

It helps to respond to, explore and analyse the text better.

It aids in better absorption and retention of ideas from the

text being read.

It helps to grasp deeper meanings and symbolisms within a

text that you are prone to miss if you read fast.

Benefits of Slow Reading

Normal Reading

In normal reading, a reader reads the text from beginning to

end, without significantly omitting words, phrases or sentences.

The reader studies the text with average reading speed which

is 250 words a minute in case of extensive reading or reading

for pleasure; and 75 words a minute in case of intensive

reading or for technical material.

In normal reading, the reader might skip unfamiliar words or

just estimate their meaning from the context.

Skimming

Skimming is the process of speedy reading to gain the gist of a text.

In skimming, readers read the first line of a paragraph and then read

speedily the headings, subheadings, words in italics or boldface to

gain knowledge of key words and the central idea of the text.

Skimming is a technique which helps the reader establish what the

text is about.

Surveying

Surveying is done by concentrating on the general aspects and skipping the

details, mainly with the intention to decide the usefulness of the text and to

determine whether it is worth reading more closely.

Surveying the text first facilitates reading speed and improves comprehension

if you decide to read the text later. It aids you to decide whether to read slowly,

normally or to skim a text.

The purpose of surveying is to get a broad, overall essence of an article,

chapter or book.

Scanning

Scanning is a technique used when we look for specific

information.

The comprehension gained through scanning is adequate to

complete the relevant task.

Guidelines for Effective Reading

Effective reading depends on a number of steps as shown the below figure:

Set Reading

Goals

Choose Appropriate

Text Be Selective

Read Critically

Ask Questions

Take Notes

Highlight and

Underling Take Breaks

One popular method used to read effectively is

called SQ3R. This is a reading comprehension

method introduced by Francis P. Robinson in his

book Effective Study (1946).

Survey Question Read Recite Review

The steps of SQ3R method