7 Reading

Comp rehen sion

I 1. Introduction
.
. 1 an d busmess
. is an integral part of our personal , soc1a
Language a t' "f 1 . ·
communicatio n. Each sender and receiver of th e messages need ctoiv1learnies. tis a tool ol
four skills of
language .

I 2. Four Skills of Language

1. Listening Comprehens ion (Understanding through listening)
2. Speech
3. Reading Comprehens ion (Understanding through reading)
4. Writing
The four skills LSRW may be classified into two categories-'receptive' and 'productive' .
Listening and reading a re called 'receptive ' skills as we 'receive' information while listening
to someone face to face o r to la ngua ge recorded on a tape or a disc_,and while reading a
letter, a book or some other written material. Speaking and writing are called 'productive'
skills as we 'produce ' our thoughts and feelings while speaking to someone or writing
something.
In the past little attention was paid to listening. Now it is acknowledged that careful listening
~ as important as speaking a nd in fact leads to effective speaking.
i
I
Past Present I

i.--- ,:

Spea~ng} Pattern drills _L istening + Exposure + Tasks \

Listening
'
Reading-Written presentation of oral Speaking-Functional activities including
material role-play
Reading} Tasks to develop these skills a nd
Writing-Re inforce ment of or al
Writing .
· material
...__ sub-skills
 All the four skills are inter-related or interconnected. They are a chlally inter-dependent
and help each other in language acquisition .
Expertise in all commu nication skills is of vital importance in today's _a~ of technology and
globalization. As understanding through listening is necessary in order to decode the
message conveyed through speech, so is understanding through read ing ·is a must for
decoding the written messages. The last stage in all sorts of c_o mrnunication process is of
feedback-response or reaction to the written or spoken message . If the reader fails in
comp rehending the meaning of the written messa ge , he is not able to respond. All- a
stude nt, a professional, a technocrat, and a business man , have to read various types of
texts and written messages. Once they are able to comprehend the written message, they
can proceed to discussion or respond to the message by sending ma ils, letters, memos or
fax messages. ·
 3. Reading Comprehension
Read ing, like listening, is a re cep tive skill. Read ing does not mea n simply to read the
word
symb ols with out grasp ing their mean ing. In read ing, the eyes com e in conta ct with
certain
word s whic h are used to repre sent certa in ideas . Mind perc eives the mean ing of
those
word s whic h ultim ately conv ey -a mess age.· Thus , the send er send s .a mess age
through
some written word s and the recei ver recei ves it after read ing thos e writt en word symb
ols.
This proce ss is know n as read ing com preh ensio n i.e., unde rstan ding throu gh
reading.
There is a large dem and on this skill in pract ical life and it can be d evel oped with intell
igent
effort like any othe r skill.
"Reading can be look ed at fr<:?m different poin ts of view deco ding print, deciphering1 print,
understanding, interpreting or maki ng·se nse of a given text, evaluating what is unde rstoo
d
and so· on " , com men ts a scho lar.
There are certain elements which are necessary for good reading:
1. First element which is essential for good reading is the reader's acquaintance with the
alphabets. If his knowledge of the symbols, employed by the sender of the message,
is inadequate, his understanding of the written material will not be proper. Hence, the
reader should have a command over the word svm ..,, bols .
2. The reader should keep his mind free from all bias or prejudice , then only he will be
able to read a passage sincerely and grasp its meaning.
3. Sometimes, due to some physical defect or deficiency it becomes difficult for the
reader to grasp the meaning of passage at first reading. Consequently he reads and
reads a passage, a gain and a gain . Hence , such physical o r mental inability should be
cured before a reader begins to rea d a passage.
4. Sometimes the eyes read the words but no ima ge is pe rceived by our mind . J\1ind fails
to convert the word symbols into some meaningful message . Often such a situation
takes place d ue to the re ader's inattentiveness . Hence , the reader must be alert a nd
attentive before he starts re ading so mething.
3.1 Importance of Reading Skill
In toda y' s busi ness wor ld re adin g skills are as imp orta nt as spea king and fwriting.
Below are
listed a few p urpo ses of re adin g whic h mak e it an imp orta nt skill:
1. Rea ding like liste ning is indi spen sabl e in orde r to deco de a ~itten message
.
2. Und erst anding thro ugh read ing conn ects the read er to the_~e r who
after deco ding
the liter al mes sage is able to give feed back .
3. Since all official reco rds are main taine d in written form, it enhances
the importance of
reading skill.
4. A go od rea d er' s imm edia te resp onse to the mes sage m ay result in build
ing good
rapp orts with the send er.
5. Efficient rea ding resu lts in extr actin g i~ n and enriching knowledge .
3.2 Types of Reading Skill ~
Reading is not a passive process i.e. it's not merely grasping the message of the written
words but it involves the reader's participation in the form of his responding to the writer's
view point. A good reC:ider is one who is active and thus responds to the text. This type of
practice makes reading a productive arid dynamic process.
Different reading materials require different reading skills as mentioned below:
1. Reading Extensively: Some reading materials that aim at proviqing general
. /

understanding of a subject require skill of reading extensively.

2. Reading Intensively: There may be some texts such as science articJes, technical
papers and so on that are to be read seriously and intensively. Intensive reading, at las~
leads to in-depth knowledge of the subject. Thus, different texts are reaq with different
type of reading skill. Moreover, they are to be read at different speeds. Reading speed is
measured in words per minute (wpm) as the text can be read at a very fast speed,
average speed, or at a slow speed.
3.3 Readi~g Speeds
The .readi ng comp rehen sion proce ss · k und erstan
·includes speed y reading , qu1c . and
. d1ng
.
. Acco rding to Edwary Fry , broadly speak
precise repro ducti on. · · , th-er--e are three read.ing
· ing
speed s: study readi ng speed : avera ge readi ng speed and skimm ing speed. The grading of
the~e three speed s of readi ng is show n in the table below:

Spee d Poor Read er Good Reade~ l

Study readi ng 90-1 25 Word s Per Minute 80 to 200- 300 Word s Per Minute 80
'
90% comp rehen sion -
to 90% Comp reh ension
-
150- 180 Word s Per Minute.70% 250- 500 Word s Per Minute
Aver age readi ng
comp rel:le nsion -- 70% Comp reh-ension

Cann ot skim 800 + Word s Pet Minute 50%

Skiml11ing
Co mpre hension

What actually Fry wants to conve y throu gh this table has been elaborated by rt._~- Sharma
and Krish na Moha n in their book Busin ess Correspondence and Report Wntrng m the
follow ing word s: The study readi ng speed is used for reading material which deals with
difficult arguments. ideas. notions etc. This kind of reading aims at almost total
comprehension and retention of what has been read . The average reading speed is the
speed used for everyday reading of newspapers. magazines. novels etc. The emphasis in this
kind of reading is on following the writer·s line of thought. Skimming is the fastest reading
speed which is the ideal speed. It is difficult to say because the reader ·s objective determines
the method. he is supposed to follow. A good reader is one \ivho keeping his purpose of study
in mind. can quickly attain the required speed.

3.4 Methods of Reading Speedily

The span of one· s life is short while knowledge he tries to attain is abundant hence he has to
read a book judiciously2 . He will have to read speedily. Some popular methods of reading
are listed and discussed below:
(a) Skimming Method: The word •skim' literally means to take scum.or cream or floating
layer from the surface of liquid: The skimming is a specific technique of reading which
means reading a text superficially or look over with curiosity and gather salient facts
contained in it. In other words, when skimming, we read a text quickly to get the gist of it
and locate specific information. " We simply let our eyes wander over the text until we
find what we are looking for, whether it be a name, a date, or a less specific piece of
information", observes Francoise Grellet. Webster calls skim-reading a combination
of reading _and skimming where the reader reads the·important sections and skim the less
important. ones. He prescribes a simple procedure for it: First preview the article; then
read ~he first paragraph; next read the first sentence of each following paragraph; last,
read the last paragraph thoroughly .
. , __ J.. _ ' '
 In today's comp etitiv e age, to econ omis e his time a nd energy a reade r should in
in hin1 the art of skim ming a text. Most · peop le read quickly but carelessly and cut.1c~te-
.
very vagu e4 idea of what they have read. It is beca use their attention is not fully re ain -
centred
on the pass age while they are read ing it. The skim ming meth od of reading is a ~
.corrective of the read er's com mon tend ency to vague and his order ly think ing and h~
wand ering wit. "Ski mmi ng is, therefore, a more thoro ugh activity which requires an
overa ll view of the text and impli es a definite read ing cotY1petence" . (Greller) When we
read an article through skim ming technique , then we are able to know whether it is worth
read ing and then r~ad it carefully beca use we hav~ asses sed that it is of interest. While
skim ming a text, the train er looks at some prom inent parts of an article, reads a few
.
para grap hs here and there in the article and gains the confi denc e to read it intensively.
So man y read ers spen d so much of time reading t_ hroughly the news pape r or a magazine
and by the time they find something of real interest and utility , they loose the patience
and also do not have time or energ y to read it in detail.
(b) Scan ning ·Met hod: The word 'scan ' literally mean s to look at all parts · intently or
quick ly. The plann ing meth od of readi ng a text mean s readi ng quickly to look for specif
ic
bits of infor matio n. The reade r is requi red not to read a passa ge throu ghly but his eyes
shou ld wand er over the text qutckly in order to find out what infor matio n is relevant to
his purp ose. This meth od is used when t~e r~ader re~ds a passa ge quick ly to get
a
gene ral 1.d ea of the them e. This sort of read,ng 1s extensive and not inten sive
·
Example : Lo.ok at the tw o co· lu mn s A and B be low · kl
sp ea ke r fro m 1 qu 1c Y an d ma tch ea ch sta tem·ent 1.n
colum n- B with a pr ob a ble co umn A:

A B

(i) Fa rm er pe tro l ha s be co . tha t ma ny pe op le prefer

m e so expensive
.
to us e ch ea pe r forms of tra ns po rt.
int erf ere with ind us tria l prod uctio n .
(ii) Taxi dr ive r fre qu en t po we r cu ts
e of agricultural
(iii) Ho us ew ife en erg ise d pu mp .sets are a common fea tur
op era tio ns today.
ing easie r.
(iv) Fa cto ry m an ag er liq ue fie d pe tro leu m ga s has ma de co ok

ov e tex t qu ick ly an d ma tch es co lum n A with column B in the

The reader sc an s th e ab
following ma nn er :
se ts are a co mm on fea tur e of ag ricultura l op era tions today.
(i) Farmer-energis ed pu mp
ha s be co me s so exp ens ive tha t ma ny peo ple-prefer to use cheaper forms
(ii) Taxi drive r-p etrol
/
of transport .
(iii) Housew ife-li quefied pe troleu m gas has ma de cooking e~sie r.
ry m an ag er-fr eq ue nt po we r cu ts interfere 'With ind ustrial prod uctio n.
(iv) Facto
us e . bo th , sk im mi ng as we ll as sca nning techniqu es togeth er
Usually the lea rn ers
When re d" .
en text.
a 1ng a giv
fl 4. Subskills of Reading s o f re ad in g:
ll ow in g as th e su bs ki ll
John Munby lists th e fo
(a) R ec og ni zi ng th e sc ri pt of a la ng ua ge .

an d us e o f un fa m il ia r lexical items.
ni ng
(b) D ed u ci n g th e m e a
n d in g in fo rm at io n no t explicitlys st at ed .
(c) U n d erst a
m m un ic at iv e va lu e o f se nt en ce s.
(d) U n d er st an d in g th
e co
tu a l6 m ea ni ng .
an d in g co n ce p
(e) U n d er st
d in g th e re la ti o n s w it h in th e se nt en ce .
(f) U n d er st an
7 b et w ee n pa rt s o f a te xt .
U n d er st an d in g co h es io n
(g)
x t.
(h) In te rp re ti n g th e te
in g th e im p o rt an t in fo rm at io n .
(i) Id e n tify
nd er st an d in g is ac hi ev ed o n ly through
: It is a k n o w n fact th at n 1o re u
S il en t R ea d in g
d o n e si le n tly fo r b et te r co m pr eh en si on .
in g . M os t o f th e re ad in g, th us , sh o u l~ be
silen t re ad
o u d is a co m p re h en si ve exercise . It is
A lo u d o r O ra l R ea d in g : R ea di n g al crea se s fluenc y
Reading ss a nd rh yt h m . It in
er to gi ve pr ac ti ce in p ro n u nc ia ti on . stre
required in o rd
in spoke n English.
4_1 Obiectives of Improving ·Reading Skills
. comprehension often affects one 's inte rpre tatio n of facts
Poor read 1ng which lead
. d t nding. Hen ce, imp rove men t of the read.1ng sk"ll .
1 s 1s necessary for everyons ta
m1sun ers a . . • S
student or a pro fess iona l- to go ahe ad 1n hfe. ?me o b.1ectives
. f. . . e---u
o 1mprov1 ng read ing skill are:
1. to enh anc e the ability to und erst and wnt~en wor ds. .
2. to dev elop an ability to con nec t one sen tenc e with the othe
r.
3. to be able to deri ve or dec ode the mes sag e of the writ ten wor
ds.
4. to mak e read ing not a pass ive but an acti ve proc ess. >

5. to enh anc e kno wle dge and use that kno wle dge .af the ·w ork
plac e .
6. to use the acq uire d info rma tion /kno wle dge .
4.2 Suggestions for Improving Reading Skills .
Reading comprehension requires an ability to und erst and the
mea ning of wha t is put forth as
the competence to express it clearly. The read er is to kno
w not o nly the meaning of
individual words but also to grasp the sem anti c 8 con tent of a text
. He should also be able to
know the intention of the writer as reflected in the pass age .
Bel ow are mentioned a few
suggestions for improving reading skill :
1. Rea d the text thoroughly in orde r to und erst and its mea ning
. If the text is read
carefully and intelligently, half the battle has alre ady bee n wo
n.
2 . - If there are new words, try to know thei r mea ning
s o n the basi s of the text.
3. Important business do_c ume nts, technical proj ects a nd
wor d for wor d . pro pos als sho uld be read
_ -
4.
:rext~ such as new sp~pers, magazine articles, nov els, essa ys etc.
reading as they provide gen eral information .. a re mea nt for rapid
5. .
Scientific and tech · l t t h Id · -
. . nica ex s s ou _b e read inte nsiv ely and criticaliy so that some
conelus1ons can be derived .