Chapter

SKIMMING AND SCANNING

A READING TEXT
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of these classes, you should be able to:

❑ Skim a reading text
❑ Scan a reading text

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© Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd. (008974-T), 2017 1–6
 READING STRATEGIES

Skimming and scanning

 ❑ The more students are encouraged to approach
a text by first using skimming or scanning
techniques, the sooner they will begin to realise
that they do not have to read and understand
every word in the text.

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© Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd. (008974-T), 2017 1–8
WHAT IS SCANNING?
Scanning is a fast reading technique. It's a way of
reading to look for specific information in a text.
Scanning can be used to read through the ads in a
newspaper, or for browsing TV schedules,
timetables, lists, catalogues or web pages for
information. For these tasks you don't need to read
or understand every word.
Scanning is also useful when studying or looking to
find specific information from a book or article
quickly as there is not always time to read every
word.
HOW TO SCAN:
Don't try to read every word. Instead let your eyes
move quickly across the page until you find what you
are looking for.
 Use clues on the page, such as headings and
titles, to help you.
 If you are reading for study, start by thinking up or
writing down some questions that you want to
answer. Doing this can focus your mind and help
you find the facts or information that you need
more easily.
WHAT IS SKIMMING?
Skimming is a reading technique that can help
you to:
read more quickly
decide if the text is interesting and whether you
should read it in more detail

Skimming is a fast reading technique. Use it to

obtain the gist of a piece of text (i.e. to quickly
identify the main ideas in the text).
HOW IS 'SKIMMING' DIFFERENT FROM 'SCANNING'?

The term skimming is often confused with scanning.

Remember:
Skimming is used, for example, to get the gist of a
page of a textbook to decide whether it is useful and
should therefore be read more slowly and in more
detail.
Scanning is used to obtain specific information from
a piece of text and can be used, for example, to find
a particular number in a telephone directory.
HOW TO SKIM:

Read the title, subtitles and subheadings to find

out what the text is about.
Look at the illustrations to give you further
information about the topic.
Read the first and last sentence of each
paragraph.
Don't read every word or every sentence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThskMeB1e5s
 These are the essential parts in
paragraphs.

✓Topics

✓Main Ideas

✓Supporting Details

Next slide
 3 Tips for Finding the Topic

1. Look for the subject of the first sentence.

Subjects are nouns (persons, places, things, or ideas).

2. Look for a word or phrase that is frequently

repeated or referred to.

3. Finally, ask: What do ALL the sentences in the

paragraph deal with?
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 Practice with Finding a Topic
Read to find the topic in this paragraph:
Does watching violence on TV make people more prone
to violence themselves? Obviously, TV violence has some
negative effects. One study found that heavy TV watchers
are more fearful of others. They try to protect themselves
with guns, alarm systems, and security locks on doors. In the
same study it was found that heavy TV watchers are less
upset about real-life violence than are non-TV watchers. All
of the violence they see on TV makes them less sensitive to
the real thing. A recent study also found that TV violence
increases aggressive behavior in kids and makes them more
likely to select toy guns rather than other kinds of toys.
Click the forward button to pick a topic.
 Click on the best topic for the
previous paragraph.

A. kids

B. TV watching

C. TV violence
D. real-life violence

Return if you need to reread paragraph.

No, kids are only mentioned in the final
sentence. “Kids” is not the topic of the
entire paragraph.

Click the back arrow and try again.

The paragraph does mention TV
watching, but that is too broad a subject,
since TV watchers can see both good
and bad or violent programs.
Click on the back arrow and try again.
Right! The topic, TV violence, is mentioned
in the first sentence and repeated throughout
the paragraph.

Click the forward arrow to see where the topic

appears.
No, the entire paragraph is not dealing with
“real-life violence”; it is only mentioned in one
sentence.

Click the back arrow and try again.