Types of Reading Skills

Types of Reading

There are two major types

1. Silent reading
2. Loud reading
Objectives of Silent reading
To enable the students to read without moving
the lips and producing sounds.
To improve the speed and fluency of the students.
To enable the students to read with
comprehension (reading at deeper level).
 Advantages of Silent reading
1. It is time saving.
2. It develops the ability to read with
interest.
3. It creates creativity.
4. It is self education.
5. It is use in public places, library
etc.
 Disadvantages of silent reading
1. It is not good for the beginners.
2. It does not teach correct
pronunciation.
3. It cannot be checked (students are
reading or not).
4. Mistakes cannot be checked
properly.
5. It is not interesting.
 2. LOUD / ORAL READING
To read loudly, with the movement of
lips, with the clear pronunciation.
Oral reading should be introduced
after two months reading.
 First reading should be just
understanding of the long passages.
 Advantages of Loud reading
Students learn proper methods of reading.
Mistakes of pronunciation can be corrected.
Students develop the skill of speech and giving
lectures.
Loud reading enables the students to read accurately.
Unconscious learning i.e. your goal is to read with
proper pronunciation etc but with that you are
learning accuracy and fluency as well.
 It trains various sensory organs.
Students learn by imitation ( natural method)
It is motivational for the young children and can there
for be used to practice the structures.
It is also an effective device for quick testing of reading
comprehension and for improving pronunciation.
Disadvantages of Loud reading
Loud reading is not a source of pleasure.
It does not help in penetrating the meaning.
In later life, it is not preferred.
Louder reader cannot become an extensive reader.
Students of a class pay no attention to other students.
Visual and Non Visual Information
 Visual and Non Visual Information

Two kind of information help the reader to sort things out

1. Visual 2. Non visual
Visual information
Is to be seen on the page and in addition to text,
Such as diagrams charts, graphs and other kind of
pictorial representation.
When a young child begins to read in his mother tongue,
he relies exclusively on his visual information.
For this reason, it is essential for children’s books to be
clearly written colorful and visually attractive.
 Non visual information
It is reader’s prior(previous)
knowledge of the world, of the
subject itself and of the language
and its use.
(Knowledge of the world involves
the reader’s experience of life,
awareness of social trends and
Knowledge of the subject or
writer’s topic
 If we have to deal with specific
facts and figures, some previous
knowledge of statistical methods
and research would be very
valuable to the reader.
Knowledge of the language
involves the reader’s level of
linguistic competence.
 Greater dependence on visual
information
Since the L2 reader depends so heavily on visual
information,
he tends to concentrate on individual words and more
on only when he has satisfied himself that he knows
their meanings.
The efficient readers takes in group of words and thus
increases his reading speed and acquire a global
understanding of the text rather than a fragmental one.
Reading Process
Reading Process
The reader receives the print images
through his eyes as visual information.
The chunks of information are held in
the short term memory but for a very
limited time.
The reader then refers to his long term
memory matching the newly received
information with what is already stored
there.
Reading Process
The background knowledge that
the reader already has stored in his
long term memory is used to fill in
the gaps in the message.
 In this way, he combines what he
already knows with what he has
just received to identify meanings.
There are two type of memory
1. Short term memory
2. long term memory
1) Short Term Memory
 The normal span length for such memory is
15—20 seconds
 the number of chunks that can be held in the
short term memory for instant recall is
approximately 5 to 7.
 This shows clearly the very limited capacity of
storage system.
2) Long term memory
Is capable of holding information for much
longer time
 and have an unlimited capacity for holding
different kinds of information.
When we want to store information in the long
term memory we have to rehearse(review,
practice) i.e.
drill practice before performing in public recite or
say over that information and make some
conscious attempts to hold it.
Speed
Reader whose reading speed is very
slow are generally unable to
comprehend the text with any degree of
efficiency
and those who read too fast are
unlikely to comprehend as much as
they should.
Skimming and Scanning techniques
are means of increasing reading speed.
 What is fluent
reading?
“The ability to read at an
appropriate rate with
adequate comprehension”
 What is strategic
reading?
“The ability of the reader to
use a wide variety of reading
strategies to accomplish a
purpose for reading” (68).
ROLE OF THE READER

ACTIVE OR
PASSIVE
 Role of the Reader
The role of the reader is in fact active although
it seems to be passive.
Reading like listening is a receptive skill.
Therefore, it is tempting to think of it as
passive in nature with the reader as a kind of
absorbing information with the minimum of
activity on his own part.
 Reading involves various activities and
demands a very conscious effort on the part of
the reader.
Role of the Reader in relation to the Writer
The role of the writer is that of the
encoder(gives) or sender of the message,
whereas the reader has to decode
(understand) the received message.
The writer enjoys the freedom of choosing
vocabulary and style to convey his ideas
but it is the responsibility of the reader to
make sense of the written message in as
little time as possible , with the help of his
previous knowledge or shared knowledge
with the writer.
As the writer is free to present his own
ideas in his own ways.
The reader is similarly free to interpret
these ideas and allow them to
mingle(join) with his own feelings,
thoughts and reactions.
Thus, the same text may be
interpreted and understood
differently by different readers
depending on their own creative
An other quality of a reader is to monitor
from time to time what is being presented
as “fact” and what is no more than a
“opinion” .
Fact is a true statement because
1. it has evidence and
2. it can be observed whereas
 Opinion is a statement that shows what a
person thinks, feels orb believes..
Yet
 another is to distinguish “main idea” “supporting
ideas” and also to recognize “implied meaning”.
The main idea is the “key concept” being expressed by the text

or paragraph. It is the most central piece of information.
It is like the heart of the text or a paragraph.

Supporting Ideas---All the other supporting details in the text

or within a paragraph should tell us more about the main idea.
The supporting details are the things that describe the main

idea.
These supporting details make the main idea stronger.

Implied meaning---That is not stated ,you have to guess from

the text
 To sum up, the role of a
reader is undeniably active
because he interacts with the
writer,
uses his shared knowledge to
predict and interpret (explain)
the text to make sense of it.
Bottom Up/Top Down Theories
Interactive Approach
Bottom Up Theory
Learners start from bottom and move
upwards.
They start from the smallest unit of the
language.
Sounds/ words/ sentences/phrases/ clause/
meaningful sentences/comprehension.
By this technique we expect that the initial
learners will start from the beginning up to
the end.
The move is from simple to difficult.
Intensive reading is involved
in this type of reading.
Learners stress on the
individual units.
 Ph
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Phonology
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Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Comprehension
Top Down Theory
Here, the learners come from complex to
simple.
Reader has background knowledge.(Schemata
based).
The Top-Down approach emphasizes -

reader bringing meaning to text based on

their experiential background and interpreting
text based on their prior knowledge (whole
language).
In the light of their background knowledge, they
try to understand the whole concept.
This is done from tough to easy.
This reading type is extensive reading.
Here, the meanings are contextual.
Stress is not on individual or petty units of the
structures
Emphasis should be on constructive meanings and
keeping the language as whole utilizing the whole
activities.
 C
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Smanntic
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Syntax
Morphology
Phonetics
Phonemes
 Interactive Approach
Reader have background
knowledge 10

Reader have no
knowledge 0
Interactive Approach
The central part is called Interactive
teaching.
It includes both ways of reading,
intensive and extensive reading.
Through these both readings, the
students are learning
And as well as having fun and
enjoyment.
READING STAGES
 Stage :1 Pre-reading
Purpose:
a. To lead learners into the text
b. To motivate them to read it
c. To provide a context for the
reading
d. To reduce anxiety about the
text.
 Stage 1: Pre-reading
 The pre-reading stage is where the teacher gives
background knowledge, sets purposes, introduces key
vocabulary terms, and previews the text with the
students.
This involves the teacher giving students information
about the books they will be reading (if its a historical
book give background about what will be happening in
the book, why that is happening, and how it came to
be),
 Informing them of the purpose for reading (personal
interest-lit circles and expectations of teacher/lit focus
units),
You might:
Show the title/headline and ask for
predictions of text content
Elicit(bring out) what learners know about
the theme/topic (brainstorm)
Show some pictures and ask the learners
to guess what order they go in in the text or
ask students to predict the story
Pre-teach difficult vocabulary
Give an outline of the text or some useful
information about it.
Stage 2: While Reading

The second stage, reading, is where

the students begin reading the
material through any type of reading
(buddy, shared, guided, etc.).
It includes reading strategies/skills,
reading from beginning to end, and
note taking
 Independent reading
 is where a student reads independently.
Buddy reading
 is where a group of 2-3 students read taking
turns.
Guided reading
 is where the teacher begins reading a book to a
group of 4-5 students and then lets the students
finish on their own
 Shared reading
is similar to guided reading only the teacher
reads the entire book while the students
follow along.
Reading aloud
 which is where the teacher reads a book
aloud to the entire class and has the students
participate in activities during the reading
 While reading
Activities for while reading are usually in three
stages: activities to encourage students to get an
overall understanding of the text; those which
encourage students to work out more detailed
meanings; and those which focus on particular
grammar or vocabulary.
First stage questions might include skimming or
scanning questions.
Second stage questions might include
comprehension questions, questions of
interpretation, evaluation and personal response.
Third stage questions might include finding
synonyms, looking at grammatical patterns,
 Stage 3: Post Reading
Post reading is the stage where the students
respond to what they read through reading
logs, journals, or grand conversations.
 Responding deals with . what a child has

learned after reading a book.

This might involve reading logs where the
student writes about what they read and
connects it to real life or through discussions
that can be either whole group or small group.
1. Pre-question. A general question is given before reading,
asking the learners to find out a piece of information
central to the understanding of the text.
2. Do-it-yourself questions. Learners compose and answer
their own questions.
3. Provide a title. Learners suggest a title if none was given
originally; or an alternative, if there was.
4. Summarize. Learners summarize the content in a
sentence or two. This may also be done in the mother
tongue.
5. Continue. The text is a story; learners suggest what
might happen next.
Post reading
Post reading activities go beyond
the text to encourage students to
make connections between what
they have read and their own
experiences and to other areas of
learning English.

Post reading activities might include

a discussion, a task, a writing
Bad Reading Habits
1. Finger Movements:
 It slows down reading speed as eye is inhibited by
the movement of the finger.
2. Head Movement:
 Slows down reading speed.
3. Vocalization:
 Reading aloud slows down speed.
4. Sub vocalization:
 Utter, murmur, lips moves, mouthen, all reduces
speed.
THE END