Effective Reading Skills e

EFFECTIVE READING SKILLS
NIPUN CHAUDHARY
© Oxford University Press 2011
Variation in Speed of Reading with Change in Purpose of Reading
Purpose of Reading No. of Words (words per

minute/wpm)
Reading for memorization Fewer than 100
Reading for learning 100-200
Reading for comprehension 200-400
Skimming 400-700

Differences Between Efficient and
Inefficient Readers
An Efficient Reader An Inefficient Reader
Always reads for ideas or information Tries to read words
Reads group of words/multi-phrases Reads word by word
Quickly adjusts his/her speed of Reads the text from the beginning till the
reading to the nature of the text end
Sets the purpose of reading right in the Reads everything and deliberately goes
beginning slow while reading
Reads the information again and again to

Reads smoothly figure out a clear understanding of the text

Cont.
An Efficient Reader An Inefficient Reader

Vocalizes or sub-vocalizes words while
Visualizes ideas reading
Has limited vocabulary which hampers

Has a good vocabulary in that his/her speed and understanding
subject
Continuously keeps improving Rarely attempts speed reading

his/her pace of reading
Properly tries to sort out the

material as critical, interesting, Reads everything indiscriminately
analytical, etc

Common Obstacles in Effective
Reading
• Lack of concentration
• Eye fixation
• Regression
• Reading aloud or turning the head from side to side
• Indiscriminate use of the dictionary

Lack of Concentration
• Poor reading habits leads to poor concentration.
• Reading often appears to be an unpleasant task when we are

forced to do it and our mind begin to drift.
• Like in the adjacent picture.

the boy is not actually reading ,
his mind is occupied with planning
the upcoming camping trip.

Eye Fixation
• While reading, when one is unable to progress well
beyond a thought, expression, or word, it is regarded as
eye fixation .
• It happens either due to poor reading habits or poor

comprehension.
• To overcome this, divide the sentence into different

thought units and don’t fixate onto one.

Regression
• When we are unable to understand an idea, we habitually go
back to the part where it occurs in a passage or simply reading
the text again and again to understand the idea.
• It clearly suggests incompetence in reading and

comprehension skills .
• To over come this problem, make your eye move over at least
2–3 words in one go and let it glide over the text in a rhythm.

Reading Aloud or Turning the Head
from Side to Side
• Bad habits also affects reading ..like speaking aloud or
swaying head…
• Moving the head from time to time, moving the lips while
reading, or gliding a pen, pencil, or scale through the text are
also not worth imbibing .
• Such added habits tend to affect our understanding.
• Ideally, our eyes should see and our mind should read the text
before us.

Indiscriminate Use of the
Dictionary
• Lack of guidance about proper utilization of dictionary
also leads to damage to our reading habits.
• Another misuse of the dictionary is the tendency to refer to
it the moment one comes across a word one finds difficult
to understand.
• Frequently referring dictionary to find the meanings makes
us to loose the spontaneity in our reading process.
• While reading ,observing carefully the use of words and
the context in which they are used helps to enrich
vocabulary and makes our reading more effective.

Few More Obstacles in Reading
• Reading becomes a cumbersome(burdensome) activity
when you skip the major part of the text and are in a hurry
to finish it.
• When you do not read a longer text at stretch for at least an
hour to allow yourself to develop interest in it, you cannot
enjoy reading.
• When your mind is preoccupied with other thoughts rather
than the message that you are reading, the time spent is just
wasted.
• Sometimes students have the tendency to read aloud, which
is called vocalization. They do so because they feel they
should not get distracted while reading. However, this kind
of reading not only mars their speed of reading but also
their comprehension of the text.

Few More Obstacles in Reading
• Reading becomes an uphill task when you have an

unfriendly approach towards it.
• Reading becomes boring when you do not select a book

or text for reading according to your linguistic and
cognitive level.
• One cannot read faster in an effort to remember

everything rather than to remember selectively

Skimming Scanning
Types
of
Reading
Intensive Extensive

Skimming
• Used to quickly gather the most important information or
‘gist’ from the document or novel that you read .
• It is not essential to understand each word when you employ

skimming while reading.
• Example
– While reading the news items we quickly go through them
as to get an idea what’s their content is…

Scanning
• Used to find a particular piece of information .
• You make our eyes to run over the text, looking for the
specific piece of information you need.
• Example
– While reading a magazine or book, you scan the table of
contents or indexes and turn directly to interesting articles
to arrive at the specific information.

Extensive Reading
• Used to obtain a general understanding of a subject .
• Includes reading of longer texts for pleasure, and

business reports to know about the general trends .
• Understanding the meaning of individual words is not at

all necessary.
• Example
– While reading novel we generally do not focus on
individual words, rather we try to understand the
message that is conveyed.
Intensive Reading
• Used on shorter texts in order to extract detailed
information .
• It includes very close and accurate reading for details.
• In this case, it is important for you to understand each
word, information, or fact .
• Example
– When you read your text book for understanding the
concepts or various theories, you have to read
intensively.
– While signing any contract or insurance policy, we
read and understand the points mentioned in the
contract.

We can summarize the types as
Type Purpose
Skimming Skimming Used to understand the gist

or main idea
Scanning Used to find a particular piece of
information
Extensive reading Used for pleasure and general
understanding
Intensive reading Accurate reading for comprehensive
understanding

Different Types of Passages for
Reading Comprehension
• Science passages
• Social science passages
• Business passages
• Entertainment passages
• Literary Passages/Poems

Science Passages
• Deal with hard facts of science, and the topics are related to
different branches of science such as biology, chemistry,
medicine, etc .
• Objective and neutral in tone .
• Terminology in such write-ups is a little complex, but the
theme is quite tangible(concrete).
• science passages are mostly factual and straightforward
• Not many inference questions are drawn from science
passage but factual questions.
• Approach these types of passages by doing an initial speed
reading/skimming of the text i.e. to analyze the structure of
passage.
Social Science Passages
• Deal with topics such as history, politics, psychology,

geography, philosophy, literature, language, art, music,
social theories, etc.
• Questions deal more with inferences and less with

explicit information given in the passage .
• Not just read what is explicitly stated but also figure out
what is implicitly suggested.

Business Passages
• Present questions that require you to infer information and at

times even determine the authors’ moods, views, and
opinions .
• Need to be read slowly and carefully.
• Answer questions based on the content in the passage (not

other things you have read)

Entertainment Passages
• Usually discusses a topic related to entertainment, sports,

or leisure.
• Passage could be on a topic such as the lifestyle of the

rich and famous, the reason for the success of a
Hollywood or Bollywood movie, or current dilemmas in
sports, or some trends in adventure sports.

Literary Passages/Poems
• While reading one such piece of writing you need to

understand and appreciate the imaginative and creative use of
language .
• Sensitivity to the author’s attitude or the poet’s vision is

required.
• Along with understanding the themes and sub themes of such

passage, you need to identify various elements like humour,
pathos, satire, irony etc.

Different suggested approaches to
reading (by decreasing the speed)
Type of Difficulty Suggested Approach
Unfamiliar terminology Try to understand it in the context at that point;
otherwise, read on and return to it later
Difficult sentence and Slow down enough to enable you to untangle

paragraph structure them and get the accurate context for the
passage.
Unfamiliar or abstract Look for applications or examples of your own
concepts
Detailed, technical This includes complicated directions, statements
material of difficult principles, and materials on which
you have scant background. Be patient and
approach the text critically.
Material on which you Since you want to remember them for a longer
want detailed retention duration, read such a material with intensity,
observation, and painstaking effort.

Different suggested approaches to
reading (by accelerating your pace)
Type of Difficulty Suggested Approach
Simple material with few ideas which Move rapidly over the familiar ones;
are new to you spend most of your time on the
unfamiliar ideas.
Unnecessary examples and Since these are included to clarify

illustrations ideas, move over them rapidly when
they are not needed.
Detailed explanation and idea Since you do not need them, you can
elaboration which you do not need move rapidly over them.
Broad, generalized ideas, and ideas These can be readily grasped, even
which are restatements of previous with scan techniques.
ones

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EFFECTIVE READING SKILLS

Purpose of Reading No. of Words (words per

Reading for memorization Fewer than 100

Reading for learning 100-200

Reading for comprehension 200-400

© Oxford University Press 2011

An Efficient Reader An Inefficient Reader

Always reads for ideas or information Tries to read words

Reads group of words/multi-phrases Reads word by word

Reads the information again and again to

© Oxford University Press 2011

An Efficient Reader An Inefficient Reader

Has limited vocabulary which hampers

Continuously keeps improving Rarely attempts speed reading

Properly tries to sort out the

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Reading aloud or turning the head from side to side

• Indiscriminate use of the dictionary

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Poor reading habits leads to poor concentration.

• Reading often appears to be an unpleasant task when we are

• Like in the adjacent picture.

© Oxford University Press 2011

• It happens either due to poor reading habits or poor

• To overcome this, divide the sentence into different

© Oxford University Press 2011

• It clearly suggests incompetence in reading and

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Such added habits tend to affect our understanding.

© Oxford University Press 2011

© Oxford University Press 2011

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Reading becomes an uphill task when you have an

• Reading becomes boring when you do not select a book

• One cannot read faster in an effort to remember

© Oxford University Press 2011

© Oxford University Press 2011

• It is not essential to understand each word when you employ

© Oxford University Press 2011

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Includes reading of longer texts for pleasure, and

• Understanding the meaning of individual words is not at

© Oxford University Press 2011

Skimming Skimming Used to understand the gist

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Social science passages

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Deal with topics such as history, politics, psychology,

• Questions deal more with inferences and less with

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Present questions that require you to infer information and at

• Need to be read slowly and carefully.

• Answer questions based on the content in the passage (not

© Oxford University Press 2011

• Usually discusses a topic related to entertainment, sports,

• Passage could be on a topic such as the lifestyle of the

© Oxford University Press 2011

• While reading one such piece of writing you need to

• Sensitivity to the author’s attitude or the poet’s vision is

• Along with understanding the themes and sub themes of such

© Oxford University Press 2011

Difficult sentence and Slow down enough to enable you to untangle

© Oxford University Press 2011

Unnecessary examples and Since these are included to clarify