Improving your
reading skills will reduce unnecessary reading time and enable you to read in a
more focused and selective manner. You will also be able to increase your
levels of understanding and concentration. This guide shows you how to read
with greater efficiency and effectiveness by using a range of different reading
skills.
Other useful guides
from Student Learning Development: Effective note-making, Thought mapping.
Reading for study
You already use a
range of reading styles in everyday situations. The normal reading style that
you might use for reading a novel is to read in detail, focusing on every word
in sequence from start to finish. If it is a magazine you are reading, you might
flick through the pages to see which articles are of interest. When you look in
a telephone directory for a particular name, you purposefully ignore all other
entries and focus your attention on spotting the name you want. These everyday
reading skills can be applied to your studies.
To improve your reading skills you need
to:
·
have clear reading goals;
·
choose the right texts;
·
use the right reading style;
·
use note taking techniques.
Reading goals
Clear reading goals
can significantly increase your reading efficiency. Not everything in print
will be of use to you. Use reading goals to select and prioritise information
according to the task in hand.
Reading goals can be:
·
an essay or seminar subject;
·
a report brief;
·
a selected subject area;
·
a series of questions about a specific
topic.
Use your reading goals to help you
identify the information that is relevant to your current task.
Choosing a text
You will need to assess the text to see
if it contains information that is relevant to your reading goals.
·
Check the date of publication. Is the information up-to-date?
·
Read the publisher's blurb at the back or inside sleeve for an
overview of the content.
www.le.ac.uk/succeedinyourstudies
·
Check the contents page for relevant
chapters.
·
Look up references for your topic in the index.
If the text does
not seem relevant, discard it.
Once you have
selected a text you can use the following techniques of scanning and skimming
to help you identify areas for detailed reading.
Scanning
Scanning is the
technique you might use when reading a telephone directory. You pass your
vision speedily over a section of text in order to find particular words or
phrases that are relevant to your current task. You can scan:
·
the introduction or preface of a text;
·
the first or last paragraphs of chapters;
·
the concluding or summarising chapter of
a text;
·
the book index.
Skimming
Skimming is the
process of speedy reading for general meaning. Let your eyes skip over
sentences or phrases which contain detail. Concentrate on identifying the
central or main points. Use this technique to:
·
pre-view a selection of text prior to detailed reading;
·
refresh your understanding of a selection of text following detailed
reading.
Detailed reading and note taking
Once you have
selected useful information, you can begin to read in detail. Note taking
techniques provide a useful aid to reading. Use:
·
underlining and highlighting to pick out what
seem to you the most central or important words and phrases. Do this in
your own copy of texts or on photocopies - never on borrowed texts;
·
keywords to record the main
headings as you read. Use one or two keywords for each main point. Keywords can
be used when you don't want to mark the text;
·
questions to encourage you to
take an active approach to your reading. Record your questions as you read.
They can also be used as prompts for follow up work;
·
summaries to check you have
understood what you have read. Pause after a section of text and put what you
have read in your own words. Skim over the text to check the accuracy of
your summary, filling in any significant gaps.
These techniques
encourage an active engagement with the text as well as providing you with a
useful record of your reading. Avoid passively reading large amounts of text,
it does not make effective use of your time. Always use a note taking technique
to increase your levels of concentration and understanding.
For more detailed guidance on note taking
techniques see the guide: Effective note-making.
© Student Learning Development, University of Leicester
2009 2
Increasing
your reading speed
It is more important to improve your reading skills than your reading
speed. Being focused and selective in your reading habits will reduce the time
you spend reading. If, in addition to using a range of reading skills you want
to increase your reading speed, then the following technique will be of use.
The average reading
speed is about 240-300 words per minute. For the average reader, the eye fixes
on each word individually.
It is easy for your eye to recognise 4 or
5 words in a single fixation without a loss of understanding.
The key to
increasing your reading speed is not to increase the speed at which your eyes
move across the page, but to increase the word span for a single fixation. A
simple way of developing the habit of taking in more than one word per fixation
is to take a page of text and divide it length ways into three with two lines
drawn down the page. Using a pen or pencil as a pointer, read each line of text
by allowing your eye to fall only in the middle of each of the three sections,
as indicated by your pointer.
Developing your reading speed
·
Don't worry about how quickly you are reading but
instead, concentrate on reading the line in only three fixations.
·
As this becomes more natural, practise without drawing lines.
·
Later, reduce the number of fixations to two per line.
·
Once this increased word span becomes a comfortable habit, an increase
in your reading speed will occur.
© Student Learning Development, University of Leicester
2009 3
·
Have a clear focus for your reading. Set
your reading goals.
·
Survey the text before you spend the time
and effort involved in detailed reading.
·
Scan and skim to select the text for
detailed reading.
·
Scan and skim after detailed reading to
reinforce your understanding.
·
Use a form of note taking whilst reading
in detail, to keep you concentrating, aid understanding and provide you with a
record of your reading.
·
Using clear reading goals and a variety
of reading skills is more important than increasing your reading speed.
·
To improve your reading speed, don't
increase the speed of the eye across the page, but increase the number of words
the eye recognises in a single fixation.
This study
guide is one of a series produced by Student Learning Development at the
University of Leicester. As part of our services we provide a range of
resources for students wishing to develop their academic and transferable
skills.
studyhelp@le.ac.uk | www.le.ac.uk/succeedinyourstudies
©
Student Learning Development, University of Leicester 2009
