READING

We attack printed or written material with different forms of focus and different
levels of attachment. This is determined by what exactly we want from the text.
Techniques of reading refer to the different ways in which we achieve our
objective for coming into contact with a material. From the material, we may just
seek to identify certain words; to get the gist of some information; or to get the full
meaning of the material. The three parts of this scenario correspond to the three
techniques for reading: Scanning Skimming and Close Reading which is called
READINGfor short.

a) SCANNING
This is an exercise to identify or locate some word, expression or figure on a
written or typed material. It is not to give meaning per se, but to find out the
presence of a language item. In scanning, you arm yourself with this information:
- The spelling of a word
- The length of composition of a word or phrase
- The nature or composition of a figure or number

It is this, which guides you in locating or identifying the item you are looking for.
Scanning again operates on the following characteristics and principles
 The reader has an idea about the items he is looking for.
 Reading is a directed activity, which focuses on some specific items.
 Reading may not cover all the material. It may focus on certain places in the
alphabetical or numerical arrangement. For instance, scanning an
alphabetical list for a name or word – say, READ – you would certainly
focus on the R section and exclude all other sections.
 Information sought is usually short – words, expressions and figures.
Scanning manifests in such activities as
 Locating words in a dictionary
 Locating words, expression, figures, or names on an index or list
 Identifying particular names, words, figures or expressions from a passage
 Locating a book title from a list of books or a catalogue
 Locating author name from a catalogue
 Locating a book from a shelf using its name.

Use of Scanning
Scanning helps to locate specific short information. In doing this, the reader also
builds some skills; some of which are:
 Fast, planned eye movement
 Enhanced gaze i.e. ability to see so much in a gaze or eye focus
 Familiarity with alphabetical or numerical arrangement or order

Scanning can be a way of training children in word identification. This enhances

their reading and spelling skills.

b) SKIMMING
Unlike scanning, skimming is a reading technique that aims at understanding, or at
obtaining facts. It does not seek to identify words, figures, or phrase. Rather it
seeks to identify the gist of a story or text. Unlike in close reading also, one does
not skim a text to get its full meaning and the details. It seeks to answer such
questions as:
- What is the gist of this story?
- What is this story, passage or chapter about?
- What are the various elements treated in this chapter etc.
Skimming is generally a fast reading, which is expected to use as little time as
possible. Skimming thus, concentrates on the main or skeletal facts of ideas and
not on details.

Techniques for Skimming

An effective skimming is that which provides the best understanding of the
concerns or the gist of any material in the shortest possible time. For effective
skimming then, one must know what things to concentrate on in any passage. The
following are very important in skimming.
 Topics and subtopics: Where a work is meticulously divided up, the topics
and sub-topics alone can be brought together to make up its gist.
 Special writing forms – Italics, capitalization etc. items capitalized or
italicizedare normally very germane to the meaning of a text.
 Topic sentences, which are the ideas of paragraphs, can be targeted when
skimming.
c) Transitional markers such as also, in addition, on the other hand, also help to
trace the movement or development of a story or presentation.
d) Key words around which a presentation evolves (names, concepts, and verbs)
are also important in skimming. Sometimes, the repetition of such elements
shows that these words are important to the focus of the presentation.

Use
 Skimming is used to peruse books and articles or even letters when there is
not much time to read the entire text. The function of skimming here is to
help us satisfy our curiosity.
  Sometimes also, there is the need to preview or survey a text in order to
assess its relevance or to formulate questions which will help in close
reading.
Imagine how painful it would be to read a whole article in detail only to find
at the end that it is not going to be useful.
 In revision too, skimming is important. When preparing for examination,
it may not always be possible, because of lack of time, to read the whole
text. One can thus skim the passage, chapter or notes, looking only at the
topic sentences or core sentence, which one may have underlined. The bare
point and not the detail is important in this kind revision.

Usefulness
 Skimming saves time and aids easy revision.
 It helps in sharpening one’s summary skills as one learns to pick only
salient information in skimming.
 Skimming again helps to identify or pay attention to the salient parts of a
story or presentation.
 It aids imagination and inference. This is because with the little information
gained, the reader is expected to determine the meaning or focus of the
whole larger text.
 Also, skimming increases anxiety and can make the subsequent close
reading more active, enjoyable and purposeful.

c) CLOSE READING
Unlike the two techniques – scanning and skimming – close reading aims at
yielding the full meaning of a text. It does not seek to identify particular structures
nor to get the gist of a text. To this end therefore, all the various aspects of a text
are important if any close reading exercise is to be effective. Such aspects are:
 Words
 Punctuation
 Graphology
 Paragraphing
 Style of presentation – analytical, descriptive etc

Close reading is certainly the technique for the student or the researcher. More
often than not, the student in that capacity must come into contact with any text in
its fullness so as to make the full meaning or get the details of the information it
presents. The student or researcher cannot afford to concentrate only on the
skeletal points. He needs also the details such as the examples and names of
people and places as well as the details of the various activities. These details not
only help to provide flesh to the core elements of the text. They also help one to
get the full appreciation of the core points themselves. They sometimes also help
the reader to retain the knowledge he has acquired. This is because they provide
the images or the pictures, which help readers to retain information and even to
recall them when needed.

Again, close reading does not give only ideas. Every discipline has its
metalanguage, which is used to express its concepts. Close reading improves
vocabulary, which is general; but it also equips the student with the specialized
vocabulary association with the particular field of study or business. This
vocabulary is what we call metalanguage. The student of Economics, for
instance, gets such expressions as demand, supply, scale of preference, utility and
their specialized meanings in the field of Economics.
Similar to the above point, close reading offers training in the art of writing.
Whether for pleasure or for academic or business purposes, close reading latently
offers training on how best to organize one’s work in the ways listed below:
 How to introduce or conclude one’s essay or presentation
 How to introduce new point
 Linking one paragraph to another
 Linking points
 Artistic, effective ways of making forceful presentations etc.

EXTENSIVE AND INTENSIVE READING

Although in close reading we pay attention to all the necessary elements, it would
also be understood that the level of a reader’s need of the information affects the
degree of his concentration and retention. It also affects the activities he would
undertake to ensure these. On this basis then, we can see two forms of reading –
intensive and extensive. It is necessary to observe that each of skimming, scanning
and close reading could be intensive or extensive. We can skim our notes or a
textbook for examinations, in which case skimming has been used intensively. On
the other hand, we can read closely entertainment magazines.

It should be possible to distinguish between reading to get oneself informed and

reading to really know. This may help us to differentiate between extensive and
intensive forms of reading. Reading to get informed serves generally to satisfy
one’s curiosity to know about something. On the other hand, reading to know goes
beyond satisfying curiosity. It also generally transcends the superficial nature of
just knowing about something. It seeks rather a complete knowledge of the
subject. It is a total assimilation of the subject and not just some information
about it.
 READING FAULTS
Reading as an activity has one major purpose – to yield information. The
effectiveness of reading is seen in
1. The coverage or information acquired
2. The speed with which the information acquired

Reading is, thus, a practice in pragmatism which posits that any human endeavour
must yield as much profit as possible, and must also save time.
Any reading habit which results in waste of time or prevents the acquisition of
much information in the shortest possible time is considered a reading fault.
Several of them have been discussed below:

a) Vocalization/Sub-Vocalization
The human eye sees faster, and the mind also perceives faster than the lips can read
out. In this sense, then, vocalization – pronouncing words whilst reading –
reduces the speed and the possible area you can cover in reading. This is because
your eye and mind are forced to slow down and move at the same speed as your
lips. Again, pronouncing words, or whispering or muttering them (sub-
vocalization) takes your concentration away from the meaning of the material. The
reason is that you are tempted to pay attention to your pronunciation and
sometimes correct yourself when you go wrong. It is because of this that
vocalization is considered a reading fault. It retards your reading speed and
hampers your concentration and your acquisition of knowledge.

On the other hand however, vocalization (or sub-vocalization) can enhance your
reading in these circumstances.
 When you use it at certain parts to stress a point to yourself. Here, it helps
understanding and retention.
 When you cannot concentrate, or keep yourself awake.
 Vocalization also helps you to memorize or retain facts. It introduces the
phonetic elements to the senses and makes you pay attention also to the
organization of language in general. This is however advisable when you
have already obtained the meaning of the material.
 In poetry for instance, vocalization is important because it helps you to
obtain those levels of meaning which are inherent in the sound devices,
stress and intonation.
It is necessary to understand that such positive uses of vocalization are undertaken
with a particular goal in mind. Vocalization becomes wrong when it is used
indiscriminately and without purpose.

b) Pointing at Words
This fault also reduces reading speed and understanding. In effective reading, our
eyes see more than a word. Sometimes we even see a whole line or even more. It
is this that makes reading faster. To point at words is to reduce speed. Thus is
because the eyes travel faster than the hand or finger can move.

In addition, pointing at words means focusing some attention on words and word
boundaries – and this can impair understanding. In addition, the activity of
pointing can cause early exhaustion.
c) Fixity of Gaze
Even when they are not pointing at words, some poor readers see only a word or
two at a time. Good readers, as said earlier, can see a whole line or even a couple
of them. It is certain that seeing only one word or two reduces speed. It causes
early exhaustion. Again, it impairs understanding. When language elements
combine to form longer structures, they are more meaningful when they are
perceived as parts of such longer structures. The relationship between words is
better observed in this way. Again, intonation and stress, which are useful
elements of meaning, cannot be easily realized when one sees only a word or two
when reading.

d) Regression
It is common that we read things or lines and go back immediately to them.
Sometimes, this is done deliberately to enable one get through a difficult
presentation or to solidify one’s understanding. This is useful and is therefore not
a reading fault. When we talk about regression, we mean one reads over a portion
one has already read, basically because of lack of concentration.
Regression as a reading fault occurs in two ways
 The reader reads over a portion but fails to understand because of lack of
concentration.
 The reader reads a portion again because he could not move effectively from
one line to the next. This failure may be due to lack of concentration or
sometimes to the nature of the printing. Very small fonts and close spacing
can sometimes cause such a situation. It is in this context that running a
pencil or any such things under lines, or from one line to another is
recommended. This prevents the reader from losing his way.
Regression certainly wastes reading time and cause early exhaustion and
frustration; and finally, it reduces understanding and retention.

e) Poor Reading Posture/Poor Positioning of Reading Material

The way we sit or position the material we read also affects the effectiveness of
reading. When we sit in an awkward posture, it affects our spinal cord.
Consequently, we tend to get tired very early. We, sometimes, also place the book
either too close to or eyes or too far away. When it is too close, we tend to bring
undue tension on our eyes. It also prevents us from having a good gaze, and thus,
from seeing many words at a time. When it is too far away too, reading is
impaired because some of the words cannot easily be seen. It means also that we
have to strain our eyes – reducing concentration and understanding consequently.
We make ourselves exhausted much earlier than if we had sat and placed the
material well. We need to sit in an upright position and place the material at least
one foot from our eyes and straight before us.

The reading faults described above relate the physical or mechanical condition, or
practices of reading. Other reading faults are psychological. Some of these have
also been discussed below. These variety of faults as would be seen result
invariably in the fault which many authors treat as Reading without
Comprehension.

f) Reading in Psychological Stress

In Chapter 2 and 3 under “The Student’s Psychological and Physical Frame” and
“Concentration” respectively, we discussed how important it is for one to ensure
that one is in the right physical and psychological frame to study. This is to make
concentration and absorption possible. In addition to these, one reads effectively
when the mind is relaxed.
Some students wait until the last minute when the stress of an impending
examination is on them. One cannot feel relaxed but tensed, and this is not good
enough. It is advised that the period just before examination or any such obliging
circumstances be used only to revise and organize one’s knowledge.

Sometime also, others read doubting their own abilities to understand what they
read. This has the effect of constricting the mind and robbing it of the elasticity it
needs in order to expand, concentrate, and especially to understand and absorb. It
is useful to see yourself as a good reader, or to remind yourself of your ability to
understand and absorb the material, no matter how difficult. This makes you
confident, and it helps to relax and prepare your mind. Tell yourself: “I have the
ability to understand, and I will certainly absorb what this material contains.”
This is a psychological therapy, and it massages and relaxes your mind.

g) Reading to Impress
Reading for others to listen or admire impedes one’s own concentration – and
subsequently, understanding. The audience and their admiration interpose between
you as a reader and the information. It is common to find students reading because
they want others to see them read; and not actually because they want to absorb
anything. Reading and learning in general is an inward, mental activity and
reading to impress others does not help in the least.

h) Seeing Words Outside Context

The meaning of any word or expression cannot be effectively understood unless
one relates each new expression to information both before and after it. It is this
mental back-and-forth which helps to unite all the information. Once a word or
expression does not exist alone but joins with others to form a phrase, sentence or
clause, it loses its individuality to this larger structure. Some students have not
learnt to understand a word in terms of its contextual meaning. They, thus, fail to
see metaphor and appraise its real contribution to the discourse or reading as a
whole. Even in ordinary usage, one word may have different meanings in different
contexts. Take for example the different meanings of ‘hand’ in the sentences
below:
Give me a hand
The Vigilante handed in the thieves.
The shirt was sewn by hand

i) Inattention to Punctuation, Stress and Intonation

Punctuation marks do not have any meaning in themselves, but they help to realize
one meaning or the other. An effect reading must take into consideration the
effects punctuation marks can have on the meaning. Often, we place a greater
premium on the words to the neglect of the punctuation and lots of meaning is lost
consequently.

In addition, the effective reader should perceive the intonation and stress in the
sentences he encounters in order that meaning as comes from such features can be
obtained. For instance, contrastive sentence stress is useful in making one see the
focus of the speaker. To fail to perceive this is to lose the real meaning as intended
by the writer. Let us consider
I was glad.
A sentence stress on I means the writer intends that it was him and none other who
was glad. If it is on glad, it means he is emphasizing the fact he was in no other
mood than gladness.

j) Concentrating on Details During Initial Reading

Close reading aims at details; but sometimes concentrating on many details
prevents one from getting the main points being made by the author. Once the
details are not very necessary in getting this focus, you could decide to ignore them
for the first reading if they tend to obstruct your getting the main idea. It follows
therefore that where they are so important to the main idea, one needs to
understand them in order to get to the author. A flexible attitude to details is
therefore necessary.

k) Reading with Constant Speed

Reading is like driving. Parts of the road can be smooth, and others rough. The
good driver uses his gears to regulate his speed according to the dictates of the
nature of the road. In reading too, some places can be very difficult to understand.
This may be due to eh familiarity of the information or topics, or the nature of
presentation. Yet others can be simple and very smooth. To read without
adjusting speed for these different levels of accessibility can impair understanding.
When difficult places are read very fast, they may just be covered by the eye, but
they would be without the necessary mental activity which helps to generate
understanding.

EFFECTIVE READING
The following points, most of which have been mentioned in the previous section,
are reiterated as ways by which your reading can be effective. As said earlier in
this chapter, effective reading is that which saves time or moves fastest, and yields
the highest level of absorption. These suggestions below are in this direction.
 See more words at a time. For an attempt, try to see a whole paragraph and
later a whole page, brushing your eyes through and trying to see as many
words as possible.
  Flexible eye movement. Is important so that you move your gaze as you
read on, instead of turning your head here and there. You save lots of
energy by this.
 You can run pen or pencil under the words and from line to line. This is to
prevent your losing your way as you read. Whereas pointing at words can
be recommended for children and early readers, you will only run pen or
pencil under words.
 Vary reading speed to reflect the different levels of difficulty.
 Take graphology (capitalization, italicization) punctuation and intonation
very important.
 Relate what you read to other parts of the work or to background
information. It facilitates understanding.
 Use the dictionary only when the words are indispensable to the meaning
during early or first reading.
 Read actively. This involves
- Conscious effort to understand and absorb
- Recall
- Making notes.
It helps to sustain concentration and absorption
 Motive yourself before reading:
- See yourself as a good reader
- Convince yourself of your ability to understand the text
- Define goals for that particular reading exercise
- See it as useful and indispensable
 Do not read to memorize but to understand.
Pay attention to meaning instead of the mere organization of words. When you
bypass the meaning, it means you have not understood, and therefore you cannot
absorb the material. It follows also that you cannot express it in your own words.
This certainly makes application impossible. Again, you efface your personality as
an individual. This is because by understanding material and stating it in your own
words, you bring your personality to bear on the information.