Topic 6

Reading Skills
Preparing for reading

1. Psychological preparation
2. Emotional preparation
3. Physiological preparation
Psychological preparation
Get rid of anything that can hinder understanding i.e. conflicting ideas
Emotional preparation
Overexcitement, anger, remorsefulness or stress should be put under control
i.e. emotions should be at equilibrium to maintain sobriety.
Physiological preparation
• Be well fed.
• Comfort should be a priority i.e. space aeration, lighting of surroundings.
• Free from unnecessary interruptions
1. Know your topic
2. Gather all the necessary information about the topic
Types of reading
1. Skimming
• Reading skill whereby the reader runs through a given written material
looking for keywords, phrases, sentences or paragraphs with an aim to come up with an overview
of the content.
Example:
Suppose you are researching a topic for an essay or report. You might skim through multiple
articles by reading the headings, subheadings, and the introductory and concluding paragraphs to
identify key ideas, arguments, and the overall stance of each article. This helps you decide which
articles are most relevant and should be read more thoroughly.
2. Scanning
• A reader runs quickly through an entire document looking for some specific information and stops as
soon as they find it.
Example:
Imagine you're searching for a specific recipe in a cookbook. You would scan the table of contents or the
index to find the recipe's page number or scan through the recipe titles until you find the one you're
looking for.
• It saves time.
Both scanning and skimming are time-saving techniques that allow readers to quickly assess the
content and locate specific information without having to read every word. They are particularly
useful when dealing with lengthy texts or when time is limited.
• It is very fast; one wants a rough idea about the content.
• There is a high probability of leaving out important information.
• Key words can either be at the beginning or end of the paragraph depending on the style of
writing adopted i.e. inductive or deductive.
• Useful for making a summary.
3. Study Reading
• Examine or try to diagnose the idea or subject to gain deeper understanding of the concept.
• The recommended method of study reading is the SQ3R method;
1. Survey - what aspects/ approach is used in the material to help one know
the depth or scope of coverage and relevance to one’ s study.
2. Questions - what am I reading about e.g. What is communication? What
are the different types ? Make brief notes of main ideas.
3. Read.
4. Recite/ Recall - ask yourself what you have understood.
5. Revise/ Review - how accurate were you in your understanding.
SQ3R
7.1.1. Barriers of Effective Reading
These include; motivational barriers, emotional barriers and learning disabilities.
1. Emotional barriers
(a) Fear
i. Fear of criticism and judgment: Students are often afraid of the
criticism they will receive from teachers, parents and or fellow stu-
dents if they do not do well. For some students, this fear is so great that
would rather not try to succeed than risk having to take the criticism.
ii. Fear of failure: Some students rather than be afraid of the criticism that
comes with not succeeding, are afraid of failure itself. If a student has
repeatedly experienced failure in the past, they get the idea that they
will always fail and therefore, do not bother trying.
iii. Fear of rejection: Besides the fear of criticism or the fear of failure,
some students are more afraid of rejection by their peers. Some
students are afraid that if they fail, they will not be as “cool” and
people will not like them as much as if they failed.
(b) Shame
(c) Emotional sensitivity
(d) Adjusting to change
2. Motivational barriers
(a) Lack of a goal

(b) Procrastination
(c) Improperly arranged reading environment
3. Learning disabilities
These disabilities relate to particular functions of the brain which control
speech, reading and writing demands. Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy,
blindness, among others are some of the causes of disabilities affecting
reading and learning. Examples include the following
(a) Dyslexia; the person has difficulties understanding the written word.
(b) Dysgraphia; the person has difficulties forming letters when writing
(c) Dyscalculia; the person has difficulties understanding
mathematics Other barriers of effective reading include:
4. Lack of time
5. Reluctance
6. Lack of concentration
7. Environmental barriers i.e. background noise, location e.g. libraries, public

places, etc.
7.1.2. Improving your reading

skills
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. To improve your reading
skills you need to:
1. Have clear reading goals. Reading goals can be:
(a) An essay or seminar subject

(b) A report brief
(c) A selected subject area
(d) A series of questions about a specific topic.
2. Choose the right texts. 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,
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.
3. Use the right reading style: 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. 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.
4. Use note taking techniques: Once you have selected useful information, you
can begin to read in detail. Note taking techniques provide a useful aid to
reading. You can use the following technique:
(a) 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
(b) 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;
(c) 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;
(d) 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.
In summary, ways to improve your reading skills include the following:
• 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 recognizes in a single fixation

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Reading Skills

Preparing for reading

(a) Lack of a goal

mathematics Other barriers of effective reading include:

7. Environmental barriers i.e. background noise, location e.g. libraries, public

7.1.2. Improving your reading

1. Have clear reading goals. Reading goals can be:

(a) An essay or seminar subject

In summary, ways to improve your reading skills include the following:

• 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

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