Effective reading [Archives:2008/1136/Education]
Mohammed A. Khoshafah
[email protected]
Ibb University
While I was walking one evening in Ibb City with Professor Anil K. Prasad, he told me that reading is one of the most important skills in any language and that when someone wants to develop his/her English language, he/she must develop the habit of reading.
In his writings, for Yemen Times, Professor M. N. K. Bose wrote a lot about reading skill. I would like in this piece of writing to shed some more light on effective reading.
One can ask himself/herself:how do we read effectively? I don't mean the kind of reading for exams which requires memorizing lines after lines for many hours and days. The reading that I mean is the faster reading.
As a matter of fact, reading faster is better than slow reading for two reasons: first, you can read more in less time, and second, you can improve your comprehension. How is it possible to improve your comprehension when you read faster? The answer is very simple. When you read slowly, you read one word at a time. The words seem separated, so reading separate words makes it harder to understand. The separate words become separate pieces of information that you must remember. By the time you get to the end of a sentence, you may have forgotten the beginning.
On the other hand, when you read faster, you understand better because your brain can make connections and put the words together. They are not single words, but groups of words that form ideas. These ideas are easier to remember than a lot of single words. It is also easier to connect these smaller ideas together to get the general idea of what you reading.
Now, the question is: How to read faster? There are some steps that can help increase the reading speed:-
– Don't translate into your native language as you read in English. This habit will slow down your reading speed and will interfere with your ability to think in English.
– Don't follow the words in the text with your finger or a pencil while you read. This habit will not allow you skip around. Pointing at the words forces your eyes to follow the lines of the text too closely and your eyes should follow your thoughts, not your finger.
– Don't try to pronounce each word as you read. Pronunciation is not necessary for comprehension. In fact, if you try to say the words, even silently, you will probably understand less.
– Don't move your lips when you read silently. If you do, you will never be able to read faster than 200 words per minute.
– Practice reading faster by timing yourself. You must read against your watch. Many students find that they have reading rate between 50 and 200 words per minute. Reading at less than 200 words per minute means that you are almost certainly reading word by word and having trouble in understanding.
– Finally, the good reader is the one who skips over words that are difficult for him/her and tries to skip over words which are not important to the general meaning of the text.
I want to conclude by another statement of Professor Anil K. Prasad. He says 'Yemeni students who want to learn English must think in English'. By these steps and others, students of EFL (English as a foreign language) can improve their language in general and reading skill in particular.
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[archive-e:1136-v:18-y:2008-d:2008-03-10-p:education]
