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READP2.CMP
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1990-09-20
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Speeding up the reading process is not a simple matter,
because reading is not a shallow process itself. Reading
requires the interaction of several simultaneous processes.
The reader must recognize the meaning and pronunciation of
each word - perception. He must comprehend the context of
the words, their relationship to the sentence or paragraph
in which they are found - comprehension. These two steps,
together, are termed literal comprehension and form the
basis for all understanding.
Building upon literal comprehension, the reader moves into
increasingly interpretive areas: processes which deal with
the implications; the subjective or objective facets; the
insights or emotional reactions to the piece. All of these
levels of understanding occur while we are reading. It is
no wonder that some materials are read slowly.
The complexity of a piece of literature places a definite
limit on the speed with which it may be read. Even so,
most readers may improve their reading speed of any piece
of material by investing time in four areas: speed reading
techniques; vocabulary enrichment; motivation; and
practice.
Speed reading techniques are of a unique nature. Their
value is in redirecting some ingrained habits that slow
down reading. The skills applied allow the reader to read
more quickly without loss of comprehension.
Beginning readers are taught to read by learning individual
words and reading them aloud, then in sentences.
Unfortunately, mature readers are not retaught. Word-by-
word reading, sounded reading, is the limiting factor on
many readers. This is the habit, or group of habits, that
must be broken and replaced with silent phrase-reading.
One important visual training technique is in training the
eyes to move steadily in a left-to-right motion, without
looking back at words. Many readers have the habit of
regression: looking back at previous words to be sure they
have not missed something. Possibly this became ingrained
when reading aloud, when the teacher corrected us on words
we missed until we became accustomed to checking back to
see if we were correct. Become aware of your eye
movements. Are you looking back ONLY when you've lost
understanding? Or just out of habit?
Also related to eye-movement, is the word-for-word reading
habit. From our earliest training, we are taught to look
at each word, decipher its meaning, read it, then proceed
to the next word. Our brain does not decipher meaning
while our eyes are moving, but when the eyes stop. We must
train ourselves to pick up more than one word each time the
eyes stop. These eye-stops, eye fixations, are very brief
pauses, often more than 300 stops per second. Again,
become aware of your own eye movements. Do you stop at
each word?
Think of a typewriter or word-processor with tabs and an
electric line return. Try to make your eyes imitate those
movements. The following sentence is divided into phrases.
Try reading this sentence by focusing on the middle word,
or the blank space between words of each phrase. Your
peripheral vision will help you comprehend the total phrase
without moving your eyes to each word individually.
How fast we read depends on how many words we see
per stop.
When your eyes are moving along the line, remember that you
should not focus on the first or last word of any line.
Try to focus on the second word of the line when you move
back to the left for the next line of words.
Practice reading with these points in mind. Move your eyes
along with a steady left-to-right movement, attempting to
expand the number of words you see with each pause. As
your span of recognition widens, you will naturally read
faster, recognizing more words with each stop. Do not look
back. Avoid regression. Continually try to read faster.
At this point comprehension is not the prime consideration,
but if you don't remember anything when you have finished,
then you need to slow down a little temporarily.
Another skill for fast reading is perceptual skill.
Perceptual skill reinforces the visual skills you have
practiced with eye movement techniques, again helping the
overcome the regression tendency, and the word-for-word
reading. Rapid word and phrase recognition is a central
concept in perceptual skill. Train yourself to recognize
the printed symbols (words) by their shape, to absorb the
impact of a phrase at a glance. The word-recognition
exercises build up this skill by flashing words and phrases
so fast that it is impossible to truly read and understand
with traditional reading methods.
Reading to build perceptual skill involves a three step
approach. Select a passage that has some interest for you.
(Remember that motivation plays a part in our reading
speeds.) Using the eye movement techniques you have
already learned, go through the passage as fast as you
possibly can, without concerning yourself with
understanding. When done, write down the words, phrases,
and ideas you remember from the passage. Read the passage
a second and third time. Each time, you will read it a
little faster as your brain starts remembering some of the
phrases, storing their shape for recognition rather than
retranslating each word. Finally, read the selection for
understanding. Notice how much faster you are able to
read.
A related, but still distinctive problem is that of
vocalization and subvocalization. This problem probably
reverts back to our methods of learning to read. As you
read this paragraph, are you saying each word to yourself?
Vocalization is the tendency to actually move your lips, or
sound the words in your throat. To find out if this is
happening subconsciously, try putting a straw in your mouth
and blowing softly through it while you read. If you can't
do that, or if the straw falls out, you may be vocalizing.
Subvocalization will always occur to some extent. Because
we learned to read aloud, we have the tendency to sound out
in our heads the words that we see. We can, with practice,
read much faster than we can say the individual words. The
word and phrase recognition drills above help substantially
with this problem also. As you learn to get the meaning
from the physical shape of the words, you will find you can
force yourself to read so fast you cannot say the words.
Practice reading quickly and widening your span of
recognition.
A difficult technique designed to address subvocalization
specifically is termed nonsense words. Write down a word,
any word. As you read a selection, say that word over and
over and over aloud. Obviously, you cannot sound out the
words you are reading while saying the nonsense word.
Again, this is a difficult exercise and will take a while
before you are able to repeat the nonsense word while
reading quickly and comprehending the selection.
The common thread throughout these suggestions has been
practice. None of the exercises have magical properties
that will transform a mediocre reader into an awesome one.
Each exercise is intended to place emphasis on one
particular aspect of a bad habit which needs to be
redirected. The developing reader must read regularly.
Read at least half an hour per day. For a portion of the
reading time, push yourself to read faster than you can
comprehend. Always keep the rules in mind: do not
regress; do not sound out the words; use the shape of
phrases to avoid word-for-word reading; reduce the eye
fixations by widening your span of recognition. When you
finish a selection, think about what you've read. If you
got nothing at all from it, then you were pushing too hard.
Adjust to a slightly slower speed for a while. You will
notice, though, that your "normal" rate gradually
increases.
Throughout all of these exercises and viewpoints of reading
as an investment, we have not placed enough emphasis on
reading as entertainment. Spend some time each week
reading for the fun of it. By selecting a variety of
reading material, you will discover the types of books and
the styles of writing which appeal to you. With the
diversity available, there is truly something for everyone.
Read and enjoy.
W. Royce Adams, Developing Reading Versatility, 5th ed.
(Orlando: Holt Rhinehart and Winston, 1989).
Henry A. Bamman, "Reading," World Book Encyclopedia,
1979 ed.
Bonnie Bauman, Super Reader
(New York: Stein and Day, 1979).
Russell G. Stauffer and Jean Horton Berg,
Rapid Comprehension Through Effective Reading
(New Jersey: Learn Incorporated, 1976).