Reading Techniques





Reading must be seen as an acquired ability. But acquiring it implies a lot of practice, a good vocabulary background, good speed and intonation and the knowledge of some techniques that can guarantee comprehension. In this section we will concentrate on the latter. Unfortunately we cannot give you techniques on intonation and speed. We can not help you with the vocabulary either, since this is a personal task and you must get to it. Nevertheless, we can help you understand a little better what you read. For this purpose at the left you can find three of the most well known techniques for reading. Click on each title at the right to find important information. Remember that the best way to become a great reader is enjoying what you read.



Skimming
Scanning
Using Context

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Skimming

Skimming is a technique suitable for scientific texts as well as for general texts. This is defined as the search of main ideas using only the first and last paragraphs to obtain a general view of the text. When you are working with scientific texts applying this technique can be easier since this type of literature usually contains topic headings, abstracts or summaries that might come in handy for the reader. Another advantage of a scientific text is that they are usually written in block of information grouped in paragraphs. In this case the best alternative is to read the first sentence of each paragraph. It is important to note that this technique is used not as a short cut to reading the whole text. It does not mean that you can simply read the first and last paragraphs and that you can understand everything. This technique is used to help you get n idea of what you are about to read. Skimming is like having a map before entering a city. It is less likely that you get lost if you have previous information.
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Scanning

When students face a new text they tend to read word by word. This way of reading affects the general understanding of the passage and the time taken to finish the reading can be too long for the final results. The students can end up reading every word very well but in the long run the idea of what they have read is lost. To avoid this loss of time and effort a reader can use Scanning to help him or her. Scanning consists on running your eyes down the text, searching for important or key words, as well as the most outstanding facts. Scanning can be a preliminary step in reading because with it you can locate new terms, look them up in a dictionary or a glossary and save time when you actually begin to read. The process of Scanning can not take more than a couple of minutes. After that you must decide which terms are the most important and which part of the reading deserves more attention. Do not forget that this is only a comprehension technique designed to help you get into the reading, in order to interpret the authors intentions and ideas it is important to read the whole text and the analysis of it must be done with a little bit more detail.
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Using Context

Most of the times we are faced with reading something just then, at that precise moment. In the real world you can not be too prepared to read a text. In many cases you simply do not have the time to use a dictionary or to apply a given technique. It is only you and the text. This is when understanding context can come in handy. Context can defined as the elements that surround a term and help clarify its meaning. The first thing to do when taking advantage of context is recognizing the grammatical category of the word we are trying to understand of define. Is it an adverb, an adjective, a verb or a noun? English grammar can give us some tips to know exactly what kind of word we are dealing with, for example:

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