Table of Contents
Reading Skills and Strategies
Reading is more than recognizing words and understanding individual sentences. Effective reading involves understanding the writer’s message, identifying important information, recognizing relationships between ideas, making inferences, and evaluating what has been read.
Good readers adjust their reading strategy according to the purpose, type, and difficulty of a text.
1. Reading for Different Purposes
People read for different reasons, and the appropriate reading method depends on the purpose.
- Reading for general understanding: understanding the overall message of a passage.
- Reading for specific information: locating a particular fact, name, date, number, or idea.
- Reading for detail: understanding information carefully and completely.
- Reading for inference: discovering meanings that are suggested rather than directly stated.
- Reading critically: evaluating arguments, evidence, assumptions, and conclusions.
- Reading for pleasure: engaging with literature or other enjoyable material.
For example:
The library closes at 6 p.m. on weekdays.
If the question is “When does the library close?”, the reader only needs to locate the relevant information. There is no need to analyze the entire passage.
2. Skimming
Skimming means reading quickly to obtain the general idea or structure of a text.
A reader may focus on:
- the title
- headings and subheadings
- introductory and concluding paragraphs
- topic sentences
- keywords
- emphasized or repeated ideas
Skimming is useful when deciding whether a text is relevant or when obtaining a general overview.
3. Scanning
Scanning means reading quickly to locate specific information.
For example, when looking for:
- a person’s name
- a date
- a telephone number
- a particular term
- a percentage
- a specific answer
Scanning does not require reading every word.
4. Intensive Reading
Intensive reading involves careful attention to language, meaning, structure, and detail.
It is useful when:
- studying a textbook
- analyzing an argument
- answering comprehension questions
- interpreting a difficult passage
- studying an academic or legal text
5. Extensive Reading
Extensive reading involves reading larger amounts of material primarily for general understanding, knowledge, or enjoyment.
Examples include:
- novels
- newspapers
- biographies
- magazines
- general nonfiction
Extensive reading helps develop vocabulary, fluency, background knowledge, and familiarity with different writing styles.
6. Previewing a Text
Before reading closely, it can be useful to preview the text.
Ask:
- What is the title?
- Who wrote it?
- What is the subject?
- What type of text is it?
- What do the headings suggest?
- What do I already know about the subject?
Previewing activates background knowledge and creates expectations about the text.
7. Predicting
Readers often predict what will come next based on:
- the title
- previous information
- headings
- context
- the writer’s argument
Predictions are not necessarily correct. Their purpose is to make reading active rather than passive.
8. Questioning
Effective readers ask questions while reading:
- What is the main point?
- Why does the writer mention this?
- What evidence supports the claim?
- What does this word mean here?
- What is implied?
- How does this paragraph relate to the previous one?
Questioning encourages deeper comprehension.
9. Using Context
A reader does not always need a dictionary for an unfamiliar word. Its meaning can often be inferred from surrounding information.
The road was treacherous. Several vehicles had already skidded on the icy surface.
The description of vehicles skidding on ice provides clues that treacherous means dangerous or unsafe.
10. Summarizing
A summary expresses the essential ideas of a text in a shorter form.
A good summary:
- identifies the central idea
- includes important supporting points
- excludes unnecessary details
- uses concise language
- represents the original meaning accurately
11. Monitoring Understanding
Good readers notice when they do not understand something.
They may:
- reread the sentence
- examine the surrounding context
- identify unfamiliar vocabulary
- connect the information with earlier ideas
- slow down
- summarize the section mentally
Reading comprehension is therefore an active process of constructing and checking meaning.
Key Principle
Read according to purpose. Skim for the general idea, scan for specific information, read intensively for detail, and read critically when evaluation is required.