Reading Skills Essay Example for Free

Reading Skills EssayReading daily, Reading deeply, Reading widely atomic number 18 the a couple of(prenominal) important skills of reading from which we can enhance our controling of passage, ameliorate our vocabulary, correct our grammatical mistakes, increase our thinking capacity and helps in improving or study any part of a language. The more you read the one thing you realize the headstone to doing well in the examination, and the key to perform or impart any task in a well equipped way. There are many techniques physical exercised in reading to get and understand satisfying idea or summary of the passage to improve reading. But few important skills of reading are given below to improve reading.1. Styles of reading 2. ready reading 3. A tip for speeding up your active reading 4. Spotting authors navigation aids 5. Words and vocabulary pic1. Styles of reading There are three styles of reading which we use in different situations Scanning Scanning is what you do to find an answer to a specific question. You may run your eye quickly down the page in a zigzag or winding S pattern. If you are looking for a name, you note capital letters. For a date, you look for numbers. Vocabulary words may be courageousfaced or italicized. When you scan for information, you read only what is quested.Its helpful to scan parts of text editions to see if theyre going to be useful to you the introduction or preface of a book the prototypal or last carve ups of chapters the concluding chapter of a book. s possess for getting the gist of something Skimming is covering the chapter to get some of the main ideas and a general overview of the square. It is what you do first when reading a chapter assignment. You dont read for details at this point. present is how you hop a chapter . To preview a passage before you read it in detail Read the first paragraph of the chapter line by line. Next, read all the bold print headings starting at the beginning. Read the first sentence of every paragraph. Study any pictures, graphs, charts, and maps. Finally, read the last paragraph of the chapter. As you skim, you could write down the main ideas and develop a chapter outline. Detailed reading for extracting information accurately Where you read every word, and work to learn from the text. In this careful reading, you may find it helpful to skim first, to get a general idea, but then go back to read in detail. drill a dictionary to possess sure you understand all the words used. pic2. Active readingWhen youre reading for your course, you need to make sure youre actively intricate with the text. Its a waste of your time to just passively read, the way youd read a thriller on holiday. Always make notes to keep up your concentration and understanding. Here are four tips for active reading. Underlining and highlighting Pick out what you think are the most important parts of what you are reading. Do this with your own imitation of texts or on p hotocopies, not with borrowed books. If you are a visual learner, youll find it helpful to use different colours to highlight different aspects of what youre reading.Note key words Record the main headings as you read. Use one or two keywords for each point. When you dont want to mark the text, keep a folder of notes you make while reading. Questions Before you start reading something like an article, a chapter or a whole book, prepare for your reading by noting down questions you want the material to answer. While youre reading, note down questions which the author raises. Summaries Pause after youve read a section of text.Then 1. put what youve read into your own words 2. skim through the text and check how accurate your summary is and 3.fill in any gaps. pic3. A tip for speeding up your active reading You should learn a huge amount from your reading. If you read passively, without reading, youre wasting your time. So train your mind to learn. Try the SQ3R technique.First develop ed by researchers at Ohio State University, SQ3R is a useful technique for absorbing pen information. It helps you to create a good mental framework of a subject, into which you can fit the right facts. It helps you to set study goals and prompts you to use the review techniques that will help you to remember.The acronym SQ3R stands for the five sequential techniques you should use to read a book Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. Survey Gather the information you need to focalize on the work and set goals Read the patronage to help prepare for the subject Read the introduction or summary to see what the author thinks are the key points Notice the boldface headings to see what the structure is Notice any maps, graphs or charts. They are there for a purpose Notice the reading aids, italics, bold face, questions at the end of the chapter. They are all there to help you understand and remember.QuestionHelp your mind to engage and concentrate. Your mind is engaged in re ading when it is actively looking for answers to questions. Make questions that can be answered during the reading of the material. This will give a purpose to your reading. Take a heading and turn it into a question. For example, if a heading in a chapter about Cell Division is in your biology text, make a question by turning the title around How does cell division occur? or How many steps are involved in cell division? Read Read the first section with your questions in mind. Now you read the material trying to find answers to your questions.This is a careful reading, line by line. You may want to take notes or make flashcards. Recall As you read, look away from your book and notes and try to answer your questions. This checks your learning and helps put that information in your memory. After each section, cylinder block and think back to your questions. See if you can answer them from memory. If not, take a look back at the text. Do this as ofttimes as you need to.. Review To c heck your memory, scan portions of the material or your notes to verify your answers. Review the material and note the main points under each heading. This review step helps you give the material.The SQ3R method is just one technique that can be used to retain information you collect while reading. Students learn in different ways. thence they should be aware of their learning styles. Knowing whether you are an Auditory (learn by hearing), Visual (learn by seeing) or Kinesthetic (hands-on) learner helps you to understand your best learning environment. The SQ3R technique of reading can help to enhance your reading skills no matter what your style is. pic4. Spotting authors navigation aids Learn to recognize episode signals, for example Three advantages of or A number of methods are available leads you to expect several points to follow. The first sentence of a paragraph will often indicate a sequence One important cause of followed by Another important factor and so on, until The final cause of General points are often illustrated by particular examples, for example General Birds beaks are appropriately shaped for feeding. Particular Sparrows and other seed-eating birds have short, stubby beaks wrens and other insect eaters have thin pointed beaks herons and other fish hunters have long, sharp beaks for spearing their prey. Whatever you are reading, be aware of the authors background.It is important to recognize the bias given to writing by a writers political, religious, social background. Learn which newspapers and journals represent a particular standpoint pic5. Words and vocabulary When youre a graduate people expect you to use a vocabulary which is wider than a school-leavers. To expand your vocabulary Choose a large dictionary rather than one which is compact or concise. You want one which is too large enough to define words clearly and helpfully (around 1,500 pages is a good size). Avoid dictionaries which send you round in circles by just givin g synonyms. A pocket dictionary might suggest impetuous = rash.A more comprehensive dictionary will give tongue to you that impetuous means rushing with blackjack and violence, while another gives liable to act without consideration, and add to your understanding by giving the derivation 14th century, from late Latin impetuous = violent. It will tell you that rash means acting without due consideration or thought, and is derived from Old High German rasc = hurried. So underlying these two similar words is the divagation between violence and hurrying. There are over 600,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary most of them have different meanings, (only a small isotropy is synonyms).Avoid dictionaries which send you round in circles by using very complicated language to define the term youre looking up, leaving you struggling to understand half a dozen new words. Keep your dictionary at hand when youre studying. Look up unfamiliar words and work to understand what they mean. r ectify your vocabulary by reading widely. Reading skills in a precis form Comprehensions Reading comprehension is a basic skill that each college savant must possess. Believe it or not, reading is a complex, accrued skillnot acquired overnight learning to read and comprehend takes practice.Comprehension involves obtaining information from written text. A contributor who comprehends a text accurately understands what the writer intended to communicate. She understands the purpose and the main idea. Comprehension cannot be observed directly, but a reader who is able to retell, paraphrase or summarize a text demonstrates comprehension. Interpretation When a reader interprets a text, he is employing a critical thinking strategy. He uses evidence and clues from the text to draw conclusions and looks for larger or more universal principals in what he has read.Interpretation requires going beyond the initial impression of what he has read to develop a more complex and complete understan ding. Analysis When a reader analyzes the text, she identifies the assumptions of the writer and examines the structure of the logical argument. She asks questions such as, Does the evidence support the argument? and Does it support the conclusions the writer draws? She is looking for evidence of a logical and/or consistent argument. Synthesis With synthesis, the skilled reader is able to show how a text develops or builds meaning.He sorts out and reconstructs ideas in a text to point out how they are interrelated. He compares and extends meaning from multiple sources. Evaluation Evaluation, determining the fiber and effectiveness of a text, is the highest level of critical thinking associated with reading, according to Lesley Thompson, Senior Assessment and Accountability Program Associate at the Northwest Regional study Laboratory. An effective reader evaluates the merit of the text by drawing on her own experience and knowledge and considering whether other sources provid e evidence that agrees with or contradicts the writers argument.