Introduction

Reading is an essential element at every stage of one's life particularly in schools, colleges and at workplace (for persons occupying executive posts). This is because reading is a means of discovering information to expand knowledge and understanding of the subject of any kind. That is why it is said "Reading is to mind what exercise is to the body". The more you read, the stronger your mind is. As the exercise strengthens the body reading strengthens the mind.

There is a general assumption that every one knows how to read. But the fact is the other way round. Not every one knows how to read and those who feel they know are not doing effectively as they could be. The ability to read fluently is one of the several factors necessary for reading ability. If the reader is not fluent, it may be difficult to remember what has been read and relate the ideas expressed in the text.

It is a well-known fact that when there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away-in their minds. The only tragedy is that, with time, people have lost their skill and passion to read. There are many other exciting and thrilling options available, aside from books. And that is a shame because reading offers a productive approach to improving vocabulary and word power. It is advisable to indulge in at least half an hour of reading a day to keep abreast of the various styles of writing and new vocabulary.

It is observed that children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative and do better in school and college. It is recommended that parents inculcate the importance of reading to their children in the early years. Reading is said to significantly help in developing vocabulary, and reading aloud helps to build a strong emotional bond between parents and children. The children who start reading from an early age are observed to have good language skills.

Reading is a cognitive process

Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps readers to learn new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations. The habit can become a healthy addiction and adds to the information available on various topics. It helps us to stay in-touch with contemporary writers as well as sensitive to global issues.

If you want to read well, you must pay attention. There is a lot more to reading well, but paying attention is an unavoidable first step. you are not paying attention, you might as well stop reading, for you are no longer registering what is being said, which means that you have already stopped reading anyway. Just looking at the words won't do.

Good readers are what they read

By disagreeing with the above heading you have already allowed your ego to work not waiting for what the author is trying to say. "Good readers are what they read" is the idea that good readers are capable of putting aside their own at least till the act of reading. In other words, they turn themselves into empty receptacles.

In any case, it is not easy to disengage yourself (even if just temporarily) in order to give your undivided attention to another - first to the text and, ultimately to the writer of the text. Unless you are willing to do this, you shall never become a good reader. So the first rule is: In order to read well, you must learn to ignore yourself. You must remember that the text is not about you. You are only reading it in order to get something from it, ultimately from its writer.

Getting students to read their textbooks is hard. Getting them to read books just for the sheer pleasure of reading is especially harder since students just don't seem to be interested in reading these days. Gone are the days when students curled up with a nice little book when it was too hot to play outside. Today, students spend any free time they have watching TV, going to the mall, tinkering with their mobile phones or playing video games.

Benefits of reading

• Reading develops a person's creativity. Reading a book allows a student to exercise and cultivate her/his creative thinking skills

• Developing good reading skills can improve students' ability to comprehend concepts and ideas

• Reading develops critical thinking, thus, ensuring that students will be able to think and make good decisions for themselves

• Ones' fluency in a language and, consequently, communication skills are improved by reading

• Reading introduces students to new things and has the ability to broaden their interests

• Reading regularly increases the vocabulary

• Reading can develop positive values in students

• According to studies, reading increases a student's ability to concentrate

• Developing students' reading and comprehension skills early on in their education also means that they are preparing them for the "real world."

• Spelling improves when words are seen in print.

• Reading also improves students' writing skills as they are able to "subconsciously acquire good writing style."

The fact that students reap great benefits from reading cannot be doubted or questioned. It is for this reason that you must develop a real love for reading and become lifelong readers.

Different types of reading

There are various types of reading. Don't use the same approach to reading all the time. These techniques apply to books, magazines, or anything else in printed form.

1. Rapid survey

Check what you are reading - a rapid glance is all that's necessary. Is it what you need? Up to date? Are all the contents relevant - or only some? Are they written at the right level for you? Answer these questions quickly. This is also known as previewing.

2. Sampling

Here you explore the contents in a little more detail. Look at chapter headings, or the introduction. Just read a page or two in various chapters. Keep asking yourself "Is this book suitable for me?" If the answer is "No" - move on to something else.

3. Skimming

This is making a rapid survey of the subject. This may be to get a rough idea, or to see what the book is about. Glance through the book quickly and pick up the main points. Try to get a general picture of what it's about. This is a very useful skill which becomes easier with practice.

4. Searching

Here you are looking for a single piece of information. For instance, someone's telephone number. Go straight to the contents, or the index, or locate the page. Look up the item you need - and write it down. Put the book back and move on without browsing. 

5. Selecting

This is focusing your attention on one part of a book. Only one part is important for what you need. Read the section, get the idea, and leave the rest alone. Don't be distracted into browsing over more than you need. This requires self-discipline, but it's a very useful skill.

6. Studying

Here you are reading to understand the contents of a book. It's the most common approach in any serious form of study. You need to concentrate whilst reading. You should try to understand what the writer means. You might also be taking notes whilst reading. The reading may be part of your coursework, or research for a project. You might also need to read a book more than once to grasp the point it is making.

7. Close reading

This is reading for 'appreciation'. This approach is used in subjects such as literature and religious studies. Every word may be studied in close detail. You are looking for any possible meaning it may contain. The result of this is a deep understanding of the book.

8. Rapid reading

Here you are reading to 'find out what happens next'. For instance, when reading popular fiction. You will rarely dwell on the book or study it closely. This is reading for pleasure or entertainment. You don't need to pay attention to every word.

9. Speed reading

This may be useful for absorbing information at a surface level. It's not really suitable for understanding and retaining information. It's unlikely to help if you are engaged in studying. Keep in mind the Woody Allen joke: "I went on a speed reading course last week and it worked! Yesterday I read War and Peace in an hour ... It's about some Russians."

You read various items in a day. They may include a newspaper, a lecture handout, a magazine, a course text, and now this book. You don't read them all in the same way and same speed. We read different things in different ways because we read them for different purposes. In short, we do not read something without first having a reason to do so.

Deciding what to read

You are aware of the benefits to be gained from reading but knowing just what to read is not always easy. If you are not sure whether a particular text will be useful or not, try using the following approach :

• Decide on what you are looking for from the text

• Look at the contents page, the preface, the introduction and the index

• Skim read the first and the last paragraph of the chapter you want to read

• Decide if the chapter you want to read is relevant to you.

Tips for effective reading

Throughout your career as a student you will be required to read a variety of texts and gather material for assignments. Here are some guidelines for effective reading.

1. Preview

2. Question

3. Take notes

4. Summarise

5. Review and reflect

1. Preview

When skimming, you should follow the procedure below, adapting it to your purpose.

• Read the title

• Note the writer's name

• Note the date and place of publication

• Read the first paragraph completely

• Read sub-headings and first sentences of remaining paragraphs

As you read, pick up main ideas, key words (words that tell you who, what, when, where, how many, and how much), and transition markers (words like 'however', 'alternatively', 'additionally', and so on), which suggest the direction of ideas in the text.

2. Question

Effective reading is active reading. To turn reading from a passive into an active exercise, always ask questions.

To do this, you must be clear about the purpose of your reading. If you are reading a text which you will be critiquing in detail, your questions will be different from those you would ask if you were reading a number of texts for background information. If you are gathering material for an essay, formulate some tentative ideas about the approaches you might take, modifying them as you accumulate material.

As you read, list all the words about which you are uncertain; look them up in the dictionary and write down their meanings.

3. Take notes

Some reasons for taking notes are:

• To maintain attentiveness as you read,

• To focus your attention,

• To familiarize yourself on a given subject,

• To analyse the assumptions and strategies of the writer,

• To provide you with a summary of the material

Some hints for taking notes:

• Always record bibliographical details of the text from which you are taking notes

• Write on one side of the paper only

• Leave a wide margin for comments and cross-references

• Use headings, subheadings, and diagrams. Keep notes brief enough to make sense to you

• Make sure they're legible

4. Summarise

Making a summary from your notes has two main benefits.

• It allows you to test yourself on your understanding of the material you have been reading.

• It provides you with a compact account of the text for further reference.

5. Review and reflect

It's important to review and reflect upon what you've read. This enhances your understanding and helps you to commit important facts and ideas to your long-term memory.

The SQ3R technique

SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. It is a proven technique to sharpen textbook reading skills. In college, you'll frequently be assigned multiple chapters for several different courses in books that can be quite complicated. SQ3R helps reading purposeful and meaningful, so that you use your time most effectively. Here's how this strategy works.

1. Survey

Get an idea of what the chapter is about by reviewing the highlights:

• Read the title, headings, and subheadings. 

• Take note of words that are italicized or bold.

• Look at charts, graphs, pictures, maps, and other visual material.

• Read captions.

• Read the beginning and end of the chapter. 

2. Question

As you survey the text, ask a question for each section. Ask what, why, how, when, who and where questions as they relate to the content. Here's how you can create questions:

• Turn the title, headings, or subheadings into questions. 

• Rewrite the questions at the end of the chapter or after each subheading in your own words.

Write down your questions. Questions help you pay attention, understand the text better, and recall the information more easily later on.

3. Read

Read one section of a chapter at a time, actively looking for an answer to your question for that section. Pay attention to bold and italicized text that authors use to make important points. Be sure to review everything in the section, including tables, graphs, and illustrations, as these features can communicate an idea more powerfully than written text.

4. Recite

At the end of each section, look up from the text and in your own words recite an answer to your question for that section. Then write down your answer. Be sure to provide examples that support it.

Now repeat the Question, Read, and Recite steps for each section of the chapter or assigned reading. First ask a question for the next section. Then read to find the answer. Finally, recite the answer in your own words and jot it down. The written questions and answers will help you study in the future.

5. Review

After completing each chapter or reading assignment, review your notes. Identify the main points of the reading by looking for the most important idea in each section. Recite, or write a brief summary of the chapter or assignment.

Review your study notes every week to help you remember the information. When it's time to study for your tests, you'll find you've created an invaluable guide.

• Survey - gather the information you need to focus on

• Question - decide on the questions you want to be answered

• Read - look for the answers for the questions you have

• Recite - after each section stop and think and find out if you remember what was read

• Review - once you have finished go back to the whole chapters. 

Different stages of reading

There are different stages of reading and each stage is built on skills mastered in earlier stages. Lack of mastery at any stage can halt the progress beyond that level.

1. Pre-reading 

The learner gains familiarity with the language and its sounds. A person in this stage becomes aware of sound similarities between words, learns to predict the next part in a familiar story, and may start to recognize a few familiar written words. Typically, developing readers achieve this stage about the age of 6.

2. Initial reading stage or decoding stage

The learner becomes aware of the relationship between sounds and letters and begins applying the knowledge to text. Typically, developing readers usually reach this stage by the age of 6 or 7.

3. Confirmation 

This stage involves confirming the knowledge acquired in the previous two stages and gaining fluency in those skills. Decoding skills continue to improve, and they begin to develop speed in addition to accuracy in word recognition. At this point, the reader should be able to give attention to both meaning and the print, using them interactively to build their skills and fluency. This stage is critical for the beginning reader. Typically developing readers usually reach this stage around the age of 8.

4. Reading to learn 

At this stage, the motivation for reading changes. The reader has enough reading skill to begin to read text in order to gain information. Readers' vocabulary development accelerates at this point resulting from increased exposure to the written word. Typically, developing children usually achieve this stage around the age of 9.

5. Multiple view points

The reader at this stage begins to be able to analyze what they read, understand different points of view, and react critically to what they read. Typically, readers are developing this skill set during the high school years, around ages 14 to 19.

6. Construction and judgement

At this stage, readers have learned to read selectively and form their own opinions about what they read; they construct their knowledge from that of others. This highest level of reading development is not usually reached until college age, or later, and may in fact be achieved only by those who have an intellectual inclination.

Rates of reading

Reading fluency encompasses the speed or rate of reading, as well as the ability to read materials with expression. Meyer and Felton defined fluency as "the ability to read connected text rapidly, smoothly, effortlessly, and automatically with little conscious attention to the mechanics of reading, such as decoding". Children are successful with decoding when the process used to identify words is fast and nearly effortless or automatic. The ability to read words by sight automatically is the key to skilled reading.

Determining a student's reading rate

A student's reading rate may be calculated by dividing the number of words read correctly by the total amount of reading time. You may count out 100 words in a passage and then time the student as he or she reads the passage.

• Reading for memorization - 100 words per minute

• Reading for learning - 100 to 200 words per minute

• Reading for comprehension 200 to 400 words per minute 

• Skimming: 400 to 700 words per minute

Adjusting reading rate

Most people have a constant rate when reading. This rate is the fastest pace at which a person can understand complete thoughts in successive sentences of relatively easy material. As long as the material is relatively easy to read, a person's rate stays constant. For different types of tasks, however, readers often alter their rate. Students with slow reading rates are often not aware that good readers adjust their rate depending on the purpose of reading. Making these types of adjustments is particularly important for studying or completing assigned readings.

Average rates for reading with understanding for students in Class 1 to 12.

Activities for increasing reading rate

Methods for increasing reading rate have several common features:

• Students listen to text as they follow along with the book.

• Students follow the print using their fingers as guides, and

• Experts have suggested that a beginning reading programme should provide opportunities for partner reading, practice reading difficult words prior to reading the text, timings for accuracy and rate, opportunities to hear text read, and opportunities to read to others.

Problems with reading

Reasons behind the deviation and problems faced by the youth are many as they

go through adolescence and experience rapid changes; physical, psychological and intellectual. It is therefore, essential to provide them with the tools of self-restraint coupled with wise guidance in order to bring them closer to the straight path.

In short, the problems faced by the readers are:

Boredom

Sometimes you find what you read is boring. To avoid boredom read only what is relevant to you.

Not following

Sometimes it is difficult to get what the author is trying to say. If you are unable to follow the text ahead to see any light on it.

Disagreeing

At times you may disagree with what you read. Put aside your ego till reading is over.

Becoming an effective reader

1. Be attentive

2. Don't talk to yourself

3. Don't keep reading the same

4. Vary your reading rate according to the text

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1. Reading

The people who read, are the people who lead, The act of reading is essentially a process of thinking. It has scan and scope beyond camera as you have just demonstrated on the cosmic screen of your own mind. Reading is a concentrative individual act. It is an involvement. 

To make your child a good reader, read aloud to your child. When parents read to their children, the reassuring voice and the fascination of the story come together in child's mind to identify reading as a warm, pleasurable experience, a process that otherwise can be tedious, frustrating or even threatening. Listening comprehension comes before reading comprehension and it's usually two or three years ahead. A child reading in second class level may be able to listen to books written on a fourth class level. It is the child's listening ability that feeds his or her reading vocabulary. Research confirms that there is connection between how much you read to children and how much they wanted to read to themselves. It builds vocabulary and background knowledge; it exposes children to wealth of new experience; it stimulates imaginations, stretches attention spans, nourishes emotional development, encourages comparison, bonds parent and child, reshapes negative attitudes to positive ones and introduces a feel for the texture and beauty of language. Further more, what children see their parents excited about excites them, and incites them to want to read. 

How To Improve Your Reading

There are two basic methods for improving one's reading, namely 

(1) training of eyes and 

(2) training of mind.

"Eye training" means three things: 

1. Increasing your eye-span or the number of words you can grasp in one glance, 

2. Reducing the number of times your eyes regress, flick back or reread. 

3. Getting a more rhythmical and regular way of moving the eyes while reading. 

Increasing your eye span means to see more and in one glance of your eyes. The great football player, Pele, for instance, sees not only players in the front of him, but those far to the left and right. Great readers do the same. Think of the way you would read your promotion letter lying on your boss's desk. In one avid glance. you would catch it all. No going back, no word by word, rather instant comprehension. That is the way one should read. Develop a rhythm and read on smartly. Gather greater rhythm and speed in getting meaning from the printed material.

Eye training has its place, but almost all reading experts tell you that mind training is even more important. Many feel that if you learn to use your mind better, while reading, the eyes will take care of themselves too. Take the case of football players. They have a strategy. They don't just rush out and play their opponents. They have done much work even before game begins. They study their opponents. The goalie - does he move equally well to the left and right? Or does he wait for the striker to move first? The centre forward, whom does he usually pass? What are the weak spots of the defence? Which players tire in the second half? These able teams get championships because they play intelligently. They approach a football game systematically.

Otherwise, very intelligent, many persons are very poor readers, because they don't have plan of attack, no system. The whole secret of successful reading lies in our small magic phrase: "SURVEY Q3R". This means that if you have one hour for reading, spend five minutes SURVEYING, five minutes raising the QUESTIONS in your mind, thirty minutes actually READING, fifteen minutes RESTATING and five minutes REVIEWING. The Survey Q3R formula involves five steps.

Steps In Survey Q3R Formula

Step One: Survey

(Survey means to get in overview, to see overall picture before going into the details. Reading without first surveying is like plunging into a jungle without a map, or jumping on a bus without knowing where it is going.)

How to Survey? 

In case of a book, first read the Preface, Contents and the last chapter. Get author's purpose and audience. Skimming through the intervening chapter titles. Coming a chapter or an article: 

1. Read the last paragraph first, then read the first paragraph, then read the last paragraph again and then read the first sentence of every paragraph in between. 

2. Notice paragraph size. 

3. Note the words in italics. 

4. Look at diagrams, tables. 

5. Note signpost words. 

Step Two: Question

After surveying the material, you are not still ready to read. Never start reading until you have questions in your head. You should be asking questions before you start reading, as well as while you are reading. Questions should start with the title : What does the title tell you about the contents of the article or book. What do you think will be included and what you think will exclude? Reading is thinking plus questions. Only a person learns when he asks questions. A person reads and remembers best, when he reads to answer the questions that crop up. One reads and remembers best, when he reads to answer the questions and problems. By raising questions in one's mind continually from the title and captions, one gets in the proper mental position for reading.

One must ask questions not only before he reads but while one reads. Just like a person on a motorcycle, he has to drive defensively; will the cyclist turn left or will he continue straight? Will that dog run across the road or won't it? The careful driver or rider is always asking questions. So too, as one reads, questions should be there. Does he agree? Who says so? What proof? What from this? Where will the author go from here? Questions should continually dance in one's head as he goes on reading.

Step Three: Read

Next step is reading. Generally, one selects a place where he is not disturbed and where there is as little noise possible. By this time, the reader knows where the author is going and he has questions dancing in his head. So he is ready for reading. Read as one rides a cycle, slowly up hill, quickly down hill and carefully where there is danger. Read difficult matter slowly, light matter quickly and tendentious matter cautiously. Here, one is to be very flexible.

One is expected to keep a calm presence on oneself to move as quickly as possible - just as in cycling, so in reading, one pays more attention when one is moving quickly than going slowly. Generally, fast reader is fast learner. One is to read for thought units', not for 'word units'. One is not garlanded for merely reading words. Words don't fill in the mind, but meaning does. One's mind does not live on words, but on meaning. Hence, one should keep looking for answers to questions as one goes on reading. Remember, if your mind is not working, you are not reading. Actual reading is thinking with questions.

One is to look for the main thoughts and important details. Many a times, huge material has a single simple idea to convey. It is better and safer if one has a break in between that allows him to get up. stretch, look at surroundings.

Step Four : Restate

To restate means putting your reading material down at intervals and to tell oneself that one has read. It is key to solid reading. Good readers do it but not poor readers. Regularly, then, stop reading. look up and tell oneself the main points and important details of what one is reading. It can be a little embarrassing, but is not the only way to see what one remembers.

The question is when one should restate? Every paragraph would be too much, but every chapter may be too long. In case, the reading has headings, at the end of every heading is a good interval. The research findings demonstrate that generally, the reader to restate is capable of remembering three times more than one who does not. The purpose behind reading is significant. Is your purpose to learn or to watch the material in hand? If it is learning, make a habit of restating.

Step Five: Review

The fifth and the last step in a good reading strategy is review, which is the task of repeating the first four steps. Hence, review means again surveying, questioning, reading and now not "what one will read", but "what one has read". Therefore, review calls for skimming back over the material, surveying the headings again, answering the questions that one has faced and the questions they pose, rereading the items one is hazy about or can not remember and restating the central message with its parts and their relations. The time to review is right after you read. It is reviewing that gives you that "I have got" feeling and the confidence and great satisfaction. Some people do not review at all. They bore on through a book like white ants, on and on, never looking back, getting finally lost, tired and discouraged.

Reviewing is like marking your own examination paper by skimming back over the matter, you can see whether you deserve a first class, third or fail. You may rate yourself low on your first attempt, but very soon you will see your grades shoot up. A good reader is an active reader. Active reader benefits you in at least three ways:

1. Reading is essentially an active process. One reader is better than another in proportion as he or she is capable of a greater range of activity in reading. People easily see that writing and speaking are active processes failing to realize that listening and reading are active processes too. They wrongly think of reading and listening as passive reception from an active given and suppose that receiving a communication is like receiving a gift or an injection. The real truth is that reading is better or worse according to it is more or less active. 

2. Increase your word power. A large vocabulary enables you to follow the thought of a writer more easily. The more the words you know, the better and quicker your understanding is. One can not become an efficient reader upon a small vocabulary, especially in English, which has more than 6,00,000 words than any other language and which is continually swelling. 

3. Use these new words in your talk and writings as soon as possible. Have a little note book in which to write new words and review them periodically. If you use them three times, they get into your working vocabulary and they are with you lifetime. With this, you are a better reader, an active reader.