UNIT V READING COMPREHENSION

(READING STRATEGIES OR SKILLS)

RS
Reading As a Process:

Reading is a complex communicative process of

receiving, interpreting, analyzing and responding
to the message.

Decoding –coded message into information

Comprehending – Interprets the text and

understands its literal meaning

Text Analysis – Critically examines and evaluates

the text.

Response—The reader responds to the message

Reading Types : Intensive & Extensive

Intensive Reading:
 Critically reading every details of the text. This method is applied to
academic texts. You can distinguish fact from opinion and evaluate
the main theme and writer’s attitude and intention. Ex: Reading
Main Reader Text.
Extensive Reading:
 This method is applied for reading for pleasure. It is a casual reading
method. While reading, if you can’t understand some of the meanings of
the words – no need to refer the dictionary, go on further in your
reading. Ex: Reading novels or non-detailed text.
 Reading Skills or Techniques or
Strategies:

1. Vocabulary Skills.
2. Visual Perceptual Skills
3. Prediction Techniques
4. Scanning
5. Skimming
Reading Skills:
Vocabulary skills:
 Identifying and understanding the definitions of the
words which are used in the text.
 Guessing the meaning of the words from the structure of
the sentence.
 Inferring (Concluding with reasoning with the help of
evidence) the meaning of words from their context.
Visual Perceptual Skills:
 We see each word with a single eye fixation. This
decreases our reading speed. We should practice to see
three or five words at a single eye fixation to read with
rapid speed.
 Accurate visual perception of words and phrases with
quick eye fixations.
Reading Skills:
** Prediction Techniques:
 You can predict (estimate what comes next or sequence
of ideas) the book or theme of a story or text with the
help of pictures, graphs, diagrams, charts and so on.
Ex: Seeing the picture of 11 years boy riding on the horse
on the cover of the book, you can predict that book is
related to children.
 Using index of chapter headings, you can predict the
theme and topics of the text. You can guess the main
contents of the book.
 Using rational thinking, you can predict what comes
next in the story or text.
 Predicting is done with critical examining or evaluating
the text.
Reading Skills:
Scanning:
 Locating specific information in the text. It is also a rapid
reading technique.
Ex: To search phone number of the person Rama Chandra
Rao in Telephone Directory, rapidly you go to the series
of R letters and search or locate’ Ra’ combination letters
and you find your required number within short span of
time. That means you scanned the book, to locate the
particular number in the book.
Skimming:
 It is a filtration process. Getting wanted or
important details and eliminating unnecessary
details from the text.
 Identifying main ideas of the text and skipping
unnecessary details of the text.
 Getting the jist of the text. Ex: Reading the headlines of
news paper.
 Skimming Scanning:

• A fast reading method that gives you

an idea of what the text is about
without having to read it in full.
• Means reading the introduction,
the headlines, or the first
phrase of a paragraph
• Implies not having read the text
before. It is applied to a new
text.
• It is a reading technique that
allows readers to get the gist of
a text without having to read
the whole thing in full.
• A fast reading method that allows
you to find specific information in
a text.
• Means going through an article
quickly looking for a date or a quote.
• Implies previously knowing the
information you are looking for. It is
applied easily for a known or old text.
• It only helps to find quickly specific
information from the already referred text.
 Note taking :
1.You take notes in lectures or seminars, writing down what
other people are saying for future reference. Recording
information for later use.
2. Helping you to interact with the material being discussed.
Helping you to remember information.
3. (How to ) Be selective in your note taking and only include
the information that is relevant to the current task.
4.Taking notes involves active listening as well as connecting
and relating information to the current subject field of
knowledge.
5.Note-taking needs to go beyond taking down the content - it
needs to include your critical analysis or engagement with
that content.
 Note making:
1.You make notes from reading books, journals, any form of
text. Summarizing information from lectures or books.

2.Organising information for revision or future assignments.

(How to) Use a simple form of note making to aid your
understanding when you read.

3.Use your own words throughout your notes and comment

on any quotations you record.

4. Helping you to avoid plagiarism as quotes well marked.

Take down all quotations in inverted commas with full
reference details. This will allow you to identify and
acknowledge other writers' words in your essay or report.

5.Select keywords to represent central concepts or crucial

facts and commit these to memory.
 Active Reading
1.The reader pays attention
to both content as well as
style.
2. The reader interprets and
analyses what he or she
reads in order to understand
both explicit as well as
implicit meaning of a written
message
3. The reader predicts and
responds to context
4.The reader pays attention
to the writer’s intention.
Passive Reading
1.The reader pays attention
to either content or style
2.The reader does not
analyse what he or she
reads. Reader fails to
interpret the text. 
 
3.The reader does not
predict and respond to
context
4.The reader does not pay
attention to the writer’s
intention
 Active Reading Passive Reading
5. The reader does not distinguish
5. The reader differentiates
between factual and non-factual
between ideas, opinions, feelings,
information
and facts
6.The reader does not infer the
6.The reader infers the meaning of
meaning of unfamiliar words from
unfamiliar words from contextual
contextual or internal clues
or internal clues
7.The reader does not identify or
7.The reader identifies and
evaluate a writer’s attitude
evaluates a writer’s attitude
8.The reader does not interpret
8.The reader understands and
graphics
interprets graphic information
9.The reader is only concerned
9.The reader draws inferences and
with the literal meaning of a
conclusions.
written message.
Reading speed can be measured as
wpm (Words per minute)

Reading speed Casual reading Academic and

professional reading
Very fast +400 wpm +350
Fast 300—400 wpm 250-350
Average 200-300 wpm 150-250 wpm
Slow Less than 200 wpm Less than 150 wpm
Thank
You RS