There are a lot of prints around you like books, novels, pieces of literature, newspapers, etc. Reading is the process of analyzing and comprehending the content of these prints. It has been around for ages and is a great habit and more and more people should indulge in it. It widens your knowledge and understanding. Many people are avid readers and spend most of their time reading but they still aren’t aware of the correct process of reading. To master the basic skills of reading one should read about the facts related to reading. If you want to learn more about the process of reading then stay with this article.
1. What are the Different Types of Reading?
You must have noticed that you don’t read the same way every time. Your reading approach changes in accordance with what you are reading and what you want to extract from it. If you read for the pleasure your reading approach will be different from your reading approach when you looking to learn something. There are two main types of reading that are intensive and extensive. Must read What are Text Features?
The reading that is for pleasure and relaxation is called extensive reading. In such a reading you can get lost in a topic that interests you. Here you explore a fictional world with exciting characters and plot twists. This type of reading has no objective to reach or aim to achieve. It’s simple reading for fun. Whereas, intensive reading is more about an active approach and is an in-depth technique. In such a reading you analyze texts on a deeper level. You need to be careful and have a critical eye while doing the intensive reading. It is further divided into a few different kinds:
- Scanning: It is a kind of reading that helps readers find the particular information they are looking for. It seeks specific information from a text. Since in this reading we read quickly, it’s also called rapid reading. For example, in school, children scan texts when they are answering questions about what, where, who, whom, and why.
- Skimming: Its another type of rapid reading technique. It helps us to understand the core message of a piece of text without reading the entire thing. You often skim-read headings, titles, sub-headings, diagrams, and charts to get an idea of what the content is all about. It gives an overall understanding of the text but this is a shallow understanding. It saves you time and conveys efficiently if it’s worth reading the full detail of the text. For example, as children, you used to skim-read the chapter titles in your school textbooks to find out if there is something you will like to read.
- Critical Reading: It’s the most in-depth type of intensive reading. In such a reading, you need to have a critical eye and analyze everything efficiently. You should understand the ideas and concepts of the author. In critical reading, you try to comprehend what the text is saying and how it is saying it. What is their point? What is backing up their point? Is there enough evidence for the point? After that, you use your own perceptions and judgments to raise a conclusion where you can agree or disagree with what the text is saying. For example, you use critical reading or analyzing texts like articles, poems, novels, social media content, etc.
2. What is Purpose of Reading?
After learning about the types of reading let’s discuss about the purpose of reading. A lot of people think that reading is just a pastime for bookworms and of no use to the general folk. But the people who detest reading are also actually doing it every day and that too unconsciously. They are reading texts, work emails, banners, street signs, and even Facebook statuses. All these things require you to read them.
Reading is important for everyone to understand the different forms of texts. It’s an action with a purpose. It helps a person rectify existing knowledge or gain new information. It enhances the knowledge of the language being read. Some people gain enjoyment from reading. In an individual’s civic life, also reading plays an important part. It keeps you informed about the current social, political, economical, and cultural problems of your country. The process of reading helps you correlate the ideas that you already know about to that of the text you are reading. You can read for any of the following purposes:
- To search for simple information
- To skim quickly
- To learn from the text
- To integrate information
- Reading to write
- To critique texts
- For general comprehension
3. What are Levels of Reading?
Without reading acquiring knowledge is pretty hard. Great reading skills can only be developed if you have a good understanding of the levels of reading. There are four levels in the process of reading and you can’t reach the higher levels without understanding the early levels. Let’s understand these four levels thoroughly:
- Elementary Reading: As the name suggests it’s the first level of reading. This is the level of reading you learned to do in elementary school. Sadly, not a lot of people go beyond this level. At this level, you can acquire basic training in reading. If you master this level then you will go from non-literacy to at least the beginning of literacy.
- Inspectional Reading: It’s the second level of reading. This level can be related to you intelligently skimming a book in a limited time. It feeds your mind with the materials in the book and it helps you determine what you want to read in that entire book. This level teaches you the art of skimming systematically. It examines the surface of the book.
- Analytical Reading: It is the third level of reading that is deeper than the previous two levels of reading. This type of reading is not for entertainment or acquiring knowledge. It’s a reading which improves your understanding. It’s more complex and systematic.
- Syntopical Reading: This fourth level of reading is the most difficult one. It has heavy demands for the reader. In this reading, you read many books and place them in relation to one another as well as to a subject around which they revolve. It is a comparative reading. It is an amazingly effortful and active kind of reading.
4. What are the Basic Skills of Reading?
After understanding the levels of reading, its time to unravel the basic skills of reading:
- Decoding: It’s the ability to sound out words that you have heard but hasn’t seen written out. It relies heavily on phonemic awareness which is the ability to hear as well as manipulate different sounds into words.
- Phonics: Phonics is the ability to understand the connection between sounds and the letters they make.
- Vocabulary: It is an important skill to understand words, their contexts, and their definitions. The greater your vocabulary the better you are at reading.
- Fluency: This skill is needed for good reading comprehension. It is the skill to read aloud with accuracy, speed, and understanding.
- Sentence Construction and cohesion: These are essential skills for reading comprehension. Cohesion is connecting ideas with the sentences as well as between the sentences.
- Reading Comprehension: It’s the skill of understanding the text you are reading.
- Reasoning and Background Knowledge: They help in drawing conclusions and making inferences.
- Working Memory and Attention: Attention helps you absorb the information you are reading and memory helps you retain it.
5. What is Process of Reading?
The process of reading is a multi-dimensional method that involves word recognition, understanding, fluency, and motivation. (See 10 Scientific Benefits of Reading Books)
6. What are the Stages of the Process of Reading?
There are 5 stages involved in the process of reading. Let’s understand them thoroughly:
- Pre-reading: It is the stage where you set your purposes for reading. You activate the background knowledge.
- Reading: It is the stage where you start reading the content. This stage involves your reading skills. Here you read from beginning to end and you can also make notes.
- Responding: It’s the stage where you respond to what you have learned through the reading.
- Exploring: You go back, re-read the text and learn more about it. You also analyze the author’s craft like his/her literary device, genre, text structure, etc.
- Applying: This stage demonstrates what values you have taken from the texts.
7. What is the Importance of Reading?
There is immense importance of reading in one’s life as:
- It’s an important daily life skill.
- It improves your vocabulary and language skills.
- It strengthens your brain and improves attention and concentration.
- It increases your analytical skills.
- It teaches you of a world different from yours.
- It reduces stress and provides relaxation.
- It improves your self-confidence and independence.
- It’s fun and entertaining.
8. What is the Value of Reading?
The skill of reading is very important for one to lead a better and balanced life. It trains one’s brain. The whole process of reading stimulates a reader’s mind to acquire knowledge and ideas. It improves their vocabulary and memory and reduces stress in their life. Moreover, it develops analytical skills in the readers. (See Why reading makes you sleepy?)
9. What is Effective Reading?
Effective reading means the process of reading in a way that helps you thoroughly evaluate, understand, and reflect on a written text. One must develop effective reading skills to better their knowledge of what they are reading. (See How is Understanding Abstract Ideas done?)
