READING SKILLS:

Reading is to mind what exercise is to the body, to enhance knowledge.

Reading comprehension is the ability to process text, understand its
meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows. The
proficiency in reading refers to self esteem improvement. In order to
enhance proficiency in reading we should adopt methods like; reading
various materials, long proportion reading, circle unknown words, recall
and improve understanding while reading, improve attention and
concentration, promote personal involvement and critical thinking.

Techniques for Good comprehension or Reading Style:-

1. Skimming:- It is the quick process, previewing the text(read quickly)

for getting a gist of something and noticing details in order to
understand the text, the type, purpose of the author and general
contents. The technique you use when you're going through a
newspaper or magazine: you read quickly to get the main points, and
skip over the detail. It's useful to skim:- to preview a passage before
you read it in detail to refresh your understanding of a passage after
you've read it in detail.
2. Scanning :- It means reading slowly and carefully while looking for
specific information or focus. The technique you use when you're
looking up a name in the phone book: you move your eye quickly over
the page to find particular words or phrases that are relevant to the
task you're doing. It's useful to scan parts of texts to see if they are
useful to you; like, the introduction or preface of a book the first or last
paragraphs of chapters, the concluding chapter of a book.

3. Churning:- This process is slower in reading style that involves

grasping of concepts. It means “chewing the cud”(churning out butter
from milk) i.e. contemplating or analyzing/ extracting meanings from
the words or sentences in order to follow the process of interpretation.
After you skim and scan the text quickly to get the core idea and a
general gists of the content. In order words you must have a slow
reading of the text once or twice so as to understand its primary and
secondary ideas in detail.
The process involves:-
1) Reading between the lines- to understand the hidden
meanings and intention behind the explicitly stated words. This means
to understand the implied meaning or what is being unsaid by
‘connecting the dots’. Suppose, one of your friends says, ‘i am eagerly
looking for your birthday party’. But when you say ‘I am afraid it may be
cancelled for some reasons’ he/she doesn't appear to be concerned. In
such situations you can understand that your friend is not interested in
your birthday party.
2) Inferring meanings- lexical and contextual- this refers to
enhancing your vocabulary can boost your reading speed and
comprehension. Good vocabulary enables you to detect subtle
differences in sentence meaning that may hold the key to the meaning
of an entire paragraph or passage. We can categorize the word
knowledge into four categories:- 1. I never saw it before. 2. I have
heard of it but don't know what it means. 3. I recognize it in context- it
has something to do with… 4. I know it
Reading requires you to make inferences that depend on the prior
knowledge-lexical word and contextual meanings. This is the first step
towards understanding a written message, one needs to perceive
words and phrases used to recognize their definitions to follow what
you read. The words in isolation convey one meaning but words
integrated (linked) groups convey another i.e. special meanings.
Therefore it is necessary :-
➢ To have domain knowledge to give meanings to otherwise confusing
sentences.(know individual meanings of words). Example:- gigantic and
luminous; the earliest star formed like a pearl inside a shell of swirling
gas.
➢ Don't stop reading when you are not able to recall the word
meanings.
➢ Get a clue of the meaning of a word from the text.
➢ Meaning of an unknown word through its extended definition or
stated qualities.
➢ If you know antonyms you can guess the meaning.
➢ Remembering words through appropriate phrases; “hallowed halls of
academia”.

❏ Understanding the discourse of coherence- it refers to logical

development of ideas through a piece of writing on a particular subject.
It uses a variety of expressions like;
but,yet,so,as,since,while,whereas,nonetheless,despite,consequently,eit
her,indeed,eve ntually,hence,in conclusion. These words are used to
join the ideas to one another and are called ‘connectors’ or ‘signal
words’, it shows the connection between what has been written and
what is going to be written. To achieve discourse of coherence- avoid
short sentences, maintain logical organization of sentences, and
transition upto your use.

4. Assimilation:- it refers to taking in or comprehending the text so you

can answer the questions based on the text. It is the end process after
skimming, scanning and churning. It includes:-

❏ Structure of the text- most text starts with title and sometimes
subtitle, after that comes the introduction and the body followed by
conclusion and summary. An important aspect of reading is prediction.
The better you can predict what you are going to read, the faster and
more effectively you will read. The prediction process begins with the
title as we take a guess about the text when paragraphs are linked in a
way to put subject matter prediction in the right way.

❏ Structure of a paragraph- A typical paragraph consists of three

parts:- topic ( heart of the paragraph, the topic sentences contains the
new aspects of the subject of the text; the second part consists of
sentences which develops support for the topic sentence. It may
contain arguments, explanations, details, examples, and other
supporting evidence. The third part of the paragraph is often summary
or linking sentences to the next paragraph.
❏ Punctuation- it is partly based on grammar. Commas are used to
separate clauses. If you understand the meaning and usage of
punctuation marks, it will be easier to understand the grammatical
structures. Punctuation also refers to how the author wants you to
interpret the text; brackets( addition to sentence).
❏ Author’s viewpoint- the author shows his/her opinion either by
adding certain phrases or by adding value to a word; shows expressions
of surprise, shock, regret, happiness etc.
❏ Summarize- it is advisable to make notes of essential information in
the text, the result is a short outline of the text containing all its
important aspects. The following steps should follow to write a
summary:- familiarize yourself with material, select important
information, paraphrase information, insert link between sentences
and paragraphs(using connectors), adjust length.