effecient and effective reading

EFFICIENT READING

Efficient reading is about reading in a way that allows you to understand the writer's message without spending too much time in the process. It's also about reading with a clear purpose in mind so that you only read material that is relevant. When you're reading in preparation for an essay or for understanding generally, remember that good reading strategies go hand-in-hand with good note-takingskills..Efficient reading starts with choosing a strategy to suit the kind of text you have to read because your purpose in reading and the nature of text to be read will determine your strategy. Your purpose in reading might be to:

 gather information for an essay
 learn about a particular topic or understand a particular theory
 prepare for an exam In all of these cases, the nature of the text will help you decide how to read. The strategies for reading a text book, for example, are different from those used when reading journal articles. Choose more information about the following types of reading:

EFFECTIVE READING
Reading is an active process, not a passive one. There is no propper reading of a text which reveals the text's true meaning. The meanings you get from a text may not be the same as those your professor or your fellow students would get from it.

We always read within a specific context, and this affects what we notice and what seems to matter. We always have a purpose in reading a text, and this will shape how we approach it. Our purpose and background knowledge will also determine the strategies we use to read the text.

Texts themselves are very different (depending on the author's stance, values, emphasis, etc). Recognising this provides you with the beginnings of a critical approach to your reading.

SCIMMING AND SCANNING

SKIMMING AND SCANNING

Skimming refers to the process of reading only main ideas within a passage to get an overall impression of the content of a reading
selection.

How to Skim:

* Read the title.

* Read the introduction or the first paragraph.

* Read the first sentence of every other paragraph.

* Read any headings and sub-headings.

* Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs.

* Notice any italicized or boldface words or phrases.

* Read the summary or last paragraph.

Scanning is a reading technique to be used when you want to find specific information quickly. In scanning you have a question in your mind and you read a passage only to find the answer, ignoring unrelated information.

How to Scan:

* State the specific information you are looking for.

* Try to anticipate how the answer will appear and what clues you might use to help you locate the answer. For example, if you were looking for a certain date, you would quickly read the paragraph looking only for numbers.

* Use headings and any other aids that will help you identify which sections might contain the information you are looking for.

EXTENSIVE READING AND INTENSIVE READING

INTENSIVE READING

Intensive reading involves learners reading in detail with specific learning aims and tasks. It can be compared with extensive reading, which involves learners reading texts for enjoyment and to develop general reading skills.

Example
The learners read a short text and put events from it into chronological order.

In the classroom
Intensive reading activities include skimming a text for specific information to answer true or false statements or filling gaps in a summary, scanning a text to match headings to paragraphs, and scanning jumbled paragraphs and then reading them carefully to put them into the correct order.

Extensive reading is an approach to language learning, including foreign language learning, by the means of a large amount of reading. The learners view and review of unknown words in specific context will allow the learner to infer the word's meaning, and thus to learn unknown words. While the mechanism is commonly accepted as true, its importance in language learning is disputed.

Extensive reading is contrasted with intensive reading, which is slow, careful reading of a small amount of difficult text – it is when one is "focused on the language rather than the text". Extensive and intensive reading are two approaches to language learning and instruction, and may be used concurrently; intensive reading is however the more common approach, and often the only one used.

Extensive reading has been used and advocated in language learning since at least the 19th century 

ALL ABOUT EXTENSIVE READING

DIFFERENT PURPOSE OF READING

For all subjects, you will need to know how to change quickly from one kind of reading to another.

1. Browsing : looking over a text to see how it ‘feels’, whether it appears to be the right kind of book, what it contains that might be of use, getting a general feel of the contents. You often take in more information when browsing than you may think at the time.

2. Checking: looking in the contents or index to see whether the book contains specific information that you know you want - or which looks useful.

3. Focusing in: allowing yourself to read more closely when you spot something that looks more useful. It is also important to notice when the text is less useful, and to return to browsing.

4. Fact-finding: looking for specific facts and data.

5. Background: This is additional reading, which gives you a sense of the bigger picture. Select texts that are general and which you find inviting or easy to read. Read these selectively and at your own pace. This is best undertaken in vacations if possible.