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6 Reading Myths

The document summarizes 6 common myths about reading: 1. You don't need to read every word to comprehend a text. Skimming is effective. 2. Reading a text once is usually not enough for comprehension. Rereading selectively is better than rereading everything. 3. It's okay to skip over passages as needed. Not everything needs to be read thoroughly. 4. Reading machines are useful for motivation but the best way to improve speed is conscious practice. 5. Faster reading does not necessarily reduce comprehension if the main ideas are extracted. 6. Reading speed is limited by the brain, not the eyes, which are capable of taking in more words

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136 views2 pages

6 Reading Myths

The document summarizes 6 common myths about reading: 1. You don't need to read every word to comprehend a text. Skimming is effective. 2. Reading a text once is usually not enough for comprehension. Rereading selectively is better than rereading everything. 3. It's okay to skip over passages as needed. Not everything needs to be read thoroughly. 4. Reading machines are useful for motivation but the best way to improve speed is conscious practice. 5. Faster reading does not necessarily reduce comprehension if the main ideas are extracted. 6. Reading speed is limited by the brain, not the eyes, which are capable of taking in more words

Uploaded by

mano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Six Reading Myths

MYTH 1: I HAVE TO READ EVERY WORD

Many of the words used in writing grammatically correct sentences actually convey no meaning. If, in reading,
you exert as much effort in conceptualizing these meaningless words as you do important ones, you limit not only
your reading speed but your comprehension as well.

MYTH 2: READING ONCE IS ENOUGH

Skim once as rapidly as possible to determine the main idea and to identify those parts that need careful
reading. Reread more carefully to plug the gaps in your knowledge.

Many college students feel that something must be wrong with their brain power if they must read a textbook
chapter more than once. To be sure, there are students for whom one exposure to an idea in a basic course is
enough, but they either have read extensively or have an excellent background or a high degree of interest in the
subject.

For most students in most subjects, reading once is not enough. However, this is not to imply that an unthinking
Pavlovian-like rereading is necessary to understand and retain materials. Many students automatically regress or
reread doggedly with a self-punishing attitude. ("I didn't get a thing out of that paragraph the first time, so if I
punish myself by rereading it maybe I will this time.") This is the hardest way to do it.

Good reading is selective reading. It involves selecting those sections that are relevant to your purpose in reading.
Rather than automatically rereading, take a few seconds to quiz yourself on the material you have just read and
then review those sections that are still unclear or confusing to you.

most effective way of spending each study hour is to devote as little time as possible to reading and as much time
as possible to testing yourself, reviewing, organizing, and relating the concepts and facts, mastering the technical
terms, formulas, etc., and thinking of applications of the concepts-in short, spend your time learning ideas, not
painfully processing words visually

MYTH 3:IT IS SINFUL TO SKIP PASSAGES IN READING

Many college students feel that it is somehow sinful to skip passages in reading and to read rapidly. We are
not sure just how this attitude develops, but some authorities have suggested that it stems from the days when
the Bible was the main book read, savored, and reread. Indeed, the educated person was one who could quote
long passages from these books from memory. Today proliferation of books and printed matter brought about by
the information explosion creates a reading problem for everyone. Furthermore, much of this printed material
offers considerably less than Shakespeare or the Bible in meaning or style. You must, of course, make daily
decisions as to what is worth spending your time on, what can be glanced at or put aside for future perusal, and
what can be relegated to the wastebasket. The idea that you cannot skip but have to read every page is old-
fashioned. Children, however, are still taught to feel guilty if they find a novel dull and out it down before finishing
it. I once had a student who felt she could not have books in her home unless she had read every one of them
from cover to cover. Studies show that this is the reason many people drop Book-ofthe-Month Club subscriptions;
they begin to collect books, cannot keep up with their reading, and develop guilty feelings about owning books
they have not had time to read.

The idea that some books are used merely for reference purposes and are nice to have around in case you need
them seems to be ignored in our schools.

Sir Francis Bacon once said that

some books are to be nibbled and tasted,

some are to be swallowed whole, and

a few need to be thoroughly chewed and digested

no matter how trivial the content. No wonder many people dislike reading.

MYTH 4: MACHINES ARE NECESSARY TO IMPROVE MY READING SPEED

Nonsense! The best and most effective way to increase your reading rate is to consciously force
yourself to read faster. Machines are useful as motivators, but only because they show you that you can read
faster without losing understanding. Remember that they are inflexible, unthinking devices that churn away at the
same rate regardless of whether the sentence is trivial or vital, simple or difficult. They are limited too, for if you
are practicing skimming, you are looking for main ideas so that you can read more carefully.

MYTH 5: IF I SKIM OR READ TOO RAPIDLY MY COMPREHENSION WILL DROP

Many people refuse to push themselves faster in reading for fear that they will lose comprehension.
However, research shows that there is little relationship between rate and comprehension. Some students read
rapidly and comprehend well, others read slowly and comprehend poorly. Whether you have good
comprehension depends on whether you can extract and retain the important ideas from your reading, not on
how fast you read. If you can do this, you can also increase your speed. If you "clutch up" when trying to read fast
or skim and worry about your comprehension, it will drop because your mind is occupied with your fears and you
are not paying attention to the ideas that you are reading. If you concentrate on your purpose for reading -- e.g.
locating main ideas and details, and forcing yourself to stick to the task of finding them quickly -- both your speed
and comprehension could increase. Your concern should be not with how fast you can get through a chapter, but
with how quickly you can locate the facts and ideas that you need.

MYTH 6: THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT MY EYES THAT KEEPS ME FROM READING FAST

This belief is nonsense too, assuming that you have good vision or wear glasses that correct your eye
problems. Of course, if you cannot focus your eyes at the reading distance, you will have trouble learning to skim
and scan. Furthermore, if you have developed the habit of focusing your eyes too narrowly and looking at word
parts, it will be harder for you to learn to sweep down a page of type rapidly. Usually it is your brain, not your
eyes, that slows you down in reading. Your eyes are capable of taking in more words than your brain is used to
processing

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