4 Adjusting reading strategies to purpose
In college, we read texts for different purposes. Some of these purposes are immediate and quick, for example retrieving and understanding brief information that could complement a professor’s lecture. In such a case, students can do focused reading without spending much time on it. Other purposes take longer because all the information in the text is significant and should be carefully examined. A good example is when a professor tells you to read an article in detail and learn its content for an exam, or when you are assigned to summarize an entire academic article as a graded assignment.
Depending on the purpose of your reading, you should be able to predict the length of time to be spent on the reading and adjust your reading strategies.
Reading Purposes
- If your purpose is the detection of particular information, you can use skimming or scanning. Here, your reading speed should be quick and precise.
- If your purpose is to comprehend the overall information in the text, you can do scanning in conjunction with textual annotations in order to perform intensive reading on the text. Here, reading requires more attention to detail and time; therefore you should spend more time on the text.
Skimming
Skimming is a reading technique that allows you to understand the general idea of a text in a short period of time. If the text is short, you focus on reading the title, the subtitles or heading, and the topic sentences of each paragraph. In longer readings, you can read the introductory paragraph (or abstract), subtitles, charts or graphs, and anything that stands out. The idea is to elaborate a mental picture of the overall text to answer this question: What is the general idea of this reading?
Important: Skimming should not be your default reading strategy. However, there are situations where skimming proves highly beneficial. For example:
- If you are enrolled in a presentation skills class and need to deliver an oral report about the first computers ever made. You’ve gathered six books and four newspaper articles on the topic. With limited time, skimming allows you to swiftly locate essential information while maximizing efficiency.
- Similarly, when preparing for an upcoming exam, skimming helps you identify areas you haven’t fully grasped.
Scanning
Unlike skimming, which involves quickly glancing over content, scanning focuses on locating specific facts or details without reading everything. For example, you might scan when searching for your favorite TV show in a cable guide, your friend’s phone number in a telephone book, or sports scores in a newspaper. To succeed at scanning, it’s essential to understand the material’s structure and comprehend what you read, enabling you to pinpoint the exact information you need. Scanning is particularly useful when you are in a hurry.
Intensive Reading
Intensive reading involves carefully and thoroughly examining a text to gain an in-depth understanding of it. Unlike skimming and scanning, intensive reading requires full concentration and allocation of time in your study schedule. When practicing intensive reading, not only is the aim to understand the main ideas and the descriptive details of the text but also to elaborate a complete summary of the text and an opinion about it.
Intensive reading is a technique that you want to use when studying texts for exams or when you are asked to academically summarize or critique an article. Note-taking strategies, especially annotations on the text, are crucial to make your intensive reading successful.
The content on this PB page has been paraphrased from the websites below. Ideas have been blended to configure this information. For specific details, and to learn more about these topics, visit:
- https://www.utc.edu/enrollment-management-and-student-affairs/center-for-academic-support-and-advisement/tips-for-academic-success/skimming
- Making Connections 4 Williams & Vittorio, 2016
