READING

Reading is one of the four basic skills of language, the other three being listening, speaking and
writing. It can be defined as the process of engaging series of written symbols and/or letters for
the purpose of deriving meaning from them. Reading therefore deals with the use of sensory
organs which are the eyes and finger tips (for brail reading) to identify the message embedded in
a written text and derive meaning from it. Reading can also be defined as the ability to re-convert
written or printed symbols into speech or its mental equivalent. It often develops along with
listening and speaking skills.
Reading is primarily concerned with verbalisation (i.e. expressing printed symbols in words),
but by extension, it is a basis of perception (i.e. natural understanding). At the studentship level,
the student is concerned with reading as the matching of a sound image with its corresponding
visual image; hence the process can be addressed as a form of communication. The vehicle of
that communication is books and journals as well as newspapers which people read regularly for
various purposes.

The Purpose of Reading

There are as many purposes of reading as there are readers. However, we shall discuss some
common purposes of reading in the following paragraphs:

(a) Reading to Acquire Knowledge

We read to acquire knowledge and understanding of cultures, places and people which we may
never be privileged to experience in real life. For instance, readers in Nigeria are able to learn
about the political unrest and inhuman treatment meted out to black people in Southern Africa
during the dark days of Apartheid. In this manner, we are able to experience and feel in our
reading what others experience in real life. We can conclude, therefore, that one of the purposes
of extensive reading is to provide us a true and actual experience of cultures, people and places.

(b) Reading for Pleasure

Another purpose of extensive reading is to derive enjoyment from the material being read. The
purpose of doing extensive reading is to relax after a hard day’s work. We may read sports
magazines for the love of it, sometimes we read a magazine in the hospital while waiting for our
turn to see the doctor simply because we want to feel relaxed or fill up the time.

(c) Reading to Improve Language Skills and Self Improvement

We read extensively with the purpose of cultivating general language competence. As the
English language is our second language, the skill and experiences expected of a first language
speaker are sometimes inadequate in us. We should, therefore, make it a habit to read many
novels in the language to acquire these experiences that we lack. A lot of reading is required of
you to be able to expand your language learning experiences in English.

In the same vein, we have purposes for intensive reading. Among these purposes is reading to
meet the demands of schoolwork. Reading takes up a lot of school time which a student has to
learn to use judiciously. A greater percentage of the learning experience is achieved through
reading of the textbooks selected for the study programmes of schools, colleges and universities.
If a student wants to meet the expectations of his institution he has to read his books intensively.
(d) Reading to Meet the Demands of Living
We may also read to meet the demands of everyday living. A woman who reads up recipes in a
food and nutrition textbook wants to meet the demands of her kitchen duty. A school leaver who
reads an advertisement in a newspaper is eager to get work to earn a living. In one way or the
other, you have to do extensive reading to progress in life ranging from reading instructions to
reading notices in your work place. The professional driver must always read the signs on the
roads correctly to have a safe journey in order to earn his living.

(e) Reading to Pass Examinations

One other purpose of intensive reading is to pass written and oral examinations. It goes without
saying that you must read intensively to be able to master the points contained in the books,
journals and articles that you have to read. It is your duty to match speed with intensive reading
to pass your examination. Hence, it is advisable that you read slowly, concentrate fully and take
note of the facts you encounter. It is when you do your intensive reading using study speed that
you will begin to form your opinions of the facts presented, and before you know it, you are
developing as a scholar because you not only know the facts, but you are better equipped at
evaluating them.

You read to pass your examinations by first surveying the material you wish to read. For
example, you have to determine the familiarity or otherwise of the topic; note the length and
complexity of the sentences and observe the number of unfamiliar words. This is because your
perception of these important aspects of reading comprehension makes a big difference between
success and failure both in your education today and in your career much later in life.

(f) Reading to Find Answers to Questions

Another purpose of intensive reading is to find answers to specific questions. This purpose is
implied under the purpose of passing examinations, but we have decided to distinguish it as a
separate purpose nonetheless. Reading to find answers to specific questions is tasking and so,
you have to use your pencil or pen to underline the key words that give away the specific answer
to the specific questions you want to answer. You can now answer the questions because you
have studied and mastered the content and details of the passage.

(g) Reading to Get Details in Sequence

Another purpose of intensive reading is to be able to get details in sequence, as in following
directions. A book or a topic has not been properly read if you cannot arrange the facts the way
they are arranged in their source. In other words, it is an intensive reading you do in your
summary writing in order to succeed as a summary writer.

(h) Vocabulary Development

There is no better source of vocabulary development than extensive reading. Great writers are
great readers. Vocabulary is an on-going process. It continues throughout one’s life. No matter
your age, you must continue to learn new words. Words are "symbols" for ideas. These ideas
formulate knowledge and knowledge is gained largely through words.
It is advisable at this point that you start learning to adapt the way you read to suit your purpose
of reading. If you want to read for relaxation you will not succeed if you read with painstaking
slowness; if you wish to understand detailed and complex information you will not succeed by
rushing through the text.

The Techniques of Study Reading

For a student to excel in today’s competitive world, s/he has to be an avid reader. You are
expected to read very widely and at the same time be able to reproduce much of what you have
read. This is why you have to learn to read/study systematically. No General prosecutes a war
without thorough preparation and proper organisation; hence the need for you to master the art of
effective reading. To comprehend a text, certain methods may be applied. Such methods can be
summarised as follows:

SQ3R
3S3R
PQRST
OK4R

(a) SQ3R
SQ3R are the initials of the five important steps for textbook reading method. The letters can be
deciphered as follows:

S implies ‘survey’
Q implies ‘question’
3R implies: 1. ‘Read’; 2. ‘Recall’; 3. ‘Review’.

(b) 3S3R
3S implies ‘survey’, ‘study-read’ and ‘speed read’
3R implies ‘recite’, reflect’ and ‘recollect’

(c) PQRST
P implies ‘preview’
Q implies ‘question’
R implies ‘read’
S implies ‘summarize’
T implies ‘test’

(d) OK4R
O implies ‘overview’
K implies ‘key points’
4R implies ‘read’, ‘recall’ ‘reflect’ and ‘review’

All the four methods are good based on the time available to the reader and purpose of the
reading. The SQ3R is highly recommended because it is designed for study reading. It is
particularly useful for students in tertiary institutions that are expected to consult several books
in the course of their study. It is a reading strategy designed to help students improve their
comprehension, memory, and efficiency in reading. Briefly, this strategy aims to familiarize
students with the material for easier understanding and to illustrate the importance of active
review so that information is stored not only in the short term memory, but also in the long term
memory. A basic premise is that we remember information when it is connected to our emotions
and when we can interconnect the ideas. Finally, this is an excellent strategy to cut down wasted
reading time. Although the terms appear self-explanatory, we shall go through the SQ3R below:

The SQ3R Method

The SQ3R represent ‘survey’, ‘question’ ‘read’ ‘recall’ and ‘review’.

A. Survey
The purpose of Surveying is to gain a quick overview of a book as a whole, its orderly
development, and the relationships of main ideas to each other, before reading the entire text. To
survey properly, spend 1 to 2 minutes surveying in the following manner:
Fix the name of the chapter in your mind, it is the essence of the main idea you are trying to get
from the chapter.
i. Quickly read the introduction, outline, and objectives of a chapter: They supply
background information needed to recognize the purpose of the chapter. Secondly, they
may state specifically the mode of development the author intends to follow. Both are
important for faster reading speed and greater understanding of how ideas fit together.
ii. Pay attention to the headings and sub-headings: Well-written college textbooks are
divided into sections, each headed by large, bold print. The title names indicate that the
author thinks this idea is very important. There may be several sub-headings under main
headings. Sub-headings signal the important details in the chapter.
iii. Look at other clues to important ideas: This will help those who say, “I never know what
is important or “I can’t tell main points from minor ones”. Authors indicate which points
are important for you! Frequently, there are clues such as bold print, italics, numbered
items, colour coded passages, marginal notes, charts, etc.
iv. Read the summary to see which ideas the author restates for special emphasis or what
conclusions are drawn. A summary contains only the main ideas in a chapter.

B. Questions
Formulate your own questions based on the information you have gathered at the pre-reading
stage by turning headings, boldface or italicized phrases into questions. For example, in order to
make questions out of headings and subheadings, if the first heading in a chapter is “The
Judiciary and the Constitutional Courts,” your questions can be;
 what’s the Judicial court?
 what’s the Constitutional court?
Subheadings on their characteristics can be turned into the question
 what are the characteristics of the Judicial and Constitutional courts?
 which of their characteristics are shared?

Details always dictate the format of a question. Other questions to be asked after the survey
exercise may include the following:
a) How familiar am I with the message of the text?
b) Are there other related articles on the topic?
c) What are the intent and purpose of the writer? Is s/he objective, subjective, or
indifferent?
C. 3R (Read, Recite, Review)
1. Read
While holding the questions clearly in mind, read the details to answer your question. Doing this
creates a clearly defined purpose for reading, i.e., to find answers to questions. Here, constraints
of time and space play a significant role. You may have to read as fast as possible without losing
the main trend, content and focus of the text. If there is time, it may be necessary to read the
same text over and over again until the main idea has been fully comprehended. A very useful
hint in study reading is never to turn to the next page until you have understood the page you are
reading (don’t read for reading sake or merely to count the pages).
A good reader has to recognise individual paragraphs and pay attention to the explanations,
definitions, exemplifications, as well as the visual aids employed to develop each paragraph. It
is not always necessary that you read every part of the text, especially less important portions
and irrelevant details which may be scanned and skimmed.
A reader can achieve effective comprehension by cultivating the right reading habit. Such
reading habit includes the following:

(a) Reading with Purpose and Flexibility

Texts vary in length and texture; hence reading of a text and its purpose must of necessity vary.
Determining the purpose of reading a text quickens one’s reading pace by eliminating irrelevant
portions and concentrating on the relevant part of the text. Flexibility entails choosing the
appropriate reading speed which range from study reading to skimming or scanning.

(b) Pre-Reading
This entails attempting to unlock the writer’s main idea through sampling, in advance, the
organisation of the text. Pre-reading entails reading the opening paragraphs; the first two or three
sentences in the text; sub headings, and the final paragraphs or sentences.

(c) Verbal and Sense Links

Writing entails stringing together of components built around words. Words are combined to
form larger structures such as phrases, clauses and sentences. As words are developed into larger
structures, the reader should look out for clues and patterns of relationships between them. Such
clues may be key words such as nouns and verbs; topic sentences; transitional clauses; pronouns
and many other connectors and linkers.

(d) Proper Mental Posture

A good reader has to be mentally stable, without which assimilation of ideas can hardly be
achieved. The following are some useful suggestions to maintain a proper mental posture:

 Regular place of study. There are a lot of psychological benefits in maintaining a regular
place of study. Such behaviour enhances adaptability to the environment and environment
related conditions.
 Avoidance of distraction. Distractions could be physical or emotional. The following are
some common ones: music and television; time wasting peers and acquaintances; worries
about finance or health; romance or infatuations; etc. Any form of distraction that can lead
to momentary loss of concentration and fatigue during reading should be avoided.
(e) Dividing Study Materials
Study materials should be divided into smaller and manageable portions. Once the materials are
not cumbersome to handle, they will be easier to read and assimilate.

(f) Adherence to the Writer’s Leads

A text should be logically organised into introduction, middle/build up and conclusion. Once this
is noted, comprehension will be much easier.

(g) Be a Participating Reader

An effective reader is expected to see himself as an active participant in a communication
process between the author on one hand and the reader on the other hand. This is why you should
keep asking yourself relevant questions and seeking appropriate answers from the text. You are
expected to read with a critical mind so that you will not miss out the vital content/message of
the text.

2. Recall
Recalling properly is the important step to prevent forgetting and it involves the following steps:
 Look at a question you have made.
 Without looking, recall/recite the answer aloud to the question. Answer fully as if you are
lecturing a class. The key to success lies in reciting the answer aloud or writing it out.
Another way to increase learning and recall is to write the answer down in the form of an
outline, short paragraph, a chart, diagram, formula, etc.
 Check your answer by referring to your notes or the book.
Recalling is a guard against the risky assumption that an answer has been learned. Many students
are satisfied with the feeling of understanding an answer and never get around to testing the state
of their actual learning.

3. Review
Review means regular and frequent recitation of the material to be learned. This is an excellent
check for learning and can eliminate entering an exam feeling that the material has been learnt.
This entails an assessment of the previous steps of survey, question, read and recall. It is the
stage at which you can shut your eyes, put aside the text and attempt to reproduce from memory
the content of the text you have read. To inhibit forgetting, try reviewing weekly, and every time
you read another section, review the previous section in the same way. If you are unable to
recollect all the important points and details, then it is advisable that you read the passage or
topic over again.

Signs of Reading Deficiency

A deficient reading is not assimilating at any rate. How do you discover your deficiency in
reading? The following are signs of deficiency in reading:

(a) Finger Tracing

You are deficient in reading if you still run your fingers through the lines of the pages as you
read. Reading through fingers lead to reading word by word which ultimately slows down your
reading.
(b) Head Movement
There is another test for deficiency in reading which you can use. This is establishing whether
you move your head as you read or not. If you do this, your reading rate will be slow compared
to when you have your head in a stationary position.

(c) Regression
Your reading is bad if you regress always. In other words, you always read a line on a page twice
or more. It shows you are not a committed reader. The adverse effect of this is that your
concentration will be slowed down and consequently curtails your set purpose of reading. Re-
reading of lines on a page several times is a habit that can lead to poor reading output.

(d) Vocalisation
Many poor readers have the problem of vocalisation. In case you belong to this group of readers,
you have to make a conscious effort to tackle the problem. It is a process of reading which is
done with the whispering of the words being read to yourself. In case you read aloud to yourself,
or you read silently to yourself, please stop it, for it affects your reading rate adversely.
Discourage the movement of the tongue, or producing any sound while reading.

(e) Irregular Eye Movement. Your reading is deficient if your eyes move across a line of point
in an irregular rather than a smooth manner, taking in only single words at a time moving the
eyes backwards and regressing often. Your eyes should move from the middle of one phrase to
the middle of the next. If you are able to control your eye-movement as such, your reading rate
will be very fast. Ability to control your eye-movement establishes you as a developed reader
who will demonstrate better understanding than ordinary readers under examination condition.

LISTENING
Listening is the ability to capture, receive and understand important parts of pieces of
information, a message or a lecture being delivered especially through the spoken medium.
Listening is different from hearing. The way to become a good listener is to practise ‘active
listening’. This is where one makes a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another
person is saying but, more importantly, to try and understand the total message being sent. Most
people believe they are good listeners without considering the important differences between
hearing and listening. The ability to hear is typically innate but the ability to listen well is a skill
that must be developed and practised. Listening plays a major role in good communication.

Listening is important because:

- It is for obtaining information.
- It is the best method for understanding.
- It could afford enjoyment.
- It enhances learning.
- It enhances direction and proper reaction.
- It reflects a cordial relationship and respect for the speaker.

Three Basic Listening Types

1. Competitive or Combative Listening
This happens when we are more interested in promoting our own point of view than in
understanding or exploring someone else’s view. We either listen for openings to take the floor,
or for flaws or weak points we can attack. As we pretend to pay attention, we are impatiently
waiting for an opening, or internally formulating our rebuttal and planning a comeback that will
flaw the speaker’s argument and make us the victor. This happens usually in debates or during
arguments and may be counter-productive if not well managed.

2. Passive or Attentive Listening

We genuinely listen with interest and understand the other person’s point of view without
making efforts to verify the validity of the speaker’s claims or even contribute to what has been
delivered. In this type of listening, active reasoning or engaging the intellect for a critical follow-
up is absent – every word said is taken without further interrogation and critical evaluation. Lazy
students fall into this category. They simply reproduce what their teachers teach, including the
class examples without any creative input added to such examples.

3. Active or Reflective Listening

This is the single most useful and important reading skill. In active listening, we are also
genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting or what
the message means, and we are active in checking out our understanding before we respond with
our own new message. We restate or paraphrase our understanding of the message and reflect it
back to the sender for verification. This verification or feedback process is what distinguishes
active listening and makes it effective. The feedback in the context of teacher-student
relationship can include the student’s supplying innovative answers and examples which the
speaker (teacher) had never even imagined.

Factors that Hinder Active Listening

A. Factors that Hinder Active Listening: Speaker Inputs
1. Low voice volume
2. Complex words, unnecessary details and absence of a specific focus
3. Forgetting purpose of discussion and excessive digressions
4. Allowing body language such as scornful looks or anger to interfere with verbal message
5. Being too concerned with the listener rather than the message being passed

B. Factors that Hinder Active Listening: Listener Inputs

1. Being preoccupied with other thoughts
2. Being so interested in what you will contribute when the speaker is done
3. Countering speaker’s points or seeking means to do so
4. Being preoccupied with personal beliefs
5. Having negative preconceived impressions about the speaker
6. Evaluating speaker before they are done
7. Failing to ask for clarifications when privileged to do so