Reading Speed

• 1. Reading speed
• 2. Reading speed The rate at which a person reads written text (printed or electronic) in a specific unit of time. Reading speed is generally calculated by the number of words read per minute. Reading speed is determined by a number of factors, including a reader's purpose and level of expertise as well as the relative difficulty of the text.
• 3. Examples and Observations: “A rate close to . . . 250 words-per-minute [is the average] reading speed of most people, including junior high and high school students." (Stanley D. Frank, Remember Everything You Read. Random House, 1990) "Some books are fast and some are slow, but no book can be understood if it is taken at the wrong speed.“ (Mark Van Doren, quoted by Bill Bradfield in Books and Reading. Dover, 2002)
• 4. Four Basic Reading Speeds "Experienced readers pace themselves according to their purpose, taking advantage of four basic reading speeds.  Very fast  Fast  Slow to moderate  Very slow "(John C. Bean, Virginia Chappell, and Alice M. Gillam, Reading Rhetorically. Pearson Education, 2004)”
• 5. Very fast: Readers scan a text very quickly if they are looking only for a specific piece of information. Fast: Readers skim a text rapidly if they are trying to get just the general gist without worrying about details.
• 6. Slow to moderate: Readers read carefully in order to get complete understanding of an article. The more difficult the text, the slower they read. Often difficult texts require rereading. Very slow: Experienced readers read very slowly if their purpose is to analyze a text. They take elaborate marginal notes and often pause to ponder over the construction of a paragraph or the meaning of an image or metaphor. Sometimes they reread the text dozens of times.
• 7. Reading rates Each type of reading has a different rate; an exciting novel is a quicker read than a text book Text books vary in how well they are written; some are more difficult to read Each semester, time yourself reading a chapter  See how many pages an hour you can read.  Based on that plan your reading time and studying time.
• 8. Factors Affect Reading Speed Speed reading is not just reading fast all the time.  The technical content of the material  the print size  familiarity with the subject  purpose in reading. The key to speed reading is having the choice to read as fast or as slow as you wish. "No matter how fast your reading speed, unless you remember what you read you will have wasted your time. (Tina Konstant, Speed Reading. Hodder & Stoughton, 2003)
• 9. What Is Speed Reading? By Richard Sutz and Peter Weverka from Speed Reading For Dummies Reading engages the eyes, ears, mouth, and brain. Speed reading engages these senses even more than normal reading because you use your senses and brain power even more efficiently.
• 10. Speed reading is seeing The first step in reading anything is seeing the words. But how do you see words on the page when you read? Prior to the 1920s, researchers believed that people read one word at a time. To read, they thought, you moved your eyes left to right across the page, taking in one word after the other. Under this theory, fast readers were people who could identify and recognize words faster. However, all but beginning readers have the ability to see and read more than one word at a time. As you move your eyes across the page, you jump ahead in fits and starts, taking in from one to five words at a time in quick glances. Speed reading builds on these quick glances: You read several words in a single glance You expand your vision so that you can read and understand many words in a single glance. You expand your vision to read vertically as well as horizontally on the page.
• 11. Speed reading is silent reading When you read, you speak words to yourself (aloud or in your head) the sound-it-out method. The problem with the sound-it-out approach to reading is that it slows you down. Saying the words, even if you only whisper them inside the confines of your skull, takes time. In speed-reading terminology, saying and hearing words as you read them is called vocalizing. Training yourself not to vocalize when you read is one of the most important speed-reading skills you can acquire.
• 12. Speed reading is comprehending The purpose of reading is to comprehend what you read.  How well you comprehend  the breadth of your vocabulary,  degree of familiarity with the subject matter Speed reading actually increases reading comprehension.  the meaning of words in context  Speed reading also has a snowball effect on the size of your vocabulary and general knowledge, which increases your reading speed.
• 13. Speed reading is concentrating All reading requires concentration, if only for a moment. Speed reading requires many things at once. To speed read well, you must  see and read the words on the page,  remain alert to the author's main ideas,  think along with the author  detect how the author presents the material so you can pin down the main ideas, and  read with more perspective to separate the details from weightier stuff.  You have to know when to skim, when to read fast, and when to slow down to get the gist of it.