Different types of Reading skills or techniques

 Arbaz khan notes 

What are the different types of reading skills?

READING SKILL.

Reading, of all the language skills opens up before us a new world of experience. We 

read for pleasure or information. Reading may be defined as a skill that enhances the 

ability to understand the written language with correct pronunciation. We read reports, 

articles, notices, directions, timetables, maps and graphs to lead a purposeful life. 

Students can be immensely benefitted if they are trained to read English through 

different stages of their education. Therefore, the role of teacher in teaching reading 

is very crucial.

Different types of reading skills/techniques. 

The four main types of reading skills/techniques are as follows.

1) Skimming

2) Scanning

3) Intensive

4) Extensive 

1. Skimming: - skimming is a type of rapid reading. Sometimes referred to as 

gist reading. 

Skimming is a reading technique meant to look for main or general ideas in a text, 

without going into detailed and exhaustive reading. In skimming, a reader reads 

only important information, but not everything. This technique works effectively in 

non-fiction materials, newspapers, and long novels.

To get a gist of the text, a skimmer reads the introductory paragraph, the 

topic sentences of paragraphs, and notices pictures, graphs, charts, titles, 

headings, subheadings, italicized and boldface words, and their illustrations, and 

makes a mental picture of the text after viewing this information. He then 

transforms this picture into a summary. It provides the reader with flexibility of 

determining the final reading goal and make them to be able to use different types 

of reading. 

5 Examples of Skimming

• To see what is in the news on a website or on a paper

• To look through a text to decide whether you want to read it or not• To look through the television guide/program schedule to plan your evening

• To see through a catalog to choose an offer

• To go through the options after searching something on Google

2. Scanning: -Scanning is another type of rapid reading. It is used to locate a particular

piece of information from a text, without understanding the other part of the text.

Scanning is commonly used in everyday life, for example when looking up a

word in a dictionary or finding your friend's name in the contacts directory of

your phone.

Scanning and another quick reading skill, skimming, are often confused, though

they are quite different. While skimming is concerned with

finding general information, namely the main ideas, scanning involves looking

for specific information.

 5 Examples of Scanning

• To search for a word in a dictionary or index

• To find a phone number or an address in a directory

• To check the time schedule of a program in an agenda

• To check the price of a specific item in a catalog

• To know a particular information from a text

3. Intensive reading: - The meaning of intensive reading is to read with full

concentration and complete focus. It’s not about reading book after book or 10

articles a day. Even if you’re reading a single-line quote, you should try to

understand what the words are trying to convey. Intensive reading is one of the

most critical skills you can develop to get a better understanding of information.

When you have to read a report for work, for instance, you can’t just skim it and

call it a day. You have to get a deeper understanding of what’s written, assess

the purpose and evaluate the results to make sense of it. Reading intensively

will help you tackle complex texts. You’ll be able to strengthen your reading

comprehension, vocabulary and language skills.

4. Extensive reading: - Extensive Reading (ER) is the process of reading longer easier

texts for an extended period of time without a breakdown of comprehension.

Extensive reading involves learners reading texts for enjoyment and to develop general

reading skills.

 Possible examples of extensive reading material are magazines, graded

readers, novels and, yes, even comic books!