If You'd Like
To Know Why Reading Matters
by Barbara Freedman-De Vito
Here Are Some of the Reasons Why Reading Is
So Important for Children
Why Do We Tell Children to Read? We're always telling
children that books and reading are good for them,
but have we ever really thought about why that's
true ? Exactly what do older children get out of
reading novels ? What do younger kids get from reading
children's stories and being read to ? Does reading
matter?
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SPEED READING TIPS
Vocalization - The Biggest Hurdle
Iin Speed Reading
by Melvin Ng
Very often, when perusing materials relating to improving
your speed reading skills, you'll see comments to the
effect that vocalization is the biggest hurdle in speed
reading. Moreover, if you do happen to be one of those
people who vocalize when you read, you'll need to overcome
this practice if you want to significantly increase your
reading speed.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that those of
us who vocalize our words when we speed read have not
perfected our speed reading skills. Having said that,
what is vocalization - and why is it seen as being one
of the biggest hurdles in speed reading?
Vocalization explained
"Vocalization", or subvocalization as it is
sometimes also known, is the practice of pronouncing/speaking
words out aloud, albeit under your breath or even in your
head, as you read materials. The argument goes that this
is a common flaw in most people's reading skills as it
is a habit adopted from our formative years, when we were
encouraged, by our teachers, peers and parents, to speak-out
the words we were reading. The net result of all this
is that we place a limit on our ability to speed read
if we vocalize the words as we read. This is because part
of our brain needed to vocalize the words being read has
to be activated.
Vocalization - the cons
The overwhelming reason why vocalization is seen as negative
is the fact that it inhibits your ability to speed read
- it slows you down! Here, empirical observation seems
to suggest that those who vocalize are unable to read
more than 300 words per minute - and are likely unable
to exceed 250 words per minute. Although reading at a
rate of between 250 and 300 words per minute would make
you an average reader, speed reading techniques should
help you to reach at least 500 words per minute. Furthermore,
opponents of vocalization argue that rather than helping
a reader to comprehend the text being read, vocalization
is a barrier to such comprehension; therefore, vocalization
is a hurdle not only to speed reading, but also comprehending
what is being read.
Vocalization - the pros
Proponents of vocalization who argue that vocalization
is actually a good thing, base their counter-argument
on two principles. First, they argue that most people
are able to speak faster than they can read. Vocalization,
where you speak as you read, therefore enables us to read
faster - not slower. Second, vocalization is a process
that involves repeating what one has just read. Thus,
by repeating something we have just read we are far more
likely to be able to retain that information in our brain
than would be the case if we merely only read the material.
Both of these are strong arguments: they both lead to
a logical and persuasive argument that vocalization equals
a better understanding of the text that we are reading.
And finally, another argument in favor of vocalization
harps back to the very reason why we may vocalize in the
first place: because vocalization of text helps us in
our skills of verbally pronouncing the word being read.
Nonetheless, there are undoubtedly HUGE flaws with vocalization.
One of these is the need to re-read material that we have
only just read, which is another commonly cited limitation
on one's ability to speed read.
Vocalization - eliminating this bad habit
No tried and tested method of curing vocalization has
come to the forefront of speed reading techniques. Rather,
what is often cited is the need to cure the problem through
disciplining yourself not to speak out (vocalize) the
words that you are reading as you read them. However,
if you have been reading for some time, re-training yourself
so that you don't vocalize words can be exhausting and
time consuming!
In this regard, one method that has become popular is
to read using a marker. The argument goes that if you
drag the marker along the page as you read, you are less
likely to vocalize your words and more like to be able
to read faster. Another method of avoiding vocalization
is to readjust the focus of your eyes. Adjusting the focus
of your eyes by zooming in on a word and then adjusting
your eye focus outwards to see the broader picture of
a whole paragraph enables you to read faster as it increases
the number of words your eyes can focus on at any one
time!
About the Author
Melvin Ng teaches speed reading through his 16-Minute
Speed Reading Audio Program. This breakthrough technique
Guarantees to Double your reading speed in just 16 minutes!
http://www.bestspeedreadingcourse.com |
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