There are different reading techniques and the students should be aware of which technique is most suited, depending on the reading task required by the text or by their teacher.

Training students to know their reading techniques and deduce when best to apply them is important. The following are the most used techniques of reading:

1. Skimming: Skimming is a strategic, selective reading method in which you focus on the main ideas of a text. It is sometimes referred as gist reading. When skimming, reader deliberately skip text that provides details, stories, data, or other elaboration. Instead of closely reading every word, the reader focus on the introduction, chapter summaries, first and last sentences of paragraphs, bold words, and text features. Skimming is extracting the essence of the author’s main messages rather than the finer points.

Use skimming for/ why to skim? :

  • reading service or product reviews
  • going over a speech last minute
  • quick research
  • quick review before an exam
Skimming can save you a lot of time by making you aware of the key points without fully comprehending the entire text. 

2. Scanning: This is a reading method that is used more times in a day than the other techniques. Scanning involves looking only for specific information (such as keywords, numbers, names, etc.) while omitting other details. Scanning involves getting your eyes to quickly scuttle across sentence and is used to get just a simple piece of information.

Scan when reading :
  • list of email subjects
  • news articles
  • a food or drink menu
In general, scanning is most effective for material with a set layout, such as newspapers and
phonebooks. This is the best technique to use when you need specific information – fast.

3. Intensive reading: Intensive reading refers to reading  texts thoroughly and with clear goals, such as to answer reading comprehension questions or to identify how sentences are linked. Readers carefully read, consume, and analyze each word for meaning.  Unlike extensive reading, the goal of intensive reading is not to read many texts for fluency, but rather to read a shorter piece of text to gain a deeper understanding of that text.

Although reading comprehension can be one goal of intensive reading, its goals may include learning subject matter, vocabulary learning and studying the authors’ intentions.

4. Extensive reading: Extensive reading involves learners reading texts for enjoyment and to develop general reading skills.  The meaning of extensive reading is reading widely but not necessarily focusing on only one text. You can read from different sources to develop your reading skills. It’s not about finding layers of meaning, grammar rules or other critical aspects of a text.

Extensive reading has been used for beginner-level language learners. It helps to familiarize them with reading material and build the cognitive ability to understand new words, frame sentences and make sense of the text as a complete unit. You’ll get a general understanding of the text and improve your language skills.

Whether you’re a beginner or a proficient reader, extensive reading will help you polish your reading ability. You can try to read as much and as widely as possible. It’s better not to restrict yourself to the same type of sources. Some examples of extensive reading are newspapers, blogs and e-magazines.