Understanding the various types of reading

Reading a book, to many, would suggest the idea of simply going through the book and ingesting the contents. However, there are various types of reading and depending on various factors, such as what a reader seeks from a book, he/she might use any of these reading techniques. Namely, these are reading, scanning, speed reading, studying and comprehending. Often, the pages of a book are designed keeping in mind the reading style that the readers are most likely to use.

Reading: In general, reading refers to the process of making meaning out of a series of text or symbols by looking at them. It involves receiving the written or printed symbols through our eyes, converting them into words and sentences using our brain and then understanding the message they carry. While reading, we often sub-vocalise the words mentally, pronouncing them in our brain, often in the voice of specific people or characters as in the next.

Scanning: Readers looking for a specific information within a large volume of text scan it rather than reading it thoroughly. This process involves rapid eye movement, with the reader on the lookout for specific keywords. Typically, one is likely to skip most of the information in the book and only look for the keyword that they are interested in. For example, while looking for a topic not listed in the index of a book, one may go to the relevant chapter and quickly scan the pages for a subheading or anything related to the topic that may stand out.

Speed reading: When the readers only seek to gain a general overview of the content or are short on time, they start ‘speed reading’. Under this process, the reader wouldn’t identify and comprehend each and every word individually. Rather, they would read entire sentences or phrases at once and make meaning out of them. In this case, sub-vocalising is skipped and the readers make use of their peripheral vision to absorb more information. Thus, speed reading quite fast, but makes the readers compromise on the details as it is difficult to absorb all the information effectively while reading at such a rapid pace.

Studying: The process of studying becomes relevant when one tries to acquire detailed information from the book, especially with the goal of learning. Readers ‘study’ particularly while reading a book for academic purposes. In other words, studying refers to spending time and effort to obtain detailed information regarding the subject. The reader may either acquire new information, add the newly gained information to their existing knowledge or replace the existing knowledge they already possess, with more accurate information.

Comprehending: Comprehending refers to understanding the meaning of a next properly upon reading it. It is crucial to effective learning as without being able to grasp the meaning, one would fail to acquire the knowledge or information carried by the text.Book types

Fiction vs non-fictionBooks can broadly be divided into two categories, fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is literature created from imagination, such as stories, novels, short stories, etc. Non-fiction, on the other hand, is based on facts and includes biographies, history, academic books, etc. Typically, one cannot study fiction as fictions usually are written more with the aim of providing leisure than knowledge. Studying is related to non-fictions, such as the academic books that students read while preparing for an examination.

Books come in a wide variety of genres and so do reading habits. Not all readers read in all the above-described methods. Depending on factors such as their available time, the content of the book and reading attitudes, the readers tailor their reading styles.

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