Nature of Reading

What to Read: Reading materials can be newspapers, magazines, phone directories, or textbooks on
any subjects but these items are read differently such that it is not the same way you read textbooks,
newspaper is read. Newspaper is read once and then nothing necessarily to memorize unlike a textbook
where it is read over and over again, questions will come and will be answered all for the purpose of
examinations, the nature of what you read depends on the purpose of why you are reading it also
dictates the amount of attention attached to the reading.

When to read: The type of book you want to read will determine where and when you read it
however it is not in all cases but mostly for academic books, for instance newspaper can be read
anywhere at any time unlike a physics textbook where you would need rapt attention hence it is very
important to set a reading timetable and must also be carried out at a suitable place considering the
type of book you are reading.

Methods of Reading
1. SQ3R (S –Survey, Q –Question and 3R –Read, Recall/Recite and Review).
2. The PQRST (Preview Questions read Summary Test) Technique.
3. The 3S3R (3s - Survey, Study-read and Speech-read, 3R – Recite, Reflect and Recollect) and OK4R
(O – Overview, K – Key points, 4R – Read, Recall, Reflect and Review) Techniques.

SQ3R
Survey: In this survey method first examine the base matters in the book from either the title, the
preface, foreword and table of contents. Before reading you are expected to read the blurb of the book
if one is written to give you an insight about what the book says. From the title of the book, You should
be able to ask yourself whether or not it relates to or has relevance to what you are searching for. To
effectively survey an article or a chapter in a book, you are expected to check out the title, the first and
concluding paragraphs and even browse through the topic sentences of each paragraph before actually
reading the piece.

Question: This aspect of the SQ3R method requires that you ask questions relating to what is being
read. These questions will guide the you in understanding the content of the book. questions you may
ask include: (a) How correct is the idea or information contained in the book? (b) Through the survey,
does the book actually contain what it has said it would do in the introduction? (c) Does the book
contradict your opinions on the subject? (d) What is the writer's aim in writing the book? (e) Does
he/she objectively or otherwise present his/her views? You may also ask other questions that relate to
the subject of the book. The aim of asking these questions is to direct and guide your reading and lead
you to a careful and serious study of the test.

R1 (Read): This is the first of the 3R and it involves a careful reading of the text, examining its main
ideas, the illustrations and examples and getting answers to the questions you have asked yourself at
the Question stage. You may have to read the text two or three times until you have fully grasped what
it is about. The reading must be done with a very critical mind, you must clarify issues, understand and
accommodate new vocabulary while taking notes. To effectively understand what you read, you need to
adopt some strategies of reading, which include the following:

1a. Reading with purpose and flexibility: The nature of the reading material and the purpose dictate the
thoroughness and speed of reading.

1b. Pre-reading: This involves reading the preliminary details like the introductory paragraph before the
actual reading.

1c. Identifying verbal and sense links: In writing, words are strung together to form phrases, clauses and
sentences.

1d. Adopting a proper mental posture: To fully understand what is read, you need to be mentally alert
and stable. To aid this, you need to: Have a regular place of study and Avoid distractions

1e. Dividing up the study material: Your reading materials should be divided into manageable smaller
units and you are advised to take one step at a time in order to aid your assimilation.

1f. Adhering to the writer’s leads: You will achieve easy comprehension if you read the text following
it’s division into introduction, main body and conclusion as the writer intends.

1g. Being a participant reader: for you to become a good reader you need to participate in the process
of communication by asking yourself important questions and finding answers from the text

R2 (Recall/recite): This is the second of the three Rs. The SQ3R technique entails recalling or
remembering what has been read, During the reading process, you must have committed to memory
certain definitions, keywords, new words and illustrations, which you now must make a conscious effort
to recall or recite so that you do not forget

R3 (Review): This is the last of the three Rs. To review a book is to assess it – an activity synonymous
with revision. Reviewing involves looking again at what you have previously done on the SQ3R scale.

The PQRST Technique:

It is another method of study reading. It gives priority to the information to be examined especially in an
examination:

2a. P – (Preview): Here you examine or preview the topic and the various headings and ideas in the
course outline.

2b. Q – Question): This stage involves you asking the usual questions about what you are reading; these
questions aid the understanding of the content of the book.

2c. R– (Read): Here, all materials related to the topic are carefully read and ideas that answer the
questions are selected.

2d. S – (Summary): Here, you should put in summary form all you have studied while taking into
consideration all illustrations and diagrams used.

2e. T – (Test): This last stage involves you testing yourself by answering the questions
The 3S3R and OK4R Techniques: These methods are strategies for
studying better. They teach effective note-taking and mnemonic devices. Other methods of study
reading are the use of flash cards, summarization and mnemonic devices.

3a. First, the flash cards: You should prepare cards of A5 size where short notes on the study are written
for revision. The cards are usually visual clues.

3b. Summarization: This is another study reading technique whereby you read and recall what you have
read in a short form through the use of keywords. Through these keywords, you are able to recall the
ideas in the examination hall.

3c. Mnemonic devices such as acronyms can be a method of memorizing ideas studied especially for
examination. Simple phrases or acronyms can aid the recalling of important details in the examination
hall. For example, ROYGBIV is a way to recall the colors of the rainbow – R: red, O: orange, Y: yellow, G:
green, B: blue, I: indigo and V: violet.

Reading, Retaining and Remembering

The best way to remember what has been read is to be able to recall without using the exact words of
the textbook. It is better to paraphrase; using your own words. Another way is to recite verbatim what
has been read. This is most useful in recalling lines in a play or words in a foreign language, or in the
sciences. The following are the stages involved in the process of storing information:

1. Encoding: This entails the ability of a reader to read, organize and internalize information.
2. Storage: This entails the ability to retain the information.
3. Retrieval: It involves remembering or recalling information that has been stored. This is aided by
attention.

When the necessary attention, concentration and focus have been applied to what is learnt or read, the
reader has every opportunity to remember and recall information when necessary. Recalling is also
aided by repetition, recitation and review.