ASSIGNMENT # 1

NIMRAH YOUSUF

BSSEF16A

WHAT ARE THE TECHNIQUES FOR SCANNING AND SKIMMING A TEXT?

HOW CAN WE IMPROVE OUR

READING?

Sometimes you need to be able to read a text very quickly. This is why we Skim and Scan. Skimming and scanning are ways of reading that can help you ‘get’ the information easily. All of these will help you get an idea of the main topics being covered.

The best way, and perhaps the only way, for today's student to cope with the effects of the information explosion on college reading lists is to become a competent and confident skimmer and scanner.

Two important techniques include:

• SCANNING

• SKIMMING

Quickly "looking over" an article is neither skimming nor scanning. Both require specific steps to be followed.

SCANNING

To scan means to look for a particular piece of information. It rapidly covers a great deal of material in order to locate a specific fact or piece of information.

There is often a picture to help explain the text. You know that this picture means thunderstorms – not a good day to go cycling!

MAXWELL DEFINITION

According to Maxwell (1970) scanning, which is defined as the ability to locate specific facts and details quickly, is regarded as a desirable reading skill and is taught in most developmental reading courses.

Purpose:

To help you find one specific bit of information within a relatively large body of information.

How do you do it?

When we scan, our eyes generally scan in the following directions:-

Steps in scanning an article:

• The word that means...

• The sentence that tells...

• Dates, names, places

• Key words to find the specific information quickly

• Anticipate in what form the information is likely to appear-numbers, proper nouns, etc.

• Let your eyes run rapidly over several lines of print at a time.

• When you find the sentence that has the information you seek, read the entire sentence.

• Use all available clues--capital letters, hyphens, italics, synonyms, key words.

SOME USEFUL INFORMATION:

• In scanning, you must be willing to skip over large sections of text without reading or understanding them.

• Scanning can be done at 1500 or more words per minute.

WE SCAN WHEN...

• We look up a word in the dictionary or index.

• We want to find an address or a phone number in a phone directory.

• We look up details or prices in a catalog.

• We check what time our favorite program is on television.

How can scanning help me?

• Uncovers relevant information.

• Accelerates reading speed and flexibility (can scan ten times your present reading rate).

• Two situations where scanning is helpful

1. You know material has information you want, but can't remember specifically what it is or where it is in the chapter.

2. You are looking for something unknown – you won't know exactly until you find it (i.e., processing large amounts of information as part of your job).

SKIMMING

Skim-reading means reading lightly over a page .Skimming is used to get the main idea of a text.

MAXWELL DEFINITION

Maxwell (1969) defines skimming as getting the main idea or gist of a selection quickly in a written text where the students develop powers of inference through systematic practice which encourages them to anticipate the content of a text.

PURPOSE:

Concentrates your attention on the essentials of a paragraph or series of paragraphs.

HOW DO YOU DO IT?

When we skim we generally scan our eyes in the following direction:-

Steps in skimming an article :

• Read the title. • Read the introduction or the first paragraph. • Read the first sentence of every other paragraph. • Read any headings and sub-headings. • Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs. • Notice any italicized or boldface words or phrases

• Read the summary or last paragraph.

WE SKIM WHEN...

• We browse through a book to decide whether we want to read it.

• We see what is making the news in a newspaper or on a website.

•

• We look through the options given on a Google search to see what

sites it suggests.

HOW CAN SKIMMING HELP ME?

• After surveying article, you may feel it doesn't merit reading, but is too important to discard.

• Use to review material (previously studied) just before a test.

• Will help you get through material faster.

CONCLUSION

Skimming and scanning is used when reading all types of documents. We skim to get the idea of what a document is about and typically skim all documents before we actually begin to read. As we skim, we… think about the topic think about what we already know about the topic start to guess or anticipate the details we are going to read about. We scan for specific information. We work quickly when we skim and scan.