The Counter-Intuitive Relationship Between Speed Reading & Comprehension
Whether it is a matter of keeping up with work or getting ahead in study, speed reading is commonly regarded as the industrious nemesis to that foundation of reading pleasure, comprehension. As it turns out, key skills such as word and phrase recognition as well as a familiarity with the grammar and quality of writing in use, are the keys to improving both reading speed & comprehension. This means that both speed reading and comprehension are based on the same skills.
Skimming or "Scanning", is not Speed Reading
Many years ago, a method of using a prop or pointer to force eye movement to exceed reading speed and thereby force an increase in reading speed was touted as a method of speed reading. Comprehension suffered severely due to excessive application of this method, to the point where over a uniformly formatted text, only a relatively small proportion of random words and phrases were taken in and remembered by the practitioner. This method later became known as "scanning" or "skimming" the text and was notorious for causing poor retention. Despite the hype and the backlash against speed reading as an idea, this method of skimming the text is not speed reading at all.
Speed Reading is the Jump from Phonic to Sight Reading Taken One Step Further
Speed reading is a product of the Basic unit of Information Processing or BIP as coined by Roberts et. Al., (1996). It begins with a combination of sound associations and character combinations that evolve into word associations as the new reader becomes more proficient. The transition from phonic reading or reading character by character, to sight reading or reading word by word marks a significant increase in reading speed. The flash card system was introduced to schools to help students learn a basic vocabulary of sight reading words and thus improve both speed and comprehension. This is because less time is spent trying to work out what word the reader is looking at and more time is allowed for understanding the context and meaning of the word and the grammatical structure in which it appears. Unfortunately, literacy tuition rarely goes beyond single word sight reading but this leaves great potential for further development of this ability.
Train Yourself to Speed Read. (See FieldCraft's speed reading software for example)
How to learn speed reading and improve comprehension is no secret. All it takes is to expand on the sight reading principle so that one begins to learn to recognise phrases and word groups. With the right tools, you'll be surprised how quickly you pick this up. The problem is finding the right tools. After all, a basic sight reading vocabulary of about 800 words will suffice for competent sight reading skill. However, Imagine trying to recombine those basic 800 words into sensible word pairs and even larger word groups. The logistics are well beyond the old flash card frame, cardboard, pens, scissors and a good writing hand! Thankfully, some very effective software has been developed to facilitate this kind of training, and with a good package most people can triple their reading speed in as little as one or two weeks. FieldCraft offer a comprehensive, if not impressive training utility for extending vocabulary, comprehension and speed reading.
