A fault that is often seen when readers are trying to
concentrate is pointing to the words with a finger or pen. While marking the
line might be helpful for beginning readers, it is certainly unnecessary for
normal readers. Besides, slowing down the reader, pointing at lines or words
tends to cause the reader to focus his attention on the wrong thing. The
important thing to concentrate on while reading is not the location of the
words on the page but the idea that the author is trying to communicate.
Another common fault easily observed is head movement. The
belief that this head movement aids reading is pure nonsense. Eye muscles are
quite capable of shifting the eyes from word to word, and they need no help
from neck muscles. Often readers are quite unaware that they are moving their
heads while reading, and they need to be reminded not to do it.
Vocalization is another fault. Some poor readers think it
necessary to pronounce aloud each word as it is read. The chief disadvantage of
pronouncing words while you read them is that it tends to tie reading speed to
speaking speed, and the silent reading of most normal readers is nearly twice
as fast as their speaking. Usually, this fault can be eliminated in readers by
their own conscious effort, possibly with the aid of a few reminders.
Subvocalisation is the most difficult of all types of
vocalization, where there is no body movement. But an inner type of speech
persists: within the reader’s mind, he is saying each word to himself, clearly
pronouncing each words and then listening to himself, as it were. This fault is
difficult, but not impossible, to cure. Probably, the main reason for this
problem is the nature of written language. English is written in an alphabet: a
set of symbols which stand for speech sounds. The speech sounds in turn stand
for an idea or thought. But it is not necessary to say or hear the word in
order to get its meaning. It is quite possible to look at the printed word and
get the idea directly. Readers should practice grasping quickly the ideas
presented on a printed page and not reading aloud without error.
When the eyes are reading a line of print, they make a
series of short jerky movements along the line, stopping after every one or two
words for a very brief pause. The eyes do not, as some people erroneously
believe, make a smooth even movement along the line. Each time the eyes stops,
it sees a certain span of material, and this span is call the ‘span of
recognition’. The span of recognition for most readers is a little over one
word. When eye movements are photographed and recorded on a moving strip of
film, it can be shown that good readers do actually see two or three words in a
fixation while poor readers see one word or less per fixation.
One more reading fault the readers might see while observing
another reading or become conscious of in their own reading is the making of
‘regressions’. A regression is a backward movement along a line of print. All
readers make regressions, but good readers make very few and bad readers make a
large number. Possibly this bad habit was started by the reader’s reading
material not being properly graded for him. Forcing him to read too difficult
has engendered the habit of making regressions. To cure this habit, the reader
should be given ample amounts of easy reading.
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