The Four Modes of Reading

"The way a book is read -- the qualities a reader brings to a book -- can have as much to do with its worth as anything the author puts into it." - Norman Cousins

The Four Modes of Reading

What Causes Decreased or Lack of Comprehension

Mode 1 - Passive Mode

Mode 2 - Preview Mode

Mode 3 - Interactive Mode

Mode 4 - Question-Driven Mode

Reading Speed and Reading Purpose

Speedreading Technique

What Causes Decreased or Lack of Comprehension

Just about everyone who complains of not being able to understand or comprehend what they just read suffers from one of four basic problems.

One of the biggest reasons is due to reading only in the passive mode. This is a bad habit! You must change how you read so that you are in a much more active, or interactive mode of reading.

The only way to accomplish this, however, is to practice.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Here are the four most common reasons for problems with reading comprehension on tests:

Poor concentration. This could be due to the fact that the material is highly technical and has too many details. It could be that you have no experience reading this type of material, so there is no familiarity in it for you. Or, the passage could be poorly written and ramble. Or you may simply be uninterested in the topic.

Slow Reader. You might not be a very fast reader, so you give up before you've finished reading something.

Can't find answers fast enough. You may have to spend too much time reading the passage again and again to find the information needed to answer a particular question.

More than one answer seems right. It is sometimes hard to narrow down your choices to a single, correct answer.

There are ways of dealing with each of these testing-oriented reading comprehension problems, and we will cover all of them as you go through this course.

Remember,when taking an exam that is testing your reading comprehension, they are not merely looking for your ability to find information in the passage. They are looking to determine whether you understood what the author was saying in the passage. They want to know if you comprehend the passage and what it means.

In order to understand a test reading selection, you must be able to:

Identify the main idea (or thesis statement). What is the author's primary purpose?

Follow the author's line of reasoning. As you read from paragraph to paragraph, do you understand what the author is trying to say?

]]>