The 4 Skills For An Effective Reading Process

Reading is one of the most important macro skills that we should develop as we are living in a world where signages, symbols, warnings and informations are everywhere that are intended to guide us for smoother living.

Let's say for instance, it's your first time visiting a place you're not familiar with, but then, you have to go there as you are meeting your friend. Of course, traveling to that place is not easy if you didn't know how to read. How could you look for the address and how can you understand it if you can't read. It's not enough to just ask for someone to guide you, because usually, when we asked someone for a place, they will just give us a clue that actually requires reading like, "just go to the left side of this street and when you read FAMILY *toot* then that's it." See? You still have to read.

Reading should be developed at an early age.

Even if a child is not yet having a formal education, the parents must teach and guide their children in perceiving and familiarizing themselves on different symbols and letters. And, when the time comes, when they are already in a classroom setting, the teachers there will further develop and harness the children's capability to read.

I remember when I was a kid, my mom bought an alphabet chart for me and a booklet containing letters, basic words and with corresponding images. I am not yet going to school that time, but I already memorized all the letters on the alphabet as well as the sample objects that correspond to each letters with the help of my parents. And, when I was in kindergarten, I already know how to read basic words and when I step on grade 1, I already know how to read the full story in a book.

That's when my love for reading has started. I love reading stories in a sense that I always borrowed my older brother and sister's books and find stories there. Though, I prefer texts written in Filipino language rather than English. I already know how to read English words that time but, I struggled in terms of comprehension. I love to read at the same time, I want to understand what I'm reading and not just merely perceiving it so as much as possible, I read what I can comprehend.

Reading requires several skills to be performed effectively.

That's what my instructor said during our last online meeting now that I'm in my 2nd year in college. I am an English major so, I have this major subject called "Teaching and Assessment of the Macroskills" wherein it focuses on developing the reading skill at the first part, followed by other macro skills like listening, writing, and speaking.

My instructor mentioned different skills that should be incorporated during the reading process.

These are:

1. Word Perception

In a reading process, of course, we should have the ability to perceive the words in a written text. We should perceive what's written in a book by familiarizing ourselves with the words and think of how to pronounce it silently, using our mind. That's why, it's very important as well to know how to read different words by means of learning about the spelling and proper pronunciation.

2. Comprehension

After perceiving the word, the next one is comprehension. We have to comprehend or understand what we've read and not just merely reading word by word and not reading between the lines. What's the sense of reading if we don't understand the meaning? That's the usual scenario inside a classroom when the teacher ask about the opinion of the students based on what they've read. Usually, some students can't answer their teacher correctly because, in the first place, they didn't understand what they have read.

3. Reaction

Third skill is the ability to react or respond on what we read. After word perception and comprehension, there are times also that we have to react on the context we read especially in a conversation whether it's in a letter form or through chats online.

Aside from that, there are some required papers wherein we have to write our reaction about a particular readings like when our teacher required us to read an excerpt on the book and we have to react by writing reflection paper or reaction paper.

The skill to react matters a lot since it's our way also to test ourselves if we really understand what we read. Just like here in read.cash, in reading articles we have to perceive the words, comprehend the meaning of each words/sentences and we will react through commenting to test our comprehension and to show support on the author.

5. Integration

The last skill that we need to develop further when it comes to reading is the skill to integrate what we have learned. Reading is not only intended for gaining knowledge, it is also a way to apply what we have learn in real life situation and not just keeping the knowledge stucked in our mind without any usage/function.

We can apply the lessons from what we read by applying them in solving problems or in creating something. For example, we read about how to make a DIY flower decorations at home. When the time comes that we have to decorate our home due to a particular occasion, for example a birthday party, we can apply what we have learned by creating our own flower decorations. We will not hire anyone to do it for us because we already know how to do it which will help us to save money, time and energy. That moment, we don't have to worry about a certain problem because we already know how to solve it since we already read something about it that made us more knowledgeable about the solution.

To sum it all, the different skills that we need to develop when it comes to improving the process of reading are:

• Word Perception

• Comprehension

• Reaction

• Integration

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Reading is not just a simple skill that we shouldn't pay attention to. It's the other way around wherein we have to improve or develop it first because we really need it in every situation, not just in a classroom setting but as well as in doing different activities outside the classroom. Whether at the mall, at the street, in a bank, or anywhere else, we have to use our skill to read because that will serve as a guide for us to not be in trouble.
Reading is one of the input skills together with listening. Without them, there won't be an output skills which are writing and speaking, so we really have to develop it further.

Author's Note:

The skills I've mentioned here especially the 4 skills needed in a reading process are based on what I've learned from my instructor in our major subject. Aside from testing my knowledge about it if I really learned something during the discussion from our last online meeting, writing this article is also intended for me to share my knowledge with you. All of the explanations here came from my own thoughts and I didn't just copied it from somewhere else.

I want to express my gratitude for those who are consistently supporting me everytime I'm publishing my works. To all of my old and new readers, thank you very much for always leaning your time in reading my articles. And to my sponsors, I am so grateful for having you all, I hope you are all doing fine and happy.

May God bless you always! 😇❤️

Advance Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅

Date Published: September 5, 2021

Lead Image and gif: Originally made by me using Canva