Obstacles to reading and how to remove them
Reading as a means of acquiring information can be done efficiently or inefficiently. When carried out efficiently, the reader will derive maximum benefits from it, when inefficient, the benefits will be minimal. The reader should therefore be aware of the hindrances to efficient reading.
i) Time-wasters in reading:
Included among these hindrances are: vocalizing, sub-vocalizing and finger reading.
a. Vocalizing
Vocalizing means pronouncing each individual word. It involves the following sub processes
Response to mental stimuli (understanding or not)
This process is time wasting. Pearson (1981) indicated that it takes at least twice as long as silent reading and yet is no more effective. Vocalizing is fine in lower classes where its purpose is to help children acquire proper pronunciation, but as one matures in reading, one should learn to read silently by ,photographing' whole sentences or passages by having ones eyes focus on the entire line instead of individual words.
b. Sub-Vocalizing
This involves keeping the lips closed while still allowing the internal organs of speech like the larynx or vocal chords to be active. This process is slightly better than full vocalizing, but should also be avoided.
c. Finger reading
This refers to the practice of underlining each word with a finger as one reads. It is often accompanied by vocalization. It is also time wasting and should be avoided.
ii) Noise
Noise is a serious distracter to effective reading. If, for example, you are settled in the library trying to concentrate on reading and two people next to you arc engaged in quiet discussion, they become a source of distraction as the aural stimuli interfere with your concentration. The two can either be requested to stop talking or you can shift to another quiet place.
In some situations the reader has to contend with inevitable noise such as motor traffic or from human activity like building construction. He therefore has to find à way of adjusting or adapting to the situation. This usually happens in situations where a school is next to a road. The noise from passing vehicles becomes part of the routine and the teachers and students hardly notice it. There are also some readers who prefer background noise like music to absolute quiet when
reading. Should this be the case, the reader should create such an environment for himself, but he should ensure that he is not a distraction to the neighbours. He should, for example, use earphones. He should also remember the saying, “one man?s meat is another's poison'.
i) Emotional distracters
Emotions are strong feelings of joy, fear, anxiety, anger or excitement. One should not attempt to engage in serious reading when in the grip of these for not much will be accomplished and time will be wasted. In such moments the person should take a break or he should engage in another activity that will enable him to forget the emotion.
ii) Mental Distracters
Like emotional distracters, mental distracters also interfere with our power of concentration.They come in the form of daydreaming, absentmindedness, wondering or mental walk-about. When this happens the reader should learn to control them as suggested in (iii) above before engaging in serious reading
Solutions
1. Preparing for reading
To derive maximum benefits from reading a person should prepare him physically, mentally and
emotionally.
a. Physical preparation:
This involves removing oneself from physical distracters like noise and other elements. The reader should create for himself a conducive reading environment either in a quite corner of the library, under a tree or in a room. He should avail himself all the necessary materials such as books and stationery for note making to avoid unnecessary movement after he has started
reading.
b. Mental self-preparation
For effective reading a person should also put himself in the right frame of mind for it. Whatever topic is being read the reader should put all other messages in his short-term data bank and concentrate on the messages at hand. It may also help to jot down notes as this helps in restraining the mind from wandering.
c. Emotional self-preparation
Reading for study is a very unemotional exercise. The reader should rid himself of external emotions so that they do not intrude on his concentration short term memory, Emotional disturbances like joy and anger can be forgotten easily, but prolonged ones like pain, headaches e.t.c. have to be coped with and accommodated in the reading framework. Using pen and paper
may again help in easing the problem
marto answered the question on
May 21, 2019 at 06:52