EXTENSIVE READING

SPEED READING

Submitted By

Feri irawan (0304193174)

Vasya Harradillah (0304193162)

Icha Triwiyanti (0304193176)

Widya Wulanda (0304193169)

Fitri Handayani (0304193185)

Lecturer

Ananda Maisarah, M.Hum

Islamic State Of North Sumatera

Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teaching Training

English Education Department

2020
 FOREWORD

Alhamdulillahi Robbil 'Alamin, All praise is due to Allah SWT Universe for all the
gifts that support me so that we can make this paper as well as possible. The paper entitled
" Speed Reading" was compiled in a framework that fulfills one of the tasks of the
Extensive Reading subject that was taught by Mrs. Ananda Maisarah, M.Hum.

It is hoped that this paper can inform us all about speed reading.

We realize that this paper is far from perfect, therefore, criticism and suggestions
from all parties that fix it all I hope for the perfection of this paper. Thus what can we say,
we hope readers can benefit from this work.

Medan , April 13th 2020

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

FOREWORD .......................................................................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENT............................................................................................................................. ii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1
A. Backround ............................................................................................................................... 1
B. The Formulation of Problem ................................................................................................... 1
C. The aims of Speed Reading ..................................................................................................... 2
CHAPTER II DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................... 3
A. Definition of Speed Reading .................................................................................................... 3
B. Speed Reading Method ........................................................................................................... 4
C. Learning how to Speed Read................................................................................................... 6
D. Read, Read and Read .............................................................................................................. 8
E. Speed Reading Strategy .......................................................................................................... 8
F. Method for Speed Reading Nonfiction Books ......................................................................... 8
G. Ten Quick Techniques to Improve Your Reading Speed ......................................................... 9
CHAPTER III CLOSING ........................................................................................................................ 10
A. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 10
B. SUGGESTION ......................................................................................................................... 10
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 11

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Backround

Reading involves seeing and recognising symbolic information, and the

comprehension and processing of that information. The following stages involve
storage, recall and communication of the information read.
The main causes of slow reading are at the comprehension stage. Put simply,
people don’t pay attention. Your eyes don’t move over text smoothly, but in a series
of stops and jumps, pausing for a fraction of a second on words and phrases. These
pauses are called fixations. If you re-read sections, words or phrases as a matter of
course, then you will be a much slower reader than you should be. It is not
necessary to focus on individual words, as we can gain meaning from groups of
words. Fast readers focus on groups of words and take in as many as six words per
fixation.
Actually, speeding up your reading can be more natural than slow reading. It
requires less effort both physically, in terms of eye movement, and mentally, as you
are less likely to become bored and lose concentration. Our brains are more
stimulated and therefore more focused when information is unique.Fast readers gain
more impetus as they read, take in more information, and therefore focus attention
better.

B. The Formulation of Problem

In a scientific essay must be arranged systematically and coherently in

accordance with the provisions, therefore it is necessary to compile a formulation of
the problem that is reference of the discussion in this paper as for the formulation of
problem is:
a) What is the definition of speed reading?

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 b) What is the speed reading method?
c) How to learn speed reading?
d) What is speed reading strategy?
e) How to improve speed reading?

C. The aims of Speed Reading

So based on the formulation of problem, the aims of speed reading states the
following:
a) To know the definition of speed reading
b) To know the speed reading method.
c) To know how to learn speed reading
d) To know speed reading strategy
e) To know how to improve speed reading.

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 CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

A. Definition of Speed Reading

First of all it is important to know what ‘Speed Reading is? Speed reading
happens when the attention is on important parts of the text and the reader ignores
less important parts. Definitions: Speed Reading—to read faster than normal,
especially by acquired techniques of skimming and controlled eye movements.
Retention Level: the act or power of remembering things; memory. Comprehension:
the capacity of the mind to perceive and understand; power to grasp ideas; ability to
know.
There are two major parts of speed reading, the speed, and comprehension.
Knowing how to speed read could save time and increase comprehension and
retention of the subject. When you learn how to speed read, which is focusing on
important words, the fluency of reading is developed. With this come better
understanding, better comprehension and pleasure of reading. The reader will have
less stress and still gain the knowledge needed to be successful. A scaffolding effect
occurs in learning new information as the knowledge obtained by reading faster
expands the schema. The comprehension level should rise as only the important
words are the focus. There is no time or effort spent in trying to understand
inconsequential words. This makes reading new material more enjoyable,
manageable, and helps with organizational skills.
Therefore, speed reading is important and more enjoyable to read something
rapidly, instead of spending what seems like forever struggling through the words.
Besides the enjoyment factor, students need to get through a lot of reading material
in a time as fast as possible. Efficient reading skills will help them in their school
work and help to improve their grades. Speed can improve comprehension although
it is difficult to speed-read a complex chapter in a book. Using speed reading
method can help to improve comprehension, because speed reading is one of factors
affecting comprehension.
Speed reading is a collection of reading methods that attempt to increase
rates of reading without greatly reducing comprehension or retention. Such methods
include using various psychological techniques such as chunking and eliminating
sub vocalization. It is important to understand that no absolute distinct normal and
speed reading types of reading exist in practice, since all readers use some of the

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 techniques used in speed reading such as identifying words without focusing on
each letter, not sounding out all words, not subvocalizing some phrases, or spending
less time on some phrases than others, and skimming small sections. It is
characterized by an analysis of trade-offs between measures of speed and
comprehension, recognizing that different types of reading call for different speed
and comprehension rates, and that those rates may be improved by practice.
(Boer & Dallman, 1964)stated that the problem of the effect of speed
reading method and reading comprehension is complicated by the fact that an
efficient reader will vary his rate of comprehension according to the type and
difficulty of the material. Yet it is clear that in general, allowing for flexibility of
approach, the better readers are also the faster readers.
Speed Reading helps students to read and understand text more quickly. It is
an essential skill in any environment where students have to master large volumes
of information rapidly, as the norm in fast-moving professional environments. The
most important trick about speed reading is to know what information needed from
a text before start reading it. If they only want an outline of the issue that the
passage discusses, then they can skim it quickly and extract only the essential facts.
If students need to understand the real detail of the text, then they need to read it
slowly enough to understand it fully.
Speed reading is the main aspect of reading that this handout is seeking to
improve. However, comprehension must not be allowed to low in the pursuit of
greater speed. Therefore, the researcher needs to examine comprehension and the
factors that affect it and the researcher wants to prove whether any or no effects of
speed reading towards its comprehension. This makes researcher interested in
investigating about effects of speed reading method towards students’ reading
comprehension.

B. Speed Reading Method

When you read, you speak words to yourself because you learned to read
with the sound-it-out method. In school, your teacher told you that each letter makes
a sound (sometimes more than one sound), that certain letter combinations also
make sounds, and that you can always read a word by sounding out the letters and
letter combinations:

su-per-cal-i-frag-il-ist-ic-ex-pi-al-i-do-cious

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 Your teacher was absolutely right. Being able to sound out words is an
essential skill for beginning readers. Knowing the sounds each letter makes and
knowing what sounds letter combinations make enables you to pronounce and read
any word you encounter in your reading.

The problem with the sound-it-out approach to reading is that it slows you
down. You read not at the speed you think but rather at the speed you talk.
Sounding it out is fine for beginning readers, but at some point you have to dispense
with sound if you want to be a speed reader. Saying the words, even if you only
whisper them inside the confines of your skull, takes time.

In speed-reading terminology, saying and hearing words as you read them is

called vocalizing. For now you need to remember that.1

Good comprehension relies on the ability to extract and retain the important
ideas that you have read. Effective learning is not on how fast they can read. If they
can do this fast, then their reading speed can be increased. If they try to read fast
and worry about comprehension at the same time, then their reading speed will
plunge. Their mind is occupied with their fears and they are not focusing on the
ideas that they are reading. But, if they concentrate on the purpose of reading such
locating main ideas and finding answers to the questions, their speed and
comprehension should increase. Their concern should be not with how fast they can
get through a chapter alone, but with how quickly they can comprehend the facts
and ideas that they need. This is one of the vital reading strategies that a good reader
should master.2

The limited ability to master speed reading is coming out from the factors
according to Soedarso (1999: 5) as follows:

1) Vocalization
2) Lip motions
3) Head motions
4) Regression
5) Sub vocalization

1
Sutz, Richard.Speed Reading For Dummies.Wiley Publishing,Inc.,2009
2
Martia, Rini. THE EFFECTS OF SPEED READING METHOD UPON STUDENTS’ READING
COMPREHENSION.Journal Vol.5 No.2,2013

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 The point of view of why speed reading is important is that by improving
reading speed the readers are able to see longer stretches of language with each
fixation of the eyes and thus more easily contextualize unknown vocabulary and
able to achieve general understanding. Therefore, speed reading is one of method to
the readers to text reading comprehension.

There are many methods in reading skills, the popular one is speed reading
method, and it has an important role in reading skill of a person. Speed reading
method will help students to get better result and achievement in reading. By speed
reading, the students can read the information more quickly and they may get better
understanding of it as they will hold more of it in short term memory. Speed reading
aims to improve reading skill by:3

1) Increasing the number of words in each block:

This needs a conscious effort. Try to expand the number of words that you read
at a time. Practice will help the students to read faster.
2) Reducing fixation time:
The minimum length of time needed to read each block is probably only a
quarter of a second. By pushing their selves to reduce the time that is taken, they
will get better at picking up information quickly.
3) Reducing skip back:
To reduce the number of time that your eyes skip back to a previous word or
sentence, run a pointer along the line as you read. This could be a finger, a
pencil or a pen. Reducing Skip Backs. Slow readers have a bad reading
technique. They tend to read and reread the same phrase repeatedly. This
technique of making "regressions" doubles or worse triples reading time and
affect their performance in grasping what they need to know. It usually does not
even help you to understand the subject better. It is true that a single careful,
attentive speed reading may not be always enough for you to understand the
subject matter entirely.

C. Learning how to Speed Read

Scholars have divided Speed Reading into ten principles. Some of the
principles are supported by Nuttall’s and Harmer’s ideas:

3
Ibid.hal.97-98

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1. The reading material is easy. The choice of good and suitable material for reading
is the basis of process of becoming a good reader. “There should be no more than
one or two unknown vocabulary items per page for beginners and no more than four
or five. To develop fluent reading it is far more useful to read a lot of easy books
than a few difficult ones. Nuttall emphasizes that readers should start their reading
programs with texts that are a bit under their level because it is good motivation
when they make progress very soon after start of new programme. But “it is
damaging to their self-esteem to ask them to go back to a lower level”.

2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics is available. Speed

reading should be not only reading for information, but also for pleasure. It means
that only in variety readers can find things that they like and want to read about.

3. Learners choose what they want to read. It has been already said but it is one of
the most important things about speed reading. Readers feel more responsible, free
and encouraged.

4. Learners read as much as possible. The language learning benefits of speed

reading come from quantity of reading.

5. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower. As it has been already said in
the first principle, the material should be easily understandable. The feeling of
success will motivate to start another book. It should encourage fluent reading
without frequent use of dictionary. Readers should be able to read simple texts
without using it, try to guess unknown words or ignore them.

6. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information and general

understanding. It is the difference between speed and intensive reading. Intensive
reading requires detailed understanding. On the other hand, speed reading
encourages reading for pleasure and information.

7. Reading is individual and silent. Speed reading can takes place in the classroom,
but most of materials should be read in the leisure time. The whole point about
speed reading scheme is that it should operate almost entirely out of class time.

8. Reading is its own reward. There can be some follow-up after reading but it
should be used only as a stimulation and encouragement, not as a threat. Bamford
and Day puts several reasons why to do some questions about comprehension: “to
discover what the readers understood and experienced from the reading; to keep
track of what readers read; to check readers’ attitude toward reading; to link reading

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 with other parts of curriculum”. However, comprehension question should not be
common part of speed reading.

Scrivener emphasizes that “there is a great deal of evidence that speed

reading has a powerful impact on language learning. He points out that the readers
extend their vocabulary and improve knowledge of grammar and do not even realize
it and moreover. This widening language knowledge seems to increase their overall
linguistic confidence, which then influences and improves their skills in other
language areas, too. But there must be highlighted again, that material they read
must be self-chosen and is relevant and interesting to them.

D. Read, Read and Read

If you want your speed-reading skills to be permanent, you have to make

reading a part of your daily life. When you read more often, you acquire more
vocabulary words and therefore become a faster reader. Because your vocabulary is
larger, you don’t have to stop as often to ponder what a word you don’t know
means. Reading more often also increases your breadth of knowledge, and that in
turn increases your reading speed. For example, you don’t have to stop to think
about background information because you already know it from your previous
reading.

E. Speed Reading Strategy

Above and beyond reading mechanics, you must continue to refine your
strategic reading abilities if you want to be a long-term speed reader. For example,
you must read word groups and thought units, not words alone. Another helpful
habit: Become a bird’s-eye view reader instead of burying your nose in the pages,
read from on high, noting such points as how the author is makes her argument and
whether you can skim or skip certain paragraphs.

F. Method for Speed Reading Nonfiction Books

1. When choosing a book to read, look at the font the book is printed in and the
width of the columns. If either is too small or unappealing, immediately put it back
on the shelf.

2. Look over the cover matter. Remember the old adage, “You can’t judge a book
by its cover”? Well, publishers hope their covers will sell their books so they make

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 them as attractive and colorful as possible. If the book appears to meet your
interests, continue. If not, don’t. There are plenty of other books out there to choose
from.

3. Skim the front matter, including copyright date (how old is the information?),
author biography (is he or she qualified?), and any introductory material (why was
the book written, and how is it set up?).

4. Turn to any page in the book and read a paragraph or two. If you like the author’s
writing style, continue. If not, seriously consider not reading it. Your time is too
valuable to waste on poor writing.

5. Look over the table of contents. Go for an easy-to-read, somewhat detailed table
of contents. If it’s comprehensible and laid out well, keep going. If not, consider not
continuing. Read only as much as you need.

6. If you have read or cheat read the chapters of interest and several other chapters
are yet untouched, leave them untouched. Just because the author wrote it doesn’t
mean you have to read it.

G. Ten Quick Techniques to Improve Your Reading Speed

This part ten fundamental techniques for improving your speed. These suggestions
represent the basics of speed reading. You can adopt these techniques and get a big
head start in your speed reading adventures. The ten techniques will improve your
reading speed:4
A. Make the speed-reading commitment
B. Focus like a laser beam
C. See it, don’t say it
D. Resist the regression urge
E. Widen your vision span
F. Preread it
G. Vary your reading rate
H. Read for the main ideas
I. Use the eye sweep
J. Get your eyes checked

4
Sutz, Richard.Speed Reading For Dummies.Wiley Publishing,Inc.,2009

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 CHAPTER III

CLOSING

A. CONCLUSION

There are many factors affecting students’ reading comprehension. One of

which is about reading rate. In this research has been shown that speed reading
method including its principle work affects the students’ rate of reading and helps
them to improve their understanding of the passage. By the only sixty seconds using
in a passage of each practice, the students have to be able to rise up their speed and
get better comprehension gradually. The frequency of practice makes them perfect
thus, the result of the effect of speed reading method itself can be seen clearly.
Another factor which affects students’ achievement in reading comprehension is
motivation. Students have to be more motivated to learn and sure that learning is a
need thus they have to improve their way of learn because by learning they can get
better future. They have to find the best way of learning appropriate with their own
condition, apply some method to improve better understanding and comprehension
in reading materials positively. Speed reading is to develop students’ awareness of
the reading process so that they will be able to read in ways that are expected in
school.
Set a purpose to learn. Preview the material to evaluate what you know and
what you still need to learn. The brain will create a readiness. Note areas of interest.
Decide if you can skim (read briefly for an idea), scan (read briefly to find an
answer) or speed read the material (comprehend a group of words at a glance).
Remember the goal is to have a flexible reading rate so sometimes it makes sense to
slow down. You don’t have to be a wizard or master arcane techniques to be a speed
reader. All you have to do is understand the mechanics of reading and then apply
yourself more efficiently to exercising those mechanics when you read.

B. SUGGESTION

For the closing, the writers ask many apologize if any mistake. That the
paper is almost complete written. So, the writers suggestion to all students to
understand well papers and could use it due learning reading speed

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 REFERENCES

Boer, D., & Dallman. (1964). The Teaching of Reading. New York: Harcourt
World. Inc.

Fry, E. (1965). Teaching Faster Reading: A Manual. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Fraenkel, Jack R. and Wallen, Norman F. 2003. How to Design and Evaluate
Research in Education. Mc Graw-Hill.

Heilman, Arthur W, Etal. 1981. Principles and Practices of Teaching Reading.

Ohio: Charles and Merrill publishing, C.o.

Martia, Rini. THE EFFECTS OF SPEED READING METHOD UPON STUDENTS’ READING
COMPREHENSION.Journal Vol.5 No.2,2013

Sesnan, Barry. 1997. How to Teach Englsh. USA: Oxford University Press.

Samuels, S.J. (1979). The method of repeated reading. The Reading Teacher, 32: 4,
403-408.

Sutz, Richard.Speed Reading For Dummies.Wiley Publishing,Inc.,2009

Sindelar, P., Monda, L. & O’Shea, L. (1990). Effects of repeated readings on

instructional and mastery level readers. Journal of Educational Research, 83: 4, 220-226.

Watson, J. (2004). Issue logs. In R.R. Day & J. Bamford (Eds.), Extensive Reading
Activities for Teaching Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 37-39.

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