Boost Your Reading Comprehension Speed

The main problem with reading examinations, whether it be in the International English Language Test System (IELTS) or the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) is time management. Students would often tell me that their problem is the time – that it is too short to read 1200 words and answer questions. Unfortunately, we cannot petition for the test takers to lengthen the time. We can only learn to manage ours and to ensure that we hone our skills to be more efficient readers. The first step is to up the speed of your reading comprehension.

Here are some tried and tested techniques to put a little more speed in your reading.

1. Use the speed reading techniques. There are several problems with slow readers.  Verbalizing words in their head and re-reading the same lines are two of the most common. “Saying the words in your head” slows you down because you tend to read word per word. Try and read “quietly” to increase the speed. Also, let your eyes read clusters of words instead of just one. Do not worry, your comprehension will not suffer.

A technique to prevent reading the same thing again and again is to use a pencil or a card to track the line of words you are reading. You will be amazed at how much you cut down on your reading time just by doing this.

2. Enhance your vocabulary. One of the primary reasons why people read slowly and have difficulty in comprehension is that they usually do not understand the words used by the writer. The solution is thus simple: increase your lexical resource. You can do this by jotting down words you come across during reading and finding their definitions and how they are used.

3. Try and read between the lines. This is especially applicable when you are reading more literary writings, but also helpful in the IELTS Reading Exam, particularly when you are asked to determine what the author feels about a certain subject. Insight to this would help the reader understand the message of the writer.

4. Read, read, and read more. Read as much as you can. One of the best ways to do the techniques above is to do it as much as you can. They did say practice makes perfect and even if perfection is very difficult, near-perfection is acceptable enough. And near-perfection in reading comprehension speed would be of big help to your IELTS Reading Test.

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