FREE online courses on Improve Your Reading Speed - The Role of Speed in the
Reading Process
Understanding the role of speed in the reading process is
essential. Research has shown a close relation between speed and understanding.
For example, in checking progress charts of thousands of individuals taking
reading training, it has been found in most cases that an increase in rate has
been paralleled by an increase in comprehension, and that where rate has gone
down, comprehension has also decreased. Although there is at present little
statistical evidence, it seems that plodding word-by-word analysis (or word
reading) inhibits understanding. There is some reason to believe that the
factors producing slow reading are also involved in lowered comprehension. Most
adults are able to increase their rate of reading considerably and rather
quickly without lowering comprehension. These same individuals seldom show an
increase in comprehension when they reduce their rate. In other cases,
comprehension is actually better at higher rates of speed. Such results, of
course, are heavily dependent upon the method used to gain the increased rate.
Simply reading more rapidly without actual improvement in basic reading habits
usually results in lowered comprehension.