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Academic reading: A number of reading strategies

How do you read a text and which strategies can you use?

The first thing you need to know is why you are reading. Are you reading for fun? Are you reading because you are looking for details? Or do you only want to get an overview of the text and want to know the main conclusions of the author? You need different strategies for each reading goal. You may, for example, need to read the entire text for specific details, but you don't have to read the entire text if you want to get an idea about the conclusions of a text.

In this part of the module, you will learn more about 4 different reading strategies and you will also learn how to apply the different reading strategies.

  • Skimming and scanning: Reading rapidly for the main points - Reading rapidly to find a specific piece of information.
  • Extensive and intensive reading: Reading a longer text with emphasis on overall meaning - reading a short text for detailed information.