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Owl: Welcome to How to Preview a Text, an instructional video on reading comprehension brought to you by the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab. |
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What would you do if you were suddenly dropped into an unfamiliar place? |
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Would you wander around aimlessly, hoping that somehow you will find your way? |
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Probably not. |
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You’d probably want to carefully explore and investigate your surroundings so that you can gather clues and information that can help you get your bearings and decide what to do next. |
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The experience of reading a new text can be similar to that of navigating an unfamiliar place. |
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Therefore, before reading you should explore the text first to gather clues and information that can help you get your bearings. |
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This is called Previewing. |
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Previewing involves surveying or scanning a text in order to create a mental map that can help you read more effectively. |
| 1:00 |
When you preview, you look for sign-posts by doing the following things: |
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Scan for titles, headings, and subheadings |
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Skim the first paragraph or introduction |
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Skim the last paragraph or summary |
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Scan the first sentence after each heading |
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Skim the abstract (if provided) |
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Make a note of graphic aids such as figures, tables, charts, graphs, and images |
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Make a note of typographical aids such as bold-faced or highlighted words and phrases |
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Scan any supplemental material at the beginning or end of the text, such as chapter outlines, chapter objectives, discussion questions, or vocabulary lists |
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Previewing provides some great advantages: |
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First, it helps you evaluate a text in order to decide if it is relevant for your purposes. |
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This requires you to think about what your purpose is before you read. |
| 2:00 |
For instance, if you’re doing research on a topic, previewing can help you evaluate if a text provides information you need. |
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Second, it helps you read faster by identifying passages that you must read carefully versus those that you can skim or skip. |
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Generally, you want to slow down and read more carefully when a passage |
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covers a new topic you know very little about; |
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contains complicated or technical material; |
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is cluttered with essential visual aids like tables, charts, graphs, and images; |
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contains a lot of new or difficult vocabulary; |
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or requires a lot of visualization or interpretation. |
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On the other hand, you may want to skim or skip material when a passage |
| 2:44 |
is easy to read, |
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covers material you already know well, |
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or covers material that isn’t relevant to your purpose for reading. |
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Finally, it helps you read better by helping you identify questions you may have about the text. |
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We’ll address questioning in another module. |
| 3:03 |
Previewing is an excellent way to save time and improve your understanding of a text. |
| 3:09 |
Just like you wouldn’t want to wander around aimlessly in an unfamiliar place, you wouldn’t want to wander into a text without previewing it! |
| 3:22 |
Thanks for listening to this instructional video on How to Preview a Text. |
| 3:27 |
Visit the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab for more support with reading and writing skills. |
