The Joy of Books

What kind of reader are you?

Readers read for a variety of reasons and every reader has his own individual style of reading. There are efficient readers who read efficiently and with great speed and then there are inefficient readers who read too slowly. According to J.A. O'Brien, an expert in the field of reading instruction, there are essentially three types of readers. In this article, we will identify different kind of readers.

Motor Readers- Motor readers are lip movers or vocalizers. Such readers are extremely slow readers as they accompany their reading with various movements of the muscles of articulation. As a result, their speed of reading slows down because they artificially keep their speed down to the rate at which they can pronounce words. Moreover, since there is so much muscular activity involved in their reading, motor readers tire quickly. Motor readers make frequent regressions, for their eyes tend to rush ahead and their voice stays behind. These readers often take the help of their finger to keep a track of their reading and to stay where on the word where there voice is. All this leads to poor comprehension for their mind is as much involved with the mechanics of reading as it is with ideas.

Auditory Readers- Auditory readers "hear" the words they read, but they do not sub-vocalize to themselves. They are very much aware of saying words in their mind, although their speech organs are completely at rest. This means, that they do not actually pronounce each word aloud but only imagine the pronunciation. Auditory readers are much more skillful and rapid. Auditory reading is faster than motor reading.

Visual Readers- Visual reading is the fastest. Visual readers do not "hear" what they are reading. They simply see a word and understand its meaning. Visual readers understand words and phrases without saying and hearing them. They read with their eyes and mind, not with their mouths or ears.

(Source: http://www.ideamarketers.com)