By Allison Fors
The Writing Center continues to offer free five-step speed-reading classes several times a week this Spring.
The class is designed for anyone on campus interested in learning how to read more in a less amount of time. During the one-hour class, students begin with a one-minute evaluation of their current reading abilities. Then a five-step lesson is presented with exercises given to practice. The five steps of speed-reading are previewing, periodic mapping, posture, pace and practice.
'Previewing helps get the main idea of the book by learning to read the back, the introduction, look for bold words and information by others on the book,' said Chelsea Miller, a speed reading teacher from Mesa, Ariz.
Periodic mapping helps teach to recall the reading by drawing pictures of what was read, she said. Posture needs to be sitting upright, feet flat on the floor, with the book held at a 45-degree angle.
'The fourth ''P'' is pace,' Miller said. 'We use an apparatus called ''read mate'' to calculate lines read in a certain given time.'
And lastly, the fifth ''P' is practice. Miller said that practicing is the key to developing and maintaining speed-reading habits.
At the end of the class, students complete another minute of reading to see their reading-time improvement during just the one-hour class. Although the Writing Center discourages using speed reading for textbooks, Jamie Neuenswander, an English teaching major from Poway, Calif., said it could be useful to some extent.
'Students who take the course learn to still read for full comprehension, but their rates speed up,' Neuenswander said.
Neuenswander, who also teaches the speed-reading course, said many of the students who go in to take the course have the wrong idea.
'A lot of time students have misconceptions,' she said. 'They think by taking a one-hour class, they''re going to be reading so much faster. Really the course just breaks bad habits and gives them one good method of reading.'
Neuenswander said speed-reading is about making reading a visual activity. Learning this concept can make improvements in just an hour, though not as drastic as some have come to expect.
'Every time students come in, I time them at the beginning reading at their comfortable pace,' Neuenswander said. 'At the end of their hour, I time them again reading comfortable. Yesterday I had a student who couldn''t believe the difference.'
Emily Wade, a junior from Salt Lake City, is one student who has taken the course and anticipates taking it again soon.
'I took the class a year ago and it helped me a lot to learn to read faster,' Wade said. 'I just want to go again to practice and keep up on my speed-reading skills.'
Students interested in taking a speed-reading course should look for postings in 1010 of the JKHB or check the Web site at http://english.byu.edu/writingcenter/.