Reading is one of the important skills in any language. This is an important activity in our daily life and it is a skill that has to be developed in students earlier from school. We read different materials for different purposes. This skill helps us to enhance our knowledge in different fields. In considering the reading process, there are two reading techniques commonly used by readers, such as ‘silent reading and loud reading. Silent reading is an act of reading for meaning. ‘Silent reading’ is to be preferred because it enables one to read faster and comprehend the text more easily.
Reading for meaning or silent reading is the activity we normally engage in when we read books, newspapers, road signs, posters, etc. It involves looking at sentences in a text and understanding the message they convey. In other words, making sense of a written text. It does not normally involve saying the words we read, not even silently inside our heads.
Another important reason for preferring silent silent reading over loud reading is that when we read for meaning, we do not need to read every letter of every word or every word in each sentence. This is because we can guess much of what is said as we read it, provided the text makes sense. It helps us understand the message quickly within a short period of time.
‘Silent reading’ is reading for meaning and it is a more common activity than `reading aloud’, which is done in limited contexts. Silent reading is easier and faster than the other reading techniques.