The Value of Effective Reading Skills at University (Essay Sample)

THE VALUE OF EFFECTIVE READING SKILLS AT UNIVERSITY
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The Value of Effective Reading Skills at University
The world is very competitive today. This issue has made many policy makers to face challenges while trying to implement policies that would make their countries remain competitive in the global market. Many people believe that quality education has a significant impact on the growth of a nation hence its competitiveness (Pretorius, 2000). As a result, it is important to ensure that students are given quality education so that they can become effective policy makers. The reading proficiency of a person is one of the key factors that influence the quality of education that a person has. Effective reading techniques are therefore very important in enabling a person to become self-confident and motivated (Kelly & Kneipp, 2009).
Many policy makers and teachers are concerned that many students in colleges and universities lack effective reading skills. It has also been observed that reading skills today are poor than they were in the early 90s. For example, is has been found that only 51 percent of students who take ACT college entrance exams are normally ready for college-level reading. It has also been found that the average reading score among college students was worse in 2005 than it was in 1992. It is also true that more than 6 million high school and college students are not capable of reading at satisfactory levels (Levy, Dickerson, & Teague, 2011). Many teachers, parents and policy makers therefore advocate for effective teaching techniques in order to improve the reading proficiency of the students.
Effective reading skills are very beneficial to people and the society. A person who has effective reading skills is capable of transforming the society that he is living in to a better one. A person who adopts effective reading skills develops different ways of thinking and understanding. As a result, such a person becomes open-minded and more flexible. It has been observed that the people who have effective reading skills are able to read and write better. Such people are therefore able to process information faster than those people who do not have effective reading skills (Qui-mei, 2007).
In addition, it has also been shown that people who are poor readers have short memory functions. It is therefore true that people who are avid readers are able to analyze facts much faster than people who do not have effective reading skills. People who are trained on effective reading skills are capable of analyzing, comprehending, and learning from the issues that happen around them. Such people are therefore able to find connections between unrelated ideas thereby enabling them become better leaders (Engstrom, 2005). This is the reason as to why many teachers, parents, administrators, and policy makers advocate for institutions to offer effective learning skills which can enable students to become responsible leaders.
Moreover, research has shown that people who engage in intense reading are able to gain knowledge on other things that they were not aware of. For example, a person who is a musician and also loves to read books that are related to music will always find thoughts of music popping into his head (White, 2004). As a result, he is able to come up with better strategies of making his music better.
To ensure that students adopt effective reading strategies, there are important factors that need serious consideration. For example, a library is a very important resource for college students. However, many college students do not use the library extensively. It is therefore important for an institution to ensure that the library is properly equipped with all the learning materials that the students would need. In addition, the educators in the institutions should ensure that they engage the students with a lot of research work that would require the students to use the library extensively (Engstrom, 2005). The institutions should ensure that the students are well equipped with the library usage skills so that they can learn to be independent and self-motivated readers. They should also ensure that they invest heavily in the library by providing all the research materials that the students would require (Qui-mei, 2007). Once the students acquire such skills, they would be confident enough once they start working in the real world. This would enable them to make effective policy decisions that would transform the society that they live in.
Critical reading and critical thinking skills are very important to students. They are very effective in ena...