Sub-vocalisation is the process of reading word by word, pronouncing them mentally and sometimes even moving the lips with
the pronunciation. Such an approach to reading essentially takes a visual input, converts it into an audio output which then gets converted into a concept.
It is generally accepted that reading at higher speeds requires removing the need to translate words into sounds and simply transforming visual inputs straight into the concept that they represent.
There is some disagreement among practitioners about whether sub-vocalisation should be eliminated completely, but there is clear agreement that it should be minimised.
The system below relies on performing the drills regularly in order to reduce sub-vocalisation; the approach focuses on developing habits that would minimise the need to transform words into their audio interpretation.
The key involves saying one word for each fixation- so using the skimming technique for example- each fixation would capture 3 half lines but would only involve mentally pronouncing one of the words in those 3 half lines. The same applies to the vertical line technique-each fixation captures half a line but only one word gets pronounced.
Being able to transform a block of words straight into their concept without the need to verbalise the individual components is key to breaking into high speeds of reading. The “sound” barrier is usually estimated to be at about 600wpm- reading faster than this is not possible while sub-vocalising (noting that the world’s fastest speaker, Steve Woodmore, can speak at a rate of 637wpm whilst the previous Guinness book of world record’s holder, John Moschitta. Jr, could speak at 586wpm).
Fixations
When we read, we do not flow through the material smoothly but instead we perform many mini-fixations which for most readers involve gazing at 1-2 words at a time, getting their meaning, and then moving to the next 1-2 words and so on through the text.
Reading is essentially a series of jumps between groups of words.
The inefficient reader generally gazes at every word, this therefore increases the number of pauses required to run through the same material. The goal is therefore to increase the amount of words that are read at every such pause; this would mean that one would be able to go through the material with far less pauses, thus increasing speed. The other benefit is that the stringing of individual words into a concept is replaced with capturing an entire concept with each glance- this has advantages in terms of comprehension, since less focus is required on tracking and connecting the data, with more attention left to focus on the concept itself.
The approach to increase the content in each fixation involves training drills that increase peripheral vision, and comprehension drills that allow one to understand the concept represented by a bunch of words instead of having to read each word at a time and then build the concept along the way.
The use of the hand motion organises the sequence of fixations through the text; the circles in the diagrams below illustrate where to focus the attention as the hand moves down the text. It is crucial to note that:
a. Fixations should take about 1-2 seconds each and the eyes should not be moving during the fixation period- the eyes should focus only on the point of fixation (illustrated as an inner circle in the diagrams below).
b. The eyes should focus on the point of fixation but should capture everything else in the region of fixation using peripheral vision (regions of fixation are the ellipses illustrated below).
c . Practise is required to increase the size of the fixation region- the drills at the end of the chapter are necessary to achieve this purpose.
For the skimming hand motion, the circle illustrates the point of fixation, the ellipse illustrates the region of fixation, whilst the number boxes illustrate the sequence- i.e. the first fixation region is the ellipse below box one, the second fixation is below box 2, the third is next to box three...etc. Note that the skimming method requires fixation of 3 half lines: the eyes should focus in the middle of the
fixation region, peripherally seeing the entire region- this point of focus is illustrated by the inner circle in the fourth fixation region.
Also note (for skimming) that the sequence of fixation is not the standard left to right but instead it is left right then right left then left right again. This approach works well for skimming and allows the capturing of the general content.
For the main reading hand motion, using a vertical line, the fixation is done left to right as with normal reading approaches. Each fixation contains one half of a line- the eyes should focus in the middle of the half-line and see the rest of the words peripherally.
This point is illustrated by the inner circle in the third fixation as an example: