Subject Specific Reading Skills
Different academic disciplines employ different vocabulary sets and specific variations of language that are not always encountered outside the discipline. This makes subject specific literacy vitally important to more thoroughly and quickly understanding subject material. Thus it is necessary to learn speed reading in one's particular specialties and not just in general literature or journalism.
(Incardone, 1978) asserts that vocational education teachers in secondary schools have no more important task than to teach subject area reading skills to their students. He discusses common-sight reading skills with regard to learning discipline-specific vocabulary and sight recognition to facilitate textbook/manual skills. (Latorre & Kaulen, 1985) found that subject specific reading skills did not affect the reading speed of general topics, but did improve comprehension in this area.
Due to the fact that we all must read large volumes of material in the specialty areas of our respective professions, training in subject specific speed reading is just as important as more general speed reading training - if not more so. Geologists need to recognise words like turbidite, kyanite, olistoliths, autochthonous, etc., whereas people with paralegal duties including OH&S managers, payroll accountants, personnel managers, directors, and executives need to recognise such words and phrases as "best industry practice", "residual risk", tort, etc...
It is not enough to only recognise words, phrases, and clauses from common English. A professional needs the same recognition skills in her/his specialty in order that speed reading skills will offer a competitive professional edge.
