The steps to scan the text are as follows: 1.
Keep in mind about the information that is needed from the text. 2.
Anticipate about the form of the information needed. It can be in the form of number, proper nouns, etc.
3. Analyze the organization of the text.
4. Let your eyes run rapidly over the text for several times.
5. When you find the sentence that consists of the information you need, read
the whole sentence. Anne Arundel Community College, 2008
2.6 The Procedures of Implementing Skimming and Scanning Techniques in Teaching Reading
The procedures that were used by the researcher in implementing skimming and scanning techniques will be explained in the following parts:
2.6.1 Skimming Technique
In skimming activities, the teacher asked the students to answer some questions about general information of the text. As stated before, finding general
information covered finding paragraph and text comprehension. The questions were in the form of multiple choice items. The steps of skimming technique that
were used in this research were as follows: 1.
Ask the students to read the questions that have to be solved. It was done because by focusing on those questions, the students would get the key
word in every question. The key words helped the students to find the answers in the text quickly.
2. Ask the students to use the skimming technique into the text as what Beale
2013 states that the students do not have to read the whole text but read quickly to find only the general information from the text. Thus, the
students ignored the other words and read quickly.
3. Ask the students to answer the questions. After they read the text quickly
and used the key words, they got the information they needed from the text.
4. Ask the students to look into the choices provided in the questions.
The example of skimming in reading comprehension;
My Embarrassing Day One day, my English teacher asked me to demonstrate how to sharpen a pencil in front of
the class. I walked quickly to the front of the classroom. Then, my teacher handed me a sharpener and a pencil. I was very nervous. I held the pencil in my right hand and the sharpener in my left
hand. After that, I tried to insert the pencil into the hole. But I missed the hole because my hands were trembling nervously. I tried again. Still, I missed it. My friends laughed at me. I became more
and more nervous. My teacher smiled and said, “Relax Don’t be nervous” I finally could finish it and I felt relieved. When I wanted to go back to my seat, my
teacher gave me her right hand. I quickly took it and shook her hand. But then she said, “No, Adi, I want you to give me back the pencil and the sharpener.” My face turned red for the second time
and my friends could not stop laughing at me. I was so embarrassed.
Taken and adapted from: Practice Your English Competence for SMPMTS Class VIII, Erlangga Publisher, 2013:54
Questions: 1.
What is the main idea of the second paragraph? a.
The writer did the task nervously. b.
The writer missed his friends. c.
The writer felt embarrassed for the second time. d.
The writer’s friends are happy. Answer: c. The writer felt embarrassed for the second time.
Reason: Option “c” explains the idea of the second paragraph as a whole. In conclusion, skimming means running your eyes quickly to find information
words and skip the unimportant ones. It implies that the skimming technique leads you to focus on general information such as the main idea of paragraph or a text.
It makes you work faster in getting the information because it just takes a few minutes for one paragraph.
2.6.2 Scanning Technique
