COGNITIVE-LINGUISTIC MECHANISMS OF SPEED-READING

The current article is aimed at considering and studying several
cognitive-linguistic mechanisms of speed-reading such as
perception and understanding of the text, language iconicity and
anticipation.
The study was conducted using the following research methods:
a) induction and deduction; b) modeling of the latest modern
approaches to reading; c) systematic approach to the analysis of
previous studies; d) structural-functional method in practical
scientific research.
If ordinary reading is a unity of perception and understanding of
the text, in which tracking of sound-letter and semantic
connections predominates, then speed-reading is dominated by
cognition, the ability to predict, anticipate and analyze the
material received, based on the person’s cognitive base.
Perception and understanding of the text are the most important
cognitive aspects of speed-reading.
When speed-reading as a special form of working on the text
takes place, perception and, consequently, understanding prove to
be somewhat different compared to ordinary reading. Every time
in the process of speed-reading, a person constructs a new,
contextually determined text model that includes both the
semantic content and the individual associations, personal
conclusions, activated models associated with the previous
experience.
The mode of emotionality also plays an important cognitive role
in creating the overall conceptual picture of the reading material.
Due to the fact that speed-reading considerably reduces the time
of working on the text, a person has the opportunity to maintain
an emotionally stable attitude to the reading material, and
therefore more fully experience the emotions overflowing from
the text.
At the same time, the speed of text processing also varies. The
reader can view some of its parts at high speed, wanting to know
the climax or the resolution of the plot, and can read the other
parts at slow speed, enjoying the artistic descriptions.
One more cognitive-linguistic aspect that affects the speed of
reading is the iconicity of the language.
A word, a sentence, and even a paragraph can be perceived as an
iconic sign. The text understanding in this case is generated by
the perception based on the formation and construction of images
and «pictures» of the reading.
The text as a sequence of characters is a heterogeneous
phenomenon, which is manifested in the use of different types of
characters in the text (indexes, symbols, icons and meta-signs)
and in the sign encoding of the text. The text is brought to the
reader as «a complex device that stores a variety of codes that can
transform the messages received and generate the new ones, as an
information generator possessing the features of an intellectual
personality». The result is a holistic perception of phrases and
even paragraphs.
The third important cognitive mechanism that plays an important
role in developing speed-reading skills is anticipation. This is a
prediction of the subsequent contents based on the available ones.
In this regard, it is important to bear in mind the following. In
addition to essential information, any text contains significant
semantic massives that are not important for their understanding.
In the act of speed-reading, it is necessary to learn to ignore them
and highlight the basic semantic fragments of the text.
The represented material makes it possible to conclude that the
cognitive sphere of a person has a significant potential in working
with textual information. A person is able to work on the text
without visually focusing on each unit and anticipating the
vectors of its semantic development at the same time. Speedreading provides an opportunity to process the text in such a way
that the readable images are formed much faster than with
ordinary discrete reading. Due to the reduction of time for
working with the book, the reader holds the textual information
more emotionally and steadily.
Keywords: speed-reading, reading, cognitive linguistic,
anticipation, iconicity of the language.