The Use of Speed-Reading and Skimming Techniques in the Practice of a Foreign Language Teacher at a University of the Russian MIA System

The article examines the use of speed-reading and skimming techniques in the work of a foreign language teacher at an educational institution of the Russian MIA system. It is shown that the terms 'speed reading' and 'skimming', often used interchangeably, denote phenomena of different nature: the former refers to a technique of text perception and goes back to the national tradition of teaching rapid reading, while the latter denotes a type of reading distinguished by its communicative purpose in S.K. Folomkina's classification. Distinguishing these notions makes it possible to clarify what exactly should be taught and by what means. It is argued that the professional activity of a law enforcement officer is dominated not by continuous intensive reading with translation, but by the rapid selection of professionally relevant information from a large volume of foreign-language text. To describe this mode, the working concept of information-filtering reading, governed by a professional information request, is introduced. The question of the extent to which rapid-reading techniques developed for native-language reading can be transferred to foreign-language reading is considered separately. A three-stage methodological model is proposed (a technical-preparatory, a differentiating, and a productive-professional stage), together with a mapping of professional task, type of reading, and learning techniques. It is concluded that systematic work with speed reading and skimming forms a professionally relevant reading competence of the cadet.