These ethics start with an assumption that our paradigmatic reading styles—again, especially foracademic texts—might be more productively shaped by the ways we typically read a dictionary ratherthan the ways we typically read a novel. In the latter, we read completely and linearly, while the formerwe read situationally and productively.
With these sentences, Boyle advances his argument that a new approach, or ethics, to reading will allow readers to glean more information and ultimately have a more productive and fulfilling textual experience. He suggests that the way one typically reads a dictionary (not strictly cover-to-cover) is the better alternative for approaching texts such as academic publications than a linear, novel-reading approach might be. Essentially, Boyle's underlying idea is that the "paradigmatic" methods commonly employed are actually hindering us.