7/27/2019 Read Your Way to Fluency

1/2

Read Your Way To Fluency

by brooklynmonk on July 26, 2010

Read Your Way To Fluency

Many students who are learning English as a second or foreign language believe that the

best way to learn English is by taking free talking classes with a native speaker. Freetalking is, in fact, a great way for students to practice English; however, it is not the best

method for learning and developing English skills.

Research shows that the best method for developing English skills is reading. This has been

shown to be true in both native speakers and non-native speakers alike. Reading introduces

new vocabulary, reinforces known vocabulary, presents grammar in meaningful contextand can be used as a resource for speaking, listening, and writing skills as well.

As a teacher in South Korea for the past 11 years, I have seen many students work for hourstrying to memorize vocabulary for various tests. This in itself is not a bad thing. What is

bad, is that they tend to learn only one meaning for a word and over look the fact that

Englishlike many other languageshas lots of words that have more that onemeaning. Reading provides opportunities for students to learn words that have more than

one meaning in context, which is a far superior way to build a large vocabulary than simply

memorizing word lists.

Take the word LIKE for example. Like has three possible meanings depending on how it is

used.

Many people like traveling.

The new student looks like Brad Pitt.

He treated me like his own son.

In the first sentence, like is being used as a verb and means to enjoy doing or havingsomething. In the second sentence, like is an adjective and is used to describe how two

nouns are similar. In the third sentence, like is being used as a preposition and also

implies a similarity between two nouns. The word like in the third sentence can be

replaced by the words as if I were.

If you were to consult a dictionary, you would find that the word like has six different

meanings and more than twenty different usages. Yet, teachers still insist on their studentsmemorizing the word like, and most often as not, present the word like as a verb while

discarding its other uses. Reading, however, presents lexical items such as the word like in

their natural context and varied uses thus providing students with language that is alive anduseful.

7/27/2019 Read Your Way to Fluency

2/2

Reading can also function as a tool for improving students listeningcomprehension. How can this be?, you may ask. After all, reading is a silent activity and

no speaking or listening is required. You are quite correct, and therein lies the

problem. Reading should not be only a silent activity. Students and teachers alike shouldbe encouraged to read aloud.

By reading aloud, students both read and hear the words as they jump from the pages into

their mouths and from their mouths into their ears. They get used to hearing themselves

speak that strange new language until, one day, that language isnt strange anymore. If you

are teaching students whose skill level is not sufficient to read aloud, then you as theteacher, should read to your students and have them chorus what they hear. In this type of

activity, the teacher should read in blocks of words, pausing in the sentence where ever a

natural pause would occur if spoken at regular speed. For example in the sentence, The

little boy ran down the road. There is a natural pause after the word ran. So, whenreading aloud, you should read, The little boy ran-(pause and let the students repeat, then

continue)-down the road. This will help your students learn the stress and rhythm of

English, as well as help them to improve their listening comprehension.

Finally, reading can help your students writing ability. Perhaps a story would help make

this clear. While attending Volunteer Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee, I workedin the writing lab as a volunteer writing tutor. My job was to help students with their

English writing assignments. I was amazed at the number of native speakers who could not

put together a coherent, grammatically correct sentence. Upon closer examination, I cameto understand that those students who had the most difficulty writing were the same

students who never read, except when required by their teachers. However, students who

read for pleasure never needed help with their assignments. Why, because they came to

understand the grammar and vocabulary of English intuitively. English was not just thelanguage they used to communicate with, it was a part of their nature. Likewise, studentsof English as a second or foreign language will become intuitively acquainted with English

if they read more.

If you are reading this article and you are a teacher, I encourage you to use reading

materials more often and more actively in your classroom. Read to your students and letyour students read to you. If you are a student of English and are serious about improving

your Englishread, read,read. Regardless of your present proficiency level, reading will

help you. You can reach your goal of native like fluency.

John Erskin is a native of the U.S.A, but has been living and teaching in Daejeon, South

Korea since June 1998. He also maintains several websites including two dedicated toESL/EFL

The Towerof English http://www.towerofenglish.com and Johns ESL Communityhttp://www.johnsesl.com