Getting students to read out loud is a common practice in many classrooms, but do you think it is an effective way to help students to learn and practise English? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
How often do you get your students to read aloud in class?
This topic is now closed, thank you for all your contributions.
Never
10% (42 votes)
Rarely
15% (61 votes)
Sometimes
32% (130 votes)
Frequently
42% (170 votes)
Total votes: 403
Comments
admin
I guess this is a problem for many English teachers here in Brazil and abroad as well. I used to do that, however, after taking a course on reflective teaching at the School for International Training (Vermont, USA), I've learned that this kind of activity usually leads to failure. At first, I was quite shocked to know that. However, after reflecting on some of the moments I had in class and by analyzing sts.' perfomance, I realized I was doing something wrong in my classes. Why?
For all the aforementioned reasons, I really don't see reading out loud as a profitable activity to be done in class. If you want to make your students engaged in learning, make them talk or whatever you purpose may be, I guess reading silently first and then, asking them to discuss the text is much more profitable. You may now ask me: How about the new vocabulary presented in the text? How about the right pronunciation of words? I guess there are other ways to work on these areas.
Margot McCamley
I encourage my students to read tape scripts aloud from the back of their text book. After they have heard the tape in the classroom, they then go home and practice using the language aloud in the confines of their own room/study. They can tape what they are saying too, if they wish and listen to themselves. This way they can also take on the English speaking characters - imagine they are them as they review the tapescript from the day's lesson. I found that students who used this technique, also became the better speakers, as they found confidence in using and listening to the language they were learning.
Charlotte Zhou, China
Reading aloud is helpful indeed, but my students are sometimes unwilling to read aloud, because they tend to read silently.
Victor Reynolds, Spain
Perhaps in small classes the reading aloud of interesting snippets from newspapers, magazines etc. might have some justification, but in classes of 25...what do the students do for the 50 minutes or so of the time when they are not reading aloud? I don't think anyone's attention span could accommodate listening to 50 monotonous minutes of mangled English.
Abdulmalik o. Yusuf, Nigeria
Speech work is better assessed by the teacher when learners read out aloud especially in junior classes.However, there is the need to provide a very good model for them.
Andrew Ng, Tokyo
Reading aloud is great for practicing pronunciation, intonation, fluency and linking. I find it's often best to let the students prepare by reading silently first, and you can then deal with unfamiliar words or meanings. Also, it helps if you explain why they're going to read aloud, just so that they can focus on the objectives. But it can be tricky in large classes because of the inactivity of all the other students waiting their turn.
Sena Alpsü,Turkey
Reading aloud is sometimes helpful to develop pronounciation.Though in a class students may not pay much attention when their friends read something.
Abbasi, Iran
I think reading aloud is a good practice for the skill of speech delivery in advanced levels; however, I do not suggest it used in reading comprehension classes where understanding is the main objective of the lesson.
Ana Maria, Brazil
My students usually look forward to reading aloud during classes. They want to be listened and corrected.
Marcus Murilo, Brazil
I guess the real issue here is: what's your aim in having your students read texts aloud? If you're using this technique when you actually want them to comprehend a piece of writing, then it's completely worthless. If, however, your aim is to work on pronunciation, then it's very effective indeed.
Galina, Bulgaria
I am strongly in favour of reading aloud because this helps students to learn the correct pronunciation and thus they gain some confidence in their speaking and reading abilities. I have been teaching English for 12 years and there were just few students over these years who were reluctant doing this. Even those who are shy at the beginning realize the importance of reading aloud and begin enjoying it.
Anil Kumar
I feel reading aloud is useful at the elemnentary level where students need to pick up correct English sounds and pronunciation. Reading aloud is useful in the teaching of literature like poetry and drama and public speaking. When it comes to higher level and when reading is meant for collecting information, of course, silent reading is the best choice.
María, Spain
Reading aloud is a good way of practising pronunciation and intonation, specially if you do dialogues, a play etc.. in class. I think it is even esential for native speakers, I've listened to a lot of people reading a poem or a short text in my own language, Spanish,and doing it really appallingly. For example, when there is an exclamation or a full stop, no change intonation whatsoever. I encourage my students to do "shadow reading", which is reading aloud a text while the tape is being played very softly so we could imitate the pronunciation and intonation of the reader; It works really well with news from the BBC on the internet.
Rob, Scotland
Reading aloud is not something that most native speakers tend to do a lot. It's actually quite difficult to do well and is not a natural form of communication. So, I'm really not sure what skills are being practised and developed by reading aloud in class.
Yes, I think there is an argument for saying there is a diagnostic role, in that the teacher can pinpoint pronunciation problems, but even then I'd say the flow of written text is so different from the flow of natural conversation that any pronunciation work could perhaps be regarded as being out of context.
I remember having to read aloud at school and although I always enjoyed it, I didn't really see much benefit. It was a very slow way to read a book and had the effect of turning many students off literature completely.
As you can probably guess I'm not a fan of reading aloud. I do think it can have value, but I think it needs to be used sparingly and with very careful thought given to the kind of text chosen and to the rationale.
Padmini Janardhanan
Reading aloud is very effective to keep focus and helps people with visual processing problems. It is also very useful for children with problems with speech. However, I have had one case when there was a problem with auditory processing - the child learnt with auditory association and in that case, reading aloud turned out to be counter-productive
Rafael Rey de Castro
Reading aloud seems to be important only when teaching pre school children when they are learning to read. Reading aloud in general encourages slow reading (people read faster in silence). It is also a rather difficult activity for learners, and boring for those who have to listen to a classmate. When reading aloud the focus is on pronunciation rather than on developing the skill itself. I have observed many reading aloud lessons and to this date I have never witnessed a good reading or pron class using this technique. I believe that there are much better ways to develop pronunciation, such as the very traditional "repeat after me"!
Latif ur Rehman Nadeem, Pakistan
Students reading out loud is not a good practice specially in a sense to learn and understand the sense of language in all perspectives. By reading aloud students can only build up their speaking confidence not their comprehension.
Amalia Fernández Nicolás, Spain
Before being an English teacher I worked for Canal 13 TV Universidad Católica de Chile, and years later, once in Spain I collaborated in a programme in Radio Nacional de España, in both cases as a speaker, that is why in my classes it is always present "The reading aloud activity". When I was trained as a speaker, it was the main exercise to obtain a perfect modulation and to give the emotion contained in the meaning of the words, as important in this profession as in the teacher´s one. On the other hand, Phonetics, for me imprescindible, is easily practised through reading as we can make observations of the way the groups of letters are read in English. There is something simple that has helped my students to get the intonation in English,of course, appart from the study of the strong and weak forms and the linking rules, and it is reading English in a different tone from their mother tongue. It is as if it were easier for the mind to accept the change. The results, in my case, have been excellent, even with those students who have difficulty in pronouncing their own language.
Barbara
I work with students who have a learning disability, ie. dyslexia etc. Reading aloud gives them confidence and helps their pronunciation.
Yemi Kolawole, Brazil
I do not succumb to the opinion that reading aloud is a waste of time.On the contrary,I firmly believe that reading aloud is the fastest way to improve pronunciation of students.My own experience in the last fifteen years of teaching English as a foreign languge has demonstrated that teachers have the best opportunity to correct pronunciation and stress placement during reading aloud because you discover that words that you assumed that the students knew how to pronunced are sometimes not pronunced correctly.Most of my students also feel elated when they are asked to read aloud.
M A Shaikh, India
Reading aloud in class builds up confidence. It also gives one the real feel of the language.
Mark Thompson, Brazil
I like many others was told that reading aloud is a no-no in an EFL classroom. I disagree - feedback from my students suggests that the majority like to read aloud, thay are forming and pronouncing words and phrases they can see, and thus making that link in their minds. I find it a good opportunity to work on pronunciation, sentence stress, intonation etc. In particular listening scripts are good because this is naturally spoken language.
Theres Brisbane-Ingall, England
Like Susan Dournayan, I get my students to read quietly for comprehension. We often follow that up with different students reading the text aloud. Even students who are initially shy ask to read as it progressively becomes a class norm. I have found this invaluable in terms of improving pronunciation, getting multilingual groups to better understand (and, thus, communicate with) each other (instead of communicating through the teacher) and working on prosodic features of the language. Misreadings can also help to identify reasons for possible misunderstanding of a text. Finally, students of all ages clearly enjoy it.
Lakshmi, India
Read aloud does not help much. I have tried this and the net result was that I lost the concentration of the students.(at least most of them) and the effect was that I was pulled up by my superiors for the inattentive class
George Steed, Poland
Too many teachers talk too much. Students should be coerced any way possible to participate verbally. Having a student or students read aloud is one way to accomplish this. The exercise need be paced with frequent teacher questions. Students learn by doing! Their attention spans are short.
Susan Dournayan, Lebanon
Reading aloud, according to modern methodology is supposedly a waste of time. I disagree. I have found that students love reading aloud and their pronunciation does improve over time. If a student is enjoying the experience of reading aloud, surely this is not a bad thing? As for reading for comprehension, the students can read the text quietly before or after reading aloud. Perhaps, as teachers, we should be a bit more flexible on this issue. reading aloud definitely has its advantages!
Gwen Wheddon, Indonesia
I don't use reading aloud very often but I do think it's useful. It highlights problems with pronunciation and word stress and gives the Ss practice with seeing/reading correctly structured English. I think it's good for Ss who are not yet able to read books/magazines in English as it helps them to become more familiar with common words and phrases.
Jan, Canada
Having been teaching for a number of years now, I can honestly say that I rarely employ oral reading. I find that it's not a natural way to read. I also find that students don't really pay attention to each other when they read aloud - they are too busy trying to figure which paragraph will be theirs to read next. In addition, I find that reading aloud is only good for pronunciation practice.
Esther Muskal, Israel
Reading aloud is wonderful for kids who aren't shy and are self-assured. The problem arises for kids who are insecure and sometimes are made to read even though they do not wish to do so.So, the positive connection achieved between the sound and the letter combination can be undone by forcing the pupil to read.
Pamela, Germany
My students read aloud so that they can practice their pronunciation and also read difficult words which are not always pronounced as they are written e.g. climb,knee. Germans pronounce the words using the silent letters.
Roseli Gertum Becker, Brasil
My private students read frequently because some enjoy,others need it for pronunciation and intonation.
Reading aloud is also a feedback for me, a way to spot development as well as problems which are persistent often due to inexisting sounds in the student's mother tongue. We read paragraphs, or they read part of a story done for homework. I use strategies such as talking about the subject before they start reading, go over certain words which have proved difficult, giving them some words or sentences they'll meet along the reading. I found that this strategy avoids frustration, interruptions.
Manuel Ramia, Spain
Reading aloud is essential for correcting pronounciation. Since there are no consistent rules for the pronounciation of English, reading aloud is a good way to learn and motivate the students.
CC, Switzerland
In my opinion, reading aloud is a good exercise not only for pronunciation, but also for fluency. I sometimes ask all the pupils to read aloud at the same time, and I sometimes I ask them to read aloud while listening to a tape. Of course, you cannot correct all the pupils, but you could ask them to either work in pairs and correct each other, or to underline the words they are not sure about. Try it, it might seem noisy the first time–it actually is–but they enjoy doing it and you will always hear one or more words that are mispronounced. Moreover, even the shy ones will dare read aloud.
Ravinarayan, India
Reading aloud,for beginners,is like a stimulant.It motivates them to read further and learn faster.It boosts their morale and confidence.The beginners really enjoy reading aloud.It can be made more challenging.
Renata Bonotto, Brazil
Reading alound is not conducive to effective reading comprehension. If a teachers' aim is to develop good pronunciation, other type of activities should be tried. Reading aloud might cause uneasiness among students as well.
Yuriy Kovalenko, Canada
How else can the teacher know his/her students have problems with pronunciation? Besides, it is a kind of practice.
Marqeau, Indonesia
Singing in english songs is very worthwhile for students to practice their pronunciation, vocab and listening.
Santad, Thailand
The older the students are, the less willing to speak aloud they are.
BE Bloom, Spain
I frequently ask students to read aloud from the class reader we happen to be working on. They enjoy it and there is always a show of hands when asked "who wants to read?" It develops listening skills and most students love listening to stories or exciting extracts. I find it helps comprehension.
Marta Elena, Chile
I never thought that reading aloud ia a waste of time on the contrary, reading aloud helps with pronunciation and listening, at the same time encourages the students to speak the foreign language.
Estelle Angelinas, Greece
I find that reading aloud doesn't really help in pronunciation, and that it makes it hard for the students to comprehend what they read because they concentrate too much on trying to pronounce the words.
Liora Tamir, Israel
I teach dyslexic pupils (there are about 15 % of them in every class). It is first of all for them that reading aloud should be practiced.
Revathi , India
Reading aloud helps students to learn pronunciation of new words. But I feel it does not promote concentration while learning.
Richard Spurgeon
Accurate listening is linked to accurate speech and together they support comprehension. Reaing aloud allows the teacher to assess a students articulation for clues to miscues based on faulty articulation.
Halima L.Adamu, Nigeria
I usually ask learners to read to test their pronunciation and fluency in reading.
Gareth Marshall, Thailand
I don't usually ask students to read in class as it puts them under undue pressure to perform. We rarely "read aloud" naturally, and native speakers can find it difficult. Also, it can mean other students don't listen to what is being said, they listen to find the mistakes.
Rafa Casaní, Spain
I read out first, then the students - they're told to take down notes on pronunciation, intonation, breathing skills, etc. since they will have to read aloud as part of the oral exam.
Violetta Dobosz, Poland
Sometimes reading out loud may seem a waste of precious class time but it provides ss with invaluable not only pronunciation and listening practice but writing, as well. Nowadays the stress in language teaching is on communication, i.e. understanding texts rather than analysing them from the pronunciation point of view). Listening and reading are two separate skills. Eventually it turns out that ss recognize the word when spoken or written but fail to "see" the word as one. That's why I think reading out loud helps ss get a unified "vision" of the spoken (pronunciation) and written (spelling). For students, it's a lighter variety and less stressful exercise than a dictation.
David, Spain
Reading aloud often helps to get a small group focused and a final reading can also be useful as a means of shutting a session down. It is not a very challenging task, and can be used to get shyer students to participate more.
Tim Priesack, Italy
I believe that reading aloud help learners associate sight and sound (what does a word look like vs what does a word sound like). This is very important for a non-phonetic language.
George Steed, Poland
I have my student read aloud but only a limited passage. I correct the pronounciation as we go along. When he comes to a word I think he doesn't know I ask him for a meaning. At the end of the reading I pose questions about the content. This kind of exercise can be expanded. Ask about words. It is also a great opportunity to encourage speaking. A reverse exercise is also possible. The instructor reads the passage and the student asks questions.
Lesley Maciver, Scotland
I use reading quite frequently to check the student's pronounciation. I asked my current student for his opinion, and he agrees that he finds it very useful.
Anish Damodaran, India
When I used to be an English teacher there wasn't enough time to get my students to read in the class room. However I think it is important to make them practise English and only way is to make them speak aloud the new words and make them read aloud in the class room. And I made them do it whenever I got enough time.
Dick Bird
It's not something I do very often, but on the occasions when I have asked students to read aloud it has thrown up some interesting results - it is particularly revealing of the way students 'clump' words, or not as the case may be. It also reveals whether students perceive sentences as a whole or a string of words. Finally, it is interesting to listen for the way students use intonation. If nothing else, reading aloud is a diagnostic technique and not to be disparaged.
Madhuri Bhanushali, India
Reading aloud is possible in a small class where the teacher can listen and give input for improvements. So it is not advantageous for a large class which is a common sight in India. But yes, reading aloud does help in improving listening as well as pronounciation skills.
Donna Phillips Ryan, Australia
Perhaps reading aloud is an essential strategy in the mastery of a new language. It helps the student develop fluency, reinforces the acquisition of vocabulary, the text offers a model of language in use and reading aloud also helps the student develop his/her new persona as a speaker of another language as new rhythms of speech are acquired and success is experienced? In my reading class I have discovered that reading aloud and the self correction it encourages has enabled my students to develop metacognitive skills too. It is a time consuming activity and is perhaps best done one on one with the teacher or another patient native speaker.
Jean Stocker, Germany
I find it is better to get my learners to take a marker pen to a text - especially a difficult one - and mark through EVERYTHING WHICH THEY UNDERSTAND. This gives them a buzz when they see how yellow the text is, and it enables them to understand the text. Sometimes I get them to read out interesting bits, just as a husband and wife would do with the newspaper at the breakfast table... accompanied by phrases like "Hey, listen to this," "Well, what do you think?" "I don't believe this, listen!".
Margaret, Netherlands
I teach adult beginners. I would rather NEVER let my students read aloud in class as I don't think it helps them at all. I would encourage them to read aloud at home though. However they always ask me to. They say they learn a lot from my correction of their pronunciation even if it takes up a lot of the lesson with each person only speaking a few minutes and listening for more than half an hour! I do it, but not very often, because THEY want to read aloud.
Tatiana, Russia
My students sometimes read aloud in the classroom.In my opinion, it's rather helpful in starter level for it helps to improve pronunciation skills.
Helen Wallis, UK
I usually ask learners if they want to practise reading or if they want me to read (so that they can read and listen to the pronunciation).
Sanjay Bhushan, India
In my opinion it develops listening skills in a student and at the same time one improves one's pronunciation and spoken english.