Does the Chinese ‘read aloud’ system for improving pronunciation/oral English actually work?
I've tried to convince some Chinese students that reading aloud every morning to improve their pronunciation/oral English is actually a mistake. The reason is, I believe it will only form bad habits. Surely they are repeating the same pronunciation errors again and again until forms a habit. Am I right? If their pronunciation was perfect to start with, the method might have a little merit. I'm trying to get them to copy the voices of native speakers using mp3's instead. I think it will be much more beneficial because it will help their pronunciation and fluency which is what they want. My gut and experience tell me I am right but I'd still like to hear the opinion of some experienced English teachers. Am I right to try to get the students to stop reading aloud every morning? Is the mp3 alternative better? Thanks.
Oh, I nearly forgot. Just one more question. Reading quietly is better than reading aloud for improving reading skills, isn't it?
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i was just about to tell you no….but i see your point. ok, here it is…assuming the student REMEMBERS the rules you taught, reading aloud is EXCELLENT. for example…i KNOW how to pronounce spanish correctly, i just don’t practice enough to do it with any kind of ease. so…i read spanish magazines outloud. i’ve also seen this work with most ALL of my own students. but this is because they hear me frequently, daily, so they know how it SHOULD sounds.
what i think is this….combine your MP3 idea, with reading aloud. what about having them listen to a reading, and then read the same thing aloud?
for your last question…depends on what you want. for retention…yes, better to read quietly. to practice pronunciation…better to read aloud. but reading aloud will not help the student remember what they read.
In twenty-something years of teaching I have never discouraged an ESL student from speaking or reading aloud. The reason is that when a non-native speaker hears not only what others say but also hears their own voice it reinforces the words.
If you were to study Chinese would you want to be told not to read aloud and to copy only native speakers? Native speakers all have different dialects in every country, there is no one set way to speak any language especially English. The only way one becomes a native speaker is by listening and speaking the language. I know of people who are native speakers of English who pronounce things the wrong way and are educators or commentators. Chinese and other Asian speakers have difficulty in speaking English because there are sounds in our alphabet that they don’t have in their alphabet. If you have grown up not saying a certain sound then it will take longer to learn that sound. But reading aloud with someone around to correct the minor errors and encourage the major progress is the best way for anyone to learn.
Reading aloud is the BEST way to improve reading skills and comprehension. When you hear your own voice you learn faster. If I want a student to learn to read faster and comprehend better I have them read aloud. This improves their overall performance and gives them confidence as well.
On point #2 absolutely right. On point #1 both are absolutely wrong. Both reading aloud and MP3 usage. Here’s why: The biggest misconception in teaching any language is that pronunciation can be improved by hearing others talk. If we take this theory and apply it in real life, it quickly becomes evident that this is not possible. Can you watch a surgeon operate and then become one? Can you watch a pianist play and become an instant pianist? Can you watch a car mechanic and become one? Do we watch someone drive a car and then we get in one and drive without learning how the cars works…? Of course not, and yet this is what we ask language learners to do every day. We, as well as they, become frustrated at the slow progress. Here is what really works and works fast. The mouth, tongue, teeth are the "instruments" of sound/speech. Students need to learn their instrument by knowing where, when, how to place tongue, how to restric air flow… They need to know the place of articulation (where in the mouth is the tongue if a certain sound is to be made), the manner of articulation (how – ie. upper teeth rest lightly on the lower lip as in f/v so the air is slightly restricted/friction = they are called fricatives)……..In other words they need to learn the parts of their instrument, how it works and practice with a mirror. So go on to google, look for a pronunciation matrix and a sami (a profile head shot showing a cross section of the mouth), enlarge them and teach them to the students. Do not be shy to show your mouth in action and they will learn so much faster. One more point, going back to listening to others for practice – we all know that native speakers speak fast, mumble, aspirate sounds, therefore, they are usually not the best examples of perfect pronunciation either. Have fun. (20 yrs. of ESL, Teacher trainer, M.Ling. and having learned 7 languages)
keep reading and keep commiting the same mistakes! accually there are no relations between reading to yourself and developing the pronunciation skills. However there are some electronic readers that read the microsoft documrnts for you.there are also what we call "audible books" which are read by professionals for those who have sight problems. Using them for listening will be agood source but again you are not reading.Accually you are listening to someonbe else.
I teach an exchange student from China that has read out loud for many years. The problem is she mispronounces words and then it follows into her spelling. People read and right like they talk, not like they read, therefore because of the accent or different pronunciation of some letters I spend a lot of time correcting those issues.