M a education paper-v methods of teaching english

3. Bii. Reading Aloud 
Reading aloud is primarily an oral activity which is focussed on pronunciation rather than 
comprehension. Though learners must acquire the skill of reading aloud, it is true that only a few 
individuals like newscasters, teachers, lawyers and actors are required to read aloud as a matter 
of daily routine. The majority do not have to read aloud except on occasions.
Reading aloud is useful at the early stages of learning the letters as it allows teachers to monitor 
how well learners are learning the sounds of separate letters. At the earliest stages of reading 
(recognising letters and words) reading aloud helps learners to establish a connection between 
sound and spelling. But it does not have much learning value for advanced reading.
When the learners read aloud they are forced to focus on articulating sounds rather than on the 
meaning. All the words need to be read at more or less the same speed and paid attention to 
equally. This means that unimportant words or information cannot be skipped, and nor can the 
learner choose his most comfortable speed of reading. Most significantly, reading the text aloud 
does not allow the learner enough time or attention to devote to constructing meanings. 
Teachers may intend to help learners by reading the text aloud to them but it can actually make 
reading more difficult for the learners must keep pace with the speed set by the teacher. Teachers 
often prefer to read the text themselves because it apparently gives them more control over the 
reading activity. However, they cannot be sure that the learners are actually following the text at 
all.

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As a strategy for reading a text in the classroom, it is not a useful technique for only one learner 
is active at a time; the others may not be listening at all or listening to a bad model. The learner’s 
attention is focused on pronunciation and not on understanding the text. Reading aloud also 
seems unnatural because most people do not read aloud in real life. Further, since learners read 
slowly it takes up a lot of time in class.