Elements of Effective Independent Language Learning

4 1/2. Reading

I believe firmly that reading writing are two sides of the same coin so I surprised myself by separating the two. However, I found some marked differences between the two when put into practice. For example, when reading, as when listening, we can "get the gist" of things or kind of slide our way through, picking out the words we know, approximating and guessing at the meaning of words or grammatical forms and then respond to what we read without as much accountability as writing. Anyone who has attended school in a second language can attest that so many weaknesses and ignorances can be hidden or glossed over until we are required to write.

So reading provides a place for us to grow, a way to make discoveries. If we read often, our ability to use the language will grow as we make hypotheses about meaning and how our second language is working. We will also understand what kind of words are used where--an understanding of the nuances of the language. Consider this mistake in a student paper: A junior English student was writing about My Antonia and described a landscape with "undulating prairie dogs," meaning, of course, that the animals were constantly ducking in and out of their holes but someone who has read and understands the nuances of undulating and the context of prairie dogs would avoid that usage.

I learned something important for my own second language reading this past week. In my classes on teaching and in several textbooks, the consensus was that silent reading is preferable to reading out-loud and that reading is a primarily silent activity. This brought me up short becuase I assumed that somehow I was improving my pronunciation or fluency in reading by rading out loud. I just that it came first wehn reading. I tried the experiment of reading silently and found that it was true; I was making meaning more efficiently and completely by staying silent, though it took effort not to be a "word-caller" which in literacy circles is what we call someone, often a second language learner, who clips along merely making the sounds without retaining and comprehending as well as could be wished.