Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Did you have to read aloud in English class? I did. One day when I was 11 and attending a convent in England, we had to take turns standing at the front of the class reading a book about Helen Keller. I reached a word I didn’t recognise. Asylum. I’d never seen it before and I didn’t know what it meant, so I did my best to pronounce it. Assy-lum. The whole class laughed. I remember the shame as if it had happened yesterday.
I recovered from the horror of everyone laughing at me and, mercifully, didn’t have to stay at that school much longer. I loved English and gradually gained confidence in reading aloud. Eventually, many many years later, I became a lawyer and became very used to the sound of my own voice, so the experience didn’t do too much damage.
But it’s not so easy for some children who regularly struggle with reading aloud in class. More than one adult has told me that the only thing they could think about in English lessons was how long it would be until it was their turn to read. The fear of blushing, tripping over words or saying something silly (like I did) blotting out any possibility of learning anything.
Having to read aloud in class can seem like a penance and a trial. Students who are naturally shy and reserved can lose confidence if it doesn’t go well.
I’m not suggesting that reading aloud shouldn’t happen in school. But if it’s not handled well, or a particular student suffers in silence, sometimes it takes someone like me, working one to one, to pick up the pieces and try to restore some confidence.
Although reading aloud in class can be frightening, practising at home in a safe and supportive environment is often helpful. A lot of my time is spent working with students on poetry and I always ask them to read the poem aloud. First I read it, then they read it. This is one of the reasons it’s really helpful to have a dedicated space for a tutoring session. Students are often, understandably, nervous and uncomfortable the first couple of times I ask them to read aloud. Gradually, however, they relax in the non-judgmental environment and realise that nothing terrible is going to happen. They read the poem, knowing I will help them out with any difficult words, then they get to the end and we discuss it line by line.
Reading a text aloud helps students to be mindful of every single word (ever noticed how you can skim over and miss words when you are reading silently?) and to feel the rhythm and structure of a poem. Meaning is often clearer when you’ve heard yourself read something out loud. It helps, but only in a supportive setting.
It’s a great habit to get into. Then, when revising, students may even feel comfortable enough to read poems, or passages from plays, aloud to further familiarise themselves. This makes learning quotations easier too.
I also encourage students, when they can, to read their own written work out loud to themselves as a final check. This is a good idea for all of us, when it’s possible. Reading aloud can highlight minor grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and stylistic glitches. For example, a word repeated too many times or a clumsy sentence may be easily dismissed if we read our work silently to ourselves, but these occurrences can sound jarring and uncomfortable when spoken.
I doubt anyone gets through secondary school without some hideous experiences like my ‘assy-lum’ story. But it might be helpful to remember that, while reading aloud can be excruciating, it’s not always horrible and can be a useful strategy.
