Sunday, September 20, 2009

Reading Aloud and Pronunciation

Recently I was asked: "when we read aloud aren't we just reinforcing bad pronunciation patterns?" What a great question, especially since students in language classes spend a lot of time reading dialogues and other exercises together. The truth is that reading aloud can be a mixed blessing.

The practice of reading aloud can help build linguistic reflexes, helping the tongue adjust to the sound combinations, and getting the brain used to word patterns, etc. This latter piece is also the case with reading silently, but reading aloud can help it "sink in" more for some people because (a) you have to pay more conscious attention to the words to have them register in your speech, and (b) speaking creates auditory input - even if it's your own voice - which is useful for auditory learners. So reading aloud can have real benefits for language development.

A drawback, however, can be the reinforcement of what the person called "bad" (presumably foreign-sounding) pronunciation. To improve the accuracy of your pronunciation, there are several steps you can take.

First, see if you can find text that also has an audio track, either from a textbook, online, or even if you can get a fluent speaker to record the excerpt for you. Then you can listen to the pronunciation while reading along, and try to imitate what you hear.

Additionally, it is very helpful to record YOURSELF as you read. You will hear things on the recording that you don't notice while you're actually speaking in the moment. When you notice something that sounds too "foreign," try to work on it until it sounds like what you think it should be.

Finally If you can get someone to give you some corrective feedback - confirming what is clear and giving suggestions for what could be improved - on not only your free speech but your voice recordings (so you can listen to them together, objectively) that would be the most helpful.

One way or another, since reading aloud won't likely change your pronunciation, but not reading aloud also won't change your pronunciation, you might as well practice reading aloud for the other benefits it can produce. And if you can follow some of the suggestions I've given above, you can then add the pronunciation benefits too. So keep practicing, and good luck!

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