Reading aloud

Jim Trelease's useful book on reading aloud

There are many useful read aloud extracts in this book also by Trelease. 

                                     

On Saturday ( 14 Jan), I shared some ideas with CDAC tutors for helping students to be better readers. By better readers, I mean better at reading aloud.

Reading aloud is a key component in the oral examination, and is a skill that students can learn to master and therefore do well in. A common problem with students reading aloud is their lack of expression. I talked about some ways to help students understand the rhythm of the English language and shared some ideas with   my audience. Unfortunately, these were not in their notes, so here they are:

There are 5 main tones in English:
rise 

fall

rise-fall

fall-rise

level

Intonation can reinforce grammar: 

Wh-questions: fall
What is your name?

Conditional sentences: rise on the first clause & a fall on the second
If I give you a dollar, will you sweep the floor?

Imperatives: fall
Quiet! Sit down!

Yes/no questions: rise-fall
Is this seat taken?

Intonation can reveal attitude:

Expressing surprise: rise
I see that you are still here.

Sarcasm: rise-fall
What a beautiful skirt ; what happened to the rest of the tablecloth?

Politeness: rise ('the polite rise')
May I speak to the manager?

Doubt: fall-rise

I’m not sure you’re right, but it sounds convincing.

Teachers can do a lot to model the art of reading aloud, and one good way is to spend a few minutes each day reading aloud to your students. Here is a  video that shows you how you can do this well. 

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