Increasing student reading speed

[dmaurici51]

I am researching techniques, methods and materials for helping EAP students increase their reading speed in an advanced ESL environment. If anyone has classroom experience or is familiar with innovative techniques that they would like to share, please post. Also, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Thanks in advance. -DM

[dduck]

Hi DM,

I posted some suggestions on another forum, they may be of some interest to you:

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/viewt ... ed+reading

Iain

[Adam Simpson]

Take a look at this website, you'll find some speed reading activities in there...

http://efl.isikun.edu.tr/CALL.htm

[Glenski]

This may not be innovative, but it's one thing I do.

Give students something at their reading level. One page long. Fiction or non-fiction. NF is better because it's factual.

Give students 20 seconds to read as much as possible. Stop them. Students mark where they stopped. They then turn the page over and answer as many questions about the text as possible. Q's are in sequential order to the text.

When the last person has answered the questions (give them all the time they need, let them use English or their native language to write answers), call "start" again for another 20 seconds.

Repeat this process 3 or 4 times. If a student finishes the text, let him check answers. Otherwise, he may NOT look back when he is answering.

Students then count each block of words read in the 20 seconds. Multiply the number of words by 3 to get words per minute. Average the set for that page, or just keep a record of individual blocks.

Put these figures on some graph paper and watch progress over time. Do NOT compare one student with another. This is an individual activity.

Cover the answers orally as a cool down exercise. Determine any unknown vocabulary. Discuss as needed.




Another activity is to have them read for X seconds. Then have them go back and read the same thing for the same length of time. Tell them to read past the point they reached the first time.

[infonut]

I was looking for a speed reading tool the other day and found a clever little site:
http://www.readremember.co.uk/ignoring_hype.asp

It has some good stuff on expectations, a training tool that supports multiple languages, it also pointed me towards a very good article on reading patterns in students:
http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/bell/

I am researching techniques, methods and materials for helping EAP students increase their reading speed in an advanced ESL environment. If anyone has classroom experience or is familiar with innovative techniques that they would like to share, please post. Also, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Thanks in advance. -DM

[ababasoftcom]

The main purpose for speed reader person is to understand how this person read! You need to read an look to yourself from out side and decide how you can improve you reading rate. You can't absorb all information what you're read. All text contain 50% of garbage.
Use online free trainings on http://www.ababasoft.com/words/ . Some trainings randomly delete letters. Anther program delete wolves letter. One of trainings strip the text so you can't read the text in line strategy.

Try to use the next strategy -

Skim the text by 1 min. Think about reading.
Skim the text by 1 min. Think about reading.
Skim the text by 1 min. Think about reading.
Skim the text by 1 min. Think about reading.

[dancing_druid]

I suggest letting them pick their own reading material. Whether it be a magazine or a chapter book, if they are interested in it, they will read it. This technique was how I learned to read, and I now use it when I am working with lower grades (ex: pre-k, k, etc.)
Also a weekly list of words the children will be seeing in their lessons would give them time to practice studying and reading them over. This also helps inform parents of their child's progression in school besides progress reports/report cards.