When ESL Students Read Aloud

Question: Should you correct pronunciation when ESL students are reading aloud?

Answer/Quote: “Emphasize comprehension over pronunciation.” “If students read aloud, avoid correcting pronunciation because, inevitably, excessive time will be invested in correcting rather than in reading. Take notes on mispronunciations and miscues when students read aloud in order to understand the types of difficulties students are experiencing and to review students’ progress over time. These notes can be used to identify phonemes, individual words, and intonation patterns that should be pointed out and modeled in the context of meaningful stories that are read to the students. It should be remembered, however, that reading comprehension depends on finding meaning in a text, not on being able to pronounce every word correctly.” P. 99.

Comment: That’s useful. RayS.

Title: “Instructional Approaches and Teaching Procedures.” AU Chamot and JM O’Malley. Pp. 82-107. In Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students. Eds. K Spangensberg-Urgschat and R Pritchard. Newark, DE: IRA. 1994.