Slow reading because of translating

(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)

The other day, Mari, an ESL student of mine, asked me if I could help her with an article that she had been assigned for one of her courses.  I could see that the article would be quite challenging for her.  And I couldn’t help but notice that she had covered the article with translations.  It was obvious that she had little confidence that she’d be able to understand any of it unless she translated almost every word, even words she actually knew.

As mentioned in a previous posting • Purposeful reading: Students read faster if they know what they are looking for. , if student know the purpose of a reading assignment, they tend to read faster because they don’t get bogged down in trying to understand unnecessary details and vocabulary.  Also, they are more likely to become tolerant of ambiguity. Included in this posting is a unit (an article and study guide) that begins with a focus on the reason students would read the article.

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