As a life-long learner, I always strive to develop myself professionally. This year I have put myself up to a challenge to be a voracious reader. My aim is to apply and model a growth mindset and to bust the myth that I tell myself that I am a ‘slow reader’.
In discussion with a colleague and critical friend, I was asked, what made me think I’m a ‘slow reader’? And I wondered, does it even matter how fast I read? And, where did that ‘story’ originate?
Years ago, while watching my husband work his way through his Master’s Degree, I was astounded at the rate of which he could read, comprehend and summarise books in English, as a Native German speaker. I marvelled at his skill and became curious about myself as a reader. In our relationship, I was the native English speaker, and I was not able to digest the same amount of information. I wondered, how did he do it? That was a learning point for me, decades ago.
I researched and found a course on speed reading at the University of California. The course set me on the path of learning to improve my reading skills. And it worked! I still remember the time that I was able to read a book about parenting (my sole interest at the time) in four hours – from the time my kids went to bed until I fell asleep, and finished it in the morning before the boys woke up. I read within one night what would otherwise have taken me maybe a week.
What I didn’t know then, I know now. Due to the fact, that my husband had a solid foundation in his native German language throughout his formative education; he had developed the essential skills at reading in German. I may have been a native speaker, but circumstances, familiar to the lives of expatriates or immigrants, led to changes in my academic language. These required me to switch between English and German four times during my formative school years. As a result, my reading skill development in English was fragmented.
What I didn’t know how to label back then was that I lacked a grounded understanding of my mother-tongue. I had failed to acknowledge the fact that reading skills in my native language were intermittently stalled during the development of language at an early age.
The above, along with other personal experiences as a balanced trilingual (English, German, and French) motivated me as a to delve into the world of education. As we only see the tip of the iceberg in the lives and profiles of our students, we need to be cautious with our judgments about the readers we teach. Krashen (2004), stipulates Mother-tongue is paramount when considering reading ability.
In the book ‘The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research.’ Krashen, S. (2004), stipulates the following:
“In early stages, it [reading in the first language] can profoundly accelerate the development of reading ability in the second language.” This is true because:
This is true because:
“Reading skills transfer from language one to language two
reading provides knowledge of the world that makes second-language texts more comprehensible the pleasure of the reading habit itself transfers to the second language.”
Krashen, S. (2004) The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research. Heinemann. Portsmouth
Back to my challenge and my why. My motive is intrinsic. I love learning, and I love challenges. Challenges help us grow. My husband still reads and digests information far faster than I can imagine it and I’m sure there are many colleagues I work with who are equal to his calibre or better (if they are native monolinguals). I understand that there are many reasons why we read, but then the purpose and focus of our reading is or should be for understanding and not to just read as fast as possible. Therefore, my aim is to read faster, understand, and be better able to summarise what I am learning in the process.
As I researched how I might tackle this endeavour, I came across this website full of wonderful ideas such as how to read more books and how to read and make sense of what you have read. The site includes lots of appropriate tools, apps, and ideas on how to organise a ‘readers life’.
I’m sure this will be helpful to anyone; students from primary to those with a high demand on reading to accomplish a successful IB Diploma.
I will personally start with exploring http://spritzinc.com/:
Have you ever considered yourself to be a ‘slow reader’? What’s your story?
Original post
Language Acquisition – All Around Us
Just another SPELTACular blog site
sources:
https://zapier.com/blog/best-book-note-taking-system/
source: APAStrategies for Parents – ELL – Somerset County School District. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.somerset.k12.md.us/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=282382&a...;
https://mother-tongue-development.wikispaces.com/Glossary#Limited Bilinguals
Other interesting resources regarding reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSW7gmvDLag
Hooked on books – Daniel Fader
http://ijflt.com/ (International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching)
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