English has become crucial in an individual’s academic and professional career but developing good communication skills in English is challenging as the methods and approaches used can make the learning tedious. Folk theories on language hold that learning grammar rules helps acquire speaking and writing skills. However grammar rules only scratch the surface of the language. What really contributes to the development of both written and spoken language is reading.
Current research on pleasure reading has shown that reading is an enjoyable experience that also results in the incidental acquisition of language. This makes learning easier, enjoyable and effective. Despite consistent evidence on this, students are not encouraged to read to acquire language. In fact studies have shown that students who do more in-class reading develop a positive attitude towards reading. Further, they continue to do more independent reading outside of class and thereby do well in language achievement tests like TOFEL, IELTS as well as in academic achievement tests. Free reading is a rewarding experience and the amount of reading done is correlated with the language knowledge, which includes grammar, vocabulary, writing competence, reading comprehension and cognition.
Though many believe that learning rules of grammar is essential, the fact is linguists have not discovered rules for the language as a whole; grammar textbooks do not contain all the rules discovered by linguists; teachers do not teach all the rules in the book; students do not learn all the rules taught; and do not recollect all that they learn either. Grammar rules are very complex and it is difficult to learn them explicitly. These complex rules can be easily be acquired subconsciously by those who read for pleasure than those who depend on learning grammar rules. Readers use the acquired grammatical knowledge quite easily while speaking and writing.
Of course, in order that this may happen, the reading material must be well within the reader’s language competence. They must be able to focus on the message of the text and not at looking up meanings of words in dictionaries. This may not motivate them to read further. Referring to dictionaries while reading is an indication that the text is incomprehensible and therefore teachers must help readers choose the text that they can comprehend. Readers acquire vocabulary incidentally if they come across an unknown word. In fact, they will find the word’s contextual meaning subconsciously. In the first encounter with the word, the reader acquires a partial meaning, the second adds more meaning and repeated exposure results in the acquisition of the complete meaning. Thereby readers acquire not only the meaning but also the grammar of words.
Reading also helps one develop special language of writing. This is a meaning-making exercise and learning grammar with an intent to improve writing help learners focuses only on the language, not on the content. Further, writing is a composing process, which requires both content and language. If we focus on the content, the mind will subconsciously use language to give shape to the thought. If we focus on language, the mind will refuse to come up with ideas. In fact, it will increase writing apprehensions. Then why do we compel our students to focus on form while they write? Readers acquire the skills required for writing subconsciously and use these while writing.
Those who read for pleasure are autonomous language learners. For such people, language learning becomes an enjoyable experience, as they immerse themselves in reading and forget that they are reading in a second language (English). This kind of reading may well be more powerful as the pleasure component allows absorption of language without any anxiety, block, and fear of understanding.
In order to help students develop a habit of reading, in-class programmes should be conducted in schools and colleges, where a variety of books are available and the teachers help the students choose an appropriate text. In addition to guided reading, the college/school should create a reading environment by having reading centres where the students can access books easily as and when they desire. The creation of a book-rich reading environment in schools and colleges will motivate students to read more for pleasure. Thus they will become autonomous learners.
The writer is an Associate Professor of English at National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi. Email: joseph@nitt.edu
