Teaching Reading Skills & Vocabulary TSL 3106

Topic 8: Reading Aloud Skills Enunciation Pronunciation Stress Intonation Rhythm

Reading Aloud Skills Enunciation

Definition the act of speaking clearly and concisely / an act of delivering a speech precisely

Examples Dropping gs is one of the most common examples of poor enunciation. Eg. The words jogging, walking are always being enunciated as joggin and walkin. For example, the word "matter" is always pronounced "madder" /mdr/ in American English, whereas in British English it sounds /mt/ in formal pronunciation and sometimes /md/ in informal pronunciation.

Pronunciation

Any of the accepted or standard ways of pronouncing a word. In reading aloud, the importance is the way a teacher says words accurately in order to make children understand.

Reading Aloud Skills

Definition

Examples

Stress

To pronounce a particular word or syllable (part of a word) more loudly or with greater force than other words/syllables.

The noun dessert is stressed on the first syllable.

*content words like nouns are always being stressed on 1st syllable. For compound nouns, the stress in on the first part. Eg. housewife : /haswaf/

Reading Aloud Skills

Definition

Examples

Intonation

Intonation is about how we say things, rather than what we say. Listen to somebody speaking without paying attention to the words: the 'melody' you hear is the intonation.

He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow.

In this case, you mean that its not him who is travelling but someone else. As in: He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. His brother is. 2. He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. Here, the emphasis is on the word isnt to say that, its not true that he is flying. As in: Do you know that John is flying to Paris tomorrow? He isnt flying to Paris tomorrow. He was intending to but he changed his mind later.

Reading Aloud Skills Rhythm

Definition

Examples

The pattern of strong and weak stress and short and long pronunciation of different words in a sentence gives English its rhythm.

KEVin deCIDed to SEND a LETter to his RELatives in the VILlage. The capitalised and bolded letters are stressed parts. If we read the sentence, we can feel the rhythm of it.

Readability
Definition: the quality of written language that makes it easy to read and understand

Example Of Reading Text for Year 1

One morning Toad sat in bed. I have many things to do, he said. I will write them all down on a list so that I can remember them. Toad wrote on a piece of paper: A list of things to do today. Then he wrote: Wake up. I have done that, said Toad, and he crossed it out. (From Frog and Toad Together)

Context
Definition : Context clues are hints found within a sentence, paragraph, or passage that a reader can use to understand the meanings of new or unfamiliar words.
Example: "Vertebrates, such as horses, cats, and other animals with backbones, are an important part of the ecosystem." If the student is unfamiliar with the term "vertebrate", he or she can find the definition ("animals with backbones") and some examples (horses and cats), all of which are context clues, embedded in the sentence.