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Teaching ESL/EFL Reading
and Writing

The second edition of this bestselling text, Teaching ESL/EFL Reading

and Writing, is a fully updated and expanded guide for teaching learners
at all levels of proficiency how to develop their reading and writing skills
and fluency. Practical and accessible, this book covers a diverse array of
language teaching techniques suitable for all contexts.
Updated with cutting-edge research and theory, the second edition is
an essential and engaging text. Key insights and suggestions are
organised around four strands – meaning-focused input, meaning-
focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development –
to allow teachers to design and present a balanced programme for their
students. Bringing together research and theory in applied linguistics and
education, the text includes useful examples and practical strategies and
features new topics related to technology, assessment, and genre. The
second edition includes new tasks and further reading sections in every
chapter.
Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing is designed for practising
and pre-service teachers of all levels, and is ideal for certificate, diploma,
masters, and doctoral courses in English as a second or foreign language.

I.S.P. Nation is Professor Emeritus in Applied Linguistics at Victoria

University of Wellington, New Zealand.

John Macalister is Professor in Applied Linguistics at Victoria University

of Wellington, New Zealand.
ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series
Eli Hinkel, Series Editor

Language Curriculum Design

2nd Edition
John Macalister and I.S.P. Nation

Teaching Academic L2 Writing

Practical Techniques in Vocabulary and Grammar
Eli Hinkel

What English Language Teachers Need to Know Volume II

Facilitating Learning, 2nd Edition
Denise E. Murray and MaryAnn Christison

English Morphology for the Language Teaching Profession

Laurie Bauer with I.S.P. Nation

Conversation Analysis and Second Language Pedagogy

A Guide for ESL/EFL Teachers, 2nd Edition
Jean Wong, Hansun Zhang Waring

English L2 Reading
Getting to the Bottom, 4th Edition
Barbara M. Birch and Sean Fulop

Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing

2nd Edition
I.S.P. Nation and John Macalister

Reconciling Translingualism and Second Language Writing

Tony Silva and Zhaozhe Wang

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/

ESL-Applied-Linguistics-Professional-Series/book-series/LEAESLALP
Teaching ESL/EFL
Reading and Writing
Second edition

I.S.P. Nation and John Macalister

Second edition published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an
informa business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of I.S.P. Nation and John Macalister to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
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including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2008
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nation, I. S. P., author. | Macalister, John, 1956- author.
Title: Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing / I. S. P. Nation and
John Macalister.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020013375 | ISBN 9780367433772
(hardback) | ISBN 9780367433765 (paperback) | ISBN
9781003002765 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: English language—Study and teaching—Foreign
speakers. | English language—Rhetoric—Study and teaching. |
English teachers—Training of.
Classification: LCC PE1128.A2 N345 2021 | DDC
428.0071—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020013375

ISBN: 978-0-367-43377-2 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-367-43376-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-00276-5 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
Contents

Preface vii

1 Learning to Read in Another Language 1

2 Using the Four Strands to Plan a Reading or

Writing Course 15

3 Intensive Reading 30

4 Extensive Reading 55

5 Reading Faster 70

6 Assessing Reading 83

7 Helping Learners Write 101

8 The Writing Process 121

9 Writing and Digital Technology 135

10 Information Transfer and Topic Types 145

11 Responding to Written Work 154

12 Applying Principles to Reading and

Writing Courses 167
vi Contents
Appendix 1: Spelling and Pronunciation – Points of
Correspondence 178
Appendix 2: A List of Conjunction Relationships 186
Appendix 3: Ananse Tales Plan 187
References 190
Index 200
Preface

This book (and its companion book Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and
Speaking which is also available in a second edition) is intended for
teachers of English as a second or foreign language. It can be used both
by experienced teachers and for teachers in training. In its earlier forms
this book has been used on graduate diploma and masters level courses,
and with teachers in training.
The second edition of this book contains numerous changes and
updatings, and contains three new chapters: Chapter 2 “Using the Four
Strands to Plan a Reading or Writing Course”, Chapter 9 “Writing and
Digital Technology”, and Chapter 12 “Applying Principles to Reading
and Writing Courses”, making a total of 12 chapters. Chapter 4 has a lot
of changes largely as a result of a recent book, Teaching Extensive
Reading in Another Language (Nation & Waring, 2020).
In this second edition, each chapter is now followed by three tasks and
suggestions for further reading that could be used with teachers in
training. The tasks focus on understanding and applying some of the
ideas covered in the chapter.
Several of the techniques described in this book can be found at https://
tinyurl.com/Language-Teaching-Techniques. The videos are short and
very practical and are a useful supplement to the descriptions in
this book.
The book has three major features. First, it has a strong practical
emphasis - around a hundred teaching techniques are described in the
book. Second, it tries to provide a balanced programme for developing
the skills of reading and writing. It does this by using a framework called
the four strands. These are called strands because they run through the
whole course. They are the strands of meaning-focused input, meaning-
focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development. In
a well-balanced language program covering the four skills of listening,
speaking, reading, and writing, each of the four strands should have
roughly equal amounts of time. The organisation of the book largely
reflects these four strands. Third, wherever possible, the ideas in this
book are research based. This is reflected in the principles which are
viii Preface
described at the end of Chapter 1 and in Chapter 12, and which are
referred to throughout the book. The idea which lies behind these
principles is that it is not a wise idea to closely follow a particular
method of language teaching, such as communicative language teaching
or the direct method. It is much more sensible to draw where possible on
research-based principles which can be adapted or discarded as new
research evidence becomes available.
The book is written using clear and simple language. Wherever
possible, technical terms have been avoided. However in a few cases,
with terms such as phonics, topic type, and extensive reading, technical
terms have been used and explained in the text. This book thus does not
require any previous knowledge of second-language acquisition theory
or language teaching methodology. The book takes account of the effects
of digital technology on the nature of reading and writing and the
teaching and learning of reading and writing.
The first six chapters look at reading, and the next five at writing.
Chapter 1 compares first and second-language reading. Chapter 2 looks
at planning a well-balanced language course. Chapter 3 focuses on
intensive reading. Chapters 4 and 5 look at extensive reading and
fluency. Chapter 6 looks at assessing reading, giving particular attention
to the reasons for testing. Chapter 7 presents a range of ways
for supporting writing. Chapter 8 examines the writing process and
Chapter 9 looks at how digital technology can affect the writing process.
Chapter 10 has relevance for both reading and writing, looking at topic
types which describe the kinds of information contained in different
kinds of texts. Chapter 11 examines a range of ways that can be used to
respond to written work. Finally, Chapter 12 looks at some important
principles of language learning and how they apply to reading and
writing.
As a result of working through this book, teachers should be able to
design a well-balanced reading and writing course which provides a good
range of opportunities for learning. The teacher’s most important job is
to plan so that the learners are learning useful things, so that the best
conditions for learning occur, and so that the learners are getting a
balance of learning opportunities. This book should help teachers
do this.
The reviewers of the book before it was published provided many
helpful and frank comments which helped us to see the book through
others’ eyes. We are very grateful for this. Both this book and its
companion volume, Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking, were
largely written and used in teacher training courses before they were
offered for publication. There was thus lot of input from the teachers
who were studying on these courses.
We would feel that the book’s purpose has been achieved if, as a result
of reading it, teachers learn some new techniques and activities,
 Preface ix
understand why these activities are used and how they relate to
principles of learning, and see how they fit into the larger well-
balanced program.
Teaching English and training teachers of English are challenging but
very rewarding professions. We have been involved in them for a very
long time and they have given us a great deal of enjoyment. We hope that
this enjoyment is apparent in the book and that the book will help
readers gain similar enjoyment.
1 Learning to Read in Another
Language

Learning to Read in the First Language

People learn to read their first language in a wide variety of circum-
stances. The following description is of a fortunate child in a fortunate
country where reading is well prepared for and well taught. An excellent
account of the teaching of reading to native speakers in New Zealand
can be found in Smith and Elley (1997).
Children are prepared for reading at an early age by listening to
stories, being read to, and interacting with adults and others about the
stories they hear. This is done not with the main purpose of preparing a
child for reading but as a way that parents and others interact with and
entertain and educate children. The interaction involves asking questions
about what is going to happen in the story, getting the child to complete
sentences in a known story, talking about the interesting and scary parts
of the story, and generally having fun.
When children start to learn to read, they already have a large voca-
bulary of several thousand words which includes most of the words they
will meet in early reading. They also have good control of the grammar
of the language, have a lot of knowledge about books and reading
conventions, and have had many, many stories read to them. They are
very keen to learn how to read.
They begin formal schooling at the age of about five. The teacher and
learners work with books that are interesting, well illustrated, use lan-
guage that is close to spoken language, and not too long. The texts
contain a lot of repetition and are often very predictable but in an in-
teresting way.
The techniques used to teach reading are largely meaning-focused; that
is, they give primary attention to understanding and enjoying the story.
They include shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading.
A small amount of attention may be given to phonological awareness,
phonics, and spelling, but this is in the context of enjoying the story and
only takes a very small amount of time. Let us now look at the typical
techniques used to teach reading to young native speakers.
2 Learning to Read in Another Language
Shared Reading
The learners gather round the teacher and the teacher reads a story to
the learners from a very large “blown-up” book while showing them the
pictures and the written words. The teacher involves the learners in the
reading by asking them what they think will happen next and getting
them to comment on the story. Where they can, the learners read the
words aloud together. The procedure is an attempt to make the shared-
book activity like a parent reading a child a bedtime story.
The learners are asked to choose what blown-up book they want read
to them and the same book may be used in the shared-book activity on
several occasions. In the later readings, the learners are expected to join
in the reading much more. At other times, learners can get the small
version of the blown-up book and read it individually or in pairs. After a
reading, the learners draw, write, act out the story, or study some of the
language in the story.
The shared-book activity is a very popular reading activity in New
Zealand pre-schools and primary schools. It was developed by a New
Zealander, Don Holdaway, and is such a normal part of a primary
teacher’s repertoire that publishers now print blown-up book versions of
popular children’s books.
The purpose of the shared-book activity is to get the learners to see the
fun element in reading. In the activity, this fun comes from the interesting
story, the interaction between the teacher and the learners in predicting
and commenting on the story, and the rereading of favourite stories.
Teachers can make blown-up books (Ministry of Education, 1993).
Although a blown-up book takes some time to make, it will be used and
re-used and well repays the effort of making it or the cost of buying it.
The books also make attractive displays in the classroom. There are also
commercially produced blown-up books. You can search for them on the
internet (search for “Big books for children”). Titles include Where Do
Monsters Live?, Bears, Bears Everywhere, Mr Noisy, and What Do You
See? The shared-book activity was used in one of the experimental
groups in the Elley and Mangubhai (1981) Book Flood experiment.

Guided Reading
Guided reading can be done silently or with a child reading aloud to a
friend, parent or teacher. Before the reading the learner and teacher talk
about the book. Research by Wong and McNaughton (1980) showed
that for the learner they studied, pre-reading discussion resulted in a
greater percentage of words initially correct, and a greater percentage of
errors self-corrected. The teacher and the learner look at the title of the
book and make sure that all the words in the title are known. Then they
talk about the pictures in the story and make predictions about what
 Learning to Read in Another Language 3
might happen in the story. They also talk about any knowledge the
learner already has about the topic. Important words in the story are
talked about but need not be pointed to in their written form. So, before
the learner actually starts to read the story, the ideas and important
words in the story are talked about and clarified. Then the learner begins
to read.
If the learner is reading aloud to the teacher, then it is good to use the
pause, prompt, praise procedure (Glynn et al., 1989; Smith & Elley,
1997: 134–136). This means that when the learner starts to struggle over
a word the teacher does not rush in with the answer but pauses for the
learner to have time to make a good attempt at it. If the learner continues
to struggle the teacher gives a helpful prompt, either from the meaning of
the story or sentence or from the form of the word. When the learner
finally reads the word correctly the teacher then praises the attempt.
If the learner is reading silently, then a part of the text is read and there
is a discussion of what has just been read and the next part of the text.

Independent Reading
In independent reading the learner chooses a book to read and quietly
gets on with reading it. During this quiet period of class time, the teacher
may also read or may use the time as an opportunity for individual
learners to come up to read to the teacher. In beginners’ classes there is a
set time each day for independent reading and learners are expected to
read out of class as well, often taking books home from school.
Learning to read is also helped by learning to write and learning
through listening. In writing as in reading, first-language teachers em-
phasise the communication of messages and expect the learners to gra-
dually approximate normal writing over a period of time.
Research indicates that the best age to learn to read is about six to
seven years old. Starting early at five has no long-term advantages and
may make it more difficult for some learners to experience success in
reading. At the age of about six or seven children are intellectually ready
to begin reading.
It should be clear from this description that native speakers learning to
read have the advantage of bringing a lot of language knowledge and a lot
of experience to learning to read. They might have the disadvantage of
beginning to learn a complex skill when they may not be quite ready for it.

Learning to Read in Another Language

There are numerous factors that affect the difficulty of learning to read in
another language. Table 1.1 focuses on three factors but as the footnote
to the table suggests there are other factors that are important particu-
larly when working with a group of learners. Let us look at the factors in
4 Learning to Read in Another Language
Table 1.1 L1\L2 differences for an individual beginning to read

Constraints General effects Particular effects

L1 beginning readers Learning to read an L2 L2 learners need very

already know a lot involves a great deal controlled texts.
of the language they of language learning. L2 learners need a greater
are beginning to amount of pre-reading
read (sounds, activities.
vocabulary,
grammar,
discourse). L2
learners do not.
L2 beginners can They have general They do not need to learn
already read in cognitive skills. what they can transfer
their L1. They have from the L1.
preconceptions and They may need to change
attitudes to reading. attitudes to reading.
They have language Learners may have to learn a
specific skills. different writing system.
There will be
interference and
facilitation effects.
L2 beginners are L2 learners have greater It is easy to transfer L1 skills.
usually older than L1 metalinguistic and L2 learners can use more
beginners. metacognitive explicit approaches and
awareness. tools like dictionaries.

Note: This table has been kept simple by focusing on only one learner who is just beginning
to read. It is more complicated if you have several learners with different L1s, different L2
proficiencies, different L1 reading proficiencies, and different motivations for reading.

Table 1.1 by focusing on a learner from a particular language back-

ground, Thai, who is in the very early stages of learning English. The
learner is 12 years old and can already read fluently in Thai.
A Thai learner beginning to read English will know very little English
vocabulary. There are English loan words in Thai like free, but a Thai
learner might not realise that they have an English origin. This means that
the initial reading material will need to be much more controlled than the
material aimed at young native speakers of English who already know
close to three thousand words. Thai learners may also need much more
preparation or pre-teaching before they start on their reading. These are
all disadvantages. There are, however, numerous advantages that the Thai
learner has. First, the Thai learner can already read Thai and so knows a
lot about reading. Thai is an alphabetic language so the Thai learner is
already very familiar with the alphabetic principle; that is, that letters can
represent sounds and these letters can go together to make up words. Thai
script is not related to English script so the Thai learner will have to spend
time learning letter shapes. An Italian learner of English does not have this
problem because Italian uses substantially the same script as English.
 Learning to Read in Another Language 5
Second, if the Thai learner is good at reading Thai, the learner will have
many reading strategies like guessing from context, scanning, skimming,
and careful decoding which could be carried over to the reading of English
if the conditions for reading were suitable. There is evidence, for example,
that training in increasing reading speed in the first language can transfer
to another language if the materials in the other language are at a suitable
level (Bismoko & Nation, 1974; Cramer, 1975). Third, reading is largely a
valued and enjoyed activity in Thai society so there may also be positive
attitudes to reading carried over to English. Fourthly, a 12-year-old is
much more able to learn to read than a five-year-old. A 12-year-old has
much more developed cognitive skills and is much more able to learn from
direct instruction.

Learning to Recognise and Spell Words

An essential part of the reading skill is the skill of being able to recognise
written forms and to connect them with their spoken forms and their
meanings. This involves recognising known words and also deciphering
unfamiliar words.
There has been considerable debate in first-language reading over the
role and nature of direct systematic teaching of word-recognition skills.
(See Moorman, Blanton, and McLaughlin, 1994 for an example of this.)
There is also debate over the role of form-focused activities like reading
aloud (see Griffin, 1992; Rounds, 1992; Mullock, 2008). The position
taken in this book (see Chapter 2) is that there needs to be a balance of
the four strands of meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output,
language-focused learning and fluency development, and there is thus a
role for appropriate amounts of formal word-recognition instruction in
the language-focused learning strand. The principles that should guide
this formal teaching are that most attention should be given to rules and
items that occur frequently, that are simple, and that are regular.

Prerequisites for Formal Reading Instruction

To be able to benefit from instruction on spelling rules, learners need to
(1) know at least some of the letter shapes, (2) be aware that words are
made up of separable sounds (phonemic awareness), (3) know basic
English writing conventions (we read from left to right, beginning at the
top and moving down the page), and (4) know the spoken forms of most
of the words that will be met in the initial stages of reading.

Learning Letter Shapes

If a second-language learner is already able to read in their first language,
and their first language uses the same alphabet as English, then little if
any letter-shape learning will be needed.
6 Learning to Read in Another Language
Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the knowledge that spoken words are made up of
sounds that can be separated; that is, that /kæt/ (cat) is made up of the
sounds /k æ t/. If the learner can already read in their first language and
the writing system of the first language is alphabetic, the learner will
already have phonemic awareness. Here is a classic test of phonemic
awareness (Yopp, 1988).

Today we’re going to play a different word game. I’m going to say a
word, and I want you to break the word apart. You are going to tell
me each sound in the word in order. For example, if I say old, you
will say o-l-d. Let’s try a few words together.
(Three more examples are given: ride, go, man) Total score = 22.
Takes about 5–10 minutes.

dog lay keep race

fine zoo no three
she job wave in
grew ice that at
red top me by
sat do

In essence, phonemic awareness is not awareness of particular sounds.

It is awareness of the general principle that words are made up of se-
parable sounds. It is likely that learners who are not literate in their L1
but who are above the age of seven or eight will already have phonemic
awareness in their L1 but this should be checked.
Learners who are between four and six years old could be tested for
phonemic awareness and, if necessary, could be given phonemic
awareness practice which is just like the test above. Phonemic awareness
activities should be done with known words and should be fun.
Phonemic awareness and letter knowledge are the two best predictors
of how well first-language children just entering school will do at
learning to read during the first two years of school. Phonemic awareness
training can have positive long-term effects on spelling.
In the vast majority of cases, learners of English as a second language
will not need phonemic awareness activities because they will already
have this knowledge.

Writing Conventions
English has the following writing conventions. Not all languages follow
the same conventions.
 Learning to Read in Another Language 7
1 Writing goes from left to right (cf. Arabic – right to left, Japanese –
top to bottom).
2 The lines of writing go down the page (cf. Japanese).
3 The pages go from front to back (cf. Japanese – back to front).
4 Words are separated by spaces (cf. Thai – no spaces between words).
5 Sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop,
question mark, or exclamation mark.
6 Quotation marks are used to signal speech or citation.
7 English has upper-case (capital) letters and lower-case (small) letters.
The use of capital letters may carry an extra meaning.
8 Sentences are organised into paragraphs.
9 In formal and academic writing there are conventions that need to be
learned, such as the use of bold and italics, the use of headings and
subheadings, the use of indentation, the use of footnotes, the use of
references, and page numbering.

In early reading, learners may need to be checked for knowledge of these

conventions, and some may need to be pointed out and explained.

Spoken Language and Reading

The experience approach to reading is based on the idea that, when
learning to read, learners should bring a lot of experience and knowledge
to their reading so that they only have to focus on small amounts of new
information. Sylvia Ashton-Warner’s (1963) approach to teaching young
native speakers to read is an excellent example of this. Here are the steps
in her approach.

1 Each learner draws a picture illustrating something that recently

happened to them or something that they are very interested in.
2 One by one the learners take their picture to the teacher who asks
them what it is about.
3 The teacher then writes the learner’s description exactly as the
learner said it, using the same words the learner said, even if it is
non-standard English.
4 This then becomes the learner’s reading text for that day. The learner
reads it back to the teacher and then takes it away to practise reading
it, and to read it to classmates, friends, and family.
5 These pictures and texts all written by the same learner are gathered
together to be a personal reading book for that learner.

Note that most of the knowledge needed to read and comprehend the
text is directly within the experience of the learner. The ideas come from
the learner, the words and sentences come from the learner, and the
organisation of the text comes from the learner. The only learning
8 Learning to Read in Another Language
needed is to match the new written forms provided by the teacher with
this knowledge.
It is possible to learn to read a foreign language without being able to
speak it, but learning to read is much easier if the learner already has
spoken control of the language features that are being met in the reading.
Reading texts used with young native speakers of English use language
that is already known to them and that are on topics that interest them.
However, young native speakers learning to read have an oral vocabu-
lary size of around 3,000 words. Non-native speakers will have a very
much smaller English vocabulary and so if native-speaker texts are used
to teach second-language reading, they need to be checked to make sure
that they contain known and useful vocabulary.

Phonics and the Alphabetic Principle

Learning phonics is learning the systematic relationships between written
letters and sounds; for example, learning that the written form p is
usually pronounced /p/. At a very general level, learning phonics means
learning the alphabetic principle; that is, that letters and groups of letters
represent sounds in a largely systematic way. At a detailed level, learning
phonics involves learning the range of spelling–sound correspondences
that exist in a particular language (see Appendix 1).
Some languages like Chinese do not follow the alphabetic principle.
They do not have separate letters that represent the individual sounds that
go together to make a spoken word. Other languages follow the alpha-
betic principle in a very regular way. The Māori language for example has
12 consonant sounds and five vowel sounds (ten if long and short versions
of vowels are not counted as the same sound). These are represented by 11
consonant letters and five vowel letters. The only exceptions to a one
letter–one sound (not necessarily one phoneme) rule are that the letters wh
represent a sound which is not /w/ plus /h/, and the letters ng represent a
sound /ŋ/ which is not /n/ plus /g/. After a few lessons in Māori pro-
nunciation, it is possible for anyone familiar with the English alphabet to
learn all the Māori spelling–sound correspondences in a few minutes.
This is an over-simplification because there are different dialects of
Māori. However, there are frequent, systematic relationships in English
that can provide a good basis for effective phonics instruction (see
Appendix 1). Here are some English spelling–sound rules that are regular
and very frequent. The letter b is pronounced /b/, f - /f/, k - /k/, m - /m/, v
- /v/. There are exceptions to these rules, but most of the exceptions are
rule-based (bb - /b/, mm - /m/) or do not occur in many words.
As a fluent reader of English, you already know the regular rules
and can thus make a reasonable pronunciation of written words that
you have probably never seen before – lyncean, glogg, cordwain, scler-
otium, tussah.
 Learning to Read in Another Language 9
Because phonics involves spelling–sound relationships, it is significant
both for learning to read and for learning to spell.

Spelling: Productive Phonics

Being familiar with spelling–sound correspondences can be seen
as a receptive skill in that it relates to the receptive skill of reading.
The productive equivalent of this part of the reading skill is spelling
which is part of the skill of writing.
There has been considerable research with native speakers on the
learning of spelling and the definitive collection of research reviews is
Brown and Ellis’s (1994) Handbook of Spelling. From an applied lin-
guistics perspective, the study of research on spelling is rewarding not
only for the information it provides on the teaching and learning of
spelling, but also because it provides valuable insights into many of the
central issues involved in second-language learning. English spelling is a
very limited and clearly defined area, involving only 26 letters and a
definable set of combinations of letters. Working within this limited area
makes the issues clearer and easier to deal with in a comprehensive way.
It is worth thinking about how the same issues apply to the learning of
word parts, vocabulary, collocations, and grammar. Table 1.2 lists the
most important of these issues with a brief summary of findings from L1
research. Let us look briefly at some of these.
There is evidence of positive and negative effects of the first language
on the second at the levels of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and
discourse. Spelling is no exception, and there is plenty of evidence of
first-language spellings having both positive and negative effects ac-
cording to the degrees of similarity and difference between the language
items and rules.

Designing a Focused Spelling Programme

If spelling is a significant problem for learners, it may be worthwhile giving
it some focused, planned special attention. Numerous studies focusing on
spelling and on other learning issues have shown the positive effects of a
balanced, focused programme. Table 1.3 lists general principles that can be
applied to any focused programme. These are organised under the headings
affective, cognitive, and social to make them easier to remember and to put
into practice the idea that an effective programme will approach a problem
from several perspectives; in this case, the attitudes and feelings of the
learners (affective), the knowledge involved (cognitive), and the support
that others can give (social). Table 1.3 also gives examples of application of
the principles. There could be a third column in Table 1.3 and that would
show the particular applications to a spelling programme. Let us take an
example. Under the applications of the affective principle Keep learners
10 Learning to Read in Another Language
Table 1.2 Issues in spelling that apply to other language levels

Issues Findings

Deliberate and incidental learning Deliberate analytic learning can speed up

System learning and item learning
A single kind of learning and
interactive systems
The effect of other levels of language Phonological awareness affects spelling
on this level and this level on
others
The direction of the effect
The effect of the origin of the feature Etymology affects spelling.
The treatment of irregularity
The effect of frequency on the type
of storage
The effect of age on learning
The role of developmental sequences Complex items need to be learned
The treatment of error
The effect of the first language
learning and can help with learning
problems. Regular tests help.
Most learning of spelling is incidental.
Substantial reading improves spelling.
Some words can be dealt with by rules,
others have to be learned as unique
items.
The unpredictability of the English
spelling system is a major obstacle to
learning to spell.
Alphabetic learning interacts with lexical
learning.
and has long-term effects on spelling.
Spelling affects word recognition.
Poor spellers have problems in writing –
they use avoidance strategies.
Phonological awareness affects reading
and reading can affect phonological
awareness.
Writing the letter shapes helps learning.
Spelling affects use, use affects spelling.
Some high-frequency items are irregular.
Irregular items are learned as lexical
units.
Highly frequent items, even regular ones,
are stored as lexical items.
Regular low-frequency items are dealt
with by rules.
Older learners are better at deliberate
learning.
through a series of stages.
Letting students invent spellings can have
positive effects.
The writing system of the first language
can have positive and negative effects
on the second language.

motivated there is the application Do mastery testing. Mastery testing in-

volves repeated learning and testing until learners gain near perfect scores
in what they have to learn. For mastery testing to work, there needs to be a
clearly defined set of things to learn and there needs to be repeated
and varied opportunities to do this learning. Mastery testing could be
applied to a spelling programme in the following way. For a particular
 Learning to Read in Another Language 11
Table 1.3 Features of a good intensive learning programme

Principles Applications

Affective
Keep learners motivated
Make learning fun
Cognitive
Encourage thoughtful
processing
Plan for repetition and revision Give regular practice
Provide training
Organise the items to learn in
helpful ways
Plan for transfer of training
Social
Provide peer support
Aim for individual responsibility Let learners choose what and how to learn
Praise success
Give quick feedback
Do mastery testing
Measure progress
Record success on graphs or tables
Use attractive aids
Have amusing competitions
Use rich associations, mnemonics, rules,
retrieval, visualisation, deliberate learning,
movement
Use both analytic and holistic techniques
Isolate and focus on problems
Plan increasingly spaced revision
Combine activities into strategies
Train learners in strategy use
Get learners to reflect on learning
Group the items to learn into manageable
blocks
Avoid interference
Group helpfully related items together
Provide fluency training
Do peer tutoring
Get learners to report progress to others
Organise support groups
Encourage autonomy

course, the focus may be the regularly spelled words in the first one
thousand words of English. Those words would be ones that could be
completely described by sections A and B of Appendix 1. Each week a few
correspondences would be focused on and these would be tested by word
dictation tests to see if learners had mastered the rules. If they did not score
18 or more on a 20-item test, they could sit another test focusing on the
same correspondences. Before sitting another test, the teacher or learners
could analyse the errors in the previous test and the learners could work on
some practice items.
Table 1.3 can also be used as a basis for evaluating a focused pro-
gramme. Not all of the applications need be used but there should be
variety and balance.
Spelling is only a small part of learning a language and for some learners
it may not be an important focus, either because they have no problem
12 Learning to Read in Another Language
with it or because writing is not a major part of their language use.
Spelling is no different from other aspects of language use. If it is
given attention, this attention should be balanced and in proportion to
other focuses.
Having focused on spelling, let us now look more widely at the
principles that could guide a reading programme.

Principles for Teaching Reading

The following principles can guide the design and practice of a reading
programme. For another list of principles see Williams (1986).

Meaning-focused Input
1 Practice and training in reading should be done for a range of reading
purposes. A reading course should cover these purposes – reading to
search for information (including skimming and scanning), reading
to learn, reading for fun, reading to integrate information, reading to
critique texts, and reading to write.
2 Learners should be doing reading that is appropriate to their
language proficiency level. The course should include reading
simplified material at a range of levels, particularly extensive reading
of graded readers.
3 Reading should be used as a way of developing language proficiency.
Learners should read with 98 per cent coverage of the vocabulary in
the text so that they can learn the remaining 2 per cent through
guessing from context.

Meaning-focused Output
4 Reading should be related to other language skills. The course
should involve listening, speaking and writing activities related
to the reading. See, for example, Simcock (1993) using the Ask
and answer technique or Macalister (2014) using the Say-it activity.

Language-focused Learning
5 Learners should be helped to develop the skills and knowledge needed
for effective reading. The course should work on the sub-skills of
reading and the language features needed to read, including phonemic
awareness activities, phonics, spelling practice, vocabulary learning
using word cards, and grammar study. Some of this can be done
through intensive reading.
6 Learners should be given training and practice in a range of reading
strategies. These strategies could include: previewing, setting a purpose,
 Learning to Read in Another Language 13
predicting, posing questions, connecting to background knowledge,
paying attention to text structure, guessing words from context,
critiquing, and reflecting on the text. Janzen and Stoller (1998)
describe a similar list of strategies.
7 Learners should be given training and practice in integrating
a range of strategies. Learners should be familiar with a strategy
package procedure like reciprocal teaching or concept-oriented
reading (CORI).
8 Learners should become familiar with a range of text structures.

Fluency Development
9 Learners should be helped and pushed to develop fluency in reading.
They need to read material that is very familiar and contains no
unknown language features. There should also be speed-reading
practice in word recognition and in reading for understanding. These
can include activities like speed reading, repeated reading, paired
reading, scanning, and skimming.
10 Learners should enjoy reading and feel motivated to read. Learners
should have access to interesting texts and be involved in activities
like listening to stories, independent reading, and shared reading
(blown-up books). Native-speaking children like to read scary
books, comics and cartoons, books about sports, and magazines
about popular culture (Worthy, Moorman, & Turner, 1999). These
are not usually found at school.
11 Learners should read a lot. This can be monitored and encouraged
through the use of extensive reading and issue logs.

We will examine many of these principles in detail in later chapters of

this book.

Tasks
1 Think of a particular group of learners of English who have the same
L1. List the difficulties they will face when learning to read English.
What advantages will they have?
2 Learners of English who are beginning to read need to have books
with a controlled vocabulary. List three reasons why using books
with a controlled vocabulary is useful.
3 Practise the shared-book activity.

Further Reading
Chapter 1 of P. Nation (2013c) What should every ESL teacher know?
compares learning English as a foreign language and learning as a
14 Learning to Read in Another Language
second language. This book is available free in electronic form from the
Compass Publishing website (https://www.compass-publishing.com/).
Note that there is also a companion book to this for sale called What
should every EFL teacher know? This book is available in hard-copy and
electronic form.
2 Using the Four Strands to Plan a
Reading or Writing Course

The Four Strands

The four strands is a principle used primarily to guide course design
(Nation, 2007a, 2013b). It says that a well-designed course should
contain four equal strands of learning through meaning-focused input
(listening and reading), learning through meaning-focused output
(speaking and writing), deliberate language-focused learning, and fluency
development. Ideally, the topic matter content of the course should be
the same across the strands because this sets up good conditions for
vocabulary and grammar learning, namely repetition and deeper quality
processing through retrieval, varied meetings, and varied use.
The most important aspect of understanding the four strands is to
know the criteria that determine each strand. Table 2.1 provides this
information. The criteria for each strand are ranked in order of im-
portance. The first two or three criteria for each strand are essential
features for the existence of each strand. If the criteria are not met, the
strand does not exist in the course, or that particular activity does not fit
into that strand.
Let us now discuss the features listed in the table. The strand of
meaning-focused input requires a small number of unfamiliar language
features so that there is opportunity for language learning to occur. These
unfamiliar features could include some completely unfamiliar words,
words that are only partly known, an unfamiliar morphological feature,
an unknown or only partly known grammatical construction, unfamiliar
topic content that stretches the meaning of familiar vocabulary, or an
unfamiliar organisation or presentation of content (the first criterion).
When reading or listening to factual material, the learners should be trying
to understand the input and process it in appropriate ways such as un-
derstanding, relating it to existing knowledge, drawing implications,
evaluating the content or applying the content. When reading or listening
to fiction, the learners’ focus should be on comprehending and hopefully
enjoying the content (the second criterion). The essential meaning-focused
input activities are extensive reading and extensive listening in large
16 Using the Four Strands
Table 2.1 The criteria typifying each of the four strands

Strand Criteria

Meaning-focused input Texts that contain some but less than 2% unknown
vocabulary and few unfamiliar grammatical
features
A focus on comprehending with incidental language
learning
Large quantities of reading and listening
Support for unknown features
Meaning-focused output Output that requires only a few unfamiliar language
and content features
A focus on communicating messages with incidental
language learning
Large quantities of speaking and writing
Support for unknown features
Language-focused Deliberate intentional learning
learning A focus on language features or strategies
Fluency development Easy, familiar material with no unknown vocabulary
or grammatical features
Pressure to perform at a faster speed
Quantity of practice across the four skills of listening,
speaking, reading, and writing
A focus on meaning rather than language features

quantities (the third criterion) (see Nation, 2014, for suggested quantities
of reading). The fourth criterion for meaning-focused input, support for
unknown features, can include glossing or electronic look-up, dictionary
use, the opportunity to listen to or read an L1 version of the text be-
forehand, the opportunity to read while listening, the opportunity to do
repeated reading or listening, reading with a partner, and content-focused
or language-focused experience before reading or listening. Ideally, most
meaning-focused input should involve individualised and independent
extensive reading and listening to make sure there are large quantities of
relevant and engaging comprehensible input. Support should be minimal
but available. If a lot of support is needed, the first criterion of only a few
unfamiliar features is not being met.
The strand of meaning-focused output is the productive equivalent of
receptive meaning-focused input. The oral communicative parts of a course
contain a mixture of input and output. One person’s output is another
person’s input. The unfamiliar output features may simply involve having
to produce what is already receptively known. Turning receptive knowl-
edge into productive knowledge can be challenging. Similarly, having to
use familiar language to say or write unfamiliar things can be challenging.
If the meaning-focused output part of a course is closely related in language
and content to the meaning-focused input part of the course, lesson
planning is easier, then there are ideal conditions for language learning
 Using the Four Strands 17
(repetition and deeper quality processing), and input can provide support
for output. Linked skills activities provide this input/output relationship, as
do pair and group activities. Typical meaning-focused output activities
include assignment writing, spoken communicative activities (ranking ac-
tivities, split information activities, role-plays, problem-solving discussion),
emailing and letter writing, notetaking, and oral presentations.
Meaning-focused input and meaning-focused output all involve in-
cidental language learning. That is, the learners’ main focus is on the
content not the language. Language-focused learning, however, involves
a deliberate focus on (1) language features (discourse analysis, deliberate
vocabulary study, grammar analysis, intensive reading, feedback on
writing and speaking, pronunciation practice, attention to spelling), and
(2) strategy training for language learning (vocabulary learning, finding
opportunities to practise the language) and language use (understanding
cultural features, communication strategies, discourse strategies). This
strategy training also can involve encouraging the development of
learner autonomy. Language-focused learning can involve independent
study such as using word cards, teacher-led classroom activities such as
substitution tables and intensive reading, and direct teaching. If we de-
fine teaching narrowly as the teacher being the focus and source of
learning, then most teaching will occur in the language-focused learning
strand. However, only part of the language-focused learning strand
should involve teaching.
Fluency development involves the use of very easy material (the first
criterion) with no unknown vocabulary or grammatical features. Fluency
involves making the best use of what you already know. You do not get
fluent struggling with difficult material. Because the material is easy and
often familiar, learners can process it more quickly than usual (the
second criterion). This does not mean that they listen, speak, read, or
write at abnormally fast speeds. They simply increase their speed until it
is close to what a native speaker would do. This means reading at speeds
around 200 words per minute, and speaking at speeds of around
100–150 words per minute. Fluency development requires regular
practice (the third criterion) in each of the four skills of listening,
speaking, reading, and writing, and the fluency development strand is
divided into four equal parts, one for each of the four skills.
Although a course should have four equally sized strands, each lesson
does not need to contain four strands. However, over the period of a
month or so there should be roughly equal amounts of time given to each
of the four strands.
The four strands is not a method of language teaching. It is simply a
course design principle guiding the planning of a language course.
Courses could be run in many different ways and still apply the same
principle. See Nation and Yamamoto (2012) for the four strands being
applied to independent language study.
18 Using the Four Strands
Maximizing Vocabulary Learning through
the Four Strands
Vocabulary learning depends primarily on repetition of vocabulary and
the quality of mental processing of each repetition (Webb & Nation,
2017, Chapters 4 & 5). Repetition and quality of processing are linked
to each other because quality of processing largely depends on enriching
the effects of previous meetings through retrieval, varied meetings and
varied use, and elaboration. Teachers and course designers need to make
sure that repetition is built into a course and that this repetition is ac-
companied by opportunities for thoughtful quality of processing.
Table 2.2 contains a set of recommendations for making sure that re-
petition and quality of processing are designed into a course (for more
discussion of this table see Nation and Gu, 2019, Chapter 2). The re-
commendations are ranked in order of importance for helping learning.
As Table 2.2 shows, the recommendations cover all four strands. The
first recommendation is vocabulary control which involves the use of
material within a clearly defined limited vocabulary. Without such con-
trolled material, which includes graded readers and graded listening ma-
terial and general course books, meaning-focused input, meaning-focused
output, and fluency development are not possible at the beginning and
intermediate stages of language learning. Without properly controlled
material, too much time is spent on vocabulary that is way beyond lear-
ners’ present needs and vocabulary which will not be met again before it is
forgotten. The main pedagogical effect of vocabulary control is to exclude
words that need not be learned at this particular level of proficiency. The
second recommendation focuses on language-focused learning. Deliberate
learning of vocabulary using word cards or flash card programmes is so
effective and efficient that learners need to know how to do it effectively,
and quickly become aware of its effectiveness. It provides an important
step in the cumulative learning of words, and allows learners to quickly
progress to higher levels of meaning-focused input. The third re-
commendation is well known through Krashen’s (1981) advocacy of
comprehensible input, and through the growing awareness of extensive
reading programmes. To be effective, meaning-focused input needs to
occur in large quantities and should be largely under the control of the
learners, so that each learner can work at the right vocabulary level for
them. After the initial preparation, an extensive reading programme should
involve a minimum of work for the teacher and a lot of input for the
learners. The fourth recommendation is directed primarily to the ideas
content of the course. Lying behind this recommendation is the idea that
the different strands of a course need to be integrated with each other so
that learning through one strand supports and extends learning through
the other strands. At the simplest level, this involves the repetition of vo-
cabulary across the four strands. The other major effect of keeping topics
Another random document with
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 His story may be quickly told for he got most of his education from
the libraries and from reading the scores of the great masters.
Having no piano he could be found daily sitting on a bench in the
park studying the Beethoven sonatas. But he loved Wagner best of
all, and held his meeting with that master his life’s greatest joy. Wolf
had composed little until after he was twenty-eight, then his writing
was feverish, interrupted only by his lapses of mind. He died in one
of these spells, of pneumonia, at 37. All his work was done in four or
five years, for of the last nine years during five of them (1890–95) he
was prostrated and often unable to speak.
 Bruckner

Among the composers around this time and later, there are but
few who have left more than a ripple on the musical ocean. Some
created a stir in their own day and even now there is hot discussion
about them among the critics, while some people are pleased and
others are not.
In those days, as now, every composer had his friends and people
who felt it to be their duty not only to stand up for their friend, but to
ridicule “the other fellow.” So it was with Brahms, for in the same
way that he was abused by those who measured him against Wagner,
his friends refused to recognize in Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) a
rival of their idol (Brahms).
Brahms was living in Vienna but he was not born there, so the
feeling was strong against him when he began to threaten the
position of the Viennese, Anton Bruckner, who though nine years
older than Brahms, was not recognized so early. There was much in
favor of Bruckner. He was a very fine musician. Themes, melodies
bubbled forth constantly like an oil-gusher, but he did not know how
or when to stop them. If he had only known how to control this
continuous flow, he might have been as great a figure as Brahms and
the story of his life been different.
It is wonderful, however, what he made of himself, for he was a
poor schoolmaster and organist who had only his natural gifts to
start with, and had little education. But he wrote symphonies by the
wholesale and they were so long that they fairly terrified conductors
to whom he brought them in the hope of having them performed. He
won his point, however, and lived to gain no small amount of
recognition. We heard several of his symphonies in America in 1924,
the hundredth anniversary of his birth in Ausfelden, Upper Austria.
He died in Vienna in 1896.
Anton Bruckner wrote during the time of the height of Richard
Wagner’s glory and the dawn of Richard Strauss’s fame, and was
eleven years younger than Wagner, whom he idolized.
 Mahler in America

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) enters at this point. It would be

difficult to make a definite statement about him, for whatever be said
for or against him, is sure to draw argument. He had been a storm-
center for many years before his death, and even afterward those
who were against him waged war quite as bitterly, while those for
him fought more valiantly than ever.
America was in the thick of this fight and many friendships of long
standing were broken on account of it. Mahler living in New York as
recently as 1908–1911 makes us realize the more fully what men of
genius have had to suffer.
Mahler was a powerful musical genius, with astounding ability to
work and amazing skill in handling his massive scores. He died at the
age of fifty-one leaving so many symphonies, choral and festival
works that it was a wonder how one man could have accomplished
that much even had he lived to be a hundred.
We marvel at his genius, but do we want to hear often works that
last for hours and hours? Some do, who can follow his themes, his
amazing treatment of them and his ingenious writing for
instruments. Others are fatigued by the length of time he dwells
upon one subject and by the length of the work itself, and they
sometimes object to his strong contrasts in light and shade. But all
this must be left to the future, the scales in which all art is weighed.
We should be thankful that America enjoyed the benefits Mahler
brought.
He made his American début as conductor at the Metropolitan
Opera House, January 1, 1908, and in 1909 he became conductor of
the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The labor was so hard, more
in trying to adjust himself to the ideas of his Board of Directors than
in the work itself, that it broke his health and he returned to his
home to die that same year.
He came here with a tremendous career behind him. It was
strange, having all his life led operas and produced them in lavish
fashion, he did not write one! But he did write many beautiful and
very difficult songs. When his works are given, it is usually made a
gala occasion, as they can only be done by the largest organizations
and with the greatest artists. The Society of the Friends of Music give
some work by Mahler each season in New York.
Gustav Mahler was born in Kalischt, Bohemia, and died in Vienna.
He studied philosophy at the Vienna University and among his
teachers of music were Julius Epstein and Anton Bruckner.
When Anton Seidl left the opera house of Prague, 1885–86, Gustav
Mahler jointly with Angelo Neumann succeeded him. He made a
great success of the Court Opera of Vienna where he was director of
the house and conductor for ten years, but he demanded nothing
short of perfection. His insistent ardor for the best in music and in its
performance caused him the greatest unhappiness and really cost
him his life.
 Max Reger

Max Reger (1873–1916) caused a stir during the latter part of the
19th century and the beginning of the 20th. His father, a
schoolmaster and good organist, wanted Max to be a schoolteacher,
but at an early age young Max began to write for piano and organ.
After hearing Die Meistersinger and Parsifal in Bayreuth (1888) he
was so stirred that he began to write big works. Reger was perhaps
most influenced by Bach, and notwithstanding his very modern ideas
he never lost sight of the old classic form which may have made his
work seem stiff and formal at times. Some of his songs are very fine
and his orchestral numbers are frequently played in America.
Max Bruch (1838–1920) was born in Berlin and besides being a
composer of chamber music, three symphonies and familiar violin
concertos, he wrote many choral works.
 Father Franck

From this period, but not from this same country, arose one of the
most important and most beautiful influences of the 19th century.
We have learned enough about the world’s great men to know that
we can never judge by appearances, unless we are keen enough to
recognize a beautiful soul when it looks through kindly eyes.
Such was the countenance of César Franck (born in Liège,
Belgium, 1820—died in Paris, 1890), often called the “French
Brahms”—but he was neither French, nor was he enough like
Brahms to have been so called. While César Franck was not French,
we may say that the entire French school of the second half of the
19th century was of his making. This, because instead of devoting
himself to playing in public and making long concert tours, he
preferred to have a quiet home life so that he could compose. This
seriously disappointed his father who had sent him from Liège to the
Paris Conservatory.
He was but five years of age when Beethoven died, but his work
throughout his entire life strongly showed the influence of the
Master of Bonn, perhaps because his first teacher in Paris was Anton
Reicha, a friend and admirer of Beethoven.
While all of Beethoven’s nine symphonies are known and played
all over the world, César Franck is known by one which is played very
often and by all orchestras. Where Beethoven wrote many sonatas
both for piano alone and for piano and violin, when we hear the
name of César Franck, we immediately think of the one famous
sonata for violin and piano which was so popular that it was also
arranged for violoncello. This was written in very free and practically
new form.
César Franck has written a number of fine works for piano and for
orchestra, and for stringed instruments, but when it comes to organ
works, it would take a large volume to tell of them. Most pianists play
the Prelude, Aria and Finale, also the Prelude, Chorale and Fugue,
just as nearly all the violinists play the sonata, which are
masterpieces. Being deep in church music, and also a very religious
man it was perhaps natural that among his best known works should
be Les Béatitudes for orchestra, chorus and soloists, and
Redemption, a work sung frequently by the Oratorio Societies of
America and Europe. It was d’Indy who said: “In France, symphonic
music originated with the school of César Franck.” There were not,
however, many symphonies, but he was a master in the symphonic
poem. The best known among these are Les Éolides (The Æolides),
Les Djinns on Victor Hugo’s splendid poem of that name and Le
Chasseur Maudit (The Accursed Hunter). Also very well known is
the piano quintet, and we hear sometimes the Symphonic Variations
for piano and orchestra.
 Franck at the Paris Conservatory

César Franck was different from most composers, for his father,
like Father Mozart, was very determined that he should be a pianist
and took the boy on a concert tour when he was only ten years of age!
He gave concerts throughout Belgium, and at fourteen his father
took him with his brother Joseph to the Paris Conservatory, where
later he became a distinguished professor.
There are many examples in life where a talent runs away with its
possessor. So it was with young César, who, after only a year’s
schooling, entered the concours or competition. He covered himself
with glory in the piano piece he had to play, but when he was tested
for reading at sight, it flashed through his head how funny it would
be to transpose the piece three notes lower! And so he did, without a
mistake! But the judges were so horrified that he should dare do
anything different from what was expected that they decided not to
give him the prize because he had broken the rules! But, Cherubini,
our old acquaintance there was great enough to know what the boy
had done, and through his influence a special prize was created for
César Franck called the Grand Prix d’Honneur which has never,
since then, been conferred upon anyone!
César Franck was very mild and sweet in nature but when it came
to his music he was almost rebellious in his independence. To
understand the degree of his daring you must know what a concours
means.
The graduating classes of the Paris Conservatory are drawn up to
play their pieces and to receive the criticism of the judges, and the
prizes. They all play the same thing so the judges can tell exactly how
each compares with the other. Five of the most famous musicians of
the world are selected and they sit in judgment. Imagine this
terrifying ordeal! A couple of years after the first occurrence, César
Franck had to enter an organ competition, and again his genius got
away from his judgment. He was expected to improvise a sonata on
one subject given him by the judges and a fugue on another subject.
Franck passed in very orderly fashion through the first part, but
when it came to the fugue he thought how amusing it would be to
work the sonata subject into the fugue subject, a feat which startled
these wise judges by its colossal daring and the stupendous manner
in which he accomplished it. But did they give him the first prize?
Not they! Talk about “Red Tape”—he had not followed the rules and
all he received out of the brilliant feat was a second prize! But the
world got César Franck.
 Composer, Teacher, Organist

We little realize how a tiny deed may influence the world! We may
almost reckon that a kind-hearted priest was responsible for what
César Franck became as a composer! After he had had the wonderful
musical training at the Conservatory he refused to travel as a concert
artist, but wanted to remain at home and marry. This separated him
completely from his father. Besides wanting his son to play, he
objected to his marrying an actress when he was twenty-six. Here is
where the priest first befriended him, for he performed the ceremony
that made them man and wife.
But the days of revolution in Paris (1848) were upon them and
pupils did not come in great numbers. Poverty such as Franck had
never known faced him and his bride. But his good friend the priest
was called to a church and he immediately appointed César Franck
as organist. The instrument was very fine and his happiness was
complete for he loved church services above everything. This brought
him directly under the musical influence of Bach, which after all, was
the greatest in his life. Later he became organist of Saint Clothilde
where the organ was even finer and his composing hours were fairly
absorbed by writing for the organ.
The programs given by concert-organists are usually divided
between Bach and César Franck, with a few numbers by Alexandre
Guilmant, the great French organist, Charles Marie Widor, Theodore
Dubois and a few other Frenchmen.
With all the composition that this grand old man of musical France
left behind him, he left a still greater thing in the young men who
were his pupils, some of whom were among the most important
figures in the late 19th century.
It is a singular fact that César Franck died almost exactly as did
two of his most famous pupils, Ernest Chausson and Emmanuel
Chabrier. The former was killed in the Bois de Boulogne while riding
a bicycle and Chabrier was killed by a fall from a horse. Their beloved
professor was knocked down by an omnibus, and although he
seemed to recover and continue with his lessons and composing, he
became ill from the effects and died a few months later, in his 68th
year.
During this last illness he wanted to get out of bed to try three new
chorales for organ, which he read through day after day as the end
approached. This was the last music from his pen for the
manuscripts were lying beside him when the priest gave him the last
rites of the Catholic Church.
If one could sum up the outstanding features of César Franck’s
music, they would be nobility and lofty spirit, true reflections of his
unfaltering religious faith.
 Franck’s Pupils

César Franck did more than just devote teaching hours to his
pupils. He had them come to his home, and surrounded by youth and
enthusiasm, his own power grew greater. They played their new
works for each other and for the Master, and out of this was born the
Société Nationale (National Society). It swung both the public taste
and the composers out of the light, frivolous opera of the day into a
love for, and a support of French symphonic and chamber music.
The Society was founded in 1871, just following the Franco-Prussian
war and was a protest against the German musical domination in
France, in fact it was a direct aim against Wagner. In spite of the fact
that Franck was influenced by Bach, Beethoven and Wagner, he
worked sincerely to develop the classic French school outside of
opera form.
Another great national institution which grew out of the influence
of César Franck was the famous Schola Cantorum founded by
Vincent d’Indy and Charles Bordes, his pupils, and Alexandre
Guilmant.
Among the Franck pupils in addition to d’Indy and Bordes may be
mentioned, as a few of the foremost, Alexis de Castillon (1838–1873),
Emmanuel Chabrier (1842–1894), Henri Duparc (1848) famous for
some of the most beautiful songs in all French music, Ernest
Chausson (1855–1899), Guillaume Lekeu (1870–1894), of the
Netherlands, and composer of Hamlet, a tone poem and other
pieces, Pierre de Bréville (1861), Guy Ropartz (1864), Gabriel Pierné,
Paul Vidal, and Georges Marty.
But his influence did not stop here, for it touched many, including
such close friends as Alexandre Guilmant and Eugene Ysaye, the
renowned violinist, as well known in America as in Europe. He was a
countryman of César Franck and played for its first performance
anywhere, Franck’s violin sonata dedicated to him.
Alberic Magnard (1865–1914), was related musically to Franck
through d’Indy his chief teacher. Magnard met death by the enemy in
his own home during the war.
 We could fill a volume concerning these interesting men, but we
must continue our musical journey. From among them, however, we
must learn a little more about Vincent d’Indy, not only because he is
a great composer and teacher, but he has taught many Americans.
 Vincent d’Indy

Vincent d’Indy (1851) a musician of finest qualities and almost

countless achievements, is a cultured and educated gentleman. He
was brought up by his grandmother, a woman of education and
refinement, for his mother died when he was very young. He
therefore learned to love culture and elegance early in his life, but
this did not prevent him from doing the sort of work which make
men a benefit to art and to mankind. In addition to being a musician,
he is a skilled critic and writer, also a great teacher and organizer,
proof of which may be found in what he has done for France, indeed,
for the world, in the Schola Cantorum. He has written many books as
well as magazine and newspaper articles and an immense number of
musical compositions. He was born in Paris and was a member of the
Garde-Mobile during the Franco-Prussian war.
Until the time that he left home for military service he studied the
piano with Louis Dièmer, a noted pianist and teacher of Paris, and
harmony with Marmontel and Lavignac, both equally famous. Upon
his return from war service, his days with César Franck began, and
these were precious hours for both the pupil and the teacher who
recognized the young man’s power.
He made several trips to Germany, the first in 1873 when he
carried to Brahms the César Franck score of Redemption sent with
the composer’s compliments. At this time he also met Liszt and
Wagner, and later he attended the Bayreuth performances including
the world première (first performance) of Parsifal. His musical
activities led him from the organ loft to becoming tympani (kettle-
drums) player in the Colonne Orchestra, where he went, no doubt, to
learn the instruments of the orchestra and how to handle them. He
found out, because he is most skilled in writing for orchestra.
He has had many prominent pupils, and it is his pride and his
ambition to continue along the lines laid down by César Franck. He
has had more than ordinary success as a conductor going to many
countries to conduct his own compositions. He came twice to
America as guest conductor of the Boston Symphony appearing with
that organization in its home and also in New York.
 Vincent d’Indy, following the ideal of Franck is largely responsible
for the return of music in his country to symphony, from which it
had strayed far. In this period there was a general feeling to bring
music back to classical form. This young school was doing it in
France as Brahms had done it in Germany and the result was that
many composers wrote symphonies. If we look through musical
history since then, we will find that the revival of a feeling for the
classics has helped to make the latter part of the 19th century very
rich.
Although d’Indy has written several operas, there has been no
attempt to give them in this country, which is strange because it is
very difficult to get operas that are worth producing at the
Metropolitan Opera House or in Chicago, the only other city in
America that supports its own opera on a large scale.
D’Indy is living in Paris (1925), where the life around him bristles
with study, achievement and ambition. He is as much of an
inspiration to his pupils as was his own teacher, but this is the 20th
century, in which conditions, and men, are different from those of
the past! He has not stood still but has gone steadily ahead, although
his influence upon the very modern writers must have been healthy
and restraining, notwithstanding the fact that only a few years ago he
was regarded as a modern.
 Gabriel Fauré

In the musical history of France, the name of Gabriel Fauré (1845–

1924) looms high. He was born in Pamiers, and was taught by the
Dean of French musical folk, Camille Saint-Saëns. Like all the
musicians of France, no matter whether or not they planned to use it
as a profession, they devoted as much time to the organ as to the
piano, and most of them became famous organists even though they
had not planned to be organists. For this reason France has more
great organists and organ compositions to offer than any other
country of the world.
Gabriel Fauré became the organist of Rennes and later went to
Saint Sulpice and Saint Honoré, and finally he became organist of
the Madeleine in 1896. These churches are among the greatest in
France, and to be organist in any one of them means that he is a
great musician.
Fauré had honors showered upon him for he gave his country
some of the most brilliant works contributed by any of her sons. In
France the compositions of Gabriel Fauré are highly valued, but with
the exception of a few songs, are not known in America, the more the
pity. Fauré is better known here as the head of the Conservatory in
which his life was spent until his very recent death. He went there to
share the classes in composition, counterpoint and fugue with André
Gédalge, succeeding Jules Massenet, and in 1905 Fauré succeeded
Theodore Dubois as Director of the Conservatory. Still more honors
heaped upon him made him a member of the Académie, for which no
one can be named until there is a vacancy. He was therefore the
successor to Ernest Reyer.
In 1910 the world was much stirred when Gabriel Fauré was made
Commander of the Legion of Honor, a distinction given only when a
man has done something very great.
In addition to these tributes to his standing in the community and
his achievements as an artist, he took numerous prizes for his
compositions of which there were three operas, much incidental
music, symphonies, a well known violin and piano sonata, some fine
chamber music and much music for the organ and for choruses. But
beyond the appreciation always shown Fauré for his larger works, he
will always be loved in France because he was regarded as the French
Schubert, so lovely were his melodies and so lavishly did he write.
He kept pure and true the ideals and characteristics of French
music, more so, indeed, than did many who may be better known to
the concert-goers of this country.
 English Composers in Classical Forms

While the Germans, French and Austrians were writing, England

had composers, who although not so famous, nevertheless kept
music alive in England.
Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816–1875) with his many
orchestral and choral works of which his cantata, The Woman of
Samaria, is best known; Sir George A. Macfarren (1813–1887) with
operas and oratorios, especially his cantata, Rebekah; his brother,
Walter Cecil Macfarren (1826–1905), conductor, and composer of
orchestral music; Sir John Stainer (1840–1901), organist, composer
of very lovely anthems, and much church music, and Professor of
Music at Oxford; Sir Frederick Bridge (1844–1924), organist of
Westminster Abbey, writer of text-books on music, and of anthems,
part songs and oratorios; Sir Arthur C. Mackenzie (1847), composer
of many works including two Scotch symphonies and a cantata, The
Cottar’s Saturday Night; Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848–
1918), Professor of Music at Oxford after Stainer, and writer of many
important books on music and of compositions in many forms;
Arthur Goring Thomas (1851–1892), who wrote operas, cantatas,
and many songs; Sir Frederick Hymen Cowen (1852), with operas,
cantatas, symphonies and chamber music; Sir Charles Villiers
Stanford (1853–1924), born in Dublin, Ireland, Professor of Music at
Cambridge since 1887, student of Irish folk music, and writer of
chamber music and short pieces, also of valuable books on musical
history and other musical subjects; Edward German (1862), famous
for his Henry VIII Dances, much incidental theatre music, and an
operetta, The Moon Fairies, in which he used the last libretto written
by Sullivan’s inimitable partner, Sir W. S. Gilbert; and Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912), an Englishman of African descent,
whose music for chorus and for orchestra is based on American
Indian legend, and on Negro folk songs.
And living today is Edward William Elgar (1857), the dean of
English composers. While not adding to the new music, he is famous
for many pieces, among which are The Dream of Gerontius, The
Apostles, other oratorios, symphonies, and his march, Pomp and
Circumstance.
 Women Writers in England

Among the women in England, Dame Ethel Smyth (Dame is an

honorary title in England) (1858) is known for her opera The
Wreckers, and her comic opera The Boatswain’s Mate. Some of her
operas have been performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in
New York and at Covent Garden, London. Besides she has written
songs for the Suffrage Movement, incidental music, and music in
large forms.
Liza Lehman (1862–1918), wrote In a Persian Garden, Nonsense
Songs, and The Daisy Chain, which made her famous.
“Poldowski,” Lady Dean Paul, daughter of Wieniawski, the Polish
composer and violinist, has written piano pieces and lovely songs in
Debussy style. She has had considerable influence in getting the work
of the younger British composers and her countryman,
Szymanowski, heard in London.
Rebecca Clarke, a young Englishwoman, has written several
chamber music works which place her in the foremost rank of
women composers. On two occasions she received “honorable
mention” in the Berkshire chamber music prize competition offered
by Mrs. F. S. Coolidge, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts.