ELT365 · Day 177 — Reading speed and fluency

Idea — Slow reading is often caused by word-by-word processing. Fluent readers chunk language: they process phrases, not individual words. Speed improves with volume and with learning to tolerate unknown words.

Example — A learner who stops at every unfamiliar word loses the thread of the sentence. Training them to read on and infer from context improves both speed and comprehension.

Try — Set a timed reading: 200-word text, 90 seconds. Ask two comprehension questions. Do not let learners re-read. Debrief: what did they get? What did they miss?

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