Research Says: Reading Aloud Helps Teens

By Liane Akana

My oldest son Kevin turned 15 years old this April, and he is in his full teenage glory! By that, I mean he towers over me and tries to assert his independence every chance he gets. Gone are the days of snuggling up together to read a story, or  going to the bookstore to pick out a great read-aloud. Despite enjoying being read to for years, two or three years ago he declared, “Being read to is for babies.”

Although our involvement with books has taken a more solitary bent, our relationship with books has evolved, and I have had to be satisfied discussing the books he’s reading for school. A few months ago, upon finishing his first-quarter freshman required reading, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Kevin declared it the best book he’d read to-date and proceeded to share why. Apparently, his teacher had a lot to do with it. She had read passages from the book and then allowed the class opportunities to ask questions and discuss in detail the characters and historical context, which made for lively and rich discussions that had students eager to read on.

His literature teacher had obviously learned, either through experience or through keeping up with research, the impact that reading aloud has on middle and high school students, and understood that reading aloud to teens and tweens can be an effective and stimulating teaching tool in the classroom.

Lynne Waihee, Read To Me International’s President and a former English teacher, had this to say about her experience with reading aloud in her high school classroom: “I don’t recall a student who didn’t enjoy being read aloud to. If I had known then what I know today about the benefits of reading aloud, I would have given it more class time.”  

Additional reasons exist for teachers and parents to read to their tweens and teens, including the facts that reading aloud:

Builds comprehension and vocabulary skills – Often, children are better able to understand a story when they hear a passage read aloud, or define a word when they hear it in context.
Addresses learning differences – Not all children learn alike. Reading aloud helps level the playing field for students with learning difficulties or who learn differently.
Models fluency – One of the skills advanced readers have is fluency, which is the ability to read phrases and sentences smoothly and quickly while understanding them as expressions of complete ideas. A teacher or parent can model this by reading aloud.
Makes learning a treat – Being read to at any age is enjoyable. A skilled reader is able to read dramatically and with expression.
Ensures that children are experiencing quality literature - Many teens do not always complete assigned readings; some skim the book or don’t read the book at all. Reading aloud will ensure all students are exposed to the same good literature.
Provides proper pronunciation and use of grammar – Words are not always pronounced as they are written. Also, unlike spoken English, literature is edited for proper grammar.
Serves as a springboard for discussion and critical thinking – Reading aloud offers the opportunity for discussion and allows educators to model critical thinking.
Captures the reader’s passion for the material – Nothing breeds excitement like an enthusiastic salesman. A book that is enthusiastically introduced and critiqued is sure to be a hit.

Critics of reading aloud in the middle school or high school classroom believe that poor readers will be overlooked and will not be identified for additional help, or that they will have no need to improve their reading skills. It is my belief that reading aloud in any classroom can never take the place of good, solid instruction in the classroom, but reading aloud can be a powerful tool in the hands of an enthusiastic educator.   

It is providential that the book my son will be reading this month for school is one of my all-time favorites, The Odyssey by Homer, and that that interest was sparked by a high school teacher who, like my son’s teacher, loved reading aloud to her students.