Reading for pleasure improves your communication skills
March 9, 2008 12:38 pm Why reading?Prof C Meloni (Prof of ESL at Washington University) describes the tactic of using novels or literature to give English as a Second Language students reading practice, rather than relying on academic texts.
I found it fascinating that literature is thought to teach communication skills more effectively than other texts.
1. Literature teaches you communication tactics
“Through literature, sooner or later, the student encounters nearly every kind of communicative technique speakers use or think of using. Literature displays a broader range of such communication strategies than any other single ESL teaching component. (Sage, 1) “
How amazing that reading for pleasure, which is essentially a simple hobby, can allow you to express yourself better. And remember, communication is just an elaborate form of manipulation - a way of getting others to do what you want, or at least understand what you want.
2. Literature supplies communication ammunition
“It is a well-known fact that there is a strong correlation between the amount of reading individuals do and the size of their vocabulary. … Because of their need to create images in the reader’s mind, authors of works of fiction generally use a much greater variety of words than writers of nonfiction.”
Communication is facilitated by having more words at your disposal. If you have to talk about the cricket all summer, you will be much more interesting to people if you can use different words to do it. And wit relies almost entirely on vocabulary (comedians may disagree), so maybe you will be funnier. At least you can give yourself the opportunity.
1. Sage, H. (1987). Incorporating Literature in ESL Literature. Language in Education: Theory and Practice series. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
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