ESL Reading

ESL reading is a crucial part of learning English as a second language. Being able to speak and understand is already a big help in getting by, but it can still be very difficult to adjust to a different culture when youre unable to read its language. We encounter the need to read almost everywhere we go. We read street signs to drive safely and accurately, and we read restaurant menus to order what we want to eat. Imagine if you were unable to read these important cuesyoud be guessing at whether you were going down the right street or in the right direction, and youd be naming random dishes hoping that youd land on something the restaurant actually served. Reading isnt just for navigating books, its necessary for navigating life itself.

This is why ESL reading is an integral part of any ESL program, and fortunately there are many resources to help English learners develop their English reading skills. Many of them are even free and you can find a multitude of online sources designed for the personal use of English learners or for the widespread use of English teachers who want to help their students. ESL reading resources often involve daily short story readings that help learners to practice both their reading ability and their reading comprehension. When first starting to learn how to read English, learners will first focus on sounding out letters and words, and when they get more advanced they will start to focus on understanding the words that they read. Many of these lessons encourage daily practice to ensure consistency and constant feedback.

Some English learners may specifically want to make use of ESL reading resources in order to practice for exams like the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The TOEFL is the most commonly used standardized test in the world by English speaking universities for evaluating university applicants who are not native English speakers. The TOEFL consists of four sections: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Reading is the first section and it lasts approximately 60 to 100 minutes. Test takers have to read 3 to 5 passages on academic topics and be able to answer questions that test whether they can understand the passages main ideas, recall details and make inferences, recognize vocabulary, understand their rhetorical purpose and so forth. To prepare for the reading section of the TOEFL, learners should make use of ESL reading resources so they will be able to not only read the passages, but to analyze them critically, an important skill that they will need in higher learning.