1. Reading Aloud Effie Wang

2. Introduction Young learners are not “ taught ” language in any formal sense, but acquire it naturally. To help young learners acquire language naturally, adults should have them exposed adequately to rich input (Chomsky, 1972). Through social interaction, language acquisition occurs (Vygotsky, 1978).

3. Introduction “ Acquisition may happen most efficiently when the acquirer “ forgets ” that he is listening to or reading another language (Krashen, 1984). ” “ Joining the Literacy Club ” (Smith, 1988)

4. Introduction Reading aloud contributes young learners ’ language development (Trelease, 2001).

5. Previous Research Reading aloud facilitates young learners ’ vocabulary, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, expressive ability, verbal fluency, writing ability, or even learning interests (e.g. Elley, 1989; Ehri & Robbins,1994; Ewers & Brownson,1999; Justice, 2002; Nagy & Herman,1987; Ninio, 1983; Robbins & Ehri,1994; Senechal & Cornell,1993; Senechal, Thomas, & Monker, 1997; Snow & Goldfield,1983; Snow & Ninio, 1986; Huang, 2006; Lee, 2002; Wang, 2007). (L1, L2, & EFL)

6. Ways to Tell Stories (Snow &Goldfield, 1983; Whitehurst, 1988) labeling yes/no questions simple wh- questions open-ended questions imitative directives repetition pointing requests expansion

7. Book Selection For beginning readers, picture storybooks with interesting storyline but simple text are the first choice. (a great collection of books for reading aloud, see The Read-Aloud Handbook (Trelease, 2006)

8. Book Selection For older readers, appealing series books or chapter books are very helpful. For example,, Amelia Bedelia, Magic Tree House, Marvin Redpost and so forth)

9. The 5 most critical factors Frequency & multiple exposures (the more, the better) Books selection Book access Role of adults (provide great quantities of comprehensible input) Reader-listener interaction

10. Other Issues The class size (no bigger than 15 kids) Utilization of big books Classroom arrangement (a circular arrangement of seats) For big class-size EFL classrooms: technology helps! (overhead projector or PowerPoint)

11. After Reading Aloud … Reading aloud and silent reading are natural partners when we are making effort to make our children readers (Trelease, 2006). Reading aloud + sustained silent reading = free reading habit (autonomous learners)

12. Conclusion “ the single most important activity of building the knowledge required for children ’ s eventual success in reading is reading aloud to them. (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985). ” The goal of language education: to create autonomous learners