Reading Aloud

WHAT THIS HANDOUT IS ABOUT

This handout explains some of the benefits of hearing your writing read aloud. It offers tips on reading your draft yourself, asking a friend to read it to you, or having your computer read it.
WHY READ OUT LOUD?

If you come to the Writing Center for a tutoring session, you will probably hear your tutor say, We always read papers out loudwould you like to read yours, or would you like to hear me read it? Reading aloud has many benefits that we want to share wit h writers. Most people have far more experience listening to and speaking English than they do reading and editing it on the printed page. When you read your draft out loud or listen to someone else read it, your brain gets the information in a new way, and you may notice things that you didnt see before: As listeners, we need the order of ideas in a paper to make sense. We cant flip back and forth from page to page to try to figure out what is going on or find information we need. When you hear your paper read out loud, you may recognize that you need to re-order the information in it or realize that there are gaps in your explanation. Listeners also need transitions to help us get from one main idea to the next. When you hear your paper, you may recognize places where you have moved from one topic to another too abruptly. We all make errors in our sentences. Sometimes we leave out a word, mess things up as we copy and paste text, or make a grammatical mistake. These kinds of errors can be hard to see on the page, but sentences that contain them are very likely to sound wrong. For native speakers of English (and some non-native speakers, too), reading out loud is one of the most powerful proofreading techniques around. Sometimes sentences arent grammatically incorrect, but they are still awkward in some waytoo long, too convoluted, too repetitive. Problems like these are often easily heard. Hearing your paper can also help you get a sense of whether the tone is right. Does it sound too formal? Too chatty or casual? What kind of impression will your voice in this paper make on a reader? Sometimes hearing your words helps you get a more objective sense of the impression you are creatinglistening puts in you in something more like the position your reader will be in as he/she moves through your text.
WHAT ARE SOME STRATEGIES FOR READING OUT LOUD?

Reading your paper out loud has a lot of benefits, but it presents a few challenges, too. One issue is that a lot depends on how you read. It is very easy to read too quickly or to let your brain automatically smooth over mistakes, fill in missing words, and make little

corrections without you ever becoming consciously aware that its happening. If you dont read exactly what is on the printed page, you wont get an accurate sense of what is in your paper. Here are some strategies to help you read out loud effectively: Try working from a printed copy. This will allow you to make marks at places where something sounds wrong to you so you can return to them later. Try working from a printed copy. This will allow you to make marks at places where something sounds wrong to you so you can return to them later. As you read, follow along with your finger, pointing at each word. This can help you stay focused and not skip anything. Try to read at a moderate pace. If you are proofreading, consider reading your paper out loud one sentence at a time, starting at the end and working back to the beginning. This will help you focus on the structure of each sentence, rather than on the overall flow of your argument. Try covering up everything but the section or sentence you are working on at the moment so you can concentrate on it and not get lost. One great strategy to try is to ask a friend to read your paper out loud while you listen. Make sure that your friend knows to read exactly what is on the printed page. Pay close attention to places where your friend seems to stumble or get lost those may be places where you need to make things clearer for your readers. As your friend is speaking, you can jot notes on a printed copy of the paper. You dont have to be in the same room to do this you could email a copy of your paper to your friend and ask him/her to call you and read to you over the phone.
HOW CAN YOUR COMPUTER HELP?

You dont necessarily need to recruit a friend to read to you. There are a number of text to speech software applications and web-based services that will help you get your computer to read your paper out loud to you. One advantage of this approach is that the computer will definitely not cover up any errors for you! You can also control where it starts and stops, speed it up or slow it down, and have it re-read the same paragraph as many times as you want. There are many text-to-speech programs and services you can tryfar more than we can review here. Some are free; others may have a free trial version but cost between $10 and $80 for long-term use, or for versions with more features. Here are a few free ones that seem to be easily available, user friendly, and potentially effective. If you would like to explore others that may be available now or created in the future, do a Google search for text to speech, TTS, or text reader. Some differences to keep in mind as you choose the best reader for you: Voice quality and selection: how many voices can you choose from, and how natural do they sound?

Controls: can you determine the speed and pitch of the speaker, where the reading starts and stops, etc.? Is there a pause button? Can you convert your text file into an mp3 or wav file, download it, and listen to it on your music player? Does the software highlight each word as it is read (which may be especially helpful for non-native English speakers and students with reading/writing disabilities)? How many pages of text or words can be converted to voice at one? How quickly does the conversion happen? Do you need to copy text and paste it into a new window, or can the program work directly within an application (like Word or Powerpoint) and just read the text on your screen? Do you have to install any files on your computer to use the system? If so, how big are the files? Do you need an active internet connection to use the program, or can you run it without internet access once it has been installed? Does it work with your operating system (e.g., Mac, or Windows Vista)?
SOFTWARE

You can download and install software applications that will allow your computer to read to you. In most cases, the free versions of these applications use electronic voices created by Microsoft, nicknamed Sam, Mike, and Mary. These voices are acceptable to most readers but are not very natural-sounding. If you decide you would like better voices, you may need to purchase an enhanced version of the software and AT&Ts Natural Voices, which sound better. The applications well list here are fairly easy to download (from the web address provided with each one), install, and run. If you try one and later decide that you want to uninstall it from your Windows computer, go to the Control Panel and choose Add or Remove Programs. Read Please: www.readplease.com. This application, which has been around for a while, is for Windows operating systems only; it may take some extra work to make it run with Vista. There is a free version; the enhanced one costs $49.95. Read Please allows you to copy text from a Word document, paste it into a window, and hear it read back to you it highlights each word as it is read. You can change the speed of the voice that is reading. Read Please does not make mp3 or wav files. Use the Tools/Options menu to adjust settings, like whether it begins to read as soon as text is copied or waits for you to hit play. Most of the controls (play, pause, speed, voice selection, etc.) are visible in the Read Please window where you paste the text. Natural Reader: www.naturalreaders.com. You can use the free version of Natural Reader 9.0, or you can purchase the enhanced Personal one for $49.50. Natural Reader can convert text from any program. One thing that makes Natural Reader stand out is that Mac

versions of both the free and enhanced software are available. Natural Reader does allow you to create wav and mp3 files. It offers a mini-bar that looks like the controls on a tape recorderthis can hover over text (say, a Word document), allowing you to easily start, stop, and control the application.
WEB-BASED APPLICATIONS

Web-based text to speech applications allow you to hear your text read without having to install any software on your computer. You will need an active internet connection to have your text translated into speechbut you may then be able to download a wav or mp3 file and listen to your paper on your mp3 player or computer. iSpeech: www.ispeech.org. The iSpeech website offers a demonstration of its text to voice conversion; if you try it and like it, click personal use and create a free account. Now you will be able to upload files or paste your text into a box on the iSpeech site. When your chosen text has been converted to speech, just press listen. You can download the speech file or podcast it. The voice iSpeech uses is fairly natural; unfortunately, you cannot choose from a variety of voices, control the speed at which the voice reads while it is playing, or stop and start the voice. iSpeech may have trouble uploading open files, so be sure to close your file first if you want to upload everything. iSpeech does not highlight text as it reads, so if thats important to you, this is not a good reader for you. If you download the sound file, you can open it with a media player. iSpeech works for PDF, text, html, Excel, Word, rtf, and even Powerpoint files. Conversion is often fairly quick, and your uploads are archived with your account. Yakitome www.yakitome.com. On this website, click on Free Text to Speech to create an account. Experiment with the different voices (the AT&T ones sound more natural than the Microsoft ones), choose your settings, and paste in your text. Your request will then be put in a work queue; it may take quite some time for it to be converted (it took 15 minutes for a four-page paper in one of our tests), so its best if you have something else to work on while you wait. Longer documents seem to linger at the bottom of the work queue. Once the conversion is done, your text is stored on the site as an mp3 or wav file in the Yakitome Podcast Library and can be downloaded (to listen to it on your computer or mp3 player). It is stored as private, unless you set it as public, so youll need to sign into your account to access it. Yakitomes controls take a little getting used to, and its pronunciation is occasionally imperfect. Click text under view if you want to look at your text onscreen while listening. Hover your cursor over various controls to see how they work. Vozme vozme.com. Vozme is a very straightforward site. Paste your text into a window; Vozme will then create an mp3 and begin to read to you, in a male or female voice that isnt super-natural but isnt awful, either. You cant control the speed at which the voice reads, and you cant pause, stop, or start. Vozme also reads in some foreign languages, including Spanish. Youll need to feed it relatively small chunks of text, perhaps a couple of paragraphs at a time. Vozme allows you to install a widget for Facebook or iGoogle so that you can access it easily.

I FEEL KIND OF SILLY DOING THIS

Reading aloud (or listening to your writing being read) takes some getting used to, but give it a try. You may be surprised at how much it can speed up your revision process!

Reading Aloud?
This website is dedicated to promotion of a simple concept: grown-ups entertaining each other by reading aloud for fun. There are serveral worthy organizations promoting parents reading aloud to children. Our interest is in grown-ups (sadly "adult" has taken on an internet meaning that rules out that word from our discussion). We have become a nation of observers and consumers. We buy (or illegally download) our music rather than entertaining ourselves, we watch Dancing with the Stars rather than going ou t to the few dance venues for anyone over the age of 22. We vote in smaller numbers than before and when we vote we make our decision based on slick television adverts, not on personal participation in political organizations. State and local political committees, both Republican and Democrat, struggle to recruit members. Time was in America when attending political meetings and listening to stump speeches were highly popular leisure -time activities, just as was listening to, and critiquing, sermons. It's time we take back control of our lives, make our own decisions, learn again how to enjoy friends, and begin to enjoy entertaining ourselves and our friends. The sponsors and friends of readingaloud.org hope you will consider getting together with friends on an evening of enjoying the sound of each other's voices reading literature.

Why Read Aloud? There is an easy way to improve your child's chances at school. It will entertain and delight him. It will strengthen the bonds between him and you. And it is virtually free.

Sound too good to be true? Actually, it isn't. The magical method: taking time to read aloud to your child.

In an era of high-stakes testing and education reforms and revolutions, research has repeatedly proved that one simple parenting technique is among the most effective. Children who are read aloud to by parents get a head start in language and literacy skills and go to school better prepared.

"Reading aloud to young children, particularly in an engaging manner, promotes emerging literacy and language development and supports the relationship between child and parent," concludes a review in this month's Archives of Disease in Childhood.

In other words, reading that bedtime story may not only entertain and soothe Johnny, it may also develop his vocabulary, improve his ability to learn to read, and - perhaps most important - foster a lifelong love of books and reading.

Developing that passion for reading is crucial, according to Jim Trelease, author of the best-seller, "The Read-Aloud Handbook." "Every time we read to a child, we're sending a 'pleasure' message to the child's brain," he writes in the "Handbook." "You could even call it a commercial, conditioning the child to associate books and print with pleasure."

This reading "commercial" is critical when competition for a child's attention is so fierce. Between television, movies, the Internet, video games and myriad after-school activities, the pleasures of sitting down with a book are often overlooked. In addition, negative experiences with reading - whether frustrations in learning to read or tedious "skill and drill" school assignments - can further turn children off from reading.

That can have long-term consequences. As Mr. Trelease succinctly puts it in his handbook, "Students who read the most, read the best, achieve the most, and stay in school the longest. Conversely, those who don't read much, cannot get better at it."

Reading aloud is, according to the landmark 1985 report "Becoming a Nation of Readers," "the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading."

Despite this advice, however, some educators and many parents don't read aloud to children from a young age and thus fail to nurture avid and skilled readers. Indeed, this is especially true for children in low-income families. According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, only 48 percent of families below the poverty level read to their preschoolers each day, compared with 64 percent of families whose incomes were at or above the poverty level. Children from low-income families are also less likely to have exposure to print materials.

Groups such as Reach Out and Read (ROR), however, are working to combat this problem. The Bostonbased non-profit extols the virtues of reading aloud to parents when children go to their check-ups at the pediatrician's or family physician's office. The group also helps provide reading materials for families of lesser means. And ROR has been remarkably successful: "Studies which examined language in young children found an association between the ROR intervention and statistically significant improvements in preschool language scores, a good predictor of later literacy success," its Web site reports.

The good news for families is that this sage piece of parenting wisdom is easy to follow. Reading aloud to your child requires only a book - free, with a library card - and your willingness to spend a little quality time with your child. And while the sacrifices to read aloud are few, the benefits are many: Your child may learn to read better, think better, imagine more richly, and become a passionate and lifelong reader. More than these long-term benefits, however, are some more immediate: The pleasures of spending time with your child and sharing the enjoyment of a good book.

Facts About Reading Aloud

Reading Aloud Important, but Too Many Children Neglected Reading aloud to children is vital because it helps them acquire the information and skills they need in life: Knowledge of printed letters and words, and the relationship between sound and print. The meaning of words. How books work, and a variety of writing styles. The world in which they live. The difference between written language and everyday conversation. The pleasure of reading. Reading to young children promotes language acquisition and literacy development and, later on, achievement in reading comprehension and overall success in school. The percentage of young children read aloud to daily by a family member is one indicator of how well young children are prepared for school. Yet, recent studies on family reading suggest too many youngsters go without the benefit of a family member reading to them. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) collected information on children who were born in 2001 and focused on several aspects of early childhood development, including interactions between young children and their families and the ways by which parents raise, nurture, and prepare their children for school. Data were collected on the children as infants (at about 9 months old), then as toddlers (at about 2 years old), and again as preschoolers (at about 4 years old). At each age, between one-third and one-half of these children were read to daily by a family member. In addition, approximately one-fourth of children at each of these ages were told stories daily, and between one-half and three-quarters were sung to daily.

In general, at all ages, a higher percentage of White children had family members who read to them daily than did children of other races/ethnicities. A higher percentage of Asian children were read to than Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native children at all ages, and than African American children at ages 2 and 4 (with rates not measurably different at 9 months of age). Forty-one percent of White, 26 percent of Asian, 23 percent of African American, 21 percent of Hispanic, and 18 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native 9-month-olds had family members who read to them daily. Overall, a smaller percentage of children in poverty were read to, told stories, or sung to daily by a family member than children at or above poverty. In general, levels of maternal education were positively related to the percentage of children who were read to, told stories, or sung to daily. A smaller percentage of children whose families spoke a language other than English in the home were read to, told stories, or sung to daily than children whose families spoke primarily English in the home. Source: U.S. Department of Education.