English Literacy: Developing Reading and Writing Skills

To paraphrase my English teacher, a writer is only as excellent as their reading frequency. Nonetheless, a writer should read not just to understand the plot, but also to see how various components of speech are used in written work. 

Hence, the literature you read during your early years of learning the English language has a significant impact on how quickly you acquire English literacy skills. Unfortunately, the inadequate approaches employed by students often result in slowed progress, yielding subpar grades in their studies.

Improving your ability to read and write allows you to better articulate your ideas, allowing for better communication and elaboration of ideas within your papers. So, mastering English is essential for your success in school. This essay will emphasize some advice for developing literacy in second-language learners so that you can avoid some of the usual difficulties encountered by students. 

How are reading and writing connected?

We frequently encounter the brigade of believers who proclaim the advantages of reading for language improvement without providing any justification for their claims. Here, we’ll examine the relationship between reading and writing to help you learn the benefits of reading and, ultimately, adopt the proper reading strategy to reap the rewards of a strong reading culture. 

First, reading exposes you to various techniques that were employed by an author to achieve an intended effect on the reader. These skills can later be borrowed in your subsequent papers, allowing you to express your ideas better and charm your reader with wordplay genius moments, ensuring that your papers are entertaining to read. 

Also, reading and writing help younger learners to develop their phonemic skills, overcoming various study barriers among students. If you are using audiobooks for your student’s reading session, you can better build their abilities to pronounce words as they recognize patterns of speech and pronunciation from the narrator. 

Ideally, select books that are approved for your level of study to grow your English skills steadily until you can express your thoughts with much proficiency. 

How to improve English reading skills

If you are looking to improve in English by reading, we recommend that the following tips come in handy.

  1. If possible, make use of audiobooks as opposed to reading a pdf or a hardcopy book. You can, however, try to read a book alongside the narration to improve your fluency and slowly adopt various elements of eloquent speech in English. 
  2. Another way to increase an English language learner’s literacy is to make a habit of reading various forms of materials including novels, journals, magazines, and blogs. This allows you to diversify your lexicon of terms and access the words and phrases that are unique to a niche of interest. 
  3. When going about reading various materials, consider following through phrases with a pen or a finger as a pointer. This can help you to avoid confusion and to adjust your pace depending on the speed at which you are moving your pointer through various sentences in the paper. 
  4. Take speed reading tests to gradually improve the pace at which you read your papers. These tests can allow you to diagnose issues in your speech and to finetune your reading pace to ensure clear communication. 
  5. Reading phrases rather than words in various articles is another way to get better at reading in English. When you group words into phrases, you can read more quickly and with less stalling than you would if you were reading word-by-word.
  6. When reading material, ask questions like why, how, what, why, and where to gauge how various ideas are expounded upon. This is especially handy in reading comprehension as it allows you to familiarize yourself with all relevant facts before you address the questions posed in the passage. 

How to improve your writing skills

Although we have established that reading improves writing, it is crucial to adopt measures that allow you to brush up on your writing skills. Some of these tips include:

  • Using writing apps

When going about your articles, use various writing improvement apps to identify errors in your articles. This will help you identify common issues in your papers, allowing you to improve your papers over time. 

  • Get feedback from experts

As you write your papers, consult experts for review to get help on the portions of the paper that you ought to edit. Experts can also develop a guided approach to learning various writing laws to ensure quick progress in the development of your writing skills.

  • Make a habit of outlining your ideas

We recommend that you use an outline when writing an English essay. this will allow you to organize your ideas ensuring a smooth transition in your narration and an overall flow of ideas in your essay.