Reading in English is very good to help language development. Here are some ideas to encourage extensive reading.

Think of ways of encouraging students to read outside the classroom, too:

  • Suggest they read books or magazines of interest to them.
  • Try to collect some English language magazines like football or fashion magazines that they will be motivated to read.

Does your school have a library?

If so, encourage your students to take advantage of it. Go on a class visit there and point out the kinds of books and magazines they might find interesting and that are at the right level for them. If you don’t have a school library, try to make one – obviously on a small scale - get together with other teachers and find books and magazines, ask friends, colleagues, students and parents to donate books and magazines. I have had a lot of success getting teens reading with just a box of old magazines and some novels that they took home and returned when read.

And don’t forget the internet!

There are lots of sites with excellent reading materials that are free to download – newspapers and stories, too.

Other ideas to help you encourage your students to read in class

Teenagers: Reading 1: Reading in class

Teenagers: Reading 2: The reading task

Teenagers: Reading 3: Vary the tasks