Reading is the key to the acquisition of a foreign language

【Abstract】：Reading is a significant part of mastering a language. This article discusses the importance of reading in learning a foreign language and illustrates the three reasons of this statement.

For quite a long time， there is a general discussion among many learners and educators that how reading plays an important role in foreign language learning. The discussion covers a wide range of theories and mainly focuses on language proficiency， reading speed， reading motivation. Through these evidences， it is obvious that reading is the key to the acquisition of a foreign language. For it can provide a vast world with diverse prospects to the readers. When people read， lots of opinions occur and motivations to discuss emerge. By virtue of reading extensively， abilities of communication and expression are enhanced. The statements will be much delineated in the following passage.

First， reading offers learners an exotic touch to that language environment. Namely， books have shown how some other places make continuous succession， and how do other cultures survive as well as create endless reproduction. This kind of information has opened a window to the outside world， offering you a breast of foreign flavor. Therefore environment is an integral part of language acquisition. For instance， people acquire different reading abilities in different environment they grow up. The differences in volume of reading between readers of differing skill are partly due to these active and evocative organism-environment correlations. Children who become better readers have selected by choosing reading as a leisure activity rather than sports or video games， asking for books when young， asking for books as presents have evoked an environment that will be conducive to further growth in reading.

Second， reading sometimes can be a powerful motivator to wonder a language. Motivation provides a good starting point for language learners. It is not only the will and skill to learn but also the movement driven by inner forces and beliefs. However， linked to motivation， it is important to know how reading motivation engages in language acquisition. As a kind of approach to cultivate a taste of literature， readers feel free to choose a variety of books to suit their personal preferences， as they like， instead of boring textbooks. In this sense， motivation comes from choices they made， effort to complete the choices， persistence to complete the choice， and what is said about persisting to complete a certain choice （Pintrich Schunk， 2002） Through finishing reading goals， it turns memorizing wordlist to acquiring something fun， with which people open the way to explore and adventure knowledge. During the process， much vocabulary growth probably took place through the learning of word meanings from context during reading. Similarly， much general information and knowledge about more complex syntactic structures probably also took place through reading itself. In this light， motivation itself was an important contributor to the development of language proficiency and reading skills.

Third， reading skills， reading speed， and reading quantity are significant to comprehension ability. It is by means of reading more books that learners will greatly help improve comprehension and promote retention of what is read. It is well exemplified by Warwick B. Elley and Francis Mangubhai. They had once made an experiment to illustrate how reading impacted on second language learning. It was hypothesized that the effect differences in formal education could be virtually eliminated by means of a reading program based on the use of an abundance of high-interest illustrated storybooks. A sample of 380 pupils with few books was selected， in the experiment， the students were grouped in two programs： encourage them to read vs. put little emphasis on reading. After eight-month-experiment， the result showed that pupils exposed to many stories progressed in reading and listening comprehension at twice the normal rate， and confirmed the hypothesis that high-interest story reading has an important role to play in second language learning. Furthermore， after 20 months， the gains had increased further and spread to related language skills. This hypothesis had an experiential basis very much like that of reading brings many advantages for getting a reasonably good understanding， and thereby acquiring better learning skills of a foreign language.

To draw a conclusion， reading is a valuable way of self-educating to learn a foreign language. For it feeds the mind to explore and absorb a new culture within thinking activities； it is a motivation to experience disparities among languages and cultures；it provides an exposure to the environment in which schema and knowledge are sensitized. With these benefits， readers are trained to think miscellaneously and describe accurately， thus reading weighs heavily in the process of mastering a foreign language.