[Jennifer Seeley]

Student 1: If I concentrate, I can understand the meaning of most words in a reading text but I normally struggle to understand the text as a whole.

It is important to note that when we read in our L1 we often don’t read all the words or understand them all – but we read for the overall sense of the article.  Perhaps try skim reading the text, and only after doing so twice, going back to look up particular words.

Student 2: The listening recordings are too fast! It’s true that when we read the scripts, I can recognise the words but I can’t recognise them when they are spoken.

Reassure them this will come with practice and familiarity.  Again consider the overall gist of the recording.  Discuss the impact of regional accents