One important difference between reading and listening is. that the text in
reading is usually clearly, completely, and permanently on the page in front
of us, while in listening the text is ephemeral and often not clear or complete'
This permanence of reading texts has positive and negative sides, especially
for. non-native readers. On the positive side, people can read at their own
pace, and reread things they do not understand immediarely On the
negative side, some people read very slowly, word by word, even in their L1.
Many more people do this in a foreign Ianguage. ln fact, they often
laboriously translate the text word by word. Reading comprehension in a
foreign language is not translation, though translation may occasionally be
useful. And it is not reading aloud. Reading comprehension work should
normally deal with direct comprehension in silent reading. in other words, it
should aim to develop the skills competent readers use in their L1'