Tracing the causes of vocalization

It’s hard not to vocalize when you read because written language is in fact a vocal-

ization tool. The ancient Anglo-Saxons and Normans who invented the English lan-

guage didn’t have recording devices, MP3 players, or digital playback machines. To

carry speech over distances longer than they could shout, they invented a system

of stringing together letters and words to form speech. When you read, you almost

can’t help speaking the words because written English was designed to convey the

sound of words on paper or parchment.

You also vocalize when you read, if you had a typical reading education, because

you learned to read by vocalizing. Vocalizing is a legacy of the sound-it-out reading

education you received in elementary school. You were taught oral reading skills —

that letters and letter combinations make certain sounds and that you should speak

these sounds as you read.

These skills are fine for beginning readers because they help beginners decode

and pronounce words they see on the page. But to be a speed reader you must drop

the oral reading skills you were taught and embrace silent reading skills.