Is it better to study by reading aloud or silently?

Study habits are very important when it comes to learning. Which way of reading is more effective?

It has always been said that "the more we read, the more we learn, and the more we learn, the further we can go". This is what Dr. Seuss, the American writer and cartoonist, told us. The real problem is that we tend to forget more than half the time everything we read in the books we gobble up. in the books we gobble up.

We spend hours and hours in front of academic textbooks when we have to face an exam, whether it is an oral or written test. Those endless moments in the library studying for an exam are evidence that memorizing is not easy. The key is the study method. How many times do we become engrossed and repeat aloud what we have learned? repeat out loud what we have learned? It is a very effective way to reinforce what we have studied, but... Is it more useful than reading silently?

Study aloud or silently?

In order to rigorously answer the headline question, University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) researchers Colin McLeod and Noah Farrin published their study in the journal Memory entitled "The Benefits of Listening to Yourself". The results reveal surprising methods that improve study techniques.. The study aims to compare the silent technique with the one that uses one's own voice.

Farrin and McLeod decided to randomly select 100 students and bring them to their experimental laboratory. They had them reproduce 80 words aloud to all of them. Per research guidelines, they were not told when they would have to return to the facility to finish the work. Most of the participants wrote on a piece of paper all the words they could remember in order to be able to to be able to tackle the next level.

Once called to retake the research tests, each individual used different learning methods before entering the laboratory. Faced with the impending test, they were administered one of four methods: silently reading the words to be recited, listening to audiotapes recorded by someone else, listening to tapes recorded in their own voice, or speaking the words aloud.

The results

The memory test yielded surprising results. Based on a recognition test, the degree to which the students remembered the 80 words they memorized on the spot and the 80 words they had played two weeks earlier was checked. It was clear that the second group of words was going to be forgotten, at least many of them. The participants had to indicate whether that word belonged to the one they had memorized at that moment or whether it was from the past.

Thus, it was confirmed that the most effective method was to pronounce aloud the words studied. In the vast majority of cases, it was found that reading aloud helped to remember better. In terms of effectiveness, this method was followed by listening to the tapes recorded individually. In third place we find tapes recorded by someone else and, in last place, and perhaps most relevant, we have the method of silent reading as a method that helps us remember better. the silent reading method as the most deficient when it comes to memorizing when it comes to memorizing concepts or words.

Similarly, the power of reading should not be overlooked. As is evident, the more we read, the more we memorize. The question lies in the capacity of storage, of memory. It is worth noting, for example, that the difference between saying things out loud and listening to oneself on a tape recording was minimal: only 3%. It seems that listening to one's own voice is an added value..

The production effect

Having discussed these results, the authors of the research coined the term "production effect", which refers to the process that one experiences reading aloud instead of the silent mode. This effect is the result of three factors added together and dependent on each other. First, reading aloud activates the brain's capacity to store information.. Second, reading increases visual memory capacity and, third, the self-reference effect makes the information more personal and, consequently, easier to remember.

When students rely exclusively on reading information from others, they do not receive that personal experience that makes a difference, they do not receive that personal experience that makes the difference When students rely exclusively on reading information from others, they do not receive that personal experience that makes a difference in memorizing, they do not audit themselves, and so they do not awaken other cognitive capacities mentioned above. Recent studies reinforce the thesis of the inadequacy that all students of any academic degree have when studying, arguing that reading as the only method is inappropriate.