Reading is not simply understanding every word in a text. Effective readers use different strategies depending on what they are reading and why they are reading it.

In the EFL classroom, our objective is therefore not only to check comprehension, but to teach students how to approach a text: predicting content, identifying the main idea, locating specific information, understanding meaning from context and interpreting more complex ideas.

Reading also provides valuable exposure to vocabulary, grammar and discourse patterns, making it an important source of language development.