Krashen Quotes & Sayings

The central hypothesis of the theory is that language acquisition occurs in only one way: by understanding messages. — Stephen D. Krashen

The less literate are the first to fail and drop out of school. — Stephen D. Krashen

Older acquirers progress more quickly in early stages because they obtain more comprehensible input, while younger acquirers do better in the long run because of their lower affective filters. — Stephen D. Krashen

Access to public libraries also affects how much children read. — Stephen D. Krashen

Those who read in a second language write and spell better in that language. — Stephen D. Krashen

Children read more when they see other people reading. — Stephen D. Krashen

The better the school library, the higher the reading scores. — Stephen D. Krashen

There is massive evidence that self-selected reading, or reading what you want to read, is responsible for most of our literacy development. Readers have better reading ability, know more vocabulary, write better, spell better, and have better control of complex grammatical constructions. In fact, it is impossible to develop high levels of literacy without being a dedicated reader, and dedicated readers rarely have serious problems in reading and writing. — Stephen D. Krashen

Teaching vocabulary lists is inefficient - the time is better spent reading alone. — Stephen D. Krashen

What immersion has taught us is that comprehensible subject-matter teaching is language teaching - the subject matter class is a language class if it is made comprehensible. In fact, the subject-matter class may even be better than the language class for language acquisition. — Stephen D. Krashen

However, a rich print environment helps only when more reading is done. — Stephen D. Krashen

People who say they read more write better. — Stephen D. Krashen

More drills for poor readers do not work. — Stephen D. Krashen

Free voluntary reading results in better reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development — Stephen D. Krashen

As Stephen Krashen and Joanne Ujiie (2005) assert, "Many people are fearful that if children engage in 'light reading,' if they read comics and magazines they will stay with this kind of reading forever, that they will never go on to more 'serious' reading. The opposite appears to be the case. The evidence suggests that light reading provides the competence and motivation to continue reading and to read more demanding texts" (p. 6). — Donalyn Miller

The child's reluctance to speak for the first few months of his residence in a new country is not pathological, but normal. — Stephen D. Krashen

Light reading is not to be avoided but should be used as a conduit to more serious reading. — Stephen D. Krashen

If children read 1 million words in a year, atl least 1,000 words will be added to their vocabulary. — Stephen D. Krashen

Spelling is improved when reading is done. — Stephen D. Krashen

Hearing stories has a direct impact on literacy development. — Stephen D. Krashen

Magazine reading appears to promote more reading. — Stephen D. Krashen

Larger school library collections and longer hours increase circulation. — Stephen D. Krashen

Learning to read in one language helps us read a second language. — Stephen D. Krashen

Sit down, have a nice cup of coffee read a book in another language - the fountain of youth! — Stephen D. Krashen

People acquiring a second language have the best chance for success through reading. — Stephen D. Krashen

Children who are readers will develop acceptable levels of literacy. — Stephen D. Krashen

Malcolm X educated himself in prison by reading. — Stephen D. Krashen

Young people's reading choices are influenced by their peers. — Stephen D. Krashen

Not one poor reader reported a lot of pleasure reading. — Stephen D. Krashen

Access to a school library results in more reading. — Stephen D. Krashen

Libraries are a consistent and major source of books for free reading. — Stephen D. Krashen

Language is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages, not when it is explicitly taught for conscious learning. — Stephen D. Krashen

Extrinsic reading rewards may not be necessary and may backfire. — Stephen D. Krashen