Expressive reading improves a student's ability to comprehend the text he reads. A first-grade student advanced in reading may have minimal difficulty reading passages with complex vocabulary, but in order to read the material expressively, he must truly understand the meaning behind the words. This ability proves he is not reading though strictly memorization.
Fluency is a requirement to successful expressive reading, and therefore the technique naturally encourages a student to practice reading the text multiple times. In doing so, the student is then able to read with appropriate expression. Rereading the text multiple times promotes fluency because the new reader recognizes the words in the text faster each time he reads it.
Expressive reading requires a student to become familiar with the text and therefore improves his reading confidence. A student may struggle with this confidence because reading at this age is generally a newly acquired skill. The practice needed to read expressively helps the child gain confidence in his abilities when reading the text aloud to his classmates, parents and teachers.
Expressive reading is similar to daily conversation among people. You naturally emphasize different aspects of a sentence or lower your voice to create a certain tone when speaking to a friend or colleague. Expressive reading mimics this natural speech pattern and therefore allows a student to practice this important oral language skill within the context of reading.