Presentation process of reading esl

The Process of Reading in a First Language Compared to the Process of Reading in a Second Language: The Impact of Phonemical Awareness

Prof. Cristal Vázquez Dávila, 06.28.2012

The Process of Reading in a First Language Compared to the Process of Reading in a Second Language: The Impact of Phonemical Awareness 6.28.2012

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When teaching ESL reading skills to second language learners?

•The most important concept:to convey is that reading, like writing, is a process.

•Whether readers are aware of it or not, they employ techniques like pre-reading and making predictions to connect the particular text they are presently reading with texts they have read before.

•For ESL students, scaffolding this process into distinct steps is an effective way to build reading comprehension.

Process of Reading to ESL students

•In processing both spoken and written language, the human brain employs a phonological code to represent linguistic information.

•This code is unique for each individual language, as each language has its own distinct set of sounds, with very specific rules that govern how those sounds can be combined into syllables and words (Cohn, 2003).

•It is particularly important to recognize the role that phonological awareness plays as children with limited English proficiency (LEP) learn to read, both in their native language (L1) and in their second language (L2).


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Phonological Awareness

•Phonological awareness is the ability to manipulate language at the phonological level, that is, to "reflect on the component sounds of spoken words, rather than on their meanings" (Goswami, 2000, p. 251).

•The ability of phonological awareness skills to transfer from one language to another presents advantages that are readily apparent; however, transfer can also bring disadvantages.

•The closer the phonologies of L1 and L2, the greater the likelihood that transfer of skills will be positive rather than negative because children are more adept at manipulating the sounds and patterns that exist in their native language (Bialystok, 2002).


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Assessment in literacy programs

•In order to have an accurate picture of a bilingual child's development, it is important to assess the child in both languages.

•Educators must be allowed to be creative and flexible in choosing and interpreting assessments for children with limited English proficiency.

•Assessment in both languages is particularly important in reading.


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Reading acquisition

•Reading acquisition is no longer seen as the sole responsibility of the school; nor is it viewed as a "lockstep" process that moves from oral language development (speaking and listening) to print literacy (reading and writing).

•Parents, educators, researchers, and policy-makers constantly look for ways to provide all children with access to the world of print, largely because knowing how to read and knowing what to do with information gained from reading is thought to be key to a child's future well-being.


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Phonics•Phonics unlike phonemic awareness, which refers to the blending and pulling apart of the various sounds that make up spoken words in an alphabetic language, phonics refers to the sound-symbol correspondences in that language.

•Phonics is a tool for decoding words; it is not a reading program. Knowledge of phonics does not ensure that one will comprehend printed texts because reading is a far more complex process than simply sounding out words.

Develop Automaticity and Understanding

•In the initial stages of reading development, learning phoneme awareness and phonics skills and practicing these skills with texts is critical. •Children must also acquire fluency and automaticity in decoding and word recognition. •If beginning readers read the words in a laborious, inefficient manner, they cannot remember what they read.•Good comprehenders link the ideas presented in print to their own experiences. They have also developed the necessary vocabulary to make sense of the content being read.• Good comprehenders have a knack for summarizing, predicting, and clarifying what they have read, and many are adept at asking themselves guide questions to enhance understanding.


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Programmatic longitudinal research:

• Clearly indicates that deficits in the development of phoneme awareness skills not only predict difficulties learning to read, but they also have a negative effect on reading acquisition. Whereas phoneme awareness is necessary for adequate reading development, it is not sufficient.

• Children must also develop phonics concepts and apply these skills fluently in text.

• Although substantial research supports the importance of phoneme awareness, phonics, and the development of speed and automaticity in reading, we know less about how children develop reading comprehension strategies and semantic and syntactic knowledge.


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• Once children can read the words accurately and fluently, they can begin to construct meaning at two levels. ○ At the first level, literal understanding is achieved. ○ Next, they can begin to guide themselves through text by asking

questions.

Scientific research:

• We know from research that reading is a language-based activity. • Reading does not develop naturally, and for many children, specific

decoding, word-recognition, and reading comprehension skills must be taught directly and systematically.

• The evidence suggests strongly that educators can foster reading development by providing kindergarten children with instruction that develops print concepts, familiarity with the purposes of reading and writing, age-appropriate vocabulary and language comprehension skills, and familiarity with the language structure.

• Substantial evidence shows that many children in the 1st and 2nd grades and beyond will require explicit instruction to develop the necessary phoneme awareness, phonics, spelling, and reading comprehension skills.


Move beyond assumptions:

• One hopes that scientific research informs beginning reading instruction, but it is not always so.

• As Mary Kennedy (1997) has pointed out, it is difficult for teachers to apply research information when it is of poor quality, lacks authority, is not easily accessible, is communicated in an incomprehensible manner, and is not practical.

• The lack of agreement about reading development and instruction among education leaders does not bode favorably for increasing trust.


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• Most great scientific discoveries have come from willingness and an ability to be wrong.

• Researchers and teachers could serve our children much better if they had the courage to set aside assumptions when they are not working.

• The fundamental purpose of science is to test our beliefs and intuitions and to tell us where the truth lies.

• The education of our children is too important to be determined by anything but the strongest of objective scientific evidence.


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References:

• August, D., & Hakuta, K. (Eds.). (1997). Improving schooling for language-minority students: A research agenda. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

• Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2000). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (2nd ed.). Columbus, OH: Prentice-Hall.

• Bialystok, E. (2002). Acquisition of literacy in bilingual children: A framework for research. Language Learning, 52 (1), 159-199.

• Brice, A., & Roseberry-McKibbin, C. (2001). Choice of languages in instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33 (4), 10-16.

• Cisero, C. A., & Royer, J. M. (1995). The development and cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20, 275-303.

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• Cohn, A. (2003). Phonology. In M. Aronoff & J. Rees-Miller (Eds.), The handbook of linguistics (pp. 180-212). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.

• Durgunoglu, A. Y., Nagy, W. E., & Hancin-Bhatt, B. J. (1993). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85 (3), 453-465.

• Francis, N. (1998). Mezquital, Malintzi y Misión de Chichimecas: La consciencia del lenguaje en el desarrollo de la alfabetización bilingüe [Mezquital, Malintzi and Chichimecas Mission: Language Awareness in the Development of Bilingual Literacy]. Lectura y vida: Revista latinoamericana de lectura, 19 (2), 21-30.

• Goswami, U. (2000). Phonological and lexical processes. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. III, pp. 251-267). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.


• Gottardo, A. (2002). The relationship between language and reading skills in bilingual Spanish-English speakers. Topics in Language Disorders, 22 (5), 46-70.

• Helman, L. A. (2004). Building on the sound system of Spanish: Insights from the alphabetic spellings of English-language learners. The Reading Teacher, 57 (5), 452-460.

• Henderson, E., & Templeton, S. (1986). A developmental perspective of formal spelling instruction through alphabet, pattern, and meaning. The Elementary School Journal, 86 (3), 304-316.

• Kennedy, M.M. (1997). "The Connection Between Research and Practice." Educational Researcher 26, 4_12.

• McLaughlin, B., Gesi Blanchard, A., & Osanai, Y. (1995). Assessing language development in bilingual preschool children. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.


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• National Reading Panel (200). Teaching children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

• Peña, E., Bedore, L. M., & Rappazzo, C. (2003). Comparison of Spanish, English, and bilingual children's performance across semantic tasks. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 34 (1), 5-16.

• Quiroga, T., Lemos-Britton, Z., Mostafapour, E., Abbott, R. D., & Berninger, V. W. (2001). Phonological awareness and beginning reading in Spanish-speaking ESL first graders: Research into practice. Journal of School Psychology, 40 (1), 85-109.

• Tabors, P. O., & Snow, C. E. (2002). Young bilingual children and early literacy development. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 159-178). New York: The Guilford press.


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