Ewercenr LITERACY: ENGLISH LEARNERS BEGINNING TO WRITE AND READ De. this annie early Meracy devofer yeats ago, ve spent some time in 3 two-way Spanish immersion kindergarten obsceving and helping the teacher Chien were meer ina peiotrch environment where they drew and wrote dally tn joule fstened to predictable sores and poems, rewtae stork. and played inners erviched dramatic play centers that inde 2 post le, testeureou lhe {grocery store, aswell as blocs, ats and weting areas. We were very iterened how these kindergarines would approach the task of wing no daseeee eae ast where children were invited to draw and mite What hear cee a ‘Were no given much explicistruction vn wing, During English language arts one day. 1 (Suzanne) asked a group of six chil ten (native Spanish speakers, native English speakels, ad bilge) ne 4 story in English take hoe to my husband. 1 passed out the pape Which was ned wn the bottom hal and plain on the top, and the eh tren began writing without est tion. AS they wrote, mide note af how each child appruached the task, and as they finished, 1 knelt dow to ‘sk each one tel about thee sey Lisa had writen the words “love my mom” in legible scrip a ad il tated her story with hearts a 9 Picture of herself neat to rer mother Rosa had drawn a. piture ol het seven family members and bad Filled several lines with block let em evenly spaced. Osvaldo was the lest child 10 finish his work. He had filed the lined half ofthe page wal inded Dherabe letters and punetation and ‘vas.now busy diawing. Thee times asked hint tell me about his sory fand tice times he simpy replied, “don't know yet” The fourth time 1 lavermupted his drawing. he ‘explained in desperation, “won't Know what my story is about unt Finish my picture!” His sry. (see Figure 5.1) Was about aboy hicking + soxcer ball 2 shiny black and whe sang sphere tha nearly New olf the page to it me inthe fase of my Inept! ee “Frcune 53. oy ings Socar ban5 magenta ‘wmatlongmsn compte These kindergsrie chien had never teen tld how owe oF what toa: Yetsomehow they were quite comfortable wth this request ote ycey Sona would read, The forms of hei wing vale irom wavy Basse apron «nity tndom arays of back letters 1 conventional print, The topes of nee fies came from their own interests and experiences They knew He sens han purpose sor My husbond would enjy reading hem. Yet the edhe eg mote lacus on thet vn putpose: personal expression ol 3 mesoge es thin was clear that al sit children knew at eat something aoc ages fons and functions of print. Furermore. they were all confident that they ond rte a story: one that muuld at east have meaning lr themes te alka weve: in the extent to which they wer able ioappronimaccimerioach ing fos to consey thes mca Indeed. theydilred in het nies itiether prin has anthing todo with meaning ot al For Onl he weeny had no meaning unt he pice nas eoamplte When I rtumed 0 the clasom ater sping beak, Owaldo asked. “How'd your daddy tke the story?" tn typical kindergarten fashion, he hel eat faubalere between “stand” and “da.” But hk questo eeveata song mote than his developing nderstandig of Munianfelatonsipe Meena his sense of audience Osvaldo provides us with 2 nich ekangte of ee asects 0 wring chien mast evenmally coordinate: fot fateions eed na trations well asthe ned 1 shape these tna ay that will pesse one seen Im the ealy stages of leracy development. yung ehideen posh cde oe nd conol sone aspect of the tsk beter than ers. A thy uae eo uth these complexies while sil constructing thee understating ofthe and physkal wor around them: Virtual reais couslas Ze Minden cikren jot deed were demon cay fray dlevelopmcne it an emergent tiesacy environment. tt this claptee ae ec {atl tery development a has ben researched over the pa too deca Sosoiny we wil bry conast viespoins on ciliren’ ier) deschonea the emergent ray viewpoint reading eadnesvewpuins Weak ed ome time dcusing the min tents ofthe emergent feeacy foretell {2k Our pins with sans of cikrens wing aa reading. an desene hny {ethers inpeen suh a perspective it eal childhood cess Pec sre ways oases English learner eats teaing and wing selon ne Su dscusion we ao adres a pssing cect of any teal Habe Poh ole Enalis tares who have not eka i adorable ee ee THe EA UMSEARSH ELL Us aU Bie canh TEN A lange bay of research invesiates early teracy develapment in aft fan sia A848 ul we now havea sual amount a exeng an inesWhar Does Resch Tl abou the ay racy Beepmet of Engh Lear? information about young ire’ easy literacy development Engl, Span {sh and other languages (eg. Chi, 1988: Cly, 1975 Ferrero 6 Teintosky, a8 Harste, Woodard, & Bitke, 1984; Teale, 198; Teale & Suliby, 1986), Howey felaively ite research cocuments early iteracy development in Eugioh see ‘ond language, particularly among students who have net had Icraey nstenenen in thee ist language. Nevertheless, the research we do have shuts that Sh ean and writing development paces are ently sma or both Era ea sad native nash soaker: (Edelsky, L981a, 19816; Gruman Goodman, 199% Mudelson, 1984; Urata, 1987), That i in reading all leans guadeally come oy use ther developing English language knowledge. their werld knowledge ana {heir understanding of pit conventions to make sre of wien text Sha in waiting they use ther developing Engl language hnowledge world kaon seg, and understanding of print conventions to put ttt hess on popes a ‘earers literacy developrien ia comple pres that takes pve ove aeons etl during which they demonstrate gradual approximations to mature sectony ‘of reading and writing. tw both reading and senting al leamers must leery oho forms of print in English, including the fetes af the alpiaet snd how thee seuenced into words seences and paragraphs to ceate leer, stores, rece and other forms of written contmtuniation. AC the some tie all kamen ea "caauto select from ths sich aay af writen dscourse forms ts acheve the cone ‘municauve functions at bind. whether to direct. nlorm, persuade, emenenn omlain, or console Final, wsten language use takes Place in cal conven and serves personal and sal purposes Furthermore. hteacy kamning satiny "ough interpersonal eclaonships inthe varying socal contexts lt whic thee acy iestuction takes plac. Literacy development ths evolves thecugh soil Interactions involving writen language trom which chilis developers aber the forms and functions of rin. They ake become nate the wae pane ec In itleren social contextsfova wie variety of rps Wile many aspects of reading and wring development are essentially smc lar for English learners at native Engh speakers there ate importa ier frees as well. Two ingore dillrences ate a student's Englah Languaye po lene and ability to ead and waite in she primary language tludelur 1957) Student tthe begining sages of English langage development ar all see ing basic krone of Engi while Fearing t rea and write English tse Research shor that Engh learners can benefit rom English Metacy strato wel before they have developed full contol wf the latiguage oral, othe sword, orl and ete English can develop more at lest smaltancauny Hel son, 1988, 1986: Goodman, Goodman, f Flues 1979: Ursa, 1987) ecated {hat instruction is areal organized t be mcaninglal and tecvant ep ee discuss througout this caper 1 your English learners at erate i thee primary lnguage, they may bring sledge, sil and aties aout ead aa writing that tases toe one of English reading, Infact. search an thom consistently suppor he bene teaching etdren to read cad arte in thet primary langue Tiss, not eae because it seas to ea and rite a langage yo already Kr: but so Bacon5 | emerge Lary nm atlongmansmpoegote INTERNET RESOURCE: Ty wing he Echeted aanng sa Magan to erate separate lessons fe boning. and nie RC tls nse rom the pinay langue to Engh, as Eg nguage profcney develops (Cun. 198: Perey. 199; Hor & Win ae ee ata esearch snes that Engh ange potcleney al pany ona Heyaecnmiueo th gose wih hich Eg eames devchy Poplar ec adi wating sks. Other actors may camtibe as well nadine sot een Jay aie asroon communion, teacher perceptions of ste sli ae den matcaton, and eacherstudenrelaionsips dese ing toe dp eu deus of cay feray inthis chapter me tous mein el inermette Engl emers who ae new to retdng and iting a ee Seid langusge. Most of our discsson apes vo beaming reciente Ft limene we ao dsc ca hieroyiarucin on sopead iboalih snguage teamers: oklerchilren and adoesents es aes [Gited ead or wet in any language Our eating teommentanen fa ee dure Engh speakers dra tail on fist language recon, soph a timate sometimes medi to acct hngusik ad clea de seer bilingual teacher you should noe that many ofthe eta Baty ibe or eoning racy o Engh can be me ea eg puekand writen the primary language, wh scab means om the ring system of the primary lage yu ae teeing Conrtmasninc me ewencer ireRacy ano READING READINESS PERSPECTIVES {es abou when and haw young children shouldbe taught rea and wot Sane lar been subject 10a arcty of inflences. Thi nt sunoeenn ee Sete Sonsiter that wu very ellen srees of advice a suloeee aed ‘amaimatoe Pras and sci though of the day. hve parc get deni wes of how young children should be educate Inthe a et dcis theorcical perspectives tha have lace heray nea FRx ead aa emergent ciay. We then eltonate on the emer Paneve the perscctive me Beleve afer the nus elective eae ye for native English speakers aid English lester slgComing the Emergent Lec and Reading Readiness Pepecties Reading Readiness Perspective ‘The reading readiness perspective held sayin many pans of the world dur ng much of the twentieth century: Based on maturation theories of develo ment sce Gesl, 1925) and the standardized restg movement the 19505 sh 1940s, reading readiness propanents adhere tothe belie! that clildren ae net sdevelopmentaly eady to read unt they reach 2 aietval age of 6.6 years (Morphce & Washbur, 1951), In practical terms. this translated saw the postponement a reading until fis grade. Writing isteuction was aso postponed unl fist rade and aimed at proper leer formation rather than contposing oe eomunicang Kindergarten was to sere the purpose of socialization and otal language develo men, not iter Reading readiness pactices in Kindergarten were further influence by the {esting movement ofthe 1920s and 1930s Test developers eeated tests of specie subs tha correlated with reading ahicvemen including aualitory anes, tion, visual discininatin, left-to-right eye progression, and visual moter skill Some educators fel into the trap of assuming a causal relationship in the creel tions believing that eary reading success ved fom sus acqutio ater {han just being someliow linked wath i As a reall, became common practic teach these “readies skis" in kindergarten to “get hive seay to Fea fie rade, Resing readies: subskll activites were translated into ceesponding inderparten objectives a: shown inthe following Ist When baal reader publ #5 incorporated readiness into workbooks as part the reading serieg reading readiness theories Incame ellectively estab in clesston sci patton, ‘The fst below provides examples of ealing readiness subskils and core ‘ponding leamting obyecties for kinderganniers(Mornow, 1983, 1933). Reading Readies Susi Sample Obatives sudltory discriminatinr + iemtify and dillerentiate falar sous (ear hom, dog barking sien) + deni chyming words + idem sours of letters sual dsceiminaton 4 reengnize coors + recognive shapes + idenuty eters by name sual motor sits cut oma straight fine wit sdsors + color inside the lines ofa pate + hop on ane fot lange movor skills kin alk om a tah fine Several years ago we had a personal experience that called ou atention to reading reainess pracicsin shook When ut neighbor’ chil, Ate, eered kindergarten, she could aleady read and soit nies, She used urate162 5 | Emerita FRR in he ivng room and churn ou pages of imaginative sais that often ‘exam mith “Onc upn atym.” Occasionally she woul ask her wrote oe fw pela word. bul she uty used er own pling Pee beer ee patents were teachers, she loved o play schol and teach her le Weaken 1 foe} using het mother’s kinderganien mateias. By lint grade, meek ‘stead a wrier and could read books trom the second an thd pace ae But when Aeetha’s mother and lather met with her kindenyvien ede io {RE pRED conferences they were aiouided wo far that Arca was at gy for fis-gradereatinginsirucion The teacher explained that Reine sae az nl wih some bse kindertanen ass cut th sets ad tay Gigme lone Aretha’ parents could not ce the conncetom betocen ie ee AMG and learning to read. Moreover they kiew Aretha could seed ay site emedy the sation, Areas lather coke the leather Na ca rad 9 book: Alter Aretha succesfully and hurl read of eee Hooks er teacher concale that Atha Sas lnc tea tr fea on, Though welmeaning and conscientis. Aretha teacher hell een ns ‘implons about radi ha blche he bly to seognze Atcha ea Heya potential a reminder that we must always examine aid eccense ey sumptions about learning on teaching dn sammy, reading readiness tradional vw of Hteracyinstuetion that 2fkime that chen must be able o perm cra auiy eee ta sma nd ngubc ass i onde to show the matuty needed lore tfircon. Chile tke Aretha wuld We tested v0 sce I they ae ee ra mait rope ne a the things Aretha had rouble wht anal oe 124 S26 Plcres ar the aileencebennen ilar words suc aeo radical bereits or reading insulin, Problems ws ie ‘Kanes erspective came ia ight whet eileen ike Aretha paved en Fetes having developed some of the scaled prerequsne medic, en Eo nl learner, the languagetelatedprorequises or seaing nee SPs inappropriate, suchas hearing the dikerence euween aie ee ener idenical words (4. it-binchai-shan)ontheeapeseer a a amesee should be uly develope bere reading instead a sient EORESH speakers and Engish Kramers alle, many seating atte: SAL Mereses tuned out toe mneesay hindrance Wo Heer pment, Emergent Literacy Perspective ei tenet of dhe reading readies peepee wer alle in question 223 Soul lesan in the 19608 on childen whe eared to ead be a sep ane msructon in school ‘Durkin, 164). These cay wears ed san, see nt Sutory and visual discrimination tasks, nor al they ae an ee {ul mop potierly on one fo bette they engage in tenga ee Fan they dd lam to eead by age 2 while hiding aone inion se Millosopher lan-Paul Sante (19671 came to have done, Rather te eaComraing te Emr Lean nd ean Readies Pepetines readers et their sighs an doing what they saw other people doing, and shey feng the aduls at home sv arswering heir questions about pnt and reading {Grahalyhey figured te rest ut for themselves The percentage fcr who ‘eam to ead without fonnal istration fe quite small. Hovweves, by iwvestgati these chen iteracy developatent processes esearers documented he nee fora theory o eat Mercy devcpment that could accomeaate thet Findings ‘The stage as set fora ne perspective: he enengent teracy perspective Acconling 1 the emergent ieraey perpestive. plone by. Mare Clay 11975) In New Zeaaud and Ena Fereio and Ao Teberonky (1982) 19 Lai “America children begin 1 devel rte language Rowe lr the omen they ate ist exposed tw reading and weg at bane daring ir pesca year possibly fom the ime of hia (Cla, 1982), Literacy development viewed 9 Somewhat pale tof langage development in process Peregoy & Baye 1995). That sas chfdres are immersed in sci envirnmis whew people ate reading and writing for a variety of pusposes they take note of hw the wren sword is used around them in Iss, ots, letters story, coo sit prec labels magne, and efter envicoomental pri Hom this highly functnal lniten input children goduallyeonstrat knowledge of the fucns aa rms of print Of course, the ns ant to tt the ac as wel andl ake To pet «ll paper, an books ready You may have scen preschoolers ck tor book nd “rea to their stted animals euening the pgs al pong ou the ac tures a they go along. Given the opportunity cldren will abo iy ot ting om 168 oper wi deaing, scribing. and various ether forms of wating that gral begin wo approximate comentiona writing. Ts cnt np sal met sao, and hens appximatos ate reading awrite grant Fao erly ery despot, oss they are nora language develope “An important aspect f the emensent Htesacy perspective fs tha lteraey devel ‘pment begins at avery young axe tome amid dada ai and coma nity acvities. As ees with hteracy leaning no longer chaste the sole province of the schoo, only involvement nearly leracy ty highlighted. Whereas advocate of reaing readiness scourge parents fr teaching thei children to eead, emergent Ieracy editors encourage pares fo involve tel ‘iki in naturally occuring teracy events at home such a ealng Soies and making ace sts, empl airing the inpwrae nf one-schoo! relationship any sctlng To summarize we have examined two views on beginning eaing and ng development reading realness and emergent aera. The rea eal hess perspective was hised an the best scenic nse aval te fis ha ofthe century However iteracy eset eect dees elutes the ior assumptions ofthe reading readiness perapestve an cal nt question many Its practices especially pracces thal withheld frat cldeen opportunities 10 engage in outhemte. pret reading aa wing, however eadinennaty their ‘ellos might be. Emergent tieracy researc haste the losing teaching te ‘ommendavions. whi we cose applicable to naive English speakers and En Ish earner ike1 Acknowledge hat all children bring fneracy knowledge to school, while rec samizing tha citden vary in their sophiscation in Ieracy concen ead sls 2 Inmers cite ina variety of funconal rang an wetngexpedences tha day the purposes of ety while demons aa seg he esses of reading sad wring > Eich damatic ply centers wth huncsonal prt, nclading Iss, ables, prec Serption torn "phone books. and other pops, to entermey aenaee , ‘xperiment with teading and wring rg play 4 Accept and celebrate cilien’s progress in het gradual approximations to ‘cowentional ero Encourage cilden to cad and write at home and w tak t their parenis about ther reading and writing Srestc statis o implement these recommendations for Englsh leamers are descived in dhe remainder of this chapter Differences between Oral and Written Language Development {emergent Ieracy perspective emphases similares between ol and Inajten bnguage acquisiton. Ahough there are many smite Renee on and riven ingaage aauistion there ae alo sone sient fence Iaszed in Fgute 5.2. Fist, orl language & univenally ached nes 23 auistlon isnot. No one has pase an Innate “Mercy aenioes ae Sampara to Chomsky’ “language acausiton device “Thay thee aeons {Ur th mever developed ieray and thee are some individuals inte so ——— Berea anein caine wteer aac daa catnip | Siteerctraecsin earaaerewmtnee | a nea Wien eigen may ego | tereatag ur bose nae (Picuses2 ‘Some spain Diwan ens alsa Win ‘ange Aestonighiping Literacy Func in You Cseoom Another diference between oral and waten language development is tht al language s learned with relatively te expt astnucton, whereas wetter language development requires substantial explicit instruction and practice. For «example, young children selfcorect as they move fom saying. “Hi dan say Fight” to ie does’ sav rg.” No one nec o teach them i conan, aoe all students need exp insiuction on particular reading end writing conven tions. One reason explisit instruction is needed s simply that i saves tie to el 2 third-grade 1 spell ion a the end of words inseal uf the Inve legis! tn that the child has bean sing oF to break long words into pos ar to see Jettes/sound cues wo pram early independence in reading. Speaking of expt Instruction, we are reminded that emergent iteeacypioncet Marie Clay sles the developer of Reading Recovery (Clay, 1975}, an early intervention prograry that Drovides expt phonic instruction integrated with meaninghl eading sd wr Ing for fist-graders experiencing difialty learning to read Diflerences beeen oral and wale language aculsiton tend to be difer- ences in degree rater than kind (Snow, 1985), For example the lactis letacy scquistion not universally achieve In itertesaceties may be paral st Utable to the difference degeee of functionality between ral sid wien lan ‘vag You can’t gt by in te very wel without talking because oral language ‘sed 0 often 10 meet basic needs. Write languoge Is certaily hue et does not have the immediacy of oral language. No child Is rete to read the ord Gherorin onder togetbreaklas. AS teachers, we teed to itease a Highs igh the functions of ureacy in our elassooms As iteacy nes polices, yo ‘students will be morivated to read and wrt. tn additon the mute you vad oad ‘ite in the classroom, the more your student wil beable to see how it's done and why You are a powerful model. As students work with the media of wri ten language. they wll develop many conventions other own, When lesan, though you should fel iee rouse expla instruction, espetally When edldteg ask you fori And they will Hoo rnscyrocnons eee 1 takes some thought and imagination to create an highlight Ieray func tions in your classroom. When you create a varety a leracy purpnes a Your students. you broaden thir understanding of Meracy funktons ana moate them to ear how to read and vr If your students ave lite rior experience with eading and writing tisall tae more portant tha you exp ek aboon hhow these can be use fr diferent purposes, such asa cand send binhday shes toa friend far away alist co help you remember what wo buy atthe sone journal w keep a record of the evens ofa tp to vst elatives, ands personal ‘hone book 1 keep your tends" numbers handy. Table 3.1 cies atone exons les of teracy functions ttt children use at home an a school5 | Emerge Lies ‘sor ablangman com pee “Thee 51 ween Language Funaions snd Classroom Experiences Funcions — Ghssroom Sane Order forms py sore mend you Uieest board for mores From teacher to children; ass post office ‘laogas ural ers 1ome Books abouts and Family wth captioned pictures ndhidual Lunpsageespenence stoner Telimeaty _Queon ox: econ books ec pene eng bos repome uta magnate ‘et prtnd Story eng reader ther ec lng book and recon comic Mme : "Meas sey. Movas board bun bar nots pup pring haa! 166 Iessapso parents; class newspaper conenteeeteety ee ook eputoy Ythovld Daly hedde od: tion feo the cpt pon chara rer posted ee wc ms st tings of early Heray develope is yang cen sex aha sual fons of the vering system they see ued eens Cree aie an English, ogre ain Chee, onsen se tee ena ingen develope by Che Sequiyh inthe nena ere sro hoe aay) iM cide acquve the ona language hans ee? inne Fg a abo experiment with he writen forms a eg ee oe Ara ane tna -sea-oll ches stem at wag ne it el ere cach of which wes ilereat alpacas ae Aarts ERICH oR sau are, hein eke ee ‘Attough rat yet conver cad ils tng segs en eg eeEspaingthe Vil Form fen Language ‘of she conventional fara he ore Sounding alphabet. Thee examples of young children’ ary atemps at ‘erting shove us theirs o repre Sent the visual aspecs of th lp etc writing system ‘hey have seen sd around them, Their writing appeosimates the mature writing sy tems. but noe ell entugh yet to be dealy decipherabe Research suggests that children learning logographic mein sytem ln which wetten characters represen words, may alo go though sine Sages, trom seribling to inventive character forms to stand character formation (Chi, 1988. Figures, 34 and 5.5 show young awanese wri 1s approximations in conseucting | characters of the Chinese writing sys Pier Ee rahe tem gure 3-4 show cay kone | | Prue | ER MEST gape wasn nth ihe | | gine | Betty cots writing Hooks te the acuat | | "Pais | BREA ic tha forthe mor | } hid das itr of ed Bele = _ each items the Chinsse character Se eee Oe fiom. ecec wa ccc aee Some otmore sans meee FARE Development of Aphabtc Weng Csaneing Stl and So ‘The examples of children’s emergent ering i Figutes 5.3, Sl and 35 ius fate youngsters attention te visual aspects wting syste: Ith section Wwe take a look at two states tat shove ow children working wil aphoheny setting systems gradualy connect the vial sto with the sunt they ep ent in onder to make thei written mussages dcipherable to ethers, Esser Suléby. an emergent teacy rescarchet, examined the mrtg of 24 Brahe Speaking Kindergarten children (Sulby, 1985). She ileal sy corners a tng stress that the children use, but cautined that thee caters not necessarily represent developmental seuenees The categories none5 | Smeg itrcy “oncalonman compere tad : cae ie SBC oi ® te Mag oe a y 9) Fleune 54. Gin tone Roopapn He Wing, These towsphe ware writen bya Syerld Che boy Seth his ito wing the tonal Crane ao inet nga 168 al rn OB) gir tA Bo awe ne a 7 i. in hua” for anda even thee doesnt havea logo sounds tna tion, Manta uses diferent approach 1 hong vos sounds. wring te for find “hoa for hme and Sant koe me. in hese wont, she Tes the vowel “say is name" Finally, Mang hears the diphuhong. two ‘vowel sounds combined nthe wud joo vshich “she spel “lawns. “been though Martha vowel spelings et inconsistent. they portay tte seule, ‘wel enough fr the wunds tobe dee Dhcrabletivented spellings soph tated as Maria’ ana Som’ shew how chien are wurking nut the graphic: representations ot languase Sounds IC you ean decipher the wee Saxe. the child has done an etl ‘peli jo even iii completely coment wt ata ad Maree eng explo need pe tng i hs al: he cll a demons aor ee wet tucson SM PH Their ses ke sense a a ME tn hag © emma wih is menher Mra er Pee of devs aa vil urine i foe ade ye ierary te Sere inti ain sc as Ware et ‘ai incr ate 16) to havea pola that they sake