Reading

Instructor:
Professor Mavis Shang
Presenters:
Eric
Max
Teaching Children
Literacy Skills in a
Second Language
 Introduction
► Reading is probably the most important
skills for second language learners in
academic context.

► The teaching of writing and oral skills is

increasingly being integrated with reading
instruction. (for both NES and ELLs)
 Reading as a Complex, Interactive
Process
► 1. automatic recognition skills-

► 2. vocabulary and structural knowledge-

► 3. formal discourse structure knowledge-

 Reading as a Complex, Interactive
Process
► 4. content/word background knowledge-

► 5. synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies-

► 6.metacognitive knowledge and skills monit

oring-
 Becoming Literate in a Second
Language

► There are many similarities in the process of

learning to read for ELL and NES children.

► Similar
approaches are often used in classes
of both native and non-native readers.
 Oral Language Skills and Academic
Literacy Skills

► NES and ELL children often differ in terms of

the language background.

► Research suggests, ELLs don’t need to wait

until they are orally fluent to start learning
literacy skills.
 The Role of the First
Language in Literacy
Development
►The relationship between L1
and L2.
 Varied Experiences, Background
Knowledge, and Cultures of ESL
Students

► Becautious about making any assumptions

about the cultural or language backgrounds
of ELLs.
 First Language Literacy:
Assumptions about Print

► 1. pictures with text

► 2. read left to right, front to back, top to
bottom
► 3. separate words from each other
► 4. quotation marks
► 5. punctuation marks
► 6. written language has different rules and
conventions from oral
Is there an optimal way
to teach reading and
writing?
 Part-Centered (Code-Emphasis)
Method

► 1. phonics approaches

► 2. so-called linguistic approaches

► 3. a sight word approach

► 4. basal reader approach

 Socio-Psycholinguistic (Meaning-
Emphasis) Approaches

► 1. Language Experience Approach (LEA)

► 2. A Literature-Based Approach

► 3. Whole Language Approach

 LEA
► 1. dictate a “story”

► 2. teacher or children read the story

► 3. various extended activities

► 4. be able to read other’s writing.

 The Phonics/Whole Language
Debate

►Numerous studies have attempted

to determine the relative effectiven
ess of many of these methods. Unf
ortunately, results have often been
inconclusive or even contradictory.
 The Review from Bond and Dykstra
(1997)
► 1.systemic emphasis and teaching of word
study skills are necessary

► 2.
eclectic programs is better than orthodox
approaches

► 3.
not all reading programs work equally
well
 The Review from Bond and Dykstra
(1997)

► 4. various methods and materials

► 5. writing component

► 6.
adopting certain elements from other app
roaches.
 Balanced Approach (whole-to-part-
to-whole) :The Instructional
Guidelines (Strickland)
► 1.
skills and meanings should always be
kept together.

► 2. systemically predetermined instruction

► 3. intensive instruction
 Balanced Approach (whole-to-part-
to-whole) :The Instructional
Guidelines (Strickland)

► 4. regular documentation and assessment

► 5. language arts instruction

Standard and Second Language
Literacy Development

►The test results may not be an accurat

e picture of learners’ true abilities if the
y are not able to read, understand, or r
espond to the test question.
►Strategies to Facilitate Se
cond Language Literacy D
evelopment and Help Stu
dents Achieve Standard
Expose Students to the Many Uses of
Print around Them

► 1. label items in the room.

► 2. focus attention on the print.

► 3.
manage aspects of classroom business in
writing.
Expose Students to the Many Uses of
Print around Them

► 4.
establish a regular place to post
announcement or messages.

► 5. record class discussions on chart paper.

► 6. create areas in the room for specific

literacy purposes.
Provide Opportunities for Children to
Read More Extensively on a Subject

► Extensive reading can be very effective.

► Internet research and projects are excellent

sources.
 Provide Authentic Purpose for
Reading and Writing

► E-mail messages

► Dialogue journal

► Research projects

► Class to class information exchange via internet

 Provide Scaffolding for Learning

► Temporary supports (before ELLs are able

to do unassisted)

► Decrease or remove supports. (after ELLs

are able to do unassisted)
 Use Oral Skills to Support Reading
and Writing Development

► Encourage cooperative groups.

► Explain orally before writing.

► Report what they discover and accomplish.

► Put the same information into written form.

 Focus Students’ Attention on
Reading and Writing Strategies

► Thinking

► Asking

► Looking

► Monitoring
 Conclusion

►Teachers need to be familiar with vario

us approaches to teach reading so that
teachers can make a wise choices abou
t how to teach.
Developing Adult Literacies

Resources
Needs
Goals
 What is English as a Second
Language (ESL) Literacy?

► Nonliterate

► Preliterate

► Biliterate
 Many Learners, Many Literacies

► Prose literacy (poems)

► Document literacy (job application)

► Quantitative literacy (order forms)

 Fours Themes or Purposes for
Language and Literacy Learning

► Access: Information

► Voice: Express ideas and opinion

► Independent Action: solve problems

► Bridge to Future: how to learn

Basic Adult ESL/Literacy and Lifelong
Learning
Adults have pursued their learning for

► 1. Personal

► 2. Professional

► 3. Academic
 Family Literacy Program Goals and
Models
► 1.to support parents in promoting children’s
school achievement

► 2. to foster a love of reading

► 3. put forth for some programs

► 4. to reconnect the generations in positive ways

 Goals of Pre-employment and
Workplace Programs
► 1. to get a job

► 2. to survive on a job

► 3. to thrive on a job
Goals of Civic ESL/Literacy Education
► 1. to assist learners in preparing to take
the naturalization exam.
a. Question Division

b. Information gap activities

c. Flash cards
Goals of Civic ESL/Literacy Education
► 2. to encourage learners who have been
naturalized to exercise their newly earned
franchise with the vote
a. A mock election

b. Voting basic

a. How and where to find information

Goals of Civic ESL/Literacy Education
► Many forms of civic participation

a. Examine their beliefs

b. Identify and analyze issues

c. Build skills and strategies

 Orientations to Curriculum and
Instruction
► Mastery or Transmission of Knowledge

a. Mastery-Based orientation: focuses on

linguistic structures, language skills, specific
content, and/ or competencies.
 Orientations to Curriculum and
Instruction
► Mastery or Transmission of Knowledge

b. Content-Based Approaches: focuses on

specific subject matter.
 Orientations to Curriculum and
Instruction
► Mastery or Transmission of Knowledge

c. Competency-Based Education: an
instructional objective described in task-
based terms.
 Orientations to Curriculum and
Instruction
► Meaning-Making or Constructivism

a. Participatory or Freirian Approach:

*use of generative words and themes

*the notion of teachers as facilitators
*use of problem-posing
 Orientations to Curriculum and
Instruction
► Meaning-Making or Constructivism

b. Whole Language Approach: learners work

together to read and write for and with each
other and evaluate products together.
 Orientations to Curriculum and
Instruction
► Meaning-Making or Constructivism

c. Project-Based Learning: learners investigate

a question, solve a problem, plan an event,
or develop a product.
 What Works? Continua for
Observation and Inquiry
► These questions can guide our own inquiry,
as we observe “what works” for different
learners and different situation.

a. What is the relative emphasis on four skills?

b. How much emphasis is given to linguistic

versus nonlinguistic outcomes?
 What Works? Continua for
Observation and Inquiry
c. What is the extent of focus on structure
versus meaning-making?

d. How much time do learners use language

and literacy in the class?

e. Is curriculum predetermined or does it

evolving learner interests?
 What Works? Continua for
Observation and Inquiry

f. To what extent do learners know the objecti

ves of the lesson and have an opportunity f
or input?
 Promising Directions in Adult ESL
Literacy Instruction

► 1.
Take an inquiring stance: practitioners
who learn about learners are in the best
position to help.

► 2.Balance skills and structures with

meaning-making and knowledge creation:
good at teaching language structures and
functions
 Promising Directions in Adult ESL
Literacy Instruction
► Develop “Vision-Making” Muscles:

a. What is our purpose?

b. What are we hoping to make happen for

learners who enter our classroom when
they come in and after they have left?
 Promising Directions in Adult ESL
Literacy Instruction

► Demand mutual accountability :

*Teachers and learners would be responsible

for each other.
 Promising Directions in Adult ESL
Literacy Instruction

► Create communities of learners and commu

nities of teachers:

*whether in person or on-line, can provide su

pport in one of the most challenging but re
warding endeavors imaginable.
Reading for Academic
Purposes
(EAP)

Introduction
 Purposes for Reading

► Search for information

► For general comprehension

► Learn new information

► Synthesize and evaluate information

 A Definition of Reading

►The reader draw information

from a text and combine it
with old information and
expectations.
What fluent readers usually do?
1. Read rapidly

2. Recognize words rapidly and

automatically

3. Use large vocabulary store

4. Integrate text information with their own

knowledge

5. Recognize the purposes

What fluent readers usually do?

6. Comprehension is necessary

7. Read strategically

8. Use strategies to monitor

9. Recognize and repair miscomprehension

10. Read critically and evaluate

General Implication from Research for
Reading Instruction

1. Build a recognition vocabulary

2. Provide a clear instruction to help Ss

build a reasonable foundation in L2

3. Address the range of skills

4. Introduce Ss to discourse-organizing
through some practices
 General Implication from Research for
Reading Instruction
5. Help Ss become strategic readers by
focus on metacognitive awareness
and strategy learning
6. Give Ss many opportunities to read
7. Make extensive reading and exposure
to L2 text
8. Motivate Ss to read
9. Integrate Reading and writing
10. Develop effective content-based
instruction
 Goals for an Effective Reading
Curriculum
1. Conduct needs analyses to interpret
institutional goals and expectations

2. Fine-tune reading curricula in

relation to specific goals

3. Select appropriate materials and

support resources
 Goals for an Effective Reading
Curriculum
4. Diversify Ss’ reading experiences

5. Work with texts by means of pre-,

during-, and postreading framework

6. Recognize the complex nature of

reading through meaningful
instruction
 Conducting Needs Analyses

► It is especially important to examine Ss’

motivations and attitudes toward reading in
general.
► Teachers have a responsibility to gather
information about Ss’ goals, prior reading
experiences, and attitudes
 Diversifying Ss’ Reading
Experiences
► Reading can develop successfully only
if students read a large amount of
material.
► Silent reading should be one part of
every reading lesson.
Working with Texts by Means
of a pre-, During-, and
Postreading framework
Teachers’ choices should be guided by
instructional goals, student readiness,
text resources, and implications from
research and theory.
 Prereading Instruction

1. Previewing the text

2. Skimming the text or portions of the

text

3. Answering questions

4. Exploring key vocabulary

5. Reflecting on or reviewing information

 During-reading Instruction

1. Outlining or summarizing

2. Examining emotions and attitudes

3. Determining sources

4. Looking for answers

5. Writing down predictions

 Postreading Instruction

1. Completing a graphic organizer

2. Expanding or changing a semantic map

created earlier

3. Listening to a lecture and comparing

information

4. Ranking the importance of information

5. Answering questions
Addressing the Complex Nature
of Reading through Meaningful
Instruction
1. Vocabulary Development
2. Careful Reading of Texts
3. Awareness of text structure and
discourse organization
4. The use of graphic organizers to
support comprehension
5. Strategic reading
Addressing the Complex Nature
of Reading through Meaningful
Instruction
6. Fluency development

7. Extensive reading

8. Student motivation

9. Integrated-skills tasks
 Vocabulary Development

► Students need to recognize a large

number of words automatically if they
want to be fluent readers.
► Key words should be the most
important part for a text
 Careful Reading of Texts
The careful reading requires readers to
demonstrate a good understanding of
details in the text.

1. Filling in blanks

2. Determining the attitude of the writer

3. Listing examples

4. Matching information
Awareness of Text Structure and
Discourse Organization
A consistent effort to guide students to
see the ways that texts are structured
will help them build stronger
comprehension skills.

1. Identifying the sentences

2. Examining headings and subheadings

3. Adding information

4. Underlining transition phrases

Awareness of Text Structure and
Discourse Organization

5. Explaining pronouns

6. Examining an inaccurate outline and

adjusting it

7. Reorganizing a scrambled paragraph

8. Creating heading

9. Identifying clues
 Use of Graphic Organizers to
Support Comprehension and
Discourse Organization Awareness

► The main goal of graphic representations

is to assist students in comprehending
difficult texts.
► Not all graphics representations are
helpful.
 Strategic Reading

► Major goal for academic reading instruction-

the development of strategic readers
► Strategic readers understand the goals of a
reading activity, have a range of well-
practiced reading strategies at their
disposal.
 Strategic Reading
Common Strategies:
1. Previewing
2. Predicting
3. Summarizing
4. Learning new words through analysis
5. Using context to maintain
comprehension
6. Generating appropriate questions
7. Clarifying meaning
8. Repairing miscomprehension
 Fluency Development
► Fluency involves :

① Rapid and automatic word recognition

② The ability to recognize basic

grammatical information

③ The rapid combination of word meanings

and structural information to create
larger meaning units
 Fluency Development
Reasons:

1. Reading fluency depends on knowing a fairly

large number of words.

2. The development of words is an essential

component .

3. Oral reading is a helpful support for reading

development.

4. Lots of ways to promote fluency without

requiring a significant investment in resources.
Fluency Development- Activities
► “Extensive reading activity” can develop overall
fluency, rate, and word recognition.
► Fluency- 1. Rereading practice 2.Rereading for
other purposes
► Rate- 1. Timed reading 2. Paced reading
► Rapid recognition skills- 1. word-recognition
exercises 2. flashcard practice 3. rereading
practice
 Extensive Reading

► Extensive reading should be a central

component of any course with the goal of
building academic reading abilities.
► Students can engage in to improve their
reading abilities by the sustained silent
reading of level-appropriate texts.
 Extensive Reading- Ideal
Conditions
1. Provide time for extended silent reading

2. Create opportunities

3. Find out what and why Ss like to read

4. Make materials interesting, attractive, and

level-appropriate

5. Build a well-stocked, diverse class library

6. Allow Ss to take texts home to read

7. Create incentives
 Extensive Reading- Ideal
Conditions
8. Have Ss share and recommend materials

9. Keep records

10. Seek out class sets of texts

11. Make use of graded readers

12. Read interesting materials aloud

13. Visit the school library regularly

14. Create a reading lab and designate time for

lab activities
 Student Motivation

Motivation is another key to successful

reading, but it is typically ignored in
the reading instruction easily.
 Student Motivation-
Development Ways
1. Discuss the importance of reading and
reasons for different activities

2. T need to talk about what interests them

as readers and why

3. All activities should be related to course

goals which Ss have been introduced

4. All readings tasks should have lead-ins

 Student Motivation-
Development Ways
5. T need to build Ss’ knowledge base

6. Teachers need to select texts and adapt

activities with Ss’ reading abilities

7. T should nurture “a community of learners”

among Ss
Integrated-Skills Instruction

► Reading is used to carry out further

language- and content-learning tasks.
► The goal for EAP curricula should be the use
of reading as a resource for integrated-skills
tasks
Reading for Academic
Purposes

Conclusion
 Extensive Reading Materials

►A successful extensive reading program is

that students should be reading material
which they can understand
► Some materials succeed because the writers
work within specific lists of allowed words
and grammar
 Setting up a Library

► We need to build up a library of suitable

books. If possible, we could persuade the
school to provide such funds.
 The Role of the Teacher in
Extensive Reading Programs
► The role of teacher is essential and crucial.
► We need to promote reading at the right
time effectively and persuade students its
benefits.
 Extensive Reading Tasks

► Students should be allowed to choose

reading materials which they are interested
in.
► Teacher should encourage them to report
back on their reading.
 Intensive Reading

► The roles of the teacher:

1. Organizer

2. Observer

3. Feedback organizer

4. Prompter
 The roles of the teacher

► Organizer:

Teacher should tell students what the

purpose of the reading is, and give
them clear instructions.
 The roles of the teacher

► Observer:

Don’t interrupt students’ reading process

and need to give them space to do self-
reading program.

By observing students’ reading process will

give us valuable information.
 The roles of the teacher
► Feedback Organizer:

Teachers should give students feedback when

they finished the task, and check if they have
completed the task successfully or not.

It is important to be supportive when we give

the positive feedback. This action may sustain
their motivation.
 The roles of the teacher

► Prompter:

When students have read a text we can

prompt them to notice language features in
the text.
 Intensive Reading: The
Vocabulary question
► Generally, teachers always encourage Ss to
read for general understanding without
worrying about the meaning of every single
words, on the other hand, Ss are desperate to
know what each individual word means.
► We can give Ss a chance to ask questions about
individual words or give Ss a chance to look
them up.
 Three Ways to Save times

1. Time limit

2. Word/phrase limit

3. Meaning consensus