First of all, sorry for the lateness in this post. I have been having internet problems at home but thankfully there is always Starbucks to save the day!
I have been in a number of classes that discuss the Big 5 of Reading Instruction and all of the intricacies that are involved in each. As a kindergarten teacher I find myself constantly addressing all 5 to different degrees. We spend a lot of time on phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary and try to build fluency without losing comprehension. When a struggling reader emerges, or even if someone just seems to get stuck in an area, I look further into strategies for working with those issues.
One area I have become more interested in is the effects of first languages or "mother tongues" on reading development. I often find that my ESOL students have a more difficult time and show slower progress in reading development. I know that by 3rd grade they tend to catch up or even out with their peers, but it makes me question what aspects exactly are holding them back. Their English skills are newer and less familiar, their language background knowledge varies greatly, and their vocabulary differs in many ways all playing a major role in developing literacy. I know that developing phonics can be difficult as they may be unfamiliar with some of the sounds or uses of sounds in English. In kindergarten we often work with rhyming words to develop word patterns but I understand that many languages do not use rhyme as English does. I have read a study that found that children learn vocabulary following the same steps regardless of the language they are learning it in, but I wonder if children in other countries follow the same steps in learning to read or becoming "literate." I would assume they do, but if not, how should that be effecting how we teach ESOL students to read?
NIH/National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development Of The National Institutes Of Health (2004, September 15). Children Follow Same Steps To Learn Vocabulary, Regardless Of Language Spoken. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 19, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/09/040915113243.htm
I don't know what exactly is holding them back but I would guess it has something to do with their experience with the new language. As they are more familiar with using phonics to sound out a word, trained to be alert to a certain sound, their reading fluency and their listening skills get better. Once they have mastered how to use these two skills, they may build vocabularies upon and in the meanwhile comprehend the text more thoroughly. Language learners who are as young as 2nd or 3th grade can catch up to their peers pretty quickly in a few years. The older they are, the more time they need to work on language proficiency.
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