> > Is it more effective for ESL students to learn to read first and focus > less on comprehension, or should ESL students focus more on > comprehension and less on accuracy? I can tell you what the research says and what my own experience confirms. The huge federal research study and other big studies show that if you focus on accuracy, ESL kids will learn to pronounce the words and even to read with expression. In terms of reading performance, they will score reasonably comparably with their English first peers. The problem comes when they hit third and fourth grades. Then when they need to comprehend, they already are ingrained with the belief that reading is about saying words and it's extremely difficult and often impossible to flip a switch and change their approach.
The federal study on Minority Children and YOuth as well as the Rand report all state that comprehension should be taught right along with skills. This includes allowing kids opportunities to construct language through literature conversations and interactions as well as read alouds. There are a variety of methods that combine comprehension and and skills instruction and lots and lots of involvement with the text. The studies also show that bilingual education is better than teaching kids in a language they don't understand so that they are not thinking and engaged but rather are parroting surface skills. I have a big section in my new book on this that has quotes from the federal research and describes the methods that work. I have long thought that part of the problem is that too often teachers only see the kids in the grades they teach. If we focus on and test for skills, and if we have kids who can "read" and sound good, and perform on those skills test-wise, then there is an illusion of success. We are often not aware of what happens when kids get out of a class and start moving up to more complex material and the rules change. That actually is the explanation for the big drops in ESL's in the federal studies. It's also known as the fourth grade slump and the phenomenon is repeated across many, many studies. Anyway, it's something to think about. Elaine On Friday, July 27, 2007, at 09:09 PM, Marlene P Azzo wrote: > Hello. I am a student in Nancy Creech's reading class. I want to > thank you all for giving us an opportunity to participate in these > wonderful discussions. Everything that everyone has contributed has > been really helpful for a future educator like myself. > > > Before I ask my question, I feel I should explain a few things. I was > seven years old when I came to the United States. I was born and > raised in Iraq. When I was 6 years old, my family made the decision > to move to the U.S. We left Iraq, and found ourselves living in Italy > for eight months before we landed in the U.S. > > Well, when I came to the States, I found myself speaking 3 languages: > Arabic, Chaldean (which is a different dialect from Arabic), and > Italian. > > Learning the English language was not difficult because I was at an > age where I was able to pick up different languages without great > difficulty, (hence why I was fluent in Italian after just 3 months in > Italy!). > > Now that you understand my background, I will pose my question: > > Is it more effective for ESL students to learn to read first and focus > less on comprehension, or should ESL students focus more on > comprehension and less on accuracy? > > I would love to hear your opinions on this issue. Personally, for me, > I focused more on accuracy. Once I gained accuracy, I began making > meaning of what I read. Now, I am an English major who reads a novel a > week for pleasure. > > My sister read in similar fashion. My brother, however, was a > different story. He was taught to focus more on comprehension and less > on accuracy. He dislikes reading with a passion because he struggles > with accuracy. > > What do you think? > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ > mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
