Developing literacy in English as a second language: Guidelines for teachers of young children from non-literate backgrounds (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Literacy Research, 2010
The purpose of this article is to respond to a review of the report Developing Literacy in Second-language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth, written by our respected colleague Kathy Escamilla, which appeared in a recent edition of the Journal of Literacy Research. This will also give us the opportunity to offer a brief update of the research on effective reading and writing instruction for English-language learners that has appeared since 2002, the cut-off year for the inclusion of studies in the original panel report. Downloaded from 342 AUGUST, SHANAHAN youth ages 3-18 with respect to their attainment of second-language literacy and to produce a comprehensive report evaluating and synthesizing this literature. The increase in students in U.S. schools who come to English as a second language is remarkable and represents a major challenge to American education. The Department of Education rightly wanted to provide research-based information for schools on how best to facilitate their English learning. It was necessary for the panel to limit its inclusion to studies that were published in English (no matter what languages may have been the focus in the studies); thus, the majority of such studies were conducted in the United States, followed by those from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, with some studies from the Netherlands, Finland, and Israel. A primary purpose of the report was to establish a foundation for current and future research and as such was intended primarily for researchers. Within the selection criteria established, the panel was comprehensive in its review of the research: It focused broadly on languageminority students, and included a variety of study types addressing a wide array of questions pertinent to the literacy education of language-minority children.
2009
Literacy instruction for English language learners pre-K–2 is a very comprehensive digest of language development punctuated by practical suggestions and advice. Barone and Xu are both teacher educators in the USA. This is worth bearing in mind upon reading as some of the terminology is certainly rooted in that context. However, the principles underpinning this work and the pragmatism with which it is written make it accessible to a much wider audience. The book is logically structured, beginning by encouraging the reader to think more holistically about how classrooms can be created to engage learners. The authors then consider English language learners’ developmental journey through oral language development into proficiency in written English. Barone and Xu also deal with the reading processes of decoding and composition and finish very helpfully with some case studies of their ideas in practice and the effects the strategies they advise have on children’s learning
2018
This Ethics Clearance Certificate should be read in conjunction with the Integrated Declaration Form (D08) which specifies details regarding: • Compliance with approved research protocol, • No significant changes, • Informed consent/assent, • Adverse experience or undue risk, • Registered title, and • Data storage requirements. EC 15/11/03 iii ETHICS STATEMENT Sophie Deliwe Sibanda has obtained, for the research described in this work, the applicable research ethics approval. I declare that I have observed the ethical standards required in terms of the University of Pretoria's "Code of ethics for researchers and the Policy guidelines for responsible research," DATE: 2018-11-12 iv DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this research study to my father, Sydney Taizwirhewa Munhewa Mutizira Sibanda. Thank you for your guidance, patience, love and words of encouragement throughout my life. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge a number of people who contributed to the completion of the dissertation. I am also thankful to the following persons who have supported me throughout my studies: My life partner and soulmate, Mr JM Mthimunye, for your patience, support and willingness to always help when I need it most. Dr Roy Venketsamy, my supervisor, whom I hold in the highest regard, for his unceasing support, patience, advice and encouragement. Thank you for your inspiration, guidance and always willing to help me to successfully complete my studies and keeping me on my toes. Thank you for helping me to find my direction. Dr Susan Thuketana for taking the time to read and advise me on my dissertation against all odds. I sincerely appreciate your support and guidance. The Almighty God, for providing me with strength throughout my challenges. My beautiful daughters, Surprise, Tshepiso, Thiko and Mohau for their love, support and kindness throughout this rough journey. Thank you for always being willing to listen to my frustrations. My colleagues at school for always being willing to make time for me when I needed support. It was a privilege to complete my studies knowing I have the best support system one could ask for. The language and technical editor for the editing of my dissertation. Thank you so much for your friendliness and excellent work. My appreciation to all Grade 3 teachers who took part in the study, for their time and willingness to share their concerns and experiences with me. Thank you for being there for me. Without your contribution, my study would not have been possible. Finally, my gratitude to Janvier Matabishi Ndihano who constantly spent sleepless nights guiding me on technical matters pertaining the table of c vi ABSTRACT Teachers are the key players in the teaching of literacy skills to young learners. The teacher is primarily responsible for using different approaches to teach literacy skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing to young learners whose language is not the same as the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) at schools. Teachers must plan activities that are learner centred and promotes interaction and participation. It has been found that the use of a variety of teaching approaches and various kind of texts improve literacy skills amongst learners. This study aimed to qualitatively gain insight into the approaches teachers use to teach literacy skills in the Foundation Phase class. The study's primary and secondary research questions are as follows: What approaches do teachers use to teach literacy skills in the Foundation Phase? How do teachers integrate listening, speaking and writing when teaching reading in English as a First Additional Language (FAL)? In an attempt to answer the above research questions, semistructured individual interviews were held with Grade 3 teachers. vii
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1995
By analyzing problems of primary school students' oral English learning and teaching in Nan Chong, China, this paper explores five advantages of cake English app, one of children's picture books reading apps, in enhancing students' oral English competence, applies vocabulary studying, vocabulary-pictures matching games, picture stories reading and blank filling tests in cake English app to the pre-speaking stage, the while-speaking stage and the post-speaking stage of primary English class and suggests ways of implementing cake English app in class, aiming at arousing students' interest in learning to speak English and then improving primary school students' oral English competence.
Early second language reading development: An extension of home literacy modes. JLTL, Vol.3, No.1
There is "surprisingly" little evidence on the impact of language minority parents on their children and on the links between family literacy experience and literacy outcomes . This participant observation case study demonstrates a Chinese-American family's efforts in this regard. The detailed descriptions of how an ESL child quickly became able to read in English and receive grade-level reading instruction provide evidence of language minority parents' contributions to early second language (L2) reading acquisition. The depictions of when, what, and how this immigrant family became involved with and intervened in their child's L2 reading complement the quantitative design of Home Literacy Model and fill research gaps in L2 literacy by informing a minority child's complete process from "learning to read" to "reading to learn". Some insider's suggestions to language minority parents, schools, and home literacy practitioners regarding early L2 reading enhancement are also provided. ðə dʒərnəl əv laeŋgwədʒ titʃɪŋ aend lərnɪŋ J L T L dɛdəketəd tu haj kwɑləti risərtʃ ɪn əplayd lɪŋgwɪstɪks
Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners
Educational Researcher, 2009
Teaching language-minority students to read and write well in English is an urgent challenge in the nation's K-12 schools. Literacy in English is essential to achievement in every academic subject-and to educational and economic opportunities beyond schooling. Compounding this challenge are increasing numbers and diversity of language-minority students. These indicators illuminate the challenge: • A large and growing number of students come from homes where English is not the primary language. In 1979, there were 6 million language-minority students; by 1999, this number had more than doubled to 14 million students. • Language-minority students are not faring well in U.S. schools. For the 41 states reporting, only 18.7 percent of English-language learners scored above the stateestablished norm for reading comprehension (Kindler, 2002). • Whereas 10 percent of students who spoke English at home failed to complete high school, the percentage was three times as high (31 percent) for languageminority students who spoke English and five times as high (51 percent) for language-minority students who spoke English with difficulty (National Center for Education Statistics, 2004). Language-minority students who cannot read and write proficiently in English cannot participate fully in American schools, workplaces or society. They face limited job opportunities and earning power. Nor are the consequences of low literacy attainment in English limited to individual impoverishment. U.S. economic competitiveness depends on workforce quality. Inadequate reading and writing proficiency in English relegates rapidly increasing language-minority populations to the sidelines, limiting the nation's potential for economic competitiveness, innovation, productivity growth, and quality of life.