Teaching English Language Learners To Read

By Janette Klingner, University of Colorado at Boulder

Before I delve into my second post, let me tell you a little about myself. I am a professor at the University of Colorado in the Department of Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity. Before I earned my doctorate in reading and learning disabilities from the University of Miami, I was a bilingual special education teacher for ten years. Currently I am a co-Principal Investigator on the Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) Project, an IES-funded efficacy study. Of my more than 80 published works, one article, three chapters, and two books are on the topic of RTI. I have also presented at numerous local, national, and international conferences and conducted several professional development workshops, many about RTI.
 
Now let's unwrap a second assumption about applying RTI with culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Assumption 2: Learning to read in one’s second language is similar to learning to read in one’s first language; therefore instructional approaches that have been found through research to be effective with mainstream English-speaking students (and thus deemed “research-based”) are appropriate for serving English language learners (ELLs).

Some recommendations for how to teach reading to ELLs seem to emphasize the commonalities between learning to read in one’s first and a second language and downplay important differences (e.g., Gersten et al., 2007), giving practitioners the impression that they can use the same assessments and instructional approaches with their ELLs as with their English-only students. Yet, there are significant differences between learning to read in a second language that teachers should take into account when supporting ELLs (August & Shanahan, 2006; Cummins, 2007).

Phonological awareness in English can present special challenges to English language learners because some phonemes may not be present in students’ native language and, therefore, difficult to distinguish auditorily from similar sounds. Also, sound placement in words differs across languages, making it harder to manipulate the sounds in words because the order of the sounds is unfamiliar. Thus, teachers should not conclude that their ELLs are struggling because of a deficit in phonological awareness when they face these obstacles.

Similarly, some letters may look the same but have different sounds, such as Spanish and English vowels. Thus, although the process of learning to read in English is facilitated when students are already literate in their first language, unfamiliar phonemes and graphemes make decoding and spelling difficult.

Vocabulary instruction should take into account words and phrases that can be particularly confusing for ELLs, such as prepositions (e.g., “on,” “above”); pronouns (e.g., “she,” “they”); cohesion markers (e.g., “therefore,” “however”); words with multiple meanings (e.g., “bat,” “light”); figurative language such as similes (e.g., “swims like a fish”) or metaphors (e.g. “his stomach was a bottomless pit”); and idioms (e.g., “to know something inside out”). Also, cognates (i.e., words that look similar in two languages and have the same or a similar meaning) can be helpful for students who are literate in their first language. Yet false cognates can be perplexing (e.g., “fast” in German means “almost” and “embarazada” in Spanish means “pregnant”).

Many factors affect ELLs’ reading comprehension in English, such as their oral English proficiency, fluency, vocabulary knowledge, ability to use comprehension strategies, variations in text structure, differences in background knowledge, interest, and motivation. ELLs benefit from additional oral language instruction.

Some research suggests that expected benchmarks and rates of progress might not be the same for English language learners as English-only students (Linan-Thompson, Cirino, & Vaughn, 2007). English language learners do progress when taught with well-designed and well-implemented interventions, but may need additional time.

To implement RTI at high levels for ELLs, districts and schools should provide professional development in teaching reading to ELLs, and teachers should do all they can to learn about working with this population of students. Teacher education programs must also prepare pre-service teachers to teach reading to ELLs.

Comments

[Sprachkurse Frankreich]

yes, this is right that first language is similar & it has technique to learn new second language . . so just to think how you hav been started the first language then you would sure find right option to learn a new language . .

[Chinese Translator]

I grew up knowing my native language and English both at the same time. I don’t remember which language I spoke first. Having a second language is an advantage. It can open different doors of opportunities for one's career and even just to lift up one's self esteem.

[Mark Pennington]

Of course, when you equate learning to read in English with learning in one's primary language, you mean those that share graphophonic systems. It's the logographic systems that present challenges in transition. Reading isn't the only challenge, however.

Oral language proficiency particularly impacts expository writing ability. See a related article at
How Oral Language Proficiency Impacts Writing