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The importance of successful basic literacy development in the early years of schooling cannot be overstated. Young learners who do not learn to recognize words accurately and effortlessly, to decode unfamiliar words and to spell will struggle with reading and experience academic difficulties in later years [1].
Fortunately, research provides guidance about promoting the development of literacy in young children [2], even if they have limited oral language proficiency in English. Developing literacy in children with no or limited English-language proficiency is especially important in Canada because of the large number of immigrant children or children of immigrants who do not speak English. Acquiring literacy skills can be particularly challenging for the English Second Language (ESL) children entering the Canadian school system every year.
Conventional wisdom suggests that lack of oral English proficiency is the main impediment to successful literacy learning for young ESL students, but recent evidence suggests that this may not be true. To clarify the issue, CCL examined the evidence devoted to the following questions:
In the United States, the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth, a panel of recognized U.S. and Canadian experts, has found that ESL students are typically two to three years below grade level in their performance on reading tasks and three times more likely to drop out of high school than their native English-speaking peers [3].
However, ESL students are not a homogeneous group. They differ along a number of individual, social, cultural and economic dimensions. Some are well-prepared for the task of acquiring literacy skills in a second language, while others are not. As a result, some studies have found that ESL learners are relatively delayed in their literacy development [3], while other studies suggest they perform as well as or better than their English-speaking peers [4, 5, 6].
Recent Canadian studies show that, despite the advantages shown by native English students on oral language tasks, the gap disappears when it comes to word-based reading tasks. Figure 1 represents data from ESL and native English students from the same neighbourhood and attending the same schools in metropolitan Toronto. These ESL students outperformed their native English peers in the speed of reading letters and isolated words [4]. Similar findings were revealed in a study conducted in British Colombia [5]. Research also indicates that, similar to first language learners, phonological awareness and speed of reading letters are the predictors of ESL word-based reading achievement [3, 6, 7].
Although English native speakers perform at a higher level on oral language tasks compared to their ESL peers, the performance of ESL children on reading tasks is at a similar level. These findings indicate that ESL students do not require a high level of oral English proficiency in order to acquire English literacy skills. Once young ESL students acquire a minimum level of oral language proficiency, their ability to learn how to read words and simple texts in English quickly reaches the same level as their first language peers. The story is somewhat different, however, when it comes to acquiring higher levels of literacy such as reading comprehension and writing.
The above indicates that oral language skills are not a good indicator to use when assessing the reading ability in young ESL students and should not be used as an indicator for reading difficulties among ESL learners [8]. However, oral language proficiency may play a more important role at a later stage of reading development (e.g., reading comprehension) [9].
Similar factors account for the successes and difficulties experienced by both ESL and English first-language learners. In their review of the research on the development of reading among English language learners, the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth identified phonological awareness, letter naming speed, and working memory as factors that predicted reading success for learners from a variety of language backgrounds [9]. Students who are slower and make more errors in naming letters, who experience difficulties with rhyming tasks, and who demonstrate poor working memory are likely to encounter reading difficulties, regardless of their oral language skills [4, 9]. Similar to native English-language speakers, pre-literacy skills such as letter naming and sound-symbol correspondence appear to be markers of word-based reading performance for young ESL learners [9].
Concern about the educational difficulties experienced by second-language learners began about 30 years ago. In particular, observers were disturbed that too many second-language learners were placed in special education classes [10]. As a consequence, well-intentioned professionals and school officials delayed diagnosing ESL learners as needing special attention for reading disabilities for a number of years, believing that ESL students’ reading difficulties were related to linguistic and cultural factors rather than to psycho-educational and cognitive factors.
A positive outcome of this movement has been the development of alternative and culturally sensitive assessment procedures, as well as a growing awareness that assessment in a child’s native language may be a more accurate indicator of cognitive functioning than assessment in English. However, delaying the diagnosis and treatment of reading difficulties only makes the problem worse.
Research indicates that 5% - 15% of students lag behind their peers in developing appropriate basic reading skills [11, 12]. This is true regardless of language background. As is the case with all students, some ESL learners may read with difficulty because they have problems with decoding skills. These problems will not diminish as the ESL learner develops better English language skills and must be addressed as early as possible. When ESL students show evidence of being at risk for reading difficulties—if they experience difficulties in phonological awareness, speed of letter naming, and working memory [7]—it is crucial that they receive help quickly. This is true for all students; ESL learners are no exception. By remaining attentive to current research, practitioners may be able to avoid both under-identification and over-identification of ESL children who are at risk for developing reading difficulties [13].
The danger is that the poor reading performance of ESL learners will be mistakenly attributed to lack of oral language skills [8]. When this happens, ESL learners do not receive the help they need. This delay in receiving help increases the gap between ESL and English first-language learners and makes helping these children more challenging. It is as crucial for ESL children to receive early intervention as it is for their English first-language peers. Early intervention minimizes reading problems that adversely affect academic achievement.
Research on effective teaching strategies for ESL students is scarce. However, some conclusions can be drawn from the available evidence. In general, most components of effective interventions designed for native English speakers are also beneficial for young ESL students.
is the “insight that every spoken word can be conceived as a sequence of sounds represented by the letters of the alphabet, an awareness of phonemes is key to understanding the logic of the alphabetic principle and thus to the learning of phonics and spelling” [18]. Letter-sound correspondence or sound-symbol correspondence refers to the correspondence between the sounds of the language and the printed letters [9]. Letter combinations refer to combinations of letters that can be pronounced but are not real words in the language [9].Working memory refers to a person’s capacity to store information while engaging in other mentally demanding activities. For example, working memory is required when a person is asked to make a judgment about each of a series of spoken sentences and then to recall the last word of each sentence in the order in which it was spoken [19]
We need to make certain that ESL students do not lag behind their native English-speaking peers on reading tasks. To do so, a comprehensive and balanced approach to teaching reading is needed. Such an approach should include the following components to the extent that is possible [9, 14, 15]:
In summary, persistent reading difficulties among ESL students are generally the result of deficits in skills specifically associated with reading, rather than deficiencies in oral English.
Early identification of reading problems combined with immediate and sustained help are the key components to ESL student success in literacy. As with native English speaking students, young ESL students benefit from quality and balanced instruction strategies for teaching basic literacy, which also includes an oral language component.
Assessment strategies and interventions used with monolingual students can also be used successfully with ESL children, especially if they are applied early when the problem occurs, at the appropriate level, and maintained until reading proficiency has been developed.
[1] http://www.cckm.ca/CLR/CLROnlineCatalogue.htm
[2] http://www.research-works.ca/
[3] http://www.cal.org/natl-lit-panel/reports/Executive_Summary.pdf
[4] Geva, E., & Yaghoub Zadeh, Z. (2006). Reading efficiency in native English-speaking and English-as-a-second-language children: the role of oral proficiency and underlying cognitive-linguistic processes. Scientific Studies of Reading, 10, 31-57
[5] Lesaux, N., K., & Siegel, L. S. (2004). The development of reading in children who speak English as a second language. Developmental Psychology, 39, 1005-1019.
[6] Geva, E., Yaghoub Zadeh, Z., & Schuster, B. (2000). Understanding Individual Differences in Word Recognition Skills of ESL Children. Annals of Dyslexia, 50, 121-154.
[7] Lipka, O., Siegel, L. S., Vukovic, R. (2005). The Literacy Skills of English Language Learners in Canada. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, Volume 20, Number 1, February 2005, pp. 39-49(11).
[8] Limbos, M. & Geva, E. (2001). Accuracy of teacher assessments of ESL children at-risk for reading disability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34 (2), 136-151.
[9] August, D. & Shanahan, T. (Eds.) (In press, 2006). Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: A Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth (0-8058-6077-0). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
[10] Cummins, J. (1984). Bilingualism and special education: Issues in assessment and pedagogy. England: Multilingual Matters.
[11] Lyon, G. R. (1995). Research initiatives in learning disabilities: Contributions from scientists supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Journal of Child Neurology, 10, 120-126.
[12] Lyon, G. R. (1999). In celebration of science in the study of reading development, reading difficulties, and reading instruction: The NICHD perspective. Issues in Education: Contributions from Educational Psychology, 5, 85-115.
[13] Geva, E. & Wade-Woolley, W. (2004). Issues in the Assessment of Reading Disability in Second Language Children. I. Smythe, J. Everatt, and R. Salter (Eds.) International Book of Dyslexia: A cross language comparison and practice guide. Chichester, UK: John Wiley, pp. 195-206.
[14] Vaughn, S., Mathes, P. G., Linan-Thompson, S. & Francis, D. J. (2005). Teaching English Language Learners At Risk for Reading Disabilities to Read: Putting Research into Practice. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20 (1), 58-67.
[15] Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Willows, D. M., Schuster, B. V., Yaghoub Zadeh, Z. & Shanahan, T. (2001). Phonemic Awareness Instruction Helps Children Learn to Read: Evidence from The National Reading Panel’s Meta-Analysis. Reading Research Quarterly, 36, 250-287.
[16] Denton, C. A., Anthony, J. L., Parker, R., & Hasbrouk, J. E. (2004). Effects of two tutoring programs on the English reading development of Spanish-English Bilingual Students. The Elementary School Journal, 104, 4, 289-305.
[17] Blum, I., H; Koskinen, P. S., Tennant, N., Parker, E. M., et al (1995). Using Audiotaped Books to Extend Classroom Literacy Instruction in Homes of Second-Language Learners, Journal of Reading Behavior, 27, 535-563.
[18] Snow, C., Burns, M., Griffin, P. (Eds) (1999). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Novato, CA, US: Arena Press. p. 52
[19] Gathercole, S. E., Alloway, T. P., Willis, C. & Adams, A. M. (2006). Working Memory in Children with Reading Disabilities, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 93 (3), p. 266.