A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

III. Ensuring that All Children Have the Opportunity to Learn to Read

Workshop 8
Students with Limited Proficiency in English

Speakers:
Rosalinda Barrera, Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois

Hilda Heine, Director, Regional Comprehensive Center XV/PREL, Honolulu, Hawaii

Margarita Calder?n, Research Scientist, CRESPAR--Johns Hopkins University, El Paso, Texas

Moderator:
Delia Pompa, Director, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA), U.S. Department of Education

Abstract:
The ability to understand oral English is an important precursor to learning to read in English. Many skills necessary to learning to read in English are acquired by learning to speak English (e.g., learning how the sound-letter correspondence works in English, and being able to hear and reflect on the structure of English). In addition, understanding what is being read in English requires the ability to understand English.

This workshop will provide a review of current research and techniques for teaching students with limited English proficiency (LEP) to read. An overview of the research will be followed by: (1) a presentation on language use in the home and reading aloud to children; and (2) a presentation on high quality programs that teach reading in the native language. An interactive discussion on how best to teach reading to LEP students will follow.

Notes

PRESENTATIONS BY PANEL MEMBERS:

ROSALINDA BARRERA--Teaching Reading to Students with LEP.

Highlighted 5 points from NAS report, of special relevance to LEP issues, and added some of her own insights.

1. LEP is not solely responsible for students? poor reading achievement. Other factors--SES, school quality, health, etc.--may have a major influence. We need to keep the ?big picture? of the sociopolitical context in mind. Creating successful readers is not just a matter of teaching micro-level skills.

2. Literacy in one?s first language contributes to second language reading achievement, both cognitively and effectively (sense of security, confidence). Beginning with familiar language and familiar content is part of the ?formula for reading success.?

3. Initial reading instruction in a second language can be a ?demanding and challenging undertaking?, especially if difficulty is compounded by poor school quality, low SES, etc. Children bring fewer resources to second language learning, because they lack the rich context of meaning that children gain from their primary (home) language. That doesn?t mean the nature of instruction has to be completely different, however.

4. Empirical evidence to help guide LEP children?s literacy instruction in either their primary language or in English is limited. [Dr. Barrera has a forthcoming article in Reading Research Quarterly about this lack of research and, especially, the lack of research by minority scholars. This area of research has been ?marginalized,? according to Barrera.]. The models of instruction that schools are currently using are not generally based on research.

5. Teachers need information and skills to help LEP children learn to read and learn English. Teacher preparation programs need to do much more to incorporate diversity perspectives. Resources are needed to accomplish this goal.

HILDA HEINE--Helping Families Help Their Children: Book-Reading Interventions

Hawaii and other Pacific Island areas have a ?rainbow? of languages. Many parents cannot communicate with their children because children are losing the home language. Many parents also think it is better for children to learn English quickly. Dr. Heine described a program that addresses these issues and creates partnerships with families to support literacy and home language preservation.

Pacific cultures value oral transmission of knowledge. Therefore, the program has developed a bilingual audio-taped series on reading aloud to children. The series has been produced in eight languages with English on each tape as well. The tapes are geared to mothers, who in Pacific cultures are primarily responsible for child rearing.

The goal of the series is to raise awareness of the importance of reading aloud, and to help parents learn more about how to read to their children. Each tape has a rationale (explanation in English and a Pacific Island language), emphasizing key ideas about the value of reading aloud. Each tape also provides a model of an oral book-reading experience (again in English and in the Pacific language), with an adult and a child engaging interactively. The tapes use indigenous stories and they try to bridge the cultural gap between storytelling (a cultural tradition in which children are silent) and interactive book reading in which children are active participants.

Dr. Heine demonstrated by playing a section of one tape. She also called attention to the background music, commenting that this is another valued cultural feature.

MARGARET CALDERON--Teaching Children to Read in Their Primary Language

Dr. Calderon described the features of a Spanish version of Success for All. [Note: handouts were provided; Dr. Calderon also had many overheads, more than could be shown in the time allotted].

Success for All has three major components (on handout as well):

1. A research based curriculum, containing
   --Cooperative Learning
   --Early Learning
   --Reading Roots (shared stories; use of effective reading strategies; introduction of letter sounds; fast-paced; partner activities)
   --Reading Wings (emphasis on comprehension)
   

   Dr. Calderon elaborated on a number of the curriculum?s features:

   • CyReC (20 minute story reading sessions): motivate children, give experience with books, concepts of print, expand vocabulary, build listening comprehension. Basic elements of ?story? and ?story grammar? are first taught through listening to stories. Interactive story reading time also has planned activities before, during, and after the reading, according to a weekly schedule provided to teachers. Program includes ?story kits? for teachers: 1 kit per week, containing a story in the primary language, accompanied by questions and other activities. Also includes a self-assessment checklist for teachers to use to monitor their implementation of the curriculum.

   • The Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms contain numerous literacy materials, lots of environmental print, literacy-related learning centers. The Pre-K/K program also includes storytelling using the CyReC approach described above, along with much oral language, use of thematic curriculum units, etc. A phonemic awareness program is also part of the curriculum; rather than being isolated, phonemic awareness is built into the thematic units (for example, rhyming words would tie in with the theme of dinosaurs, or the theme of a post office).

   • Transition to English (handout displays a sequence used in a two-way English/Spanish bilingual program. Beginning in kindergarten, each grade level has combinations of Spanish and English, with Spanish being the second language for the English-speaking children). For the Spanish-speaking children, the transition to English is carefully structured, using books that focus on ESL. Children develop reading skills in their primary language first. The ?Reading Wings? portion of the program builds reading comprehension in primary language before moving on to the second language. With this foundation, the mainstream classroom continues with 5 days in English and 5 days in Spanish, alternating from second grade on.

2. Assessment and intervention, including
   --Initial Assessment (to determine placement)
   --Eight-week Assessments with Regrouping (ensure continuous progress, identify child?s current reading level, need for referrals, etc. Regrouping: homerooms are heterogeneous, but the program regroups across grades so that each class has only one reading level. This permits the teacher to focus instruction, eliminates need for busy work for others, and makes instruction more cognitively engaging.)
   --Tutoring (aimed at keeping students from falling behind; intensive, immediate intervention that supports effective classroom instruction)
   --Family Support Tasks (Dr. Calderon noted that these are currently being revised to align more fully with culture.) Family Support Tasks include monitoring attendance, school-based interventions, parent involvement, and service integration.
   

3. Structures for school change, including
   --District Support
   --School Commitment
   --Principal Leadership
   --School Facilitator
   --Success for All Consultant
   

   In answer to a question about where the bilingual Success for All program has been used and how it has been evaluated, Dr. Calderon said it is being used in about 120 schools. A directory is available. The program is in its first year of implementation in New York City. Research in some schools that have used the program indicates that children attending the bilingual schools are ?much more successful? than others.

PARTNER DISCUSSIONS

Following Dr. Calderon?s presentation, Delia Pompa invited audience members to discuss their own challenges with someone sitting next to them.

SUMMARY AND COMMENTARY

Finally, Dr. Barrera returned to comment and summarize. Dr. Barrera returned to the five original highlights from the NAS report and used her own professional experience to illustrate some implementation strategies and challenges:

1. Role of poverty and other contextual factors: Dr. Barrera spoke of her own experience and that of her students in working with LEP students in the lowest-income areas. It is impossible to work on language skills when basic needs are not being met. Identification of those needs is a priority but is often ignored.

2. Building on the findings about the importance of primary language, and about learning to read first in the primary language, Dr. Barrera urged the group to ask why children are being expected to read certain materials, and to ask what they are reading. Frequently the reading materials are not meaningful, challenging, or culturally familiar. Literacy needs to be a tool, a means to an end.

3. The real problems with second language instruction are simply not being discussed. Neither the content standards being implemented in states, nor the country?s teacher preparation programs, are addressing these issues.

4. As pointed out earlier, the lack of research reflects the marginalization of second language issues in U.S. education. Minority researchers need to be conducting studies with minority children; this is happening far too little, and research journals are not open to much of this research.

5. In general, we have done a ?sorry job? of teaching LEP children English. Observing in classrooms, Dr. Barrera sees outdated instructional methods used with LEP students. She concluded by saying that we ?cannot afford to perpetuate 1960s instruction in the 1990s.?

QUESTION/ANSWER [I did not always identify speakers because many panelists contributed]

Q: How should the presence of different dialects affect instruction for LEP students?

A: Dialect does not need to be a problem. It becomes a problem if we reduce reading to ?sounds and letters.? There are many ?fonts? in spoken English just as there are in printed texts; children can learn to recognize them and to understand that a word has one meaning even if different people pronounce it somewhat differently. If pronunciation does get in the way of meaning, teachers should address that on the spot, informally. We need to immerse children in language, giving them many spoken and written models. We do not want to say ?the way you talk is wrong?--children need and will use many registers. Some teachers do not understand or honor dialect differences and other aspects of children?s primary language. This, again, is an issue for teacher preparation and staff development.

Q: The report and the panel say to wait to begin English reading instruction until children have a good command of oral English. But how long should you wait?

A: Pompa: well-trained teachers know when the ?moment? is. Calderon: ?it depends?: some older immigrant children may be in a different category than younger, U.S.-born LEP children. Dr. Calderon believes in early exposure to the written word, while still stressing oral language learning at first.

Q: Following up, what level of English should LEP children have before being taught phonics?

A: Calderon: phonics is different than, and later than, phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness should come first, as recommended in the report. Barrera: we have talked as if moving into English were entirely a school-controlled phenomenon: it?s not. English is everywhere in the community and in the media; the learner controls when and how he or she begins using English. Many children begin speaking English because peers are speaking it, thus increasing their interest and motivation. The process is fluid and dynamic.

Q: The presentations seem to assume a situation in which school has one minority language (Spanish) and English. In my schools (this is a superintendent) 12% of the children are now LEP; over 20 languages are represented. How do you teach in this situation?

A: Unfortunately, the panel ran out of time. There was a brief comment from Dr. Calderon about a project in Philadelphia, affiliated with Success for All, that has this kind of mix.