The Importance of Easing Second Language English Students Into Learning How to Read

  For most children reading comes naturally, but something school districts and people in general don't take into account is that those students who speak English as a second language are struggling. In her article, Reading 101 for English Language Learners, Kristina Robertson says that learning to read can be compared to riding a bike. She uses this analogy to show that just like all the things you need to pay attention to/what is happening while bike riding, reading is similar in that it can be a complicated process.

They call how well one learns to read a term called "Phonemic Awareness", but unfortunately for those children who speak English as a second language it can be nearly impossible for them to be able to sound out words in the language they are trying to learn. Which will impair their ability to recognize letter patterns that take place between words.

In her article, What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?, Suzanne Irujo talks about the initiatives that have been taken to help children. In 2001 a Reading First grant program called No Child Left Behind was established. Which made all U.S. Elementary school teachers became aware of the "essential elements" of reading instruction, which are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. This makes me wonder though why until 2001 this wasn't a key component of teacher's instruction in the classroom.

According to an article called Meeting the Challenge of Second Language Learners by Judith Colbert, one in five children in the U.S. currently live with at least one foreign parent. If these are the statistics and the world is aware of the fact that children's native language won't be English then why isn't there more attention in school districts about this fact. This article stresses the importance of working with the children's families and building a strong set of foundation skills with the child at home. This will boost their confidence and ability to learn. I agree with this idea due to the fact that I know that even up until this day educational settings can be intimidating.

Imagine if you were a child and you spoke no word of English, you get into the classroom and the lessons are extremely overwhelming. Before you know it you are behind while the rest of the class is easily beginning to sound out words -- this doesn't sound fun at all. In this scenario the child is most likely to feel insecure and are not going to be confident in their learning, but imagine if in the scenario the instructor met with the child at their house with the family and made it so the child was able to understand the reading skills at their own pace. This would help build up the child's self-esteem and they would be likely to learn how to read at a faster pace than they would sitting in the classroom feeling overwhelmed.

A child learning to read with English not as their first language.
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-does-research-tell-us-about-teaching-reading-english-language-learners