Reading is something that is necessary for every aspect of our lives. To go through life not being able to read efficiently would make things difficult. For most people they don't think about all the components of what it takes to read and develop a strong set of skills in reading. A reader needs to be able to recognize individual words both reliably and efficiently in order to be able to process sentences and paragraphs. The instruction doesn't just end when the school day ends, parents need to be able to work with their children at home so they don't forget what they learned during the school day. For the children whose native language is not English this is hard due to the fact that they are hearing a different language when they go home. That is why parents need to help their children outside of the instruction they receive at school. Theoretically being able to understand the interaction between top-down and bottom-up processes is critical to being able to comprehend reading.
There are phonological processing skills that are critical to the development or reading skills. Phonological awareness has been able to predict word-decoding ability from grades k-4. Children should be able to phonologically process all of this information in their working memory. Repetition helps the skills that they learn be retained in their working memory. Skills that are coming about in our phonological awareness is able to develop in two languages. If a child is able to gain phonological awareness in their learning of English this can end up correlating with their word decoding ability in Spanish.
Even speakers who are advanced in their English speaking skills may utilize different patterns of conversation that vary from the rest of the speakers in the classroom. Individually we each have our own speaking style and sometimes this may not carry across to others the way we expect this to. When teaching children who are already differing in their native language this can language barrier can be seen as detrimental to their learning.
As mentioned in my previous blog post "The Importance of Easing Second Language English Students Into Learning How to Read," a majority of children in the U.S. currently live with at least one foreign parent. Which just goes to show the importance of really understanding the linguistics behind how we are able to successfully develop our reading skills. In another blog post that I wrote "Learning To Read Among English Language Learners," it has been found to be most important to obtain a head start on instruction. Kindergarten is a crucial age in which the children are best able to retain what they have learned. It doesn't stop with school instruction though, it is of upmost importance that the parents continue to help their children at home. They can use flashcards to help sound out syllables in the words etc., and this can help the children get a jump start on their phonological skills.
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| Second-language English learners being instructed in a classroom setting. http://www.districtadministration.com/article/second-language-learning |
