The rate at which English Language learners develop proficiency in English varies considerably among students, based on a variety of contextual and personal factors. Therefore, teachers will need to know and understand each student individually. Personal variables influencing literacy development include the age when the language was learned, level of proficiency in the language, parents' proficiency in English, cultural norms for language use, background knowledge, exposure, motivation and attitudes toward the languages. Student's age and the age at which English was introduced are important factors to consider when designing literacy instruction for ELL's. The challenge is that educators are to select materials and activities that are age and level appropriate. Students who did not start learning English at a young age will be developing literacy a lot slower than those who started out young. Learning for older students is a lot more arduous. Another important factor is the literacy level in the native language. As linguists suggest, literacy transfers across languages. Learners who are literate in their native languages are not clean slates when it comes to learning to read and write in English. They are already familiar with the basic principles of reading applicable to most languages such as grapho-phonemic correspondence, word-concept relationship, chunking of the text into sentences, etc.
Student background knowledge and exposure are the factors that will influence the students' ability to construct the meaning, comprehend a variety of texts. Teachers will need to provide extra help to the students, who have had limited exposure, as building background knowledge is essential to meaningful learning.
Home literacy habits, parents' education level, attitudes towards literacy, perception of the function of literacy can also affect the learner's attitude, motivation and proficiency. Families' concept of literacy and their practices can be congruent or may be very different from the school's. For example, respect for the student's own language, even if it is not used for instruction, will favor learning because it reflects respect for the students themselves and their families.
One of the contextual factors that influence literacy development for ELLs is the native language characteristics. For example, Spanish is an efficient language to teach children to read. The writing system is similar enough to English to allow students to master reading within a few years. The situation will be different for Chinese students whose native language has a writing system quite different from English. Therefore, teachers will need to utilize different literacy instruction techniques in order for Hispanic and Asian students to achieve the same educational goals.
Brisk, M. & Harrington, M. (2000). Literacy and Bilingualism: A Handbook for
All Teachers. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Anya, this is a great question for your inquiry project! I like that you addressed the challenges of deciding on teaching materials based on age and level appropriateness. Also, I thought the part about literacy in native languages was an interesting topic. This is so true, and yet it is easy to overlook. If an ELL student is struggling, it could be a result of poor literacy development in his/her native language. This would therefore compound the difficulties of that student learning English at a high literacy rate. It sounds like you are off to a great start on your research. Good luck and happy researching!
ReplyDeleteYou are finding good info here.
ReplyDeleteI really like this question! I am taking Learning Theory and Practice this semester so the topic is familiar! I think you have hit on some of the major influences on an ELL and are headed in the right direction! If you would like to borrow some of the articles that I have from my Learning Theory class let me know, they are great articles and have a lot of information!
ReplyDeleteWe all know that progress varies with different students, but sometimes we forget that cultural background can have a profound affect on personal progress in the area of reading development. Background is the criteria by which we as humans develop wisdom and sometimes our students come to us with very little background experience. It breaks my heart to consider the effects of parents or lack thereof, on a young person and their development. I suppose these realities stretch out even further when you're dealing with a student who has limited background knowledge and limited English.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post