Double Duty: Teaching a Language while Teaching Reading

Growing up in a largely homogeneous rural area of West Central Ohio, I had no experience through my academic career watching my teachers instruct reading for English language learners. However, with the changing demographics of our schools, knowing how to teach reading instruction for English language learners is a vital skill for all future teachers. The Graves text highlighted many useful strategies for teaching reading to such learners throughout Chapter 14. I would like to take the opportunity with this blog posts to highlight what I view as some of the most significant.

1.  Recognize and Build on Strengths (Pg. 418)

Learning a new language can be an overwhelming task. I have experienced this firsthand while learning Spanish. However, if an instructor is able to point out an area in which a student excels at, is able to give them meaningful positive praise, and is able to custom tailor a plan to capitalize their learning upon that strength, the student is being set up for success. This is a technique that I believe is at the core of any educational practice. Whenever a student is faced with a difficult task (like learning a new language) and they realize they are making progress, they are more motivated to continue their hard work.

      2. Take Advantage of the 20 Percent Rule (Pg. 421)

The text points out that overlap between different languages can be as much as 20 percent. Educators can use these words to reinforce their students using their first language to support the learning of the second. If a teacher is able to incorporate words with similarities between both languages, the new language learner can see some familiarity with the words and help build their confidence in learning the language. While learning Spanish, it was always comforting to see words that were the same in both English and Spanish (ie. natural/natural, chocolate/chocolate, and animal/animal). Psychologically, I looked at this occurrence as one less word I needed to worry about and made me feel less overwhelmed. If teachers are able to incorporate such word pairings into the readings they give their English learner students, it may help the students feel less overwhelmed.


      3. Involve Other Speakers of the Student’s Language (Pg. 425)

While teachers should always strive to involve parents and siblings into a child’s learning, this is especially important in cases involving English-learners. Teachers often have to realize that they are not always super heroes. Having the humility to reach out to other speakers of a student’s native language is a vital skill in best assisting a child’s learning. No one knows a child’s needs better than their family. Using the family and other native speakers as a resource in helping the child learn English is important. Establishing a community of students in the same situation of learning English can help create a support structure that assists them in helping each other out.

 

In order to best teach students, I find it useful to recall the struggles that I faced while learning a second language and relate them to the techniques Graves provides in the text. Although I have never experienced learning instruction for English language learners firsthand, I believe that with the knowledge and implementation of the above strategies, I am prepared to instruct reading to any English learner I may come across in my future classroom.