The ABC of teaching reading to YL

Greetings to everyone Reading is another fundamental skill which is important not only for learning but also in order to be successful in life. In our today's newsletter, you will find out why we need to develop reading skills with young learners and also tips and advice on how we can do it. The ABC of teaching reading to YL Reading is a dynamic and interactive process that requires skills and strategies to derive the meaning from a printed text. Children usually learn to read in their native language in early childhood. Whether they learn it in English as their L1 or L2, the process should be instructed in an informative and deliberate way. If we teach at primary level (from 5 to 10 years old), we must first understand the process of becoming literate in L1 as well as the challenges of reading in a foreign or second language. Cueing systems When teaching reading, we should include the three main cueing systems that students use to create meaning from print. They are: Graphophonic cues. Students should know there is a direct link between phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters) in order to be able to start ‘blending’ or sounding out simple words, e.g. vowel consonant (VC), followed by consonant vowel consonant (VC). Semantic cues. Students gain meaning from text using their background knowledge, i.e. they should know how to ‘encode’ the symbols and visuals in order to find out the message being shared. Syntactic cues. Students gain meaning from text using their knowledge of patterns and grammar. According to Krashen’s theory, acquisition will occur through multiple exposures to language usage in different contexts. Differences between the young learners’ L1 and English Children often learn to read in English while they are learning to read in L1. Some young learners of English as a foreign language may already be literate in their native language. Studies have shown that they can transfer literacy skills successfully between the two languages, and it is bidirectional. However, differences between L1 and L2 writing systems can create challenges for the learners, e.g. if L1 uses a non-alphabetic writing system (Chinese), if L1 uses a different alphabet than English (Ukrainian, Thai), if L1 uses the Roman alphabet with sound, or symbol differences (Spanish) or L1 symbols are read from right to left (Arabic) or top to bottom (traditional Chinese) etc. Naturally, children who share the same alphabet with English have less difficulty learning to read in English. However, all children, including native speakers find it challenging to learn the ways in which English represents sounds. How to teach There are popular methods to teach YL to read: The whole-word method teaches remembering the whole words and recognizing them in the text. It also includes teaching ‘sight words’. The phonics method where you teach letters and sounds, put them into syllables and words, students remember the regularity and read similar words. The Language Experience Method grounded in personalized learning where the words taught are different for every child. We recommend trying to use different approaches with your students. Here are some tips to follow. Hear, say, read, write. The main thing to remember before you start teaching reading is that young learners need a firm foundation in listening and speaking skills before they can become proficient readers and writers of ANY language. Learning to read and then to write means the young learner has to link what they have heard or spoken to what they can see (read) and produce (write). ‘Hear a word before you can say it Say a word before you can read it Read a word before you can write it’ (Linse 2005) Make sense of a different writing system. The recent study by Nam (2017) shows that the Korean children were able not only to discover key orthographic principles which characterize English and  Korean writing systems but also to find similarities and differences between Hangul and English from different points of view: shapes of letters (block shaped vs linear), language units (syllables vs letters) and sound–letter relationship (shallow orthography vs deep orthography). Young children are able to look for key concepts in different writing systems by constructing their own ideas about the principles of reading and writing from an early age as active language learners. Immerse students in print and literature. Young learners need a ‘print-rich’ environment where there are, e.g. maps, birthday calendars, timetables. You can also engage them in labeling objects in the classroom as they learn new vocabulary, drawing and labeling pictures, creating stories, poems, class books to share with their peers or with parents. Talk about what they have read.  Teach phonics. It will help YL to develop bottom-up skills to decode text in English, and over time, develop automaticity in decoding and spelling English texts. Even young native speakers need explicit instruction because the English sound-symbol relationship is quite complex. We have already written about teaching phonics in one of our previous newsletters. Build vocabulary and automaticity of high frequency words. Young learners may become overwhelmed with too many unknown words if you teach them to guess the meaning from the context. It is a good idea to use graded readers then, because they will help your students get familiar with the most frequently used words, recycle previously learned and introduce new vocabulary. They are often based on the stories that YL might have heard or read in L1, so it will promote the transferring of skills across the two languages.  Build and use background knowledge of your students. Use different topics and types of texts from their L1. It will help activate their background knowledge and make sense of text in English (e.g. Cinderella story) and build their understanding of two cultures. You can use content-area texts from different subjects that will help them make cross-curricular connections. Students will be highly motivated to read because they will see the immediate use of the language they are reading. Model various reading strategies. For example, in read-aloud, the teacher models how to read fluently and with expression, communicates interest and enthusiasm for reading. Teach how to preview (focus on visuals, headings etc.), predict what happens in the text, highlight text structures (e.g. beginning, middle, end of story) etc. Involve YL in reading activities such as:  Shared reading Choral reading (watch a video) Readers Theatre Guided reading Use a To / With / By Approach. YL need effective scaffolding to become independent readers. There are three steps to follow: Reading to students – provide a model (e.g. read aloud). Reading  with students – gradually give learners more responsibility for reading (e.g. big book shared reading).  Reading by students – learning can begin to read independently after guided practice (e.g. research projects, literature circle) Teaching reading to YL is challenging but exciting. When taking a balanced approach with explicit instruction in phonics and bottom-up processing skills, teachers can effectively scaffold YL to become independent and successful readers! From Grade Education Center