Reading with Young Learners

Building up to reading

Speaking and listening are the first second language skills young learners use. Some will start
to speak and understand a second language before they are proficient readers in their own
language, and teachers of bilingual children often find that their students need to master
reading in one language before they tackle reading in the second language. Teachers of
younger children need to be sensitive to this, and at all ages, the oral / aural skills should be
firmly established first before introducing reading and writing skills. For very young learners,
the introduction of written English must be very gradual, starting with simple words and
passive recognition. It's best to wait until written skills in children's first language are well
established before you start to introduce reading in English.

Gradually, students should build their reading skills so they can read silently and understand
words, then sentences, and finally texts.

Using visuals

Reading can be daunting if learners are faced with words that they do not understand and
think that these words stop their overall understanding of the text. Pictures, illustrated story
books and visuals can help with this situation, and teachers need to train their students to use
the pictures which go with texts to help them. You can:

• tell the class the story, using and pointing to the pictures before they read it.
• get your students to tell the story from the pictures before they read the text.
• ask your students to point to the object / picture which relates to the unknown word as
you read.
• remove unfamiliar words from the text before your students read it; ask them to use
the pictures to complete the gaps with the best word in their own language, then
supply them with the English words. In this way, they reach the meaning before they
hear the word.

Reading aloud

Reading aloud is often used in classrooms and is a useful activity for helping with
pronunciation (see Developing Pronunciation). It can also, in some cases, show you whether
your students have recognised the written form of words they know orally. Some words may
be very familiar to your students when spoken, for example 'page', but their written form is
not so easily related to the spoken form as it is with other words, such as 'leg'. Reading aloud
can help to highlight this type of problem.

Developing reading skills

Make reading fun for young learners. In this way, they will learn to read in English without
noticing. Reading doesn't have to be done quietly and sitting down; however, make sure that
sometimes it is a quiet activity, especially as your students approach taking their tests.

Try these ideas:

 • Do lots of pairing and memory games in class, like snap for matching pictures and
words. (See Pelmanism)
• You can extend this to matching sentences with pictures, for example by showing
actions in progress with corresponding sentences, or single or multiple objects / people
and sentences beginning 'there is/there are'. (See Envelope Maze)
• Label the classroom, starting with the most useful words such as 'board', 'chair' etc.
and gradually adding to them as your students' vocabulary develops. Add colours and
other adjectives.
• Once your students can recognise these words easily, remove the labels and give them
sticky card or papers with the same words on them. They then have to label the
classroom.
• Similarly, get your students to label parts of each others' bodies, or items of clothing.
You could start by labelling yourself!
• Always have some picture dictionaries in the classroom. Use them in activities in class
so the children get used to using them and become more autonomous in their learning.
(See Using Dictionaries).
• Recycle vocabulary with anagrams so the children get used to spelling words
correctly.
• Create a reading corner where children can choose a storybook. This can be done
either when a student finishes a task early, or all the students reading in class at the
same time

http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/yle2007/activities/reading_young_lear
ner.htm