Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
I N
Basics
T H I S I S S U E :
CONNECTING RESEARCH & PRACTICE
First-Level
Learners
1
Techniques for
Teaching Beginning-Level
Reading to Adults
Ashley Hager
7
Beginning ESOL Learners’
Advice to Their Teachers
MaryAnn Cunningham Florez
11
The Neurobiology of
Reading and Dyslexia
Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., and
Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D.
16
Using a Multisensory
Approach to Help
Struggling Adult Learners
Gladys Geertz Techniques for Teaching
Reading for Pleasure
20 Beginning-Level Reading
Sondra Cuban
to Adults
24
Theory to Practice, by Ashley Hager
Practice to Theory
Anne Murr
I
have been teaching beginning-level reading (equivalent
28 to grade 0–2) at the Community Learning Center in
Teaching Reading to Cambridge, MA, for the past eight years. The majority of
First-Level Adults students in my class have either suspected or diagnosed reading
Judith A. Alamprese
disabilities (dyslexia). The difficulty they experience learning to
31 read is as severe as the urgency they feel about mastering the
Blackboard task. One of my students, a former Olympic athlete, had to
turn down a job offer as a track coach because of his inability
32 to read the workout descriptions. He describes his life as “an
All About NCSALL
ice cream that he is unable to lick.” continued on page 3
F
ocus on Basics is the quarterly pub-
lication of the National Center
for the Study of Adult Learning
and Literacy. It presents best practices,
current research on adult learning and
Welcome!
“First-level readers,” “beginners,” “new readers,” “0-4 level,” adult basic education
literacy, and how research is used by
adult basic education teachers, coun- has struggled with what to call those learners who are really still building decoding and
selors, program administrators, and poli- comprehension skills. This inability to settle on a name may be masking a larger issue:
cymakers. Focus on Basics is dedicated
to connecting research with practice, to Why are we, as a field, failing to serve these learners well?
connecting teachers with research and I can think of three general reasons.
researchers with the reality of the class- The first is the system. The funding structure for many adult basic education programs
room, and by doing so, making adult
basic education research more relevant does not encourage service to beginners, because beginners often progress slowly.
to the field. Discomfort with providing direct instruction, which can feel childish to teachers
who are attempting to create adult learning environments, is another stumbling block.
All subscription and editorial A third is that serving first-level learners well is hard work and requires specific
correspondence should be sent to:
training. Native English-speaking adults who have not learned to read probably have some
Focus On Basics learning difficulties or disability. Teachers must know a lot about the craft of reading to
World Education teach someone with a learning disability, and many adult basic education teachers, while
44 Farnsworth Street well intentioned, lack the formal training in reading instruction they need to reach these
Boston, MA 02210–1211 learners effectively.
e-mail address: FOB@WorldEd.org
The teachers writing in this issue of Focus on Basics do know a lot about teaching
Focus on Basics is copyrighted, but we reading. Ashley Hagar, of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Gladys Geertz, of Anchorage, Alaska;
urge readers to photocopy and circulate and Anne Murr of Des Moines, Iowa, all bring immense skill to their classrooms and
the publication widely. When reprinting
articles, please credit Focus on Basics
programs. They all have found that very structured classes, with direct instruction in
and the National Center for the Study specific subskills such as phonological awareness, word analysis, and sight word recognition,
of Adult Learning and Literacy. among other skills, provide the best results. Their students don’t chafe under direct
instruction, they welcome it: finally, they have the tools they need to join, however
Editor: Barbara Garner
Layout: Mary White Arrigo
belatedly, the reading club.
Illustrator: Mary White Arrigo The beginning learners in MaryAnn Cunningham Florez’s English for speakers of
Proofreader: Celia Hartmann other languages (ESOL) program had valuable feedback to share about the strengths and
weaknesses of their instructors. Included in their list was the suggestion to “talk to us
Focus on Basics is published by the
National Center for the Study of Adult
about learning and the learning process.” It echoes the metacognitive strategies provided
Learning and Literacy (NCSALL). to students by Hagar, Geertz, and Murr. Florez shares her students’ complete list of
NCSALL is funded by the Educational suggestions, and her techniques for getting such input from students.
Research and Development Centers Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, in their overview of the neurobiology of dyslexia,
Program, Award Number R309B60002,
as administered by the Office of explain that an inability to segment the written word into its underlying phonologic elements
Educational Research and Improvement/ results in readers having difficulty in decoding and identifying words. But, they remind us,
National Institute of Postsecondary the phonologic deficit is “domain-specific.” That is, other cognitive skills are intact. This
Education, Libraries, and Lifelong is important information to share with first-level learners. It explains the paradox so often
Learning, U.S. Department of Education.
encountered of otherwise intelligent people who experience great difficulty reading.
The contents of Focus on Basics do not We hope that the articles in this issue provide first level teachers with an introduction
necessarily represent the positions or to the techniques useful for teaching first-level learners. Let us know what works for you.
policies of NCSALL or the National
Institute on Postsecondary Education, * * *
Libraries, and Lifelong Learning; World You’ve noticed that this issue of Focus on Basics looks different. We decided to
Education; the Office of Educational
“freshen” our layout and design with new typeface and a few other small changes.
Research and Improvement; or the U.S.
Department of Education, and you “Blackboard” is now inside the back page, and we’ve added the section “All About
should not assume endorsement by NCSALL” to the back cover. We hope that the editorial content remains as relevant and
the Federal Government. useful as it has always been.
Sincerely,
Barbara Garner
Editor
I
t seemed like an discussions in the learners’ the value of including learners’
innocuous comment native Spanish, and the perspectives and realities in our
from a learner about a implications of that word in program and classroom planning
and implementation. Teachers and
two-teacher team, and it Spanish and the comments administrators everywhere work to
was only one of many that I it sparked provided a wealth gather learners’ input on issues from
furiously noted as I talked of insights into the instruc- content topics to teaching methods. I
with a focus group of adult tional process in that class- began conducting learner focus groups
as a way of including learners’ voices
learners from a beginning- room. The learners were in our small program’s end-of-semester
level class in English for telling me what they valued evaluation. In what specific areas did
speakers of other languages in their teachers’ practices: I think learners’ comments might be
(ESOL). When I opened my not only their heart and applied? I was probably expecting
them to be helpful in identifying
notebook a day or two later, dedication, but also the barriers to participation or providing
however, I realized exactly focus, pace, activity, and comments that might help me as I
how much this learner and sense of purpose in the talked with individual teachers about
others were telling me. The lessons they conducted. their practices.
I was missing the potential
word “esfuerzo” made me It provided me with a impact that direct comments and
stop and think. The English ideas from learners could have on staff
translation from a development, especially for
dictionary — teachers working with
beginning-level
D
evelopmental dyslexia within the population, reading and The phonologic deficit
reading disability occur along a hypothesis — There is now a
is characterized by continuum, with reading disability strong consensus among investigators
an unexpected diffi- representing the lower tail of a in the field that the central difficulty
culty in reading experienced normal distribution of reading ability. in dyslexia reflects a deficit within
by children and adults Good evidence based on sample the language system, although other
surveys of randomly selected pop- systems and processes may also
who otherwise possess the ulations of children now indicate contribute to the difficulty. The
intelligence and motivation that dyslexia affects boys and girls language system is conceptualized as
considered necessary for equally (Figure 1); the long-held a hierarchical series of components:
accurate and fluent reading. belief that only boys suffer from at higher levels are neural systems
dyslexia reflected sampling bias engaged in processing, for example,
It represents one of the most in school-identified samples. semantics, syntax, and discourse; at
common problems affecting Dyslexia is a persistent, chronic the lowest level is the phonologic
children and adults; in the condition; it does not represent module dedicated to processing the
United States, the prevalence a transient “developmental lag” distinctive sound elements that
(Figure 2). Over time, poor readers constitute language. The functional
of dyslexia is estimated to and good readers tend to maintain unit of the phonologic module is the
range from five to 17 percent their relative positions along the phoneme, defined as the smallest
of school-aged children, spectrum of reading ability. discernible segment of speech; for
with as many as 40 percent
of the entire population Causes
reading below grade level. Dyslexia is
Dyslexia (or specific reading both familial and
heritable: both
disability) is the most environmental and
common and most carefully genetic influences
studied of the learning affect the expression
disabilities, affecting 80 of dyslexia. This
observation pro-
percent of all individuals vides opportunities
identified as learning disabled. for early identi-
This article reviews recent fication of affected
advances in the neuro- siblings and often
for delayed but
biology of dyslexia and their helpful identi-
implications for teaching fication of affected Figure 1. Prevalence of reading disability in research-
identified (RI) and school-identified (SI) boys and girls.
adults with dyslexia. adults. Thus 23 Schools identify about four times as many boys as girls,
to 65 percent of reflecting primarily externalizing behavioral characteristics
Epidemiology of children who have
a parent with
that are more likely to bring boys to a teacher’s attention.
This skewed prevalence rate reflects referral bias. When
Dyslexia dyslexia, 40 percent actual reading scores are used to identify children, there
is no significant difference in the prevalence of dyslexia
Like hypertension and obesity, of siblings of between boys and girls (based on data in Shaywitz
dyslexia fits a dimensional model: dyslexics, and et al., 1990).
I
have been a teacher for sensory teaching techniques from disabilities. The modifications are
Orton-Gillingham that were adapted minor; for example, we do not use
about 25 years. When for the classroom by Beth Slingerland tracing procedures (going over the
I taught elementary (Slingerland, 1996). Orton-Gilling- same letter many times) as much with
school, it seemed that most ham developed their teaching our students. Since our students are
kids learned to read almost techniques working one-on-one adults, and many of them are familiar
with dyslexic children and those with the letters, we require them to
by osmosis. Even the with specific language disabilities. A trace a letter three times, instead of
students of some truly colleague and I developed a program the 10 or 20 that may be required in
lackadaisical teachers that uses these techniques in classroom elementary school. We also proceed
usually learned to read. But settings with adult, low-level reading more quickly to paper and pencil
students. What differentiates our tasks, rather than spending a lot of
what about the children method from the Slingerland method time using the pocket chart or board.
who didn’t? I spent many is that we move through a lesson more We also introduce three or four
hours working on ways to quickly, teaching more concepts in a letters during each class session;
help these special children, day than would be taught in an an elementary teacher may only
elementary school class. introduce one or two letters a day.
sometimes finding a tech-
At the beginning of our basic classes,
nique that helped, other
times passing a child on to Our Program we discuss our teaching procedures
with the students, explaining that
The ALP multisensory classes
the next grade in hope that consist mostly of students who have
because they have missed some of the
another teacher would find educational experiences necessary for
gone through the school system in learning, we are starting over.
the key. What happened to the United States. Some are dropouts;
these kids? They are the others are high school graduates. They
adults I work with every range in age from 18 to 75 years. Our A Success-Oriented
classes are limited to 15 students, but
day at the Anchorage some classes have only four or five. Program
Literacy Project (ALP) in All of our teachers are trained in the The multisensory approach is
Anchorage, AK. Because no Slingerland method, and as of this a success-oriented program. We
writing, we have three instructors in only expect students to know what
one ever found the answer, the multisensory program who teach they have been taught. We provide
eventually many of them a total of nine multisensory classes. instruction, guide the students through
became frustrated and Two are spelling classes, three are a a successful learning experience, and
dropped out of school. Some combination of reading and spelling, then reinforce this successful learning
and four are reading classes at various experience. We make sure that all
of them graduated, but they levels, ranging from first to approx- students leave the classroom feeling
still could not read. imately 10th grade level. Each class that they have experienced success.
About eight years ago, I observed meets three days a week for an hour We begin with a single unit of
the Slingerland technique being and a half per class. Our quarter sight, sound, or thought, and then
used with children in Slingerland lasts 10 weeks. proceed to the complex combinations
classrooms in the Anchorage schools, Our classes are not open entry. of these units. We start with sight and
and with adults at ALP. The We continue to accept new students sound association, following the same
Slingerland technique uses multi- for the first two weeks, but then we routine day after day, and adding a few
A
Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing fter tutoring, she really wanted to read love stories
Service, Inc. but felt she couldn’t. She said, “I guess
teaching, and doing my mind’s so tired that I get frustrated
■ Marshall, K. (1999). The Kim Marshall research in literacy and give up. I guess, like I said — too
Series, Reading Book 1. Cambridge, MA:
Educators Publishing Service, Inc. programs, I wanted to know much stuff going [on] in my mind.”
more about how literacy fit Her desire to read love stories was
■ Slingerland, Beth H. (1996) A Multi-
fueled by the romances and comedies
Sensory Approach To Language Arts for into women’s lives, thinking she watched on TV, which she enjoyed
Specific Language Disability Children that this could help me
Books 1, 2, 3. Cambridge, MA: and which distracted her from her
Educators Publishing Service, Inc. understand how better to family problems.
serve women learners in The women in the study all read
and wanted to read popular-culture
About the Author programs. I conducted a materials — commercially published
Gladys G. Geertz has her master’s degree lengthy qualitative study of books also referred to as genre and
in Learning Disabilities and is certified as 10 women learners for my trade books — that were not, for the
a Slingerland instructor. As multisensory
doctoral dissertation. I most part, used in the literacy program
coordinator for the Anchorage Literacy
they attended. They also used reading
Project, she teaches four reading/writing wanted to find out if the for similar ends: they read to make
multisensory classes, serves as demon-
stration teacher for the Star School’s
women learners I was themselves feel better. I interviewed
Adult Literacy Program, and is a teacher studying read outside of the the women over the course of a year
trainer of multisensory techniques.❖ program, what they wanted about their schooling and work
experiences, the ways they learned
to read about, and what in their families of origin, and about
their purposes were for their use of mass media: anything from
reading. I focus here on my watching television to reading books.
interviews with four women I also observed them and interviewed
staff in the program within this period.
and what their experiences I discovered gaps between what the
suggest for curriculum and women read and wanted to read
instruction in literacy outside of the program and what the
PLAY programs. program offered.
In the literacy program, they
IT Gloria, Donna, Lourdes, and
Elizabeth were enrolled in a computer-
learned basic keyboarding skills,
English grammar, phonics, and oral
FORWARD! assisted literacy program in a semirural
area of Hawaii. Gloria and Donna
pronunciation. Instruction in the
program tended towards skills-based
were beginning adult basic education learning from commercial texts such
Share (ABE) students; Lourdes and
Elizabeth, both students of English
as student dictionaries, Laubach books
such as the Challenger series, reading
Focus on Basics for speakers of other languages
(ESOL), were at slightly higher levels
skills workbooks such as the Steck-
Vaughn Reading for Today series, as
with a colleague. in the program. Donna was at the
lowest level of literacy of the four
well as pre-GED materials. The
program also used educational and
women and rarely read. She told me diagnostic software and typing
Gloria
Gloria, a Hawaiian woman in her
early 50s who spent her younger years
working on macadamia farms and in
pineapple factories, was worried about
being able to pay her rent due to wel-
fare cuts. She explained, “and, you
know, like welfare — even though
you know you’re true [being honest],
they don’t know, they just give you
hard time.” She read the Bible every
day and related to it as “a love letter”
and a source of wisdom. She also
listened to Bible tapes, used Bible
as their use of mass media. The bio- software, discussed the Bible with her
graphical interview was shorter and Elizabeth pastor and his wife, and used biblical
valuable for obtaining background Elizabeth, a 70-year-old nat- resources to teach children in Sunday
information. uralized Japanese woman, was a meat school. These activities invigorated
Gloria, Lourdes, and Elizabeth wrapper for most of her working years. her and distracted her from her
did read outside of the literacy She confided in me with both excite- worries. When she felt trapped
program, and although I did not ask ment and shame that she had gotten by the welfare system, she sought
them how much they read or venture hooked on soap operas through a spiritual materials for the direction
into the technical aspects of their friend, even videotaping them while and comfort they provided.
reading, they described memorable she was away. She told me about the “The book. It’s more intimate
reading experiences and the effects character development in these shows [than the computerized version of the
the books had on them. They read and that an advantage to watching Bible]…. because that is more like a
mainly for pleasure and to reduce them was that they helped her learn study tool. And then when you’re
tension, reading stories that nurtured standard English. She also read books reading, this is what the pastor said,
them emotionally. The reading that had romantic storylines. when you’re reading, it’s like a love
I
entered the adult to use phonemic awareness activities.
intertwine.
literacy field four years Every tutor received Edward Fry’s
ago as a volunteer tutor Adult Center Phonics Patterns (1997a), a resource to
in the Drake Adult Literacy guide practice in phonemic awareness
The Drake University Adult
and spelling patterns. Each student
Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Literacy Center is a community
received Fry’s Introductory Word Book
In my current role as Center outreach service of the Drake
(1997b; the 1,000 most commonly
University School of Education.
Coordinator, I screen and Community and university volunteers
used words) for use in building sight
place adult learners with vocabulary and was encouraged to
meet one-to-one twice a week with
bring in reading materials that had
volunteer tutors, train adult new readers. Learners range in
personal meaning for him or her. We
volunteers, and teach the age from late teens to 70, with most
purchased books written for adults at
in the 30 to 45 year range. The
initial lesson with all new majority work full- or part-time but
the beginning reading level. Students
students and tutors. I learn wrote during each tutoring session,
feel they could get better jobs if their
because writing promotes the practice
as much from the adult new reading skills were better. Many
of phonological processing skills.
readers as they learn from attended special education in school,
We hoped to address reading
but declare, “I know I can learn. I just
me. Along with teaching me never got the chance.”
skills development with computerized
about the varied and skilled drill and practice. We used the
Academy of Reading (Autoskill,
ways in which they have Theory 1998), which provides individualized
succeeded in their lives, As I began to craft a literacy training in phonemic awareness and
they have taught me about curriculum for adults I asked, “Do reading. Adults were free to come to
the depth of difficulty they adults learn to read in the same way the Literacy Center to work on basic
children do?” I downloaded Learning skills at their own pace. No keyboard
have in processing to Read: Literacy Acquisition by skills were necessary. With all these
language. Their struggles Children and Adults by Perfetti & pieces in place, we were confident
have taught me about the Marron (1995) from the National that we had a balanced approach to
determination to learn and Center on Adult Literacy’s web site. literacy instruction for adults: use of
Their study of the research led them personally meaningful text and writing
the obstacles they face. to conclude that the cognitive process in the context of real tasks as well as
As a Head Start teacher earlier by which children and adults learn independent computerized skill work.
in my career, I learned two valuable to read is the same. Of course, adults
principles. The first was to reflect have more experiences, knowledge,
daily on what did and did not work in and vocabulary in some areas, and Reflections
the classroom and to make changes more emotions linked to learning Mary, the woman I was tutoring,
based on those reflections. The failure. Young children, I knew, learn chose to read from her children’s Bible
second was to move from theory through sensory stimulation while story easy reader. Despite practicing
to practice, from practice to theory. interacting with their environment. computer skills for hours and reading
I will examine here how critical This principle guided my decisions as familiar stories repeatedly, she con-
reflection on the Drake Adult I began to design our curriculum. I tinued to make the same decoding
Literacy Center’s practice, and on the wanted adult learners also to have errors. One of her goals was to be able
R
eading has always ABE practitioners’ concerns Language Programs, undertaken by
center on teaching reading to first- the American Institutes for Research.
been a fundamental level learners, generally are defined The National Center for the Study
concept taught in as those scoring at a 0 to 6th grade of Adult Learning and Literacy
adult basic education (ABE). equivalent on a standardized reading (NCSALL) is also studying the
The methods and contexts test or at Level 1 on the National instructional strengths and needs in
Adult Literacy Survey. First-level reading of adults enrolled in ABE and
for reading instruction, how- adults enter ABE programs with a English for speakers of other languages
ever, have varied over time range of reading skills. This variation (ESOL) classes.
according to practitioners’ in abilities sometimes poses challenges
for instructors. The enrollment of
theoretical perspectives and
first-level learners in ABE programs
Key Issues
belief systems about the remains constant: about 17 percent Although not based on research
reading process. For example, of those participating in programs on adults, the syntheses presented in
the teaching of reading often funded under the Adult Education the report prepared by the National
and Family Literacy Act (US Reading Panel (2000) provide a useful
has been imbedded in in- perspective for understanding key
Department of Education, 1999).
structional content rather ABE practitioners have voiced a issues in reading instruction. Taking
than addressed as a discrete desire to learn about effective into account the work undertaken by
skill. Because of the variations instructional methods for them. the National Research Council
Furthermore, as states implement the Committee — Preventing Reading
in instructional approach, it Difficulties in Young Children (Snow,
National Reporting System for ABE
sometimes has been difficult accountability, ABE staff at all levels Burns, & Griffin, 1998) — National
to discern the extent to which have a need to understand the amount Reading Panel research syntheses
reading is being taught in of improvement it is reasonable to examined how critical reading skills
expect from a first-level learner over are most effectively taught and the
ABE programs. instructional methods, materials,
a specified time. All of these circum-
The past five years have witnessed stances have led to the teaching of and approaches most beneficial for
a national call to improve the teaching reading emerging as critical topic students of varying abilities. The
of reading in elementary education. in ABE, particularly as a focus for Panel examined three topics in
Reading is now a priority in key staff development and program reading: alphabetics (phonemic aware-
education legislation, such as the improvement. ness and phonics instruction), fluency,
Reading Excellence Act and Title 1 and comprehension (including both
of the Elementary and Secondary vocabulary and text comprehension
Education Act. It has been the sub- Emerging Research instruction). The implications of the
ject of research syntheses sponsored Panel’s report for teaching adults are
by the US Department of Health and on Adult Reading that direct instruction on these topics
Human Service’s National Institute on The literature on teaching may be beneficial to first-level adult
Child Health and Human Develop- reading to children is extensive, but learners, and that teachers must
ment in conjunction with the US few national studies have examined understand adults’ relative strengths
Department of Education (DOE). effective strategies for reading in these areas prior to beginning
Reading instruction is also one of the instruction with adults. Most studies instruction. A recent review of the
key areas under program quality in on adult reading have been small in literature on adult reading research
the Adult Education and Family scale and descriptive in design. As a (Venezky et al., 1998) supports
Literacy Act (AEFLA) of 1998. result, few empirical data exist about these findings.
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