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Reading, Writing and Comprehension in the

Child’s First Language

Dina Ocampo, Ph.D. Reading Education

UP College of Education

Early Literacy

Reading and Writing among Young People

1.  Making meaning from and composing meaning in the form of print

2.  Is being able to comment on what has been read

3.  Must bring about positive attitudes and motivation about books and reading

4.  Precedes conventional literacy

Aims of Early Literacy Instruction - 1 (Ocampo, Tatlonghari, Pado, Diaz & Hermosa, 2004)

1. Young children should learn about print and how it works in relation to their life experiences and developmental level.

2. They must engage with and enjoy language in both oral and written forms.

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Aims of Early Literacy Instruction – 2 (Ocampo, Tatlonghari, Pado, Diaz & Hermosa, 2004)

3.  To be able to do this, they will need to understand, respond to and use oral, written and other forms of language effectively in a broad range of contexts.

4.  Their ability to read and write should improve as they go through school with the use of meaningful reading texts and instructional materials; effective, pleasant and appropriate methods and approaches to the teaching of early literacy.

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What do children need to know to be able to learn to read

and write?

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Domains of Early Literacy Dev’t and Instruction

1.  Oral Language

2.  Phonological Awareness

3.  Book and Print Knowledge

4.  Word Recognition

5.  Fluency

6.  Spelling

7.  Writing/Composition

8.  Handwriting

9.  Grammar Awareness and Structure

10. Vocabulary

11. Reading Comprehension a.  Use of Contexts and Prior

Knowledge b.  Comprehension Strategies c.  Comprehending Literary Texts d.  Comprehending Information

Texts

12.  Attitude

IMPORTANT!!!

LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE

HAPPEN DIFFERENTLY IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

Similarities and differences in first and second language reading

For both—

1.  Alphabetic understanding

2.  Decoding skills

3.  Automaticity of sight vocabulary

4.  Overall fluency

5.  Development of metacognitive strategies that foster fluency and comprehension

6.  Text matched to reading level and interests

7.  Engagement in extensive reading

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Similarities and differences in first and second language reading

Unique challenges for second language readers: 1.  Sound/symbol differences or interference 2. Oral vocabulary constraints or

limitations 3. Lack of background knowledge 4. Difficulties with text structure

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In a Bilingual Educational system!

Experience!Oral

Language in the L1!

Literacy in the L1!

Oral Language! Literacy!In L2!

In an MLE System

Experience

Oral Symbols in Filipino

Literacy in Filipino

Oral Language In English

Literacy In English

Oral Language

in L1

Literacy in the L1

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How are we going to develop reading, writing and comprehension in the L1?

Child’s Language • Provides the foundation for additional languages

• Facilitates learning subject matter • Increases school participation

Filipino • Our National Language • Easier to learn to read

• Language of the media • Understood by most Filipinos

English • A global language

• Continues to be a language of aspiration among Filipinos

Arabic

Other Languages

13 DOMAINS OF EARLY LITERACY (ADAPTED FROM (OCAMPO, TATLONGHARI, PADO, DIAZ

& HERMOSA, 2004)

1. Oral Language -- Is knowledge and use of the structure, meanings and uses of a language

2.  Phonological Awareness -- Is the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds of a language. There are 4 levels of phonological awareness namely, word, syllable, onset and rime (also called beginning and word family) and the phoneme.

3. Alphabetic Knowledge – Is knowing, writing and matching the letters and sounds of the alphabet

4.  Book and Print Knowledge -- Is knowing and being acquainted with books and how print works.

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13 DOMAINS OF EARLY LITERACY (ADAPTED FROM (OCAMPO, TATLONGHARI, PADO,

DIAZ & HERMOSA, 2004)

5. Phonics and Word Recognition -- Is being able to identify a written word by sight or by deciphering the relationship between the sounds of spoken language and the letters in written language.

6.  Fluency -- Is the ability to read orally with speed, accuracy and proper expression.

7. Spelling -- Is being able to convert oral language sounds (whole words, onset-rimes, syllables, or phonemes) into printed language symbols (letters)

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13 DOMAINS OF EARLY LITERACY (ADAPTED FROM (OCAMPO, TATLONGHARI, PADO,

DIAZ & HERMOSA, 2004)

8.  Writing/Composition -- Is being able to formulate ideas into sentences or longer texts and represent them in the conventional orthographic patterns of written language

9.  Handwriting -- Is the ability to form letters and words through manuscript and cursive styles.

10. Grammar Awareness and Structure -- Is the knowledge of language features and sentence structures in written language as this differs from oral language.

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13 DOMAINS OF EARLY LITERACY (ADAPTED FROM (OCAMPO, TATLONGHARI, PADO,

DIAZ & HERMOSA, 2004)

11. Vocabulary -- Is the knowledge of words and their meanings in both oral and print representations.

12.  Reading Comprehension •  Is a complex and active process in which vocabulary knowledge is a

crucial component and which requires an intentional and thoughtful interaction between the reader and the text.

•  Included are: use of context and prior knowledge, comprehension strategies, comprehending literary and information texts.

13.  Attitude -- Is having a sense of being a reader and developing individual choices of and tastes for texts to read for varied purposes such as for learning or for pleasure.

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What is Reading Comprehension?

•  the process of constructing and creating meaning on the basis of printed or written texts.

•  requires the coordination of a number of interrelated sources of information

•  the integration of old knowledge and new knowledge that comes from text

•  a complex but unitary skill or ability

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Scaffolded Reading (Graves & Fitzgerald, 2003)

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PREREADING ACTIVITIES

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  happens BEFORE the story/selection is presented

  PREPARES a context for reading

  ACTIVATES prior knowledge

  DEVELOPS concepts and vocabulary

  DEVELOPS a purpose for reading/listening

READING ACTIVITIES

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  happens DURING story reading or silent reading or story telling   ENCOURAGES responding to literature while reading   PROMOTES monitoring skills through guided comprehension  DEVELOPS study strategies specially for older students  BROKERS engagement with story

POST READING ACTIVITIES

  happen AFTER reading/listening

  can be done over a FEW DAYS

  HOLD AND EXPLORE the student’s response to the story or selection

  DEVELOP, MODIFy and REFINE the response

  ALWAYS AIMED AT DEVELOPING UNDERSTANDING AND COMPREHENSION

  just SOMETIMES used for assessment 22

POST READING ACTIVITIES

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  Engagement activities – for holding the response to literature   Enrichment and Extending the literary experience – connecting with other stories   Skills development – explicitly structured   Across the curriculum activities – making connections with content areas

What works?

•  Modifying texts (simplifying) in an effort to help readers comprehend better doesn't always help.

•  In fact it significantly helps those who already read well to begin with.

•  What works in promoting reading comprehension is a teacher who facilitates the negotiation of meaning well in a heterogenous class.

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What works -- Oral Language

•  Develop the child’s oral vocabulary to the point of basic communicative competence before attempting reading instruction.

•  Continue to work on vocabulary training with the child well beyond the point of basic communicative competence to ensure adequate vocabulary for increasingly more difficult text. colors video.flv

•  Provide opportunity for second-language children to converse in the classroom, being careful not to place undue emphasis on accurate speech.

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WHAT WORKS – READING MATERIALS

•  Remember that the child must know 90% to 95% of the vocabulary in the text before that text is used for reading instructional purposes. Unlocking Filipino1.mp4

•  Use graded readers with second-language readers to ensure that text difficulty keeps pace with vocabulary development. But be sure to supplement with authentic literature first in read-alouds, then shared reading, and finally independent reading to ensure second-language readers are exposed to text that reflects natural speech.

•  Encourage and provide opportunity for rereading of text.

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WHAT WORKS – PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

•  Extend phonological awareness training to include: •  Syllable awareness and segmentation

•  Phonemic awareness and manipulation

•  Use materials that teach the sound-symbol correspondences in a sequential and systematic manner

•  Be aware that when children learn to spell and decode, they become less and less aware of the phonological components of language because they are already focusing on the conventions of text

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What works -- Comprehension

•  Use a language experience approach to provide meaningful materials

•  Pay attention to cultural biases in text and illustrations

•  Fill in the missing cultural information

•  When possible, use translations alongside English texts to enhance comprehension

•  Support first-language reading skills.

•  Allow students to respond to text in their first language.

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WHAT WORKS – FIRST AND SECOND-LANGUAGE READING SUPPORT

•  Make sure the child can read in his/her first language.

•  Increase proficiency in the second language to support reading comprehension

•  Show the similarities and differences in the two languages being learned

•  Always consider previous literacy experience and the child’s developmental level and needs

•  Developing proficiency in the languages of child will underlie ALL approaches towards literacy development.

•  Never circumvent the process that the child needs to take toward the path to reading comprehension.

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What is phonological awareness?

  the child’s awareness of his or her language

  the ability to identify sounds within a spoken word

  the ability to reflect on sounds rather than meaning of spoken words

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What are the levels of phonological awareness?

There are found levels of phonological awareness. These are:

 awareness of a word

 awareness of the syllable parts of the word

 awareness that some words are similar in terms of one or more phonological components

 awareness of the phonemes comprising a word

Why is phonemic awareness important in learning to read?

 Children with superior phonemic awareness are better readers of words than those with poor phonemic awareness.

 Good beginning reading instruction advances phonemic awareness ability.

 The relationship is reciprocal.

Alphabetic Knowledge

•  Symbols = letters

•  Sounds = phonemes

•  Letter naming – upper and lower cases

•  Producing letter sounds – upper and lower cases

•  Matching letters with a given sound – upper and lower cases

•  Matching uppercase with lowercase letters

•  Writing upper and lower case letters

A MOTIVATED READER

•  chooses to read on a regular basis

•  reads for many different reasons.

•  derives pleasure from reading

•  sees the benefits of reading

•  realizes that reading as an activity merits his time and energy

What is the 4-Pronged Approach to the Teaching of Beginning Reading?

•  A systematic literature based approach to teaching beginning reading that is composed of 4 distinct parts that address each of the requisites for learning to read, write and comprehend among young readers.

•  Developed by Prof. Basilisa Manhit

•  Extended and revised by the Reading Education Area of the UP College of Education

Developing a Genuine Love for Reading (GLR-CT)

•  2 objectives •  Emotional response – reader response

•  “To enumerate one’s admiration for a best friend’s loyalty and steadfast love”

•  Instructional – skill development objectives •  Listening, vocabulary, comprehension, meta-

comprehension

•  Anchored on a story – read to the class

•  Covers the pre-reading and during reading phases of a literature-based lesson

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Developing a Genuine Love for Reading (GLR-CT)

•  Pre Reading Activities •  Activating Prior Knowledge •  Unlocking of Difficulties •  Motivation (sometimes the same as Activating Prior

Knowledge) •  Purpose Setting

•  During Reading Activities •  Story reading •  Guided comprehension while reading the story

Developing Critical Thinking (GLR-CT)

•  Post Reading Activities •  Engagement – prolonging and clarifying the emotional

response •  Extension – inclusion of prior experiences with such

emotional responses or story •  Enrichment – further or added experiences with other

genre/media/art forms aligned with the emotional response/story

•  Skill development •  Comprehension, written expression, vocabulary, study skills

•  Curriculum connections – offering opportunities to integrate knowledge and insights

Grammar and Oral Language Development (GOLD)

•  2 objectives •  Oral language confidence and proficiency •  Grammar awareness and competence

•  Focuses on the development of language proficiency

•  Contextualized in the story

•  Communication for specific purposes

•  Learning grammar and sentence structure

•  Integrates play and other activities children like to do through language experience

The Transfer Stage (TS)

•  2 objectives •  Word recognition – through visual and phonological routes •  Spelling and writing (and handwriting too!) – linked with word

recognition development

•  Vocabulary knowledge

•  Differentiated instruction within the class

•  Teacher moves from one group to the other so each group has its own direct instruction appropriate to their level

References Branden, K. (2000). Does Negotiation of Meaning Promote Reading

Comprehension? A Study of Multilingual Primary School Classes. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(3), 426–443. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.35.3.6

Graves and Fiztgerald (2003). Scaffolding Reading Experiences. In G. Garcia (Ed.) English Learners (96 – 124), Delaware: International Reading Association

Lenters, K. (2004). No Half Measures: Reading Instruction for Young Second-Language Learners. The Reading Teacher, 58(4), 328–336. doi: 10.1598/RT.58.4.2

Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/.

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