Blog #3--Relationship Between Oral Language/Reading Process

This is a particular subject which I am passionate about--the relationship between oral language and the reading process itself. I have had the privilege of working as a "conversation partner" this past fall semester at our local community college with international students here in our country specifically to learn the English language. Not only is the relationship between oral language development and the reading process critical in the primary years, but it is also crucial to learning a new language at any age. For instance, the ESL students at the college ranged from 19 to 41 years of age, and came from a variety of language bases. Some second language learners were Arabic, some were Japanese, and a few were Chinese. All in all, these students attended classes five days a week with intense immersion in the English language as well as three days a week of guided English conversation with a tutor such as myself. Students rotated tutors as to learn to speak with a variety of Americans with differing speaking styles. I am amazed at how much English these international students would learn in a span of only a few months of their 18 month long program. I still keep in email contact with some of my former students. All of this to say, oral language development and the literacy process are deeply intermingled.

It's also been my privilege to have been born and raised in the central valley of California. My hometown of Porterville is now more than 50% Hispanic with my former elementary school being approximately 97% free and reduced lunch at this point in time. Our area is mainly agricultural and much of the farming depends entirely on the work provided by our local Hispanic families. Many of the children of these workers do not speak English in their homes. I've seen it happen time and again that when students do not have the opportunity to practice their newly acquired second language skills at home as well as at school, learning can be slowed; therefore, it is imperative that students receive the added conversational support at school (i.e. cooperative learning groups, one-on-one conversations, etc.) in order to practice their English skills. Moreover, most teachers in the local schools there still do not speak Spanish themselves which makes it important to have bilingual staff employed to translate school newsletters, telephone conversations with family members, parent/teacher conferences, etc. Consequently, the relationship between oral language skills and the encouragement of proficiency in the reading process relies heavily on expanding a student's listening and speaking abilities, too. They go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, I also perceive that the full acceptance of the Hispanic population, at least in my hometown, hinges somewhat on their command of the English language in addition to Spanish. Many native English speaking residents can be very unaccepting of those who are "different." It is my greatest desire to ultimately teach at my old elementary school in the near future--I love working with ESL students.

Lastly, I had the opportunity to work with ESL students in Fort Morgan here in Colorado a couple years ago. I spent two months teaching first grade reading alongside a friend of mine in a class which only had two native English speakers. The remainder of the 18 students were all second language learners and mostly from low socioeconomic backgrounds. I would work one-on-one conversing and reading aloud to students who were struggling with the English language. This instruction was in addition to their routinely scheduled ESL pull-out program. What an exciting opportunity this was! There was a translator employed for all the first grade classrooms to enable teachers and families to better communicate. Again, oral language and the reading process were directly related to one another. Student success definitely depends on both.

In total, it is my opinion that oral language development and success at the reading process are dependent on one another. Students need the benefit of a comprehensive and balanced ESL program as well as the added opportunity to practice both listening and speaking skills to become proficient at a second language. Most importantly, cooperative group conversations with fellow students enables those new to English to learn more than working alone (Gibbons, 2002). Moreover, verbal skills provide second language learners with the bridge they need to master more difficult academic skills as well. Classroom talk is essential to a successful second language acquisition.

Blog #1--Philosophy of Teaching Literacy

In discussing teaching literacy with a first grade in Jeffco Schools this week, we feel the most important aspects of teaching literacy include a comprehensive, balanced, and differentiated program of instruction. This program would include the five critical elements of a comprehensive, research-based literacy curriculum which are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text-comprehension instruction. Furthermore, the curriculum would be balanced between a whole-language and phonics approach to teaching reading in a differentiated instructional atmosphere intended to recognize students from varying backgrounds, readiness levels, language bases, as well as interest areas. The overall intent of this type of approach to teaching literacy is to meet the differentiating needs of each student in order to maximize student growth and individual sucess in the learning process.

The following is a more detailed explanation for the five critical elements of a comprehensive program as mentioned above:

1. Phonemic awareness instruction consists of teaching students to be able to notice, think about, and work with the sounds of the spoken language;
2. Phonics instruction teaches children to associate and relate certain sounds of our spoken language with certain letters in our written language;
3. Fluency instruction teaches children to be able to read a text accurately and quickly;
4. Vocabulary instruction enables students to enlarge both their reading and listening vocabularies while also increasing their fluency;
5. Text-comprehension instruction provides learners with the foundation for understanding what they are reading (Armbruster, et al, 2001).

The above referenced elements are appropriate for whole group, individual, and/or cooperative group teaching.

Next, I would like to address the concept of a balanced and flexible literacy approach. Students should experience a wide variety of learning techniques (i.e. whole group, cooperative, individual, etc.), various models of instructional methods, as well as a wide range of literature and writing genres. Most importantly, students should learn within a flexible and literature rich environment intended for maximum student achievement. Remember, flexible grouping of students within the literacy program needs to be consistently used.

Lastly, in regards to the differentiation of literacy instruction, the following guidelines are helpful in assisting teachers to meet the needs of all students in the comprehensive reading and writing program:

• Clarify the key concepts to ensure that all learners will gain powerful understandings that serve as a foundation for their future learning;
• Use assessment as a teaching tool to extend versus merely measuring instruction;
• Emphasize critical and creative thinking as a goal in your lesson design;
• Make your instruction engaging as this is essential to student learning;
• And, be certain to provide a balance between teacher-assigned and student-selected tasks.

Differentiation is a topic which I feel passionately about and believe is most crucial to enabling every student in the literacy program to be successful. Excellent readers are productive and on their way to becoming life-long learners both in and out of the classroom.

In closing, my personal philosophy of teaching literacy includes a comprehensive, balanced, and differentiated program. I believe every teacher can achieve this goal by continuing his/her own professional development to include today's best literacy teaching practices. These techniques can be used in various ways within every grade level whether kindergarten, middle school, or high school by tailoring components to meet the needs of students of all ages in any subject. Welcome to success!

Armbruster, B. B., et al (2001). Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks of Reading Instruction. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from the National Institute of Literacy Web site.