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Meaning-Centered Literacy for English Language Learners



When looking at how someone, anyone learns language, there are four areas to consider:  listening, speaking, reading and writing.  Teachers must recognize all of these areas equally, since communication must develop across all.  It makes sense that educators look at the “big picture” and provide instruction to English learners that promotes progress in all of the areas.

Today, let’s talk about how a teacher goes about teaching English learners better literacy/reading skills.  The two most popular methods are the meaning-centered (or top-down) approach and the word-decoding (or bottom-up) approach.  My research shows that most educators feel that a mix of these two approaches is the most effective means of helping any emergent reader.  

I would argue, though, that of these two approaches, the meaning-centered strategy should be the first step in helping an English learner acquire second language reading skills.   Doesn’t it make sense to help a student learn to read by creating an understanding based on what he or she already knows?  That’s what the meaning-based approach does.  It presents something of interest to the learner and asks the learner to use his or her background knowledge as well as context-cues to comprehend.  In my opinion, as the English learner hones his or her comprehension skills, it stands to reason that decoding strategies will follow.  In other words, teaching an English learner to read the word “spot” by focusing on phonemic awareness does not tell that student what a spot is.  (Or, in the case of early basal readers, that “Spot” can be the name of a dog.)  

Anecdotally, I have observed an English learner whose reading proficiency has vastly improved.  Her reading fluency is right at expected achievement levels for all students her age, but her comprehension skills are not as high as other readers at the same level.  I discovered this when I noticed that she was reading accurately but very quickly.  When queried, she could only speculate about the specifics of the story she read.   I am hoping to capitalize on her interest in the story to hone her comprehension skills.  I believe that if she becomes truly interested and invested in the story rather than just mastering individual words, this student will become the fluent, proficient reader that she just appears to be now.

Chapter 4

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