How young learners start reading
Mayumi Tabuchi: English Department Advisor, Ritsumeikan Primary School
Teaching letter identification and reading is a sensitive issue in Japan due to the fear that the complexity may demotivate pupils. This is especially a concern at public elementary schools in Japan, where English programs are on the verge of being implemented into the 5th and 6th grade curriculum. Is this fear a myth or reality?
Many English teachers of children have observed young learners who seem to naturally learn to read, but how are these skills acquired? Often, these children learn to read by having interesting and appropriate books read to them or remember words they have been exposed to in the past. Though the process of acquiring reading skills varies from child to child, most children can benefit from more structured help with the multiple and non-natural skills of literacy. (Cameron 2007)
As a case study of how young students learn literacy skills, I will examine the performance of students at a private elementary school, where English is taught regularly as one of the school’s subjects. Specifically, I will look at how students responded to structured reading instruction and their assessment of their reading development.
In general, students at this school have many books read to them in the classroom. They are exposed to over thirty carefully chosen titles in their first year. This nearly equates to one book every three lessons. Varied reading styles are used in the classroom and include storytelling, in which students just listen most of the time and shared reading, in which students get actively involved answering questions or reading together with the teacher.
Students are also taught basic phonics with an emphasis on decoding beginning consonants. As described by Cameron:
It is usual to start with single consonants that occur as onsets in syllables or in single syllables words, drawing children’s attention to them, identifying their name and sound, playing games with them such as spotting them in books, practicing writing the letter shapes so that sounds, reading and writing reinforce each other. It is important in phonics teaching to make activities meaningful for children, and to make connections with what they already know. (pg.149)
The reading instructions, as mentioned above, are embedded into the curriculum, but no more than 10 minutes is spent on this in each lesson. The reasoning behind this is that more than 10 minutes could be rather overwhelming unless they are incorporated in to other activities.
Additionally, students are given the opportunity to listen to books that include memorable rhythms, and this allowed most of them to start "reading" along with the teacher when shown the text. Among those books used, "The Lady with the Alligator Purse" and "Goldilocks and Three Bears" (Jazz Chants Fairy Tales, Oxford) were their favorites. This activity instilled a sense of confidence in students. Even though they may not be actually "reading", this is an important step in the beginning of the process of learning to read.
Later in the program, students are each given a book (Story Street, Pearson Longman) to read silently. They spend 7 to 10 minutes in each lesson reading graded readers and enjoying this "pleasure reading" time. Students either read aloud or read silently in a free voluntary reading style that has been shown to be effective for acquiring reading skills. (Krashen 2004)
Students start "reading" in the 3rd grade, which means following the text with their eyes moving left to right and trying to sound out each of the words. In 18 months of instruction, 75% of pupils were able to read 60-word books (Tabuchi, Mitsugi, Okamoto, 2007).
In order to more accurately gauge the progress made, students' reading abilities were assessed with a benchmark book of 73 words (Developmental Reading Assessment, 2003). This was followed by an oral interview to assess their reading comprehension. After this 24-month reading program, their reading skills had reached the point of textual competence.
Though this study of one private elementary school may be hard to generalize, it seems to indicate that benefits of clear reading instruction in the classroom outweigh the fear that it can cause confusion. Structured curriculum that emphasizes literacy can effectively help students acquire reading skills that will continue to develop throughout their lives. This is a topic that needs further discussion and research on how effective reading instruction can be favorably adapted into the curriculum in elementary schools and language institutes.
Reference
L. Cameron (2007) Teaching Language to Young Learners: Cambridge University Press
S. Krashen (2004) The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research 2/e: Heinemann
Mayumi Tabuchi
Ritsumeikan Primary school English Program advisor,
Educational Consultant, Teacher Trainer, President of her own school, and series editor for Boost! .
