Transferability of Skills in Second Language Reading Comprehension of EFL learners 1. Introduction Reading itself is essential in English language learning. It can help the students develop their writing, speaking, and listening abilities. In every subject, student’s learning activities involve reading. Moats (1999) stated that reading is the fundamental skill upon which all formal education depends and the most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Reading comprehension is one of the complex ways in learning English, in a sense that it is not a unitary construct but a complex skill dependent on a number of cognitive processes. It is kind of activity to comprehend the writer’s idea or the way the writer communicates with the readers by way of the written or printed words. Comprehension is the main purpose of receptive skills of language that is reading and listening. Successful comprehension enables readers or listeners to acquire information, to experience and be aware of other worlds, to communicate successfully, and to achieve academic success. Good reading comprehension is making the sense of each sentence and accessing their meaning. To understand text in a meaningful way, a readers need to integrate the meaning of sentences and establish local coherence. Moreover, they need to establish how the information fits together as a whole, that is, global coherence. 1.1 Definition of Key Terms In this section some essential key terms will be defined for clarification. 1.1.1 Reading Comprehension Definition In the past centuries and decades many people used to think of reading as a passive skill in which the reader just receives a great deal of information and does not produce anything. But after th... ... middle of paper ... ...ngbom, H. 1992. On L1 Transfer in L2 Comprehension and L2 Production. Language Learning 42: 85-112 Odlin, T. (1989). Language transfer: Cross-linguistic influence in language learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University press. Gass, S. & Selinker, L. eds.(1983). Language transfer in language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Rivera, K. (1999). Native language literacy and adult ESL education. ERIC Digest. Retrieved February 28, 2009 from http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-4/esl.htm Genesse, F., Lindholm-Leory, K., Saunderes,W. &Christian, D. (2006). Educating English Language Learners. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press Riches, C., & Genesee, F. (2006). Cross-Linguistic and ross-Model Aspects of Literacy Development. In F. Genesee, K. Lindholm-Leary August, D., & Shanahan, T. (2006). Developing Literacy in second Language Learners. Mahwah NJ: Erlbaum
Finding a definition of literacy is not as easy as it sounds. The Webster definition says that to be literate is to be” able to read and write.” But to some researchers, this definition is too simplistic, leading to multiple models of literacy. Most Americans adhere to the autonomous model, which falls closest to the standard, dictionary definition. Believers in this form say that literacy is a cognitive activity that students learn like any other basic skill. It has a set of proficiencies that one must master in order to be capable of decoding and encoding text (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). A competing theory is the ideological model, which claims literacy is intrinsically linked to culture, and therefore what constitutes a “literate” individual is ever-changing. Society is the largest influence on literacy, according to this thought, and it is affected by politics, religion, philosophy and more (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). These two are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, some studies recognize “literacy as competence,” which is a “measure of competence to do a given task or work in a given field,” (SIL International, 1999) such as being computer literate. Although more researchers are recognizing and exploring multiple literacies, the one that most influences American schools is the autonomous, cognitive model – the ability to read and write. For many, it seems a simple task, but millions of adolescents are struggling or reluctant readers, and there are many reasons why young readers have difficulty with reading. XXXXXX------NEED HELP WITH THESIS STATEMENT HERE PLEASE—(This paper will focus on the effects of low reading skills, some of the possible causes of reluctant and struggling readership...
Metalinguistic awareness increased within the ESL students, therefore their phonics increased as well and they scored higher than some L1 students. Students who know multiple languages at an early age are proven to do better in both languages than students who only know one language.
There are many theories on how a person acquires a language. One can see that technology has influenced the way we input information as well as how we gather data based on these Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories. For example, today’s technology has helped us study the way the human brain works, and this is what our theories of SLA are based on. So it is evident that many of the SLA theories are based on the way the human brain works and how it develops. Moving on, this case study is based on two Spanish speakers who are English Language Learners (ELL) and how they were led to determine the SLA on the subject of their speech. The two Spanish speakers that are analyzed during this investigation are Elizabeth, a five-year old girl, and
Ovando, C. J., Combs, M.C., & Collier, V.P. (2006) Bilingual & ESL classrooms: Teaching multicultural contexts. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill
The purpose of this assignment is to explain the impact of English language learners in the classroom. As a foreign student, English language learner in the United States faces multiple challenges for achieving academic success. To successfully complete a task, they need to master both English as a language and how it is used in core content classes especially when they are an adult. When trying to assist in instructing English language learners, they usually have many concepts and language abilities that they need to master, as do the teachers that are trying to teach them. With the incorporation of the concepts and approaches to identify and assess the issues and concerns that we have learned in our classroom instruction, such as lesson preparation,
Reading involves translating symbols and letters into words or sentences. Anderson defines reading as a process of constructing meaning from a written text. We indulge in reading for many different purposes, be it survival, leisure or occupational. In a way, reading serves as a kind communication between the writer and the reader. The writer encodes what he or she wishes to convey while the reader decodes according to his or her own perception. Johnson quotes “A young man should read five hours in a day, and so may acquire a great deal of knowledge.”
O’Neill,S., Gish, A. (2008). Teaching English as a second language. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
In the twentieth century, the avoidance of the using L1 in classrooms dominated teachers’ minds; as well it was implemented in many policies and guidelines of language teaching (Cook, 2001). Thornbury (2010) listed a set of arguments against using L1 in L2 classrooms mainly for that the translation of L2 into another language will play negative effects on students’ learning process. He pointed out that the use of L1 will result learners to have a cognitive dependence on their mother tongue at the expense of developing independence TL learning. Although the two language systems are not equivalent in many aspects, students may have an awareness of the notion of equivalence of the two languages if translation serves to convey meanings. Some argue that the use of translation to convey the meaning of the TL is more efficient and more memorable. However, Thornbury (2010) sees the opposite. He stated that the simple and direct way of translation will make L2 knowledge less memorable since the process lacks mental efforts in working out meanings.
As previously stated, “Second language acquisition is the study of how an additional language is developed within a child’s life” (Gass & Selinker, 2008). According to researchers David and Wei (2008) “evidence seems to suggest that bilingual children’s language development is by and large the same as that of monolingual children”(p.599), meaning these children go through the same process beginning with babbling, followed by one-word sentences and progressing towards a more develop multiword stage. They way in which a child develops his/her first language becomes a guide for the development of a second language. Children may use their language skills acquired during L1 (first language) learning to help them obtain foreign languages. Research has shown that “both L1 and L2 are tools that serve complementary and sometimes overlapping functions” (Kohnert, 2008). Whether to use first language verse second language m...
Garton, A., & Pratt, C. (1998). Learning to be literate: The development of spoken and written language (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
There are some theoreticians who view literacy in a form of social practice. In their view, social issues are also important components, as well as linguistic competence and understanding cognitive processes in language studies. Freire (1974) views literacy not only as a process of knowledge transformation, but also as a relationship of learners to the world. Vygotsky (1978) suggests two stages of development at social and individual level. In his view, literacy is a phenomenon that is created, shared, and changed by the members of a society. Gee (1996) similarly argues that becoming literate means apprenticeship with texts and apprenticeships in particular ways of being. In summary, literacy practices are not just about language, but about their interrelation with social practices.
Vukelich, C, Christie, J & Enz, B 2002, Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy, Allyn & Bacon, Bosten MA.
readers: A perspective for research and intervention ―[Electronic version]. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(4), 289-312.
Nowadays, many people think reading is not necessary, since there are so many sources of information and types of entertainment, such as TV, cinema and the Internet. I believe they are wrong because reading is very beneficial in many ways.
Language acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language with natural communication while children are acquiring the foreign language. Children usually concerned with message which they are conveying and understand not with the form of utterances. These utterances are initiated by the acquired systems and the fluency of language is based on what we have ‘picked up’ through active communication. Both formal knowledge and conscious learning of the second language learning may be alternate to the output of the system, sometimes before and sometimes after the