Building Bridges for Understanding: Reading Success for English - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Building Bridges for Understanding: Reading Success for English Language Learners

Maria S. Carlo, University of Miami Diane August, Center for Applied Linguistics

Empirical and Theoretical Background:



Considerable previous work (García, 1991; Nagy, 1997; National Reading Panel, 2000; Verhoeven, 1990) suggests that one major determinant of poor reading comprehension, for Latino children and for other lagging readers, is low vocabulary.



Lack of knowledge of the middle and lower frequency 'academic' words encountered in middle and secondary school texts impedes comprehension of those texts, which in turn impedes the natural process of learning new word meanings from exposure during reading (Stanovich, 1986).

Continued…

 One strategy believed to be successful in promoting the rapid

acquisition of vocabulary by ELLs involves teaching children about the morphological structure of words.

 Researchers believe that it is beneficial for ELLs if instruction on

the structural analysis of words includes making students aware

• f the cross-linguistic morphological relationships between

words in their two languages (García & Nagy, 1993; Nagy, García, Durgunoglu, & Hancin-Bhatt,1993; Jiménez et al., 1996; Nation 2001).

 This involves making students aware of words that are cognates

(words that are spelt alike and have similar meanings in two languages), and making them aware of similarities between derivational morphemes in the two languages (e.g, motivación- motivation).

Subjects

The subjects were 81 fourth grade children in

Success for All schools in El Paso, Chicago, and Boston.

Fifty-nine of the children had received initial

reading instruction in Spanish. Of these 42 had been transitioned into English Instruction at the time of assessment.

Twenty-two of the children had been in English

reading instruction since kindergarten.

Researcher Developed Measures : Cognate Awareness Test

Test developed to find out if Native

Spanish Speaker children recognize the meaning of English words better if these words have a corresponding sound or spelling in Spanish

Researcher Developed Measures : Cognate Awareness Test

Example: edifice building committee island congress

Cognates Awareness Test: Item Characteristics



• 26. jest

defend bend joke observe

• 25. converse

speak with someone fight with someone include someone leave out someone

Low English Frequency High Spanish Frequency & Low English Frequency

Researcher Developed Measures: Extract the Base

Measures children’s knowledge of derivational morphology (their awareness of the rules by which words change from one part of speech to another). Example: recognition > recognize (Test adapted from Carlisle, 1988)

Researcher Developed Measures: Extract the Base

• 3. Sometimes you can see your ___________.
• 3. breathe
• 2. Animals often ____________ storms before

they come.

• 2. sensitive
• 1. The _______________ was happy with the

show.

• 1. publicity

Extract the Base: Item Characteristics

farmer > farm No Change No Change recognition > recognize Spelling & Pronunciation changes Both cleanliness > clean Pronunciation changes Phonological emptiness > empty Spelling changes Orthographic Example Definition Morphological Transformation

Extract the Base: Scoring

• score of 0--Incorrect response associated with

copying the derived form, providing a translation or a random letter string

• score of 1--partially correct indicating an attempt to

extract a base or transform the word in some way but resulting in a letter string that was not viable either phonologically or orthographically .

• score of 2--partially correct extraction of the base

expressed through a phonologically or

• rthographically viable letter string.
• score of 3--completely correct base

Standardized Tests: Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery

 Spanish and English:

 Letter-word ID  Picture-Word Vocabulary  Listening Comprehension  Passage Comprehension

Research Questions

 Is there transfer of knowledge about word

meanings for English words that have cognate status in Spanish?

 Is performance on cognates and non cognates

differentially predicted by Spanish & English composite constructs that include measures of

• rthographic knowledge, breadth of

vocabulary knowledge, and derivational morphology knowledge?

Means and standard deviations for performance

• f Spanish-English bilinguals on the English

cognates task

6.94 (2.71) 8.26 (3.25) English- Instructed 9.77 (4.66) 7.44 (2.96) Spanish- Instructed Cognates Non-cognates

Analyses

 English Picture Vocabulary and English

Extract the Base used to predict Cognate and Noncognate subtest performance.

 SPAN (a composite of the three Picture

Vocabulary, Extract the Base and Letter word ID) used to predict Cognate and Noncognates.

Regression paths ALL GROUPS

**Significant regression paths (p<0.01). *Significant regression paths (p<0.05). 0.541* 0.054 0.072 Non- cognates 0.269* 0.215 0.299** Cognates Picture Vocabulary English Extract the Base English Spanish construct Dependent Variable

R-Square

0.268 0.248 0.329 Non-cognates 0.740 0.411 0.307 Cognates All English English & Spanish All Spanish Dependent Variable

Descriptive Summary ALL SPANISH GROUP (n = 25)

0.962, (1.000) 0.820, (1.000) 1.008, (1.000) Variance

• 1.221,

(-1.241)

• 0.185,

(-0.205) 2.507, (2.497) Mean Picture Vocabulary English Extract the Base English Spanish construct

Note: Unstandardized solution is reported first,

followed by the fully standardized solution in parentheses.

BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH GROUP (n = 32)

Note: Unstandardized solution is reported first, followed by the fully standardized solution in parentheses. 0.383, (1.000) 0.516, (1.000) 1.207, (1.000) Variance

• 0.073,

(-0.118)

• 0.065,

(-0.091) 1.100, (1.001) Mean Picture Vocabulary - Eng Extract the Base - English Spanish construct

ALL ENGLISH GROUP (n = 54)

Note: Unstandardized solution is reported first, followed by the fully standardized solution in parentheses. 0.223, (1.000) 0.452, (1.000) 4.208, (1.000) Variance 0.762, (1.615) 0.473, (0.703)

• 2.622,

(-1.278) Mean Picture Vocabulary English Extract the Base English Spanish construct

Conclusions

 Results suggest that 4th graders ability to correctly

identify low frequency English words that are cognates to Spanish is predicted by the Spanish construct consisting of WLPB Letter-word, picture vocabulary, and Extract the Base.

 This relationship holds for all groups of Spanish-

speaking ELLs regardless of language of instruction.

 This Spanish construct does not predict performance

• n the low frequency English noncognates.

Second Research Question

 Can an intervention developed to teach

cognate awareness to Spanish English bilingual 3rd grades improve their learning of English words that have cognate status in Spanish?

Subjects

 3rd grade students in two schools have been

randomly assigned (using stratified assignment) to

• ne of two conditions

 Cognate Awareness After School Intervention (4

groups in each school)

 FCAT preparation After School Course (4 groups in

each school)  All students were ELLs who varied in ESOL

classifications 1-5

 All students received Spanish instruction twice a

week.

Instruction

 In both conditions students received 23

lessons of one hour

 In both conditions students met 4 times a

week after school

 In both conditions teachers received 8 hours

• f training

 Treatment teachers were observed for fidelity

• f implementation on two occasions.

Assessments

Pre

 WLPB Spanish letter

word, picture-word and passage comprehension

 WLPB English letter

word, picture-word and passage comprehension

 Word Association Test  English & Spanish

Extract The Base Post

 WLPB English letter

word, picture-word and passage comprehension

 Word Association Test  English Extract The

Base

 Sentence Verification

Technique

Curriculum

3 Units on topic of Exploration

 Antarctica  Coral Reef  Space

Each unit consisted of:

 Pre-teaching of Vocabulary using activities that build

depth

 Interactive Reading of Passage  Instruction on Word Polysemy  Instruction on analysis of word structure

Identification of Letter & Sound Differences

 Direct students to the Letter Difference activity in their

Student Materials for the day.

 On the left hand side, we have listed the Spanish

cognates of the words from the passage.

 Write the English cognate for each Spanish cognate

given.

 Students will have the Spanish cognate provided for

• them. Have them write the English cognate next to

each one. Review with the students to be sure that the words have been spelled correctly in English.

 Once the English cognate has been written,

indicate which letters are different between the cognates by circling the letters. Alternate between having them call out differences with the teacher circling and occasionally having students come up and circle the differences themselves.

 Follow by asking students to circle the letters

that are different between both English and Spanish cognates. (The letters that are different are highlighted below.)

Spanish Cognate English Cognate __fotografia___ __[photograph]___ __demostrar__ __[demonstrate]___ __moviendo____ __[moving]______ __espacio______ __[space]________ __mover ______ __[move]________ __hora________ __[hour]_________

4 3 2 1 Sounds exactly alike Sounds similar Sounds slightly different Sounds completely different Photograph / Fotografía 4 3 2 1 Sounds exactly alike Sounds similar Sounds slightly different Sounds completely different Planet / Planeta 4 3 2 1 Sounds exactly alike Sounds similar Sounds slightly different Sounds completely different Moment / Momento

Meaning Making Review, Word Structure Activity, Work Making Activity Review Lesson Word Sort, Multiple Meanings, Contexting Activity Multiple Meanings Passage Preview (Activate background knowledge), Teacher/Student Read Aloud, Interactive Story Re-reading, Story Summary Text Reading Pre-teaching of vocabulary words followed by meaning-making activities Meaning Making Passage Review, Multiple Meanings, Introduce Venn Diagram, Multiple Meanings with Venn Diagrams, Contexting Activity Multiple Meanings Review Vocabulary Words, Passage Preview (Activate background knowledge), Teacher/Student Read Aloud, Interactive Story Re- reading, Adventure Journal Text Reading Quick Review of Cognates, Pre-teaching of vocabulary words followed by meaning-making activities Meaning Making Antarctica Video, Oral Reading Robert F. Scott Biography, See-It Say-It, Give out Take-Home Words, Word-Search Puzzle,

• Intro. to Antarctica

Barrier (barrera)

 Direct students’ attention to the word barrier in

English on the overhead. Ask students what the Spanish cognate for the word barrier is. After eliciting responses give them the word in Spanish (barrera).

 Here are some examples that will give you some

clues to help you figure out what the word barrera means:

 No pudimos entrar a la calle porque el árbol caído

creo una barrera que no nos dejaba pasar.

 Mi vecino puso una cerca de madera para crear una

barrera entre su casa y la mía.

 Who can describe what barrera means in these

examples?

 After students provide definitions say, “Barrera quiere

decir algo que no permite el paso.” Then quickly go back to the overhead to validate elicited responses.

 Now, I’m going to give you some examples of barrier

in English.

 To keep the rainwater away from the house, we

used sand bags to create a barrier.

 To protect the president, the policemen created a

barrier between him and the crowd.  Who can describe what barrier means in these

examples?

 After students provide definitions say, “Barrier

means something that blocks the way.” Then quickly go back to the overhead to validate elicited responses.

 Teachers: Direct students to the Meaning

Making Activity in their student Materials

• Packet. Prior to doing the meaning making

activity, draw their attention to the vocabulary word that they just discussed and ask them to trace over the word with their pencil in order for them to practice their writing and spelling.

Meaning Making Activity

 If you wanted to stop your brother or sister

from entering your room what kinds of barriers could you put in front of the door.

 Note: the teacher should provide an example

so that students can model their responses

• appropriately. Be sure to sweep the room

eliciting responses.

 For example, I would put a chair as a barrier

in front of my door.

Repeat, Restate, & Elaborate Language (RRE)

 Use the following sequence: when a student

responds to a question or elicits a response, carefully repeat the student’s response for the class emphasizing the use of the pertinent vocabulary word. Next, try to restate the response in different words in an attempt to model more sophisticated language. Finally, elaborate upon the student’s ideas in order to extend the meaning

Multiple Meanings

 Some words have more than one meaning in English.

That is, these words have multiple meanings. Several words from this week’s lesson have multiple meanings.

 Discuss multiple meanings of the word rough. As

with the meaning making activity at the beginning of this unit, try to elicit definitions from the students that are derived from the context of the examples. Try your best to sweep the room for responses. Try to write the definitions in the students’ words. Afterwards share your definition with them [in red]. Remember that the students’ conversations as they think aloud and negotiate meanings for the words are very valuable.

Multiple Meanings continued

 Look at this example of our definition of rough:  Surfing was not allowed on the beach this morning because the

waves were very rough.

 Think about what rough means in this example. What is a

definition for rough based on how it is used here.

 _____ [rough means not calm]_________________________  Now, look at a different meaning of rough:  Yesterday I fell down and scraped my knees on the rough

cement.

 Think about what rough means in this example. What is a

definition for rough based on how it is used here.

 _____[bumpy, sharp and uneven]________________________

Definición de masa (Spanish): Una gran cantidad de algo Definition of mass (English): A large quantity or number of something

Spanish & English

Definición de masa: Mezcla de harina con agua y levadura, para hacer el pan o pasta.

Spanish

Definition of mass: A religious service in the Catholic Church

English

Mass (Masa)