English Learners Reading English: What We Know, What We Need to Know

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English Learners Reading English: What WeKnow, What We Need to KnowSuzanne F. Peregoy & Owen F. BoylePublished online: 24 Jun 2010.

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237

English Learners Reading EnglishPeregoy and Boyle

OF ALL SCHOOL LEARNING, success in literacy, especially reading, is certainly among the

most important achievements for all students dueto its key role in academic learning and conse-quent social and economic opportunities. In recentyears, pressures to prepare a highly literate popu-lace together with concerns over reading achieve-ment have prompted federal and state leaders inthe United States to focus attention on ways toteach reading more effectively. Debates over bestteaching practices have fueled differences betweenwhole language and phonics advocates.

The result is a highly vocal and polarizedrhetoric that fails to capture the reality of today’sclassrooms: dedicated teachers combining experi-ence, insight, and professional judgment to addressthe increasingly diverse and changing learningneeds of their students. Often missing in the de-bate are the literacy needs of English learners,though as a group, they score among the lowest inreading achievement nationwide. Finding a placefor English learners in the discussion of best prac-tices is thus imperative.

The inadequacy of efforts to define simpleguidelines for teaching English learners to read isnot due to lack of concern on the part of research-ers, educators, or politicians. Rather a combina-

tion of factors makes English learners’ reading aconceptually difficult topic to encompass. Amongthese factors are the dynamic, evolving, and some-times controversial state of reading research in gen-eral; a lack of consistent, generalizable researchfindings on second language reading processes andprograms in particular; and the rapid growth andtremendous diversity among English learners them-selves (Fitzgerald, 1995).

As we write this article, we enter the arenawell aware of these obstacles. Nonetheless, we seethis as an opportunity to synthesize research, theo-ry, and practice in the field of second languagereading. We begin by describing English readingprocesses among native and non-native Englishspeakers. Then, using theory, experience, and re-search where available for support, we offer a setof recommendations for teaching English learnersto read in English.

Diversity Among English LearnersThe most salient feature of English learners

as a group is their remarkable diversity. At thevery least, these students vary in age, prior educa-tional experiences, cultural heritage, socioeconomicstatus, country of origin, and levels of both prima-ry language and English language development,including literacy development. Some are immi-grants or children of immigrants and represent lan-guages from every continent in the world. Others

THEORY INTO PRACTICE, Volume 39, Number 4, Autumn 2000Copyright © 2000 College of Education, The Ohio State University0040-5841/2000$1.50

Suzanne F. Peregoy is professor of education at SanFrancisco State University; Owen F. Boyle is profes-sor of education at San José State University.

Suzanne F. PeregoyOwen F. Boyle

English Learners Reading English:What We Know, What We Need to Know

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THEORY INTO PRACTICE / Autumn 2000Children and Languages at School

have roots in U.S. soil that go back for generations,maintaining languages as diverse as Spanish, Nava-jo, Chippewa, Cherokee, Choctaw, Apache, and Crow.Of course English learners also vary along person-al lines, as do all students, in terms of their inter-ests, desires, aptitudes, and potentials.

Just as English learners vary one from anoth-er, so do the classrooms and programs that servethem. While some classrooms serve English learn-ers from the same primary language background,often Spanish, other classrooms may include stu-dents from over 10 different primary languagebackgrounds. Some students will receive literacyinstruction in the primary language; many will not.Regardless of program type or classroom compo-sition, tremendous diversity will be found in anyclassroom in terms of students’ English proficien-cy, reading and writing ability, primary languageliteracy, and literacy practices in the home.

As daunting as the diversity among secondlanguage readers may be, one unifying factor inthe equation is that the process of reading in Englishis essentially similar for all readers, whether they arenative or non-native English speakers (Fitzgerald,1995; Goodman & Goodman, 1978). This processinvolves decoding written symbols into the lan-guage they represent to arrive at meaning. Whatdiffer between native and non-native English read-ers are the cognitive-linguistic and experiential re-sources they bring to the reading task, especiallyin terms of those variables that relate directly toreading comprehension in English, i.e., (a) Englishlanguage proficiency, (b) background knowledgerelated to the text, and (c) literacy abilities andexperiences, if any, in the first language. We elab-orate later on these three differences between na-tive and non-native English readers, but first webriefly describe how native English speakers readin English in order to establish those elements ofthe reading process shared in common by nativeand non-native English readers.

Good Readers Reading in EnglishHow do good readers read? That is, how do

native English speakers who are also good readersmake sense of a text written in English? First, goodreaders generally approach a text with a particularpurpose in mind. They have enough experience with

written language to know its various uses, and theyput that understanding into practice when select-ing a text to achieve their purpose.

Along with a purpose, good readers may bringat least some prior knowledge of the text topic.The more familiar the topic, the easier it will befor the reader to understand the text. That is, com-prehension is affected by the extent to which thereader is familiar with the topics, objects, and eventsdescribed in a text (Anderson, 1994). Good read-ers activate prior knowledge of the text topic byimagining what they know and do not know aboutthe topic, predicting what the text will be about,and generating questions the text might answer.

Having set a purpose and activated priorknowledge, the good reader begins reading by vi-sually processing the print from left to right, top tobottom of the page, given that we are talking aboutreading in English. Processing the print involvesdecoding the words on the page, i.e., producing amental or verbal equivalent to access meaning.However, decoding word by word is insufficient,as evidenced by some students who accurately callout every word in a sentence without understand-ing the meaning.

As they are decoded, the words on the pagemust also be interpreted, initially in the context ofthe phrases and sentences of which they are a part,and subsequently across sentences and paragraphsas the larger meaning of the text is constructed.The comprehension process thus depends upon thereader’s knowledge of the particular vocabulary andgrammatical structures that comprise the sentencesof the text and also upon the reader’s familiaritywith the way the text as a whole is structured.

As the good reader moves across sentences andparagraphs to construct the larger meaning of a text,familiarity with the genre and its text structure comesinto play in the comprehension process, helpingthe reader anticipate and predict the direction andflow of ideas (Kintsch & Van Dijk, 1978). Forexample, a text that begins, “Once upon a time,”signals the beginning of a fairy tale told with anarrative text structure.

Contrast that with a paragraph that begins,“Three key events led to California’s rapid rise tostatehood.” This sentence signals an informationaltext that will probably be written with an enumeration

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text structure. Good readers are sufficiently familiarwith a variety of genres and text structures to usethis knowledge for predicting and confirming mean-ing across sentences, paragraphs, and passages thatcomprise a text.

As good readers move through the text, de-coding and constructing meaning, they need to holdon to their ongoing textual interpretation in order toelaborate, modify, and further build upon it, therebykeeping their interpretation going and growing. Read-ing is thus a complex, cognitive-linguistic processthat engages background knowledge and taxes bothshort- and long-term memory. It is also a processthat takes place in a social context while servingas a social act of communication between the au-thor and reader. In this interactive view, text com-prehension is simultaneously driven by the reader’spurpose, prior knowledge, and ongoing interpreta-tion as these interact with decoding to achieve com-munication (Rumelhart, 1994).

Finally, good readers are strategic readers,meaning they monitor their understanding as theyread to check whether their interpretation makessense and to make sure they are achieving theirpurpose (Brown, Campione, & Day, 1980). Theyemploy fix-up strategies, such as rereading a con-fusing part, to assist themselves in comprehendinga text and achieving their purpose for reading. Inthis sense, reading is an active process of con-structing and confirming meaning, one that is bothlinear and sequential as well as recursive and se-lective in that good readers may preview the text,reread a sentence, or go back to a different sectionto double check their evolving interpretation.

We have briefly described how good readersset a purpose for reading and bring several knowl-edge resources to bear upon the comprehensionprocess, among them: decoding ability, languageknowledge, background knowledge, written genreknowledge, familiarity with text structures, andcomprehension-monitoring abilities. Non-native En-glish readers engage in a similar reading process,calling into play similar knowledge resources, withcertain important differences that we focus on inthe next sections: (a) English language proficien-cy, (b) background knowledge, and (c) literacyknowledge and experience in the primary language.

English Language ProficiencyEnglish language proficiency stands out as

the defining difference between native and non-native English speakers, even though English learn-ers range along a broad continuum fromnon-English to fully English proficient. In this con-text, English language proficiency refers to an in-dividual’s general knowledge of English, includingvocabulary, grammar, and discourse conventions,which may be called upon during any instance oforal or written language use (Canale & Swain,1980; Peregoy & Boyle, 1991).

To the extent that a reader is limited in Englishlanguage proficiency, the ability to make sense of atext written in English is likewise hindered. Evensecond language readers who are proficient in En-glish have been found to read more slowly than na-tive English speakers, attesting to the comprehensiondifficulties related to English language proficiencyduring reading (Fitzgerald, 1995). This fact calls intoquestion the validity of standardized reading achieve-ment test results for many English learners.

Background Knowledge: Text ContentInterestingly, the comprehension challenges

imposed by limited English proficiency are alleviat-ed when the text concerns content with which thesecond language reader is familiar. For example, inone study, Arab Muslim and Hispanic Catholic col-lege students in the United States were given twopassages to read, one with Muslim-oriented contentand one with Catholic-oriented content (Carrell,1987). For both groups, comprehension was betterwhen reading the passage reflecting their own cul-tural tradition. In similar studies involving cultur-ally familiar and culturally unfamiliar passages ofsimilar linguistic difficulty, comprehension washigher for the culturally familiar text (Fitzgerald,1995). In other words, familiarity with text con-tent alleviated limitations associated with secondlanguage proficiency in text comprehension.

Background knowledge is a powerful variablefor both native and non-native English readers. How-ever, it becomes doubly important in second languagereading because it interacts with language proficien-cy during reading, alleviating the comprehensiondifficulties stemming from language proficiency

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limitations. Therefore, building background knowl-edge on a text topic through first-hand experiencessuch as science experiments, museum visits, and ma-nipulatives can facilitate success in reading.

Background Knowledge: Text StructureIn addition to familiarity with text content,

familiarity with text structure also facilitates read-ing comprehension (Carrell, 1987, 1992). Becausetext structure conventions can vary from one lan-guage to another, explicit instruction on Englishtext structures is beneficial for English learners,especially those who are literate in their primarylanguage. For example, knowing how a story plotor a cause/effect argument is structured can facili-tate reading comprehension in those genres.

Text structure knowledge boosts comprehen-sion by helping readers anticipate and predict thedirection of a plot or argument, thereby facilitat-ing attention to the larger meaning of the text. Forexample, familiarity with problem/solution textstructure can assist the reader in anticipating, seek-ing, and finding the author’s proposed solution tothe problem posed. Similarly, calling students’ at-tention to headings and subheadings used in con-tent area texts provides them a strategy forpreviewing text content and creating potential ques-tions to answer when reading.

Familiarity with English text structures re-sults from extensive experience reading a varietyof texts in English, especially when explicit dis-cussion of text structure is provided to help stu-dents perceive these patterns and use them tounderstand text. All English learners can benefitfrom text structure instruction, especially those whoare literate in the primary language, given that textstructure conventions may vary across languagesand cultures. By showing students the elements,organization, and sequencing that make up a “goodessay,” a “good story,” or a “good argument” inEnglish, teachers can immediately boost the quali-ty of their students’ reading and writing.

Assisting English learners with expositorytext structures is especially critical because con-tent area texts become longer, more complex, andmore conceptually dense from the third grade andup through high school and college. Text structureknowledge can help students grapple with these

challenging texts, promoting reading comprehen-sion and learning in science, social studies, andother content areas.

In summary, to the extent that the reader’s back-ground knowledge is reflected in a text, the text iseasier to understand. Furthermore, background knowl-edge and language knowledge interact during sec-ond language reading, so that comprehensionlimitations can be overcome to some extent whenthe text topic is familiar. Knowledge of text struc-ture conventions also enables readers to predictand confirm the meaning in a passage, enhancingcomprehension. By tailoring instruction to students’English proficiency and building backgroundknowledge for particular text content and struc-ture, teachers significantly increase their students’chances for success in reading English.

Success in reading English is a valued outcomein itself, but it has the additional benefit of providinga useful source of linguistic input for English lan-guage development. Wide reading not only increasesreading ability but also promotes English languagedevelopment (Elley & Mangubhai, 1983). Further-more, wide reading increases general backgroundknowledge, which in turn facilitates comprehensionwhen reading texts of all kinds, including contentarea texts.

Phonemic Awareness and PhonicsThus far we have highlighted language knowl-

edge and background knowledge as important as-pects of the reading process. These factors can onlybe brought into play, however, if the reader hasadequate knowledge of the writing system to ac-cess the language encoded in the text, a fact thatholds equally true for both first and second lan-guage readers. In English and other languages thatuse alphabetic writing systems, speech sounds arerepresented by letters and letter sequences, reflect-ing the nature of the alphabetic principle. In orderfor beginning readers to make use of the alphabeticprinciple, they need to be able to (a) hear individualspeech sounds in words, i.e., phonemic awareness;and (b) learn the symbols that represent thosesounds, i.e., phonics or graphophonics. Withoutsubstantial knowledge of these sound/symbol cor-respondences, readers are deprived of a useful toolfor recognizing unfamiliar words.

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Phonics is not the only tool readers may use tounlock an unfamiliar word. Good readers also usecontext to help them predict a word that fits gram-matically and makes sense in the context of the sen-tence and passage. Here again, we see languageknowledge, background knowledge, and experiencewith written texts fueling word recognition, as apassage is read and comprehended. The essentialquestion is not whether students should be taughtsound/symbol correspondences but rather how theseshould be taught.

For English learners, there is very little re-search either on phonemic awareness (the abilityto hear, isolate, and manipulate sounds in spokenwords) or phonics instruction (instruction on sound/letter correspondences). However, because bothphonemic awareness and phonics are language-based processes, and because English learners varyin their English language proficiency, English lan-guage proficiency must be taken into considerationin deciding how and when to emphasize phonemicawareness and phonics instruction, a topic we re-turn to in our instructional recommendations at theend of this article.

Experience in the Primary LanguageAnother difference English learners bring to

their reading is the quantity and kind of literacyknowledge and experience they have in their pri-mary language, if any, a variable that ties in close-ly with the age of the student, prior educationalexperiences in the primary language, and the so-cioeconomic status and educational level of theparents. When a student begins English readinginstruction solidly literate in the primary language,even in a language that uses a very different writ-ing system from English such as Russian or Chi-nese, that student possesses funds of knowledgethat go well beyond simply being able to read(Moll, 1994).

For example, students who are literate in theirhome language have some knowledge of the func-tions of print. While the purposes of literacy in theprimary language may differ from those they arelearning for English, students literate in their pri-mary language have nonetheless experienced thevalue, utility, and perhaps pleasures of print. Interms of reading per se, they have exercised the

process of making sense from print, and, depend-ing on their reading abilities, they are more or lessautomatic at decoding and comprehending text intheir primary language.

In addition, students literate in the primarylanguage are typically accustomed to the disciplineand demands of school, whether educated in theUnited States or elsewhere. Education in the pri-mary language thus facilitates academic adjustmentwhile providing a solid experiential base for litera-cy development in English. The power of primarylanguage literacy as a foundation for second lan-guage literacy provides the cornerstone for manybilingual education programs in the United Statesand worldwide.

Types of writing systemsWhen we make the claim that primary language

literacy provides a good foundation for English liter-acy, we are suggesting that various aspects of read-ing and writing transfer across languages, includingattitudes and expectations about print as well as thegeneral process of decoding, interpreting the language,constructing meaning from text, and monitoring com-prehension (Carrell, 1991; Pritchard, 1990; Tragar& Wong, 1984). At a more specific level, transferof literacy ability from one language to anotherdepends on the similarities and differences betweentheir writing systems, including the unit of speechsymbolized by each character.

For example, alphabetic writing systems, suchas the three different ones used for English, Greek,and Russian, represent speech sounds or phonemeswith letters or letter sequences. In contrast, in logo-graphic writing systems, such as Chinese, eachwritten character represents a meaning unit or mor-pheme; while in syllabic writing systems, such askana in Japanese and Sequoyah’s Cherokee sylla-bary, each written symbol represents a syllable.

In addition to differences in the unit of speechrepresented, directionality and spacing conventionsdiffer across writing systems. For example, He-brew reads from right to left whereas English andother European languages read from left to right.Chinese traditionally reads right to left. We sug-gest that specific differences among writing sys-tems must be explicitly addressed when teachingEnglish reading to students who are literate in their

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primary language. In order to do so, teachers need tolearn about the writing systems their students useand the extent to which they are literate in them.

Writing systems similar to English While providing substantial funds of knowl-

edge upon which to base English literacy, the abil-ity to read (and write) in another language thusposes the challenge of learning the similarities anddifferences between the ways English and the pri-mary language are portrayed in print. To the ex-tent that the writing systems are similar, positivetransfer can occur in decoding.

Take Spanish and English, for example. Inour experience (Peregoy, 1989; Peregoy & Boyle,1991), certain features transfer readily such as theidea that speech sounds are represented by lettersand letter sequences and the notion that print isread left-to-right and top-to-bottom. Specific let-ter-sound correspondences may transfer as well.For example, a native Spanish speaker who is pro-ficient in reading Spanish will encounter a similaralphabet in English, with consonant letters repre-senting similar sounds in the two languages. Forexample, the letters b, c, d, f, l, m, n, p, q, s, and trepresent sounds that are similar enough in bothEnglish and Spanish that they may transfer readilyto English reading for many students. Consequent-ly, minimal phonics instruction is needed by manystudents for these consonants.

In contrast, the vowel letters look the samein Spanish and English but represent sounds verydifferently. Therefore English vowel sounds andtheir numerous, “unruly” spellings present a chal-lenge to Spanish literate students learning to readEnglish because the one-to-one correspondencebetween vowel letters and vowel sounds in Span-ish does not hold true in English. Moreover, En-glish has a plethora of vowel spellings that ofteninclude “silent letters.” Consider the “long a” soundas spelled in the following words: lake, weight,mail. These spellings present a challenge to nativeand non-native English speakers alike. For Span-ish literate students, explicit instruction on Englishvowel spelling patterns is often useful, preferablyin the context of reading simple texts. At the sametime, attention to text comprehension is essential,given that some students learn to decode English

so well that they appear to be comprehending whenin fact they are merely “word calling,” i.e., pronounc-ing words without understanding the meaning.

Writing systems different from EnglishClearly, some students may begin English

reading instruction accustomed to a writing sys-tem that bears little or no resemblance to the onethey must learn for English. For example, studentswho are literate in a logographic system such asChinese are faced with learning the English con-vention of representing speech sounds instead ofmeaning units, and the practice of reading fromleft to right instead of right to left. These differ-ences may require considerable concentration inthe early stages of English reading acquisition asstudents develop an understanding of the alphabeticprinciple and begin to learn specific sound/symbolcorrespondences.

Early on, memorization of whole words andtheir meanings may prove useful for Chinese liter-ate students, transferring a strategy they may haveused to learn Chinese characters. Eventually,though, they need to grasp the alphabetic princi-ple, attend to individual sounds in spoken Englishwords (phonemic awareness), and associate thosesounds with certain letters and letter sequences(phonics). As students learn to decode English, theyalso need to develop the English language knowl-edge that will allow them to access the meaning ofthe text, or their decoding will not lead to textcomprehension.

In contrast to students with logographic liter-acy, some English learners may be literate in al-phabetic writing systems that nonetheless use lettersand print conventions that are very different fromEnglish, such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Thai. Thesestudents are apt to be well-versed in the alphabeticprinciple, which they acquired in the process oflearning to read in the primary language, and thatunderstanding should transfer easily to Englishreading. They are also more or less aware of vari-ous functions of print and have had considerableexperience constructing meaning from text, anoth-er source of positive transfer. What will be newfor these students are the specific letters and let-ter/sound correspondences used in English. To learnto read in English, they need to learn the specific

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conventions of how English is represented in printwhile at the same time developing English languageproficiency to facilitate reading comprehension.

Students with minimal literacy experienceIt is important to note that some English

learners may come to school at any age with min-imal literacy experience or abilities in any language.Before selecting instructional interventions for non-literate students, teachers need to find out as muchas possible about the student’s non-literacy. Forexample, is it due to minimal or interrupted school-ing resulting from family mobility or circumstanc-es of immigration? Is it because the family stemsfrom a background without a literate tradition? Ordoes the child have some sort of visual, auditory,or linguistic processing difficulty that hinders thereading process? Knowing the student’s prior ex-periences helps teachers know where to start.

By and large, students without prior literacyexperiences benefit from exposure to the manypractical purposes that written language can servein daily life (Hamayan, 1994). Daily modeling ofreading and writing is needed in which meaningand purpose are palpably clear, such as read aloudsusing texts with reliable picture cues to conveymeaning, making and using lists of classroom du-ties, and reading students’ names from a word wallto take roll.

In a language and literacy rich environment,learners will begin to develop English languageproficiency while simultaneously gaining a rudi-mentary sense of how print works, both in formand function. These experiences will also offeropportunities for students to grasp the essence ofthe alphabetic principle upon which the Englishwriting system is based. From there, students canbenefit from word identification strategy instruc-tion, using stories, poems, and songs they alreadyknow well due to repeated exposures in which tex-tual meaning and purpose are made clear.

A Note of CautionWe have described our view of the reading

process of English learners as similar to that ofnative English speakers, with important differenc-es stemming in particular from variations in En-glish language proficiency, background knowledge,

and prior literacy experiences. We based our dis-cussion on current theory and research in reading,including second language reading. Throughout ourdiscussion, we have suggested ways to facilitateEnglish learners’ reading success by addressing theparticular resources and special needs they bringto the task.

We need to point out here certain critical is-sues regarding the research base in second lan-guage reading. First, most of the research on secondlanguage reading has been conducted with olderlearners in secondary school or college. This isparticularly the case for research on backgroundknowledge and language proficiency effects onreading comprehension. Relatively little researchaddresses elementary school-aged English learners,and when it does, it focuses on students who arealready able to read connected text (e.g., Peregoy,1989; Peregoy & Boyle, 1991).

Beginning English reading acquisition andinstruction for English learners, especially amongstudents who are not literate in the primary lan-guage, are virtually untouched topics in the researchliterature, creating a dilemma for those who seek astrong research base to validate instructional prac-tices. Teaching practices for native English speak-ers cannot simply be applied whole cloth to Englishlearners without modifications that consider, at thevery least, students’ English language proficiencyand primary language literacy. Topics such as pho-nemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and effectiveapproaches to beginning reading instruction are yetto be adequately researched for English learners.

In terms of phonemic awareness, in particu-lar, research must address several important ques-tions: (a) At what point in non-native Englishlanguage development does phonemic awarenessin English emerge? (b) How difficult is it for be-ginning English language learners to hear and ma-nipulate speech sounds in English, and do theseabilities vary based on the age of the learner? basedon the student’s primary language (e.g., Spanish vs.Turkish vs. Cantonese vs. Crow)? (c) Does primarylanguage literacy in an alphabetic writing systemfacilitate phonemic awareness in English? Whatabout primary language literacy in a logographicor syllabic writing system? If English learners donot demonstrate phonemic awareness, what methods

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of reading instruction will best promote their En-glish literacy development? Virtually no researchaddresses these issues.

Instructional ImplicationsBelow we draw a number of instructional

implications from our discussion of English learn-er reading. For our purposes here, we provide onlya brief overview of instructional strategies. Formore in-depth descriptions, see Boyle and Peregoy(1998), Peregoy and Boyle (1997, in press), andOpitz (1998). In addition, see Meyer (this issue).

Learning about studentsLearning as much as possible about individ-

ual English learners is essential to planning effec-tive literacy instruction, especially in the broadareas we have discussed in this article: Englishlanguage proficiency, prior knowledge and life ex-periences, and literacy in the primary language.This kind of information makes it possible to vali-date students for what they do know and build fromthere.

Building learning activities upon familiar con-cepts, for example, not only facilitates literacy andcontent learning but also helps students feel morecomfortable and confident at school. In addition toschool records, if they exist, good initial sourcesof information include the students themselves,their families, and community organizations. It mayalso be helpful to talk with other teachers whohave students from the same family. In addition,school personnel such as community liaisons andparaprofessionals may prove helpful in providinginformation about students.

English language proficiencyBy definition, English learners are still learn-

ing English. Classroom instruction often consistsof oral language interactions between teachers andstudents. When using English as the language ofinstruction, teachers need to use sheltering strate-gies to assure that students will be able to under-stand and participate successfully in learningactivities. Pairing nonverbal cues (e.g., pictures,demonstrations, and gestures) with verbal instruc-tion helps make lessons comprehensible for stu-dents. Paraphrasing and defining important

vocabulary in context also aid comprehension. Aslessons are made more comprehensible for students,instruction simultaneously promotes language ac-quisition and content learning. For second languagelearners, every lesson is a potential language learn-ing opportunity, and must be structured as such(Peregoy & Boyle, 1999).

Sensitivity to the varied language develop-ment levels of English learners will determine howmuch sheltering is needed, how much time it willtake for students to process instructional content,and by what means (e.g., oral, written, pictorial,dramatization) they will display their learning. Themore experience teachers have working with En-glish learners, the more knowledgeable they be-come in determining those aspects of English theirstudents are apt to find difficult, including vocab-ulary; word order; verb forms to express past,present, and future; word formation elements suchas prefixes, suffixes, and roots; and function wordssuch as articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.

Beyond these linguistic elements, day-to-dayobservation allows teachers to gauge how well stu-dents use English to accomplish routine learningtasks and social interactions in ways that are ap-propriate to the classroom context. This knowledgehelps teachers plan specific modifications in their owninstructional language and guides them as they planways to prepare students for reading and understand-ing specific texts (see Meyer, this issue).

English learners who are beginning Englishreading instruction may be literate in the primarylanguage due to education in another country or asa result of bilingual instruction in the United States.The benefits of primary language literacy are many,both as a foundation for English literacy and as avehicle for developing full bilingualism and bilit-eracy. Although primary language reading instruc-tion is beyond the scope of this article, suffice it tosay that primary language development, includingliteracy, is a valuable educational goal for Englishlearners themselves and for U.S. society as a whole(see Fillmore, this issue). Indeed without instruc-tion in the primary language, oral and written skillsare apt to deteriorate or become lost completely.Even so, many English learners find themselveslearning oral and written English simultaneously,without the benefit of primary language instruction.

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The strategies for teaching English reading de-scribed below are applicable to English learnerswith or without primary language literacy abili-ties. The discussion assumes that English is thelanguage of instruction.

Beginning readersWhen English learners are beginning to read

in English, attention to meaning is paramount atevery step of instruction. In addition to using shel-tering strategies to help students understand thelesson, teachers need to help students understandthe meaning and purpose of the text. Texts usedfor beginning reading instruction should be short,simple pieces such as poems, pattern books, songs,simple directions, or recipes. Student understand-ing of the meaning and purpose may be developedby reading the text aloud, pointing out and defin-ing or dramatizing important content words, andusing other sheltering strategies to help studentsunderstand the text. Repetition, perhaps with handmovements like those used in finger plays, is use-ful for this purpose and can be fun and enjoyable.

This phase of the lesson serves English lan-guage development and provides exposure to theforms and functions of print, creating a firm foun-dation for sight word recognition and subsequentinstruction on specific sound/symbol correspon-dences and other word identification strategies. Byusing whole texts for which meaning has been de-veloped, students learn the details of print in thecontext of reading for a purpose.

The above procedures apply for students ofdifferent ages. However, for older students caremust be taken to assure that text content is age-appropriate. One way to do so is to base earlyreading instruction on student generated text, suchas pattern poems, beginning “I like_____.” Simi-larly, texts may be generated in class based on aparticular learning experience, such as planting agarden, baking a casserole, or driving a car. Thestudents provide the ideas, perhaps in one or twowords, and the teacher writes the ideas down inconventional English sentences. These texts pro-vide initial, meaningful encounters with print onwhich to base reading instruction.

To help teachers choose materials, many booklists are available on picture books with contentappropriate for older students (e.g., Benedict, 1992)

and on high interest, easy reading (e.g., Riechel,1998; Rosow, 1996). (Searching the internet usingkeywords, high interest low vocabulary, yields anumber of good resources including Libraries Un-limited at http://www.lu.com/lu/.) In addition toproviding appropriate materials, it is important tolearn about the student’s primary language andwhether the student is literate in it. If so, the teachercan validate the student for this accomplishmentand anticipate areas of positive and/or negativetransfer to reading in English.

Intermediate readersEnglish language learners who can read con-

nected text develop as readers by reading longer,more complex texts in a variety of genres. Teach-ers need to prepare students for any given text byfocusing on specific aspects of its genre, vocabu-lary, grammar, content, and text structure that maybe new to them. The strategies described belowmay be selected before, during, and after readingto facilitate reading comprehension in any genre,including stories, essays, or content area textbookselections.

Before reading. Students need to know theirpurpose for reading, and what they will be askedto do with the information after reading. Teacherstherefore need to assess students’ backgroundknowledge pertinent to the text to be read and buildbackground before students begin to read. It is oftenhelpful to introduce important concepts/vocabularythrough visuals, demonstrations, and graphic or pic-torial organizers prior to reading. While doing so,teachers can informally assess the extent of theirstudents’ knowledge of the topic. Brainstormingand clustering about a topic in small groups is an-other to way to assess and build background infor-mation for students who are fairly fluent in English,provided sheltering strategies are used. Teachersmay prepare students for unfamiliar text structuresby presenting graphics that sketch the structure illus-trated with two or three examples of actual text thatfollow the structure. Recipes and business letters aretwo easy text structures to display graphically, forexample, while story maps offer a useful graphicrepresentation of narrative structure.

Staying with a text. To help students “getinto” and stick with the text, the teacher may read apage or two aloud to the students, asking prediction

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questions to help them anticipate the direction ofthe piece. If the piece is especially difficult, theteacher may guide students through it by readingand discussing one paragraph at a time. Other strat-egies include pairing students to read to each oth-er, with the teacher on hand to assist through roughspots. Additional strategies to help keep studentson track during reading include student responselogs and story maps or other graphic depictions oftext meaning.

After reading. Strategies used after readingserve to help students process the story or passagemore deeply and to organize and remember theinformation. Some strategies include: mapping, dra-matization, creating a mural, and writing a scriptfor a play or a readers theater. Any of these strate-gies may be used for in-depth literature study, con-tent area reading, and theme-related projects.

ConclusionIn this article, we have discussed the special

characteristics English learners bring to the task ofreading and learning to read in their new language.We have pointed out the tremendous diversityamong second language readers, illustrating thedifficulties inherent in making simple generaliza-tions concerning their reading acquisition and in-struction. Using theory and research, we havepresented a view of reading comprehension to illus-trate similarities and differences in reading processesof English learners and native English speakers.

Throughout our discussion we have empha-sized the need to consider English language profi-ciency, prior knowledge and experiences, andprimary language literacy as important factors inEnglish learner reading, variables that must be con-sidered by teachers and researchers alike as theygo about their work. Not only do we need to learnmore about reading development among Englishlearners of varying ages and backgrounds, we alsoneed to learn more about the most effective in-struction for particular groups of English learners.Specific programs and materials need to be devel-oped and evaluated in terms of how well they meetthe literacy development needs of particular groupsof students. There is much to be done as teachersand researchers work together to expand the knowl-edge base for creating the best instruction for En-glish learners and their literacy development.

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Documents

English Learners Reading English: What We Know, What We Need to Know