The Development of Reading Skills in Children With English as a Second Language

One goal of this longitudinal study was to examine whether the predictors of reading skills in Grade 3 would differ between English as a second language (ESL) students and native English-speaking (L1) students. Phonological processing, syntactic awareness, memory, spelling, word reading, and lexical access skills were assessed in kindergarten and in Grade 3. The results indicated that in kindergarten, the ESL group had significantly lower scores on phonological processing, syntactic awareness, spelling, and memory for sentences tasks. However, in Grade 3, the ESL group performed in a similar way to the L1 group except on the syntactic awareness task. The combination of the two kindergarten measures, memory for sentences and Oral Cloze, and the combination of phonological processing and letter identification all contributed equally to predicting the L1 students' word-reading skills. However, for ESL students, letter identification and phonological processing made much larger contributions to predicting Grade 3 reading ability. Another goal of this study was to assess the procedures used to identify reading disability in the ESL and L1 student sample. Performance on two measures—letter identification and phonological awareness in kindergarten—predicted whether students would be classified in Grade 3 as at risk or having typical reading development for the ESL and L1 groups. The ESL children developed strong reading skills, and their status as ESL speakers did not put them at risk for reading difficulties in Grade 3. ESL students were not at any particular risk for reading difficulties after 4 years in Canadian schooling with an adequate balanced literacy program.     

Reading as Gender Inquiry in English Language Learning

Using Bourdieu’s forms of symbolic capital as the analytical framework, this article reports how a Taiwanese female university student, Huei, played out her linguistic, social and cultural capital in reading and responding to female-centred texts in a course entitled ‘Gender and Reading’. Journal entries were used as key sources for data analysis, while oral interviews and classroom observations were applied to verify the data analysis and interpretations. The results indicate that Huei exercised different forms of symbolic capital to revalue herself, leading her to changed perspectives and new understandings about her implicit beliefs as an English learner, as well as a female reader. Some pedagogical implications for classroom practices are also addressed.     

The Reading Approach & Second Language Learning

Learning a second language at the adult stage of life poses a complex situation of interacting already formed first tongue set in reflective mode of development and the new language with its all new:philosophy,syntax,spextra of idioms and implied meanings,humour,metaphors and rhythm.     

Recasts Used with Preschoolers Learning English as their Second Language

This study examined linguistic recasts provided by 16 early childhood educators to preschool children learning English as a second language (EL2). Recasts are semantic and syntactic revisions of children’s utterances. The educator–child interactions were filmed during book reading and play dough activities with small groups of four children, one of whom was EL2. The EL2 children were rated by their educators as having less well-developed expressive language skills than their unilingual peers. However, despite this finding, educators provided similar rates of recasts to both groups of children. Eight EL2 children with the lowest expressive language skills demonstrated fewer uptakes of their educator’s recasts in comparison to EL2 children with higher expressive language skills. The implications of this study include increasing the rate of recasts and reducing their complexity to provide language-learning opportunities for all preschool children, especially for those learning English as a second language.     

English Language Proficiency and Early School Attainment Among Children Learning English as an Additional Language

Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) often experience lower academic attainment than monolingual peers. In this study, teachers provided ratings of English language proficiency and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning for 782 children with EAL and 6,485 monolingual children in reception year (ages 4–5). Academic attainment was assessed in reception and Year 2 (ages 6–7). Relative to monolingual peers with comparable English language proficiency, children with EAL displayed fewer social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in reception, were equally likely to meet curriculum targets in reception, and were more likely to meet targets in Year 2. Academic attainment and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning in children with EAL are associated with English language proficiency at school entry.     

语言学习策略训练与英语阅读教学

语言学习策略在英语教学中越来越重要。为了提高学生的阅读能力,在阅读教学中教师要尽量强化学生对学习策略的意识,利用课堂活动进行学习策略的教学和训练,使学生真正了解和掌握一些学习策略,并成为他们学习技能的一部分。     

Reading Disability in Chinese Children Learning English as an L2

To examine whether there are common or specific deficits of reading disability (RD) in first (L1) and second languages (L2), Chinese children (9–11 years, N = 76) with or without RD who learn English as an L2 were studied during a visual word rhyming judgment task. Evidence was found for common deficits in L1 and L2 in visuo-orthographic processes in left inferior temporal gyrus and left precuneus, as well as in phonological processes in left dorsal inferior frontal gyrus as children with RD showed less activation than controls in both languages. Furthermore, the visuo-orthographic deficit appears to be a RD effect, whereas the phonological deficit appears to be a reading/performance effect. Some weak evidence for language specific effects was also found.     

Learning to Mentor as Learning a Second Language of Teaching

This paper describes and interprets the process by which two novice mentors of English teachers, who are experienced high school teachers of English, learnt to construe their new role by articulating differences and similarities between their practice as teachers of children and as mentors of teachers. The evolving competencies that the focal mentors attributed to their learning are interpreted through the metaphor of 'learning to mentor as learning a second language of teaching'; an organising framework that emerged from the findings of a qualitative case study that investigated the learning process experienced by two veteran teachers of English in their passage from teaching English to school children to becoming mentors of teachers of English (Orland, 1997). The study suggests that although the passage from being a teacher of children to becoming a teacher of teachers is shaped by strong emotional and motivational dispositions, it is also a highly conscious and gradual process of developing communicative competencies, whereby the mentor learns to redefine his/her context of teaching in order to make sense of his/her new context of mentoring. At an operational level the study indicates that there is a definite need to prepare teachers for this passage by providing opportunities to voice and articulate these connections in teacher education programmes.     

2岁幼儿亲子共读互动型及性别差异研究

本研究为次级语料分析,选取张鑑如和黄静雅捐献给儿童语料交互系统的20则中文语料,对母亲与2岁幼儿亲子共读语料进行亲子共读阅读目的与内容两个层次的编码,使用SPSS 23. 0分析母亲与2岁幼儿共读的互动型及性别差异。研究发现:母亲为2岁幼儿亲子共读的主导者,使用"反馈更正""反馈重复""要求信息""要求注意""自发性给予"的互动类型较多,且引发2岁幼儿关注内容事件、物体命名较多;母亲对2岁男孩、女孩在使用"反馈更正"类型有显著差异。从幼儿主动发起的互动而言,2岁幼儿使用"反馈反应""反馈重复""要求澄清""回应性给予"的互动类型较多,比较关注内容命名、内容事件等,2岁男孩和女孩在谈及"文本与读者"有显著差异,2岁女孩较男孩更多自发谈论文本与个人的经验。     

Reading in English as a First or Second Language: The Case of Grade 3 Spanish,Portuguese, and English Speakers

This study compared variables related to reading ability in Grade 3 students learning English as a first language (L1) and second language (L2). The students learning English as an L2 came from diverse backgrounds, with different levels of bilingualism in Spanish and English or Portuguese and English before they entered school. Both within‐group and between‐group differences emerged in comparing Spanish children from two cohorts, and in comparing the Spanish group to the Portuguese and English groups. Models predicting reading comprehension found differences with respect to the contribution of receptive vocabulary, decoding, and print exposure in the L1 and L2 groups, depending on the L2 students’ bilingual language status and language acquisition experiences. Additionally, print exposure was more highly related to comprehension in the lowest performing L2 groups. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

二外日语教学探讨

从某种程度上讲,日语已成为我国外语学习者的第二大语种。这对于以汉语为母语的学习者来说,无疑是有益于学习的事情。但另一方面,由于第一外语与第二外语两种语言语系间的差异,以及学习者习得第一外语的时间相对较长,对此形成了一种较为固定的语言模式的认识,大部分学习者认为二外掌握起来难度较大。因此,兼顾第一外语与二外日语教学的进度显得尤为重要。     

朗读在大学英语学习中的作用

在大学英语学习中，朗读有助于学生培养语感，有助于增强记忆，也有助于提高听力水平，是一种重要的学习方式。     

英法比较对二外法语学习的影响

英语和法语两者之间存在着许多联系,既有共性,又有特性.本文通过语音、词汇及语法三方面对这两种语言的共性及特性进行比较,在二外法语学习中促进正迁移,抑制负迁移.帮助英语专业的学生更好的进行二外法语的学习.     

Some Uses of Computers in Teaching English as a Second Language:

No abstract available for this article.     

加拿大的ESL课程

加拿大的ESL课程是指向母语为非英语的学生教授的英语课程。利用赴加拿大实地学术考察的机会,通过参与课堂教学、与国际学生、教师的直接交流、访谈以及对教学机构、科研机构的实地走访,分析和探讨了加拿大ESL课程的学生来源、TESL教师资格、教学理念、课程设置、教学特色及测试标准。     

论英语在中国成为第二语言的可能性

目前，英语是中国最主要的外语，但就其发展趋势来看，由于英语的全球化及其对中国英语教育的推动，英语在中国受重视程度的不断提高，英语将可能成为中国的第二语言，并且“中国英语”对其成为第二语言也有一定的积极作用。     

The Relationship between the Learning of English and the Learning of a Second Language in Pre-Schoolers

Educators and parents are concerned with the optimal age of introducing a second language to children. This study attempted to find out whether young pre-school children are able to handle two languages competently. Children between the ages of 31/2 and 6 were assessed on a number of language tasks in both English and the mother tongue. Results show that young children found difficulty in learning two languages simultaneously, but the degree of difficulty varied according to the types of second language and the extent of exposures to the two languages in question.     

Sharing Books and Learning Language: What do Latina Mothers and Their Young Children Do?

This study examined low-income, Spanish-speaking, immigrant Latina mothers' book sharing behaviors in relation to their children's vocabulary. Participants were 47 3-year-old children and their mothers. We addressed two research questions: (a) What interactive behaviors are evident when low-income immigrant Latina mothers and their 3-year-old children look at books together? (b) For these children and their mothers, which book-sharing behaviors are related to children's expressive language? Overall, our results indicated that mothers were involved in several kinds of interactions with the books. They enhanced their children's attention to the printed text, promoted interaction or conversation with their children about what was in the books, and somewhat less often, used more complex literacy strategies. Mothers who did these things most had children with the largest vocabularies even when mothers' vocabulary was taken into account. Implications for designing interventions for similar families are discussed.