The Lexical Advantages of Narrow Reading for Second Language Learners

Try Agreeing with the Author

            "Knowing a word well enough to use it competently involves more than just an awareness of a single meaning sense; it also includes knowledge of lexical assets such as its grammatical behaviour, collocations, register constraints, and even alternative meaning senses": also known as Communicative Competence.

            As a future teacher, I believe that the concept of Communicative Competence is crucial to understand, and just as important to know how to successfully pass-on to your students. Many of us wonder how we will achieve this however, I do believe that it is feasible. I appreciate that this author chose to talk about the use of magazines and newspapers as good tools, rather than books or movies. Even though allowing students to identify with popular interests that we often see in movies or books becoming movies, newspapers and magazines could play this role just as well, or even better perhaps. The latter might not be as popular with younger students but they do bring a lot of up-to-date material, cultural concepts worldwide, and often teach through authentic texts, non-fiction discussions, and most importantly, there is always something to please different types of people.

Establishing a personal connection with the text 

(I experienced something like that when...)

            "[I]ncidental learning from exposure" is surely one of my most precious assets. As a young girl, I moved to Quebec from Florida, and often wondered how I managed to have such a good communicative competence in both languages.. or even almost three. My parents and family spoke to me in English, while my French was shown to me in school and by my friends. This type of exposure is quite common to most bilingual students however, I have always wondered why I understand Spanish when my parents chose to refrain from using it around us in order to keep confusion away. I do believe that I learned from short incidental exposure to this language on the phone when my mother's friends called or when "mi abuela" came to visit. As a young child, I even thought that "Abuela" was my grandma's name until I heard other young kids calling their grandma figure the same way: what a way to learn! All in all, I do believe that exposure is the most crucial element in successful target language learning.

Schmitt and Carter

While reading Schmitt and Carter’s text The Lexical Advantages of Narrow Reading for Second Language Learners, I was reminded of my own personal experience as a foreign language learner. At one point during my teenage years, I had to learn a completely foreign language in a immersion context. The language being mandarin, I started with no background knowledge; I felt like a young child learning my alphabet all over again. I knew that I would learn the mandarin characters much faster by reading often, but I did not know where to start. By coincidence, I stumbled upon a newspaper geared towards teenage readers. As Schmitt and Carter write in their article, newspaper articles are full of extra lingual cues, and were therefore a lot easier to read than conventional novels. Not only were the subjects interesting, but I also learned a lot about my host country and its culture. The newspaper was produced weekly and I had the chance to experience what the authors call narrow reading as the subjects came up often in different articles.

 Subject : Make connections with your own experience.

How many words do you know?

I agree wholeheartedly with the authors Schmitt and Carter when they affirm that reading "should be a key component in most language learning programs"(8). Acquiring a large vocabulary in a second or third language takes time and can not be done through memorization of word lists, even when presented in authentic context. As the authors point out, for effective language usage one needs to know many more words than those that can be taught (4). It was interesting to learn that knowing 2000 words enables a person to function orally for everyday life, but the knowledge of 10000 words is required to read academic texts. I was interested to evaluate my own level of vocabulary knowledge. Being a francophone and a future English teacher, I felt I should have a real portrait of my skills, at least in terms of lexical competency. According to Test Your Vocab.com, which is relying on participants' answers and data, "most Native English adult speakers who have taken the test fall in the range 20,000–35,000 words". I was thus relieved to see that I attained the level of 22,400 words. There are many words that are not used in everyday life and that one finds in literature or academic reading. I must say that I acquired my knowledge of English through considerable reading over the years.
I had the great chance to be stimulated to read in English by my mother who had learned English as a second language as a young adult (German being her native language and French, her third one). She always had a passion for reading and still does. She introduced me to different authors, some that she was discovering herself. She read from varied genres and authors of different origins. She introduced me to beginner reading books, and later to native English-speaking teen and adult books. She would arouse my curiosity with a brief outline of a novel and encourage me to read it. Reading a second language text can be discouraging if the reader doesn't have the "prerequisite vocabulary necessary to read them, as mentioned by the authors Schmitt and Carter. They argue that narrow reading (Krashen, 1981), which is reading on the same topic over the course of a number of texts, facilitates reading experiences. Their article explains very well how to incorporate narrow reading into a ESL syllabus. Finally, it could be said that reading several books by the same author (for example, Agatha Christie) can also be considered narrow reading since there is also repetition of vocabulary, even if the topics vary.

http://testyourvocab.com/

PS: Test your vocab: The nitty gritty page of this test provides information on the test, the sample words chosen and the margin of errors.

STRATEGY: Time to write down anything in relation to the text. (Course notes guidelines)
ARTICLE : Norbert Schmitt; Ronald Carter (2000).The Lexical Advantages of Narrow Reading for Second Language, Learners. TESOL Journal. 9 (1) 4-9.

Literature-based instruction

Exploring historical fiction

In this article, Custodio and Sutton present inspiring ways to use literature-based instruction with L2 learners. They combine literature-based approach and content-based instruction in ESL classes and they point out to the numerous advantages of literacy development. I have never experienced such an approach in any of my second or foreign language learning classes. I have experienced a more traditional approach, an audio-lingual approach of language learning. However, I can relate to the text and to this presentation of literature-based approach, since my sons have experienced some literature circles in their ESL classrooms. I know some English high school teachers who work for a certain period of time exclusively on a novel in various ways. I agree, without reserve, that reading historical fiction novels can help develop cultural and historical knowledge. Literature-based instruction lends itself to interdisciplinary projects and develops language and literacy skills. If I were an ESL secondary teacher, I would certainly consider using literature circles for its values. I would take into consideration the various interests and learning styles of all students, select different genres, not only fictional novels, and plan activities and projects that would appeal to more than one type of learner (multiple intelligences). I would consider a classroom blog or a team blog to engage the students in the response process.
STRATEGY : Establishing personal connection with the text phase.(Mels, p.46)


Literature-based instruction and immigrant ESL learners in US schools

In this article, the authors present their own experience with their high school ESL students who come from different cultural backgrounds. They present a unit on immigration for intermediate-level readers with a selection of novels written by authors from different origins and depicting multicultural experiences. Consequently, as they read the selected novels, the students share their own immigration experiences and compare them. The authors observe that “the culture of students are often reflected in the novels and given value”.(p.22). The authors' expertise and relevant curriculum is influenced by their clientele, mostly immigrants in US high schools. Through reading historical novels such as Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse (1992) or New Kids in Town by Janet Bode (1989), for example, the students are able to relate to characters who faced similar problems or situations. Finally, according to the authors, literature-based instruction allow students to learn about the history of their new country, since other selected novels cover various historical time periods and address various social issues.

STRATEGY: Describe the authors' point of view. (Guidelines in the course notes)

Brenda Custodio and Marilyn Jean Sutton(1998). Literature-Based ESL for Secondary School Students. TESOL Journal, 7(5).19-23.

Literature-Based ESL for Secondary School Students

What did you find interesting/important/surprising?

"Each year, one third of U.S. history is covered through five novels. Supplementary materials such as biographies, nonfiction trade and textbooks, drama, poetry, and multimedia presentations give students experience in using a variety of text formats" (TESOL, 20)

            Personally, I thought that a general overview of American history with the use of only five books could be rather intimidating for ESL students. This type of class is given in university, and is still considered by most to be overwhelming. However, I do believe that when well-selected milestones are use to cover the most important historical periods, it becomes feasible. From my personal experience, classic novels such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Now in November, as well as some excerpts from important documents such as The Declaration of Independence were used to reinforce historical knowledge about the era. Within all of these, many references to music, poetry, drama, as well as socio-political commodities were observed and were in fact quite essential to global understanding of the material used.  

Try agreeing with the writer.

"Historical fiction helps students experience the past variously, encouraging them to imagine what life was like in another place and time. It develops a sense of the role that carious cultures have played in U.S. history, incorporates many disciplines in an interesting and informative format, and serves as a bridge to mainstream language arts and social studies class." (TESOL, 21)

            I do agree with what the writer is saying, with respect to the development of cultural awareness through literature. Students of any age should be aware of cultural differences, historical features, as well as their outcomes. We couldn't expect a younger student to perfectly master historical content however, focusing on specific aspect could be interesting. Also, allowing students to chose (as a group probably) from a known historical factor could allow them to become more interested and attracted to the content.

Reflection on Roger W. Gee's Article Part Two

Entry One:

While reading Gee’s article titled Encouraging ESL Students to Read, I was trying to relate the author’s statements to my own personal experience. I can remember always liking to read, it was never a burden for me to read assigned stories or novel. I do not have much recollection of my elementary school teachers asking us to read, until I reached grade 6. I was then asked to either subscribe to an English magazine or to buy short books from Scholastik. I appreciated the fact that we could choose or reading material and enjoyed doing it. I do not believe there was any Response Process involved; we did not have any role sheet to answer or summary to write. When I reached high school, there was a lot more reading to do, however, we did not get to choose the novels. They were English classics such as: Animal Farm, Fountainhead, Brave New World…Some of them I enjoyed, others not, but I am overall glad I read them, because they are part of the English culture. Once again, I do not remember doing much elaborated open tasks. We definitely had reading comprehension test, and we were also asked, sometimes, to write summaries or opinion texts, but nothing comparable to Gee’s six C’s open tasks. I would have appreciated doing such task, and it might have helped some of my classmates who did not enjoyed reading at the time.

 Strategy : Make personal connections with your own experience. What does the reading make you think of?

Entry Two:

In his article Encouraging ESL Students to Read, Gee writes about the importance of reading and gives advice as how to encourage ESL students to read. He starts by stating the important connection between affect and reading and how motivation and affective aspects of reading are as important as the cognitive aspects. Gee also introduces the cycle that exists between reading and competence; competence promotes reading, because successful readers have a positive attitude towards reading and therefore read more and become better at it. In the same when, reading promotes competence, because the more a student reads, the better he becomes at it.  In the second part of the article, Gee explains the six characteristics that make good open task; choices, challenge, control, collaboration, construct and consequences. The author is aware that it is hard to incorporate all six aspects in one single task, but he states that he considers them as he plans his activities and later finds that most are included. He then explains the importance of the material and of the environment; how these two aspects are also critical in the students’ attitude towards reading.  The material needs to be appropriate for their level, and the environment needs to be adequate, both emotionally and physically. Gee concluded his article by saying that ESL teachers need to develop positive affective factors and foster a love of reading.

 Strategy taken from the MELS guiding questions: This text says that…

Encouraging ESL Students to Read

Connections between two texts:

When I was reading Robert Gee's text, I began to think of another text seen recently in our Children's Literature class, entitled Literature for the Youngest, by Barbara Stoodt-Hill and Linda Amspaugh-Corson (2001). Although these texts explore different aspects of litteracy, both stress the importance of having a positive attitude toward reading and are concerned with the readers' environment. Moreover, both texts address the affective aspects that should be part of a reading experience. The "emotional involvement" that emerges from the literary experience is important in the native language as well as in second language reading. The cognitive process that is part of a reading experience is explored in various ways:" prediction, responding, wondering, and looking for more information". If the parent or caregiver has a responsability in a child's early literary experience, an ESL teacher definitely has a responsability in presenting them appropriate material ( rhymes, pictures books, stories, etc ) and in sparking the light.

Barbara D. Stoodt-Hill, Linda B. Amspaugh (2009). Literature for the Youngest, in Children's Literature: discovery for a lifetime. Boston: Allyn &bacon/Pearson.

The selection of reading material: Easy books, why not?

Encouraging ESL students to read is one thing, but selecting material for the students cannot be done absentmindedly or carelessly. "The selection of reading material also involves the teacher in matters of both competence and choice". Providing easy books, even baby books, can help for introducing learners to a second language. I was doubtful myself about the interest of 6 to 7 year-old children in early youth books until I did my practicum in a primary school. I observed how the children enjoyed the rhythm, colors and predictable patterns of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Another example is the serie I Can Read (Beginner Books) which younger ESL students can read. Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman or other books by Dr. Seuss are some examples amongst others. When they listen to, repeat and read easy books with their lively illustrations, students perceive themselves as competent. They gradually acquire new vocabulary and concepts. Interestingly, Robert Gee mentions that his new students sometimes do not know what they like to read. This underlines the importance of the teacher's role in providing a wide selection of books or e-books. An ESL teacher could also suggest some reading material to be bought by the schoolboard's librarian in order to build or add on to the the school's library English section.

Reflection on Roger W. Gee's Article

The Matthew Effect

While reading the article Encouraging ESL Students to Read, by Roger w. Gee, I learned about the Matthew effect. According to this theory, the more students read, the better they will become, and the less students read, the worst they will be.  As a future ESL teacher, I fear that I will have students who are not interested in reading, because it is hard to motivate them. If a student already has a slight interest in reading, he will become better with time, however, if the student really does not enjoy it, my job is to get him interested in reading. There will be students who will come from families who do not read. There are parents who do not like to read, or who simply cannot read. It is their children that I am anxious to have as students. As mentioned in the article, reading  a very effective way to increase the students language proficiency, but does the frequency of ESL classes allow us to give reading the importance it deserves? Classes are short, especially at the primary level, and so teachers might not have the time to introduce frequent reading activities. The ideal situation, I think, would be to have a free reading period at the beginning of each class, to establish a reading routine. I know however, that this is not likely to happen if I ever teach in a primary school. I will need to figure out a way to have my students read on their own.

The Six Criteria of an Open Task

The author of the article introduced to concept of the six C’s. These six features are used to create an open reading task. Open tasks give students control over the task’s product and process, and by having control, the students are more likely to become engaged in the task. The six features that should ideal be included in all tasks are the following: choices, challenges, control, collaboration, construct and consequences. However, as Gee writes: ' obviously, [he is] not able to meet all of the criteria with all of the content-area tasks [he sets] for [his] students'. The two features that I find the most important are choices and challenges. I believe that the best way to motivate a student to read is to let him read whatever he wishes, as long as it is appropriate. If a student prefers to read a book that has illustrations because it helps him understand, I would let him choose that book. I also think that challenges are important when they are tasks in which 'errors are not seen as failure but as an opportunity to diagnose and learn.' If students feel the need to perform and to be perfect, they are less likely to choose challenging books. They will stay in their reading comfort zone and not learn as much as if they had chosen a book that was more difficult. I understand that all six of the criteria are important to create a near perfect open task, but if I ever had to choose only two criteria, I would focus on giving the students choices and creating challenges.

Encouraging ESL Students To Read

        

When reading the article Encouraging ESL Students To Read, one thing caught my attention: "[Children's books] are not acceptable and are therefore rejected because of social pressures" (CN 2.5). I wonder, when reading this, to what extent they consider children's books to be in fact for children. This question has been brought-up before by my Children's Literature teacher and to this she explains that children's literature can be everything it should be: beautiful, dreamy, adequate for most audiences, and more than anything, easy to attach to. Shouldn't literature of the such be seen as a wise choice for readers? Especially those who haven't had much reading experience? I believe that it should. The best way to get someone to appreciate literature is — as mentioned in the text — ensuring that their first experience is good experience for them, therefore allowing them to read something they can relate to and to stay interested.

             

 Another aspect that was of interest to me was that of the second suggestion: "[...] ask ESL students to record on audiotape easy books for younger students in the school". I believe this is an interesting type of technique to get the students involved and make sure they feel as if their reading is very important for others' comprehension. Making students feel useful is a key to success in most levels of education however, making other students benefit from the others' learning is even more of a triumph over trying to get them to understand "why" they must do such a task as reading.

Original Book Cover

"Original book cover of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator with illustrations by Joseph Schindelman. The book cover art copyright is believed to belong to the publisher, Alfred A. Knopf or the cover artist."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_and_the_Great_Glass_Elevator

Welcome! What's this blog about?

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, book written by Roald Dahl in 1972.