Good afternoon, everyone,
I’m Barbara Rotolo-Caballero, a part-time ESL instructor at Austin Community College in Texas. My comments are related to my intermediate/advanced level class and this assertion:
"4. Reading is an interactive process between the reader, the text, and the writer. The situation in which you read and write and your purposes for doing so play a role as well (think about opening a letter from the INS – now USCIS - or a note from your ex-spouse)." 
I like to have fun in my class, but reading has often been the least fun. Too often I have inserted myself between my students and text and writer by diligently focusing on comprehension and vocabulary-building. What a drag.
My students weren’t doing reading homework that I assigned. My students didn’t have books in English at home. Attempts to get them to bring in reading material that was interesting to them (something out there in the real world) bombed. The only reading we were doing in class was ESL textbook reading and usually reading aloud. I knew that they needed to read more and to get the feel of reading English as part of everyday life. I didn’t know how to make this happen.
Inspired by Nancy Meredith, a colleague at ACC, I’ve introduced a new process. For one-half hour in the middle of our 3-hour class, my students sit down with a book and read, silently. So do I.. I have a file box full of leveled readers for adults (mostly Penguin, mostly books based on movies). Each student may select any book. Each student keeps a log of the books completed. That’s it. We don’t all read the same book. I don’t plan a lesson around any of these books. We just sit and read for pleasure. Not one student has balked at this, nor have I lost a student because of it. I encourage them to read through, without dictionaries. I encourage them to keep a list of words that they’d like to learn. It’s often difficult to pull them away from their reading when it’s time to move on to another task.
I'm very happy with this new process and I wonder who else is doing this.
Barbara Rotolo-Caballero
brotoloc at austincc.edu


----- Original Message ----
From: "Wrigley, Heide" <heide at literacywork.com>
To: "Wrigley, Heide" <heide at literacywork.com>; The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Cc: Lynda Terrill <lterrill at cal.org>
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 3:26:57 PM
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2390] ESL Reading - 2 or 3 things we know for sure


Hi, all 
 
Apparently, there’s been a bit of a problem with the CAL server but we are moving along. 
 
Hello again to those of you participating in the Reading for Adult ELLs discussion. As promised, I wanted to start us off with the two or three things we know for sure from research in reading (though not necessarily from research with adult English language learners – we don’t yet have research that speaks directly to this population). 
 
So here is my questions. Which one of these assertions really resonates for you?  If you are an ESL teacher do you have examples from you students that either supports or disproves one of these points 
 
 
	1. You learn to read just once (this is also known as “breaking the code”; once you have developed phonemic awareness in one language and you know to decode one language), you don’t need to start all over with developing phonemic awareness in another language – you just need to absorb the rules of the new system – that is, you must learn how English works, not how literacy works. 
 
	1. Knowledge from the first language transfers to knowledge about the second language but transfer is not automatic. You may need to draw your students attention to certain common features of the language.
 
	1. We make sense of the world by connecting prior knowledge with new knowledge.  We gain meaning from print the same way. So if your knowledge of the world does not match the knowledge of the world that the writer assumes, the text is likely to be confusing to you even if your reading skills are ok.
 
	1. Reading is an interactive process between the reader, the text, and the writer.  The situation in which you read and write and your purposes for doing so play a role as well (think about opening a letter from the INS – now USCIS or a note from your ex-spouse).
 
	1. When we read, we activate two types of knowledge – what we know about meaning making (top down processes) and what we know about language (bottom-up processes).  It’s important to keep in mind that the purpose of reading is comprehension. 
 
	1. Although control over bottom-up processes is important for learning to read, it does not follow that new readers must have mastered all sub skills before they can focus on comprehension. Using sub skills effectively enhances comprehension, but control over sub skills does not automatically lead to comprehension.
 
	1. Language proficiency and reading comprehension are closely related. One way of increasing the reading skills of literate learners is to build language skills.  One way of building students comprehension of (pre) academic texts, is to present such information orally (mini-presentations) and visually (through PowerPoints or video clips) so you can build understanding of concepts without your students getting mired in print.
 
	1. Vocabulary knowledge is one of the key determinants of reading comprehension. Increases in vocabulary means increases in background knowledge and in reading comprehension, the same as in everything else, the more you know – the more you know 
 
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts 
 
Heide
 
 
 
From:Wrigley, Heide 
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 12:18 PM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Cc: Lynda Terrill
Subject: Reading and Adult English Language Learners 
 
Good morning all 
 
It’s 7 am here in Southern New Mexico, it’s still nice and cool and the roses are blooming big time and I should be going out to water soon (coffee first, though)
 
 
I wanted to welcome you to the discussion on ESL Reading and am hoping that we’ll have a lively back and forth as you pose questions, challenge assumptions, and share your own experience teaching reading to ESL students – either teaching these skills explicitly and systematically or just folding reading into your regular curriculum. 
 
I would like to invite you to tell us a sentence or two about yourself and your work and your experience before you post your messages.
 
Just a bit of background: I’m Heide Spruck Wrigley and my work revolves around the intersection of research, policy and practice. I’ve been involved in several studies on ESL literacy (broader than just reading) that we can talk about, and this year I’m doing quite a bit of work around workplace literacy.  Most of my work has been with language minority adults who are relatively new to English but I’ve also taught in intensive reading programs at the university level.  
 
I’ve been working with the Texas GREAT Centers (professional development centers) for a number of years, and this year we started a series of institutes that focus on ESL Reading with a special emphasis on comprehension skills. So this discussion is an outgrowth of this work. 
 
A bit later, I’ll write a note about the 2 or 3 things we know for sure about reading (of any kind, not just reading in another language so we don’t have to get caught up in the “reading wars”). 
 
But in the meantime, I’d like to invite you to jump in and say a bit more about who you are  and what issues you are grappling with when it comes to helping your ESL students understand what they read.  
 
And a special welcome to the Texas teachers who have been involved in the institutes. I’m hoping you will share your experience teaching reading and tell us what has worked for you. 
 
All the best 
 
Heide
 
 
 
From:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Lynda Terrill
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 7:21 AM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2374] Discussion on Reading and Adult EnglishLanguage Learners begins
 
Dear subscribers,
 
I am happy to announce that our discussion on reading and adults learning English as a second language is beginning.  Heide Wrigley will be facilitating this discussion along with Texas practitioners who have been working on a project related to reading.  I look forward to hearing what they have to share, butI  also look forward to hearing many of your experiences, questions, and answers about this important topic.
 
Lynda Terrill
lterrill at cal.org
 

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