Week 1.3: Relationship between Oral Language and the Reading Process

Entry #3: Comment on the relationship between oral language and the reading process as it applies to ELL students.

Oral language is directly correlated  to learning how to read and write. When teaching any subject, its important that the teacher provides the vocabulary associated with the subject, has the student read about the subject, and provides ample discussion time of the subject preferably in a small group. "Language learners are not simply processors of input or producers of output but speaker/hearers engaged in a collaborative process through which they build grammatical, expressive, interactional, and cultural competence" (Freeman & Freeman, p.13).

I like Haliday's method for teaching English Language Learners literacy which is known as the curriculum cycle. There are four phases. If I was teaching about Lewis and Clark to a class of fourth graders, the first phase would be to activate students' prior knowledge and build upon existing knowledge. (Freeman & Freeman, p.13) I could do this by having students use oral language to interact with each other in small groups. The second phase would be to provide students a text about Lewis and Clark and discuss it using oral language. During the third phase, I would ask students to write in their journals a reflection on what they learned from the reading of Lewis and Clark. The fourth and final phase would ask students to create a story of their own that is based off of Lewis and Clark's journey. I may even ask students to read aloud their published story. Of course this method could be used with any subject and does a fantastic job of connecting oral language and reading.

The goal is for students to learn through collaboration. "...both teachers and students are seen as active participants, and learning is seen as a collaborative endeavor" (Gibbons, p.10). The teacher can not be seen as  the primary "talker;" students must be given ample time to collaborate with the teacher as well as their peers. During reading, students use oral language to ask and answer questions aloud with a partner. The teacher should provide students activities such as those found in Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning that allow for English Language Learners to use oral language, reading, as well as other skills to collaborate with other students.

References

Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding Language and Learning. In Scaffolding language and scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom (pp.1-13). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

 Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2014). How Linguists Study Language. In Essential linguistics: What teachers need to know to teach (Second ed., pp. 1-20). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.