EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTOMATICITY AND ORAL READING COMPREHENSION IN ENGLISH LEARNERS

This doctoral dissertation examined the relationship between automaticity and oral reading comprehension in English Learners (ELs) by comparing outcomes with non-English Learners. High fluency rate, or automaticity, is often used as a predictor of reading comprehension in students. Much of the prior research conducted on the relationship between reading rates and oral reading comprehension involved monolingual populations. Few studies have investigated this correlation among EL populations. In this present study, secondary assessment data were retrieved for third-grade students (N = 1,583) across 13 public schools within a single diverse school district in southern Colorado during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years. The school district includes 20.8% EL students. The researcher chose this approach as most appropriate to examine the relationship between oral reading rate and reading comprehension in ELs and non-English learners. The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) was utilized as the measure for assessing third-grade reading fluency (word-level decoding and accuracy) and the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) was used as the measure for assessing third-grade reading comprehension in language arts. Results indicated that ELs who read at a high automatic rate still scored significantly lower on reading comprehension than non-English learners who read at the same rate. Future research should consider conducting additional studies that analyze EL comprehension levels within the context of automaticity

Effective Reading Interventions for Spanish-Speaking English Learners with Reading Disabilities, English Learners Who Struggle with Reading, or Both: A Meta-Analysis of Second through Fifth Grades

This meta-analysis synthesized research on effective instructional practices and strategies in second through fifth grade for Spanish-speaking English Learners (ELs) who have reading disabilities and English Learners who struggle with reading. The central research problem is the dearth of research addressing literacy instruction for ELs with reading disabilities, making identification of effective reading interventions difficult. The inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis resulted in 15 quasi-experimental or single-subject empirical research studies that used reading interventions to improve the reading comprehension performance of ELs. The overall average effect size for the meta-analysis, not based on homogenous studies, was 1.15. When outliers were eliminated and based on 12 homogenous studies, the average effect size was .72. Importantly, only one study that met the inclusion criteria directly investigated ELs with reading disabilities. Results from the five studies that used features of culturally responsive pedagogy including the use of Spanish in instruction indicated a positive effect for ELs struggling with reading. Greater numbers of days of instruction were associated with improved reading comprehension. Small-group instruction, professional development aligned with explicit, comprehensive, and intensive instruction focused on the development of oral language skills using culturally responsive pedagogy, all integrated within evidence-based commercial reading programs or regular school-based curricula have the potential to improve the reading comprehension of ELs with reading disabilities and ELs who struggle with reading. The major finding of this meta-analysis is that there is a dearth of research on Spanish-speaking ELs with reading disabilities and ELs who struggle with reading. The findings support the conclusion that extensive research needs to be conducted on identifying effective reading intervention for ELs with reading disabilities and ELs who struggle with reading

GJR Volume 41 Number 1 Spring 2018

The Georgia Journal of Reading\u27s Spring 2018 issue includes: Letter from the Editor by Lina B. Soares (pg. 4) President’s Page by Ron Reigner (pg. 5) Give the Neurological Impress Method Another Chance for One-to-One Fluency Interventions by Melissa M. Mitchell and Dr. Vassiliki Zygouris-Coe (pg. 6) Building Comprehension through Explicit and Organic Vocabulary Instruction for English Learners by Marisa Gonzalez and Dr. Robert A. Griffn (pg. 13) Children’s Literature to Develop Awareness and Advocacy for Social Justice by Dr. Katie Kelly and Dr. Lindsay Yearta (pg. 22) Maximizing Learning: Embedding Phonological Awareness throughout the Day by Dr. Shawnna Helf, Dr. Lindsay Yearta and Dr. Kavin Ming (pg. 30)https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/gjrarchive/1008/thumbnail.jp

Teaching Literacy to Nonliterate Spanish-Speaking Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE): The Freire-UDL Literacy-Alfabetización Model and Guide

This research has focused on the creation of the Freire-UDL Literacy-Alfabetización Model and its application to practice in the development of a Teacher’s Guide to support educators in teaching literacy/alfabetización to nonliterate Spanish-speaking students with limited or interrupted formal education (SIFE/SLIFE) in 40 hours or less. A two-fold problem was the impetus to this study: The urgency to teach a significant number of nonliterate Spanish- speaking SIFE/SLIFE to read effectively through their home language (L1), Spanish; and the need to support Spanish bilingual middle and high school SIFE educators in teaching their nonliterate Spanish-speaking students how to read in a short amount of time. It has been shown that learning to read only happens once. Three research questions framed this study, which included three phases: (1) A comprehensive study of Freire’s method of Alfabetización andConscientización; (2) The creation of the Freire-UDL Literacy-Alfabetización Model; and (3) The development of the Freire-UDL Literacy-Alfabetización Teacher’s Guide and its validation. The Freire-UDL Literacy-Alfabetización Model integrates Freire’s pedagogy with the UDL Framework to maximize literacy learning opportunities for diverse nonliterate Spanish-speaking EL adolescents. Ten Massachusetts urban district Spanish bilingual SIFE teachers participated in validation of the model and the Teacher’s Guide. In addition to reviewing the guide these teachers experienced literacy activities in conscientización (thinking) and alfabetización (literacy). Responses to the validation questionnaire indicated that teachers found the Freire- UDL Literacy-Alfabetización Model and Teacher’s Guide to be clear and very helpful in its implementation. Recommendations for further research and practice are included

Effects of an intensive reading intervention on reading outcomes for adolescent English learners with disabilities and comprehension deficits

English Learners with disabilities (ELSWDs) in both eighth and twelfth grades scored significantly lower on the 2015 NAEP reading assessment than English Learners (ELs) only or students with disabilities (SWDs) only. Despite this, there is limited evidence on how to improve reading outcomes through reading interventions for adolescent ELSWDs. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the effects of an intensive, year-long reading intervention, the Reading Intervention for Adolescents (RIA), on reading outcomes (word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension) for ninth grade ELSWDs (n = 95) with deficits in reading comprehension and to determine if the effects of the intervention varied by limited English proficiency (LEP) status (current versus former). Participants assigned to RIA received the intervention for the entire ninth-grade school year, while students in the comparison condition participated in electives such as band, chorus, or computer. Phase I of the intervention focused on advanced word study, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, while Phase II of the intervention emphasized vocabulary and comprehension, as well as the application of the strategies learned in Phase I with science and social studies texts. Participants were assessed at pre- and post-intervention on measures of real and pseudoword reading, comprehension, and vocabulary. After using analysis of covariance to test for treatment effects and controlling for false discovery rate, there were no significant differences between the RIA treatment and the comparison groups. Small effects were observed on measures of word reading, comprehension, and proximal vocabulary, and Hedge’s g values ranted from 0.08 to 0.40. There were also not significant differential effects of the intervention for students currently identified as LEP versus students formerly identified as LEP. Findings from this study confirm previous research with ELSWDs, in that it is difficult to improve vocabulary and comprehension for this population of students.Special Educatio

Relationship Between Oral Language and Reading Comprehension for English Learners: A Systematic Review

This systematic review documents one teacher’s search for reasons why transitional readers at her elementary school seem to be stagnant in their reading progress, particularly in the area of reading comprehension. The relationship between English oral language proficiency and English reading comprehension for English learners at the transitional stage of reading is explored in depth. Additional factors that make it difficult for transitional readers to move through this stage are identified and discussed. A thorough review and synthesis of the current research is provided, offering many answers to the questions posed. Instructional implications and recommendations for mainstream teachers are shared

English Learners And Academic Speaking

This project sought to answer the guiding question; what educational strategies develop elementary EL students’ academic English speaking skills? The project documents the creation of a curricular unit designed to provide EL students with ample opportunity to speak academically. The guiding question originated from the author’s observation that her EL students were speaking infrequently within their mainstream classrooms, and also further musings regarding the prevalence of this infrequency along with the importance of and best practices for academic speaking. From the project, the author concluded that 1) EL students in both mainstream and EL classrooms often are not given opportunities to speak academically or do not participate when given the opportunity; 2) academic speaking is important to the development of literacy skills as it provides students the opportunity to practice skills such as paraphrasing, clarifying, and creating unique sentences to express ideas; and 3) some best practices for developing academic speaking include providing enriching activities, fostering productive usage and developing deeper understanding of vocabulary, and providing scaffolds such as sentence stems and sentence frames. Created using the UbD framework, this enriching curricular unit focuses student speaking on an academic topic and develops productive vocabulary while also providing scaffolding for learning new academic vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and discourse level organization. The author describes the challenges of creating visuals and supports that are appropriate and cultivate the desired speaking skills. She hopes to follow this unit with another speaking unit designed to build on the first and nurture academic discussion skills

An Investigation of the Best Practices to Develop Oral Proficiency in Adult English Learners That Are Engaging and Minimize Anxiety

Oral language proficiency requires more than simply knowing a language’s linguistic structure; learners must be able to quickly retrieve the relevant information to speak in a comparatively short amount of time. Speaking is the most fundamental language skill, and according to many researchers, the most complex as well, especially for adult learners. While many, perhaps most, adult ESL students rate the ability to speak fluently as the primary reason they are in class, practicing the skill can invoke considerable anxiety, which may stall or block learning. Reticence to speak typically results from anxiety, low self-confidence, or cultural expectations that discourage students from speaking unless spoken to. In addition, educational requirements and training for teachers of adult “non-academic” or “life-skills” ESL vary widely across the country, with many states not even requiring a bachelor’s degree. These factors led to the research question for this capstone project: Which are the best instructional practices teachers can use to build oral proficiency while minimizing anxiety and maximizing engagement? In response, a 10-hour professional development workshop was created for instructors of adult ESL, based on Malcolm Knowles’ principles of andragogy and Wiggin\u27s and McTighe\u27s Understanding by Design. Participants understand how anxiety can impede oral language development and discover pedagogical techniques for developing accuracy, fluency, and intelligibility that are engaging and confidence-boosting. Workshop participants are assessed to determine if learning objectives were met. The results of the assessments, as well as general feedback from participants, will inform future trainings

Foneettinen sujuvuus suomessa toisena kielenä: Lukiolaisten spontaanin puheen akustinen analyysi

Speaking fluently is an important goal for second language (L2) learners. In L2 research, fluency is often studied by measuring temporal features in speech. These features include speed (rate of speech), breakdown (use of silent and filled pauses), and repair (self-corrections and repetitions) phenomena. Fluent speakers generally have a higher rate of speech and fewer hesitations and interruptions than beginner language learners. In this thesis, phonetic fluency of high school students’ L2 Finnish speech is studied in relation to human ratings of fluency and overall proficiency. The topic is essential for the development of automated assessment of L2 speech, as phonetic fluency measures can be used for predicting a speaker’s fluency and proficiency level automatically. Although the effect of different fluency measures on perceived fluency level has been widely studied during the last decades, research on phonetic fluency in Finnish as L2 is still limited. Phonetic fluency in high school students’ speech in L2 Finnish has not been studied before. The speech samples and ratings used in this thesis are a part of a larger dataset collected in the DigiTala research project. The analyzed data contained spontaneous speech samples in L2 Finnish from 53 high school students of different language backgrounds. All samples were assessed by expert raters for fluency and overall proficiency. The speech samples were annotated by marking intervals containing silent pauses, filled pauses, corrections and repetitions, and individual words. Several phonetic fluency measures were calculated for each sample from the durations of the annotated intervals. The contribution of phonetic fluency measures to human ratings of fluency and proficiency was studied using simple and multiple linear regression models. Speech rate was found to be the strongest predictor for both fluency and proficiency ratings in simple linear regression. Articulation rate, portion of long silent pauses, mean duration of long silent pauses, mean duration of breaks between utterances, and rate of short silent pauses per minute were also statistically significant predictors of both fluency and proficiency ratings. Multiple linear regression models improved the simple models for both fluency and proficiency: for fluency, a model with a combination of articulation rate and the portion of long silent pauses performed the best, and for proficiency, a model with a combination of speech rate and mean duration of short silent pauses. Perceived fluency level is often affected by a combination of different phonetic fluency measures, and it seems that human raters ground their assessments on this combination, although some phonetic fluency measures might be more important on their own than others. The findings of this thesis expand previous knowledge on phonetic fluency in L2 Finnish and can benefit both language learners and teachers, as well as developers of automatic assessment of L2 speech.Sujuvaa puhetaitoa pidetään tärkeänä tavoitteena toisen kielen (L2) oppimisessa. L2-puheen tutkimuksissa sujuvuutta tutkitaan usein puheesta mitattavilla temporaalisilla piirteillä, joita ovat esimerkiksi puheen nopeus, tauot, korjaukset ja toistot. Nopea, vähän epäröintiä ja keskeytyksiä sisältävä puhe mielletään usein sujuvaksi, ja toisen kielen oppimisen alkuvaiheessa puhe on epäsujuvampaa. Tässä tutkielmassa tutkitaan lukiolaisten L2-suomen foneettista sujuvuutta puheesta mitattavien foneettisten sujuvuuspiirteiden sekä sujuvuus- ja taitotasoarvioiden avulla. Tutkimusaihe liittyy myös puheen automaattisen arvioinnin kehittämiseen, sillä kielenoppijan sujuvuus- ja taitotasoa voidaan ennustaa automaattisesti foneettisten sujuvuuspiirteiden avulla. Vaikka sujuvuuspiirteiden ja arviointien välistä yhteyttä on tutkittu melko paljon viime vuosikymmeninä, L2-suomen foneettiseen sujuvuuteen liittyviä tutkimuksia on yhä vähän. Lukiolaisten L2-suomen foneettista sujuvuutta ei ole aiemmin tutkittu. Tutkielmassa käytetty puhe- ja arviointiaineisto on osa suurempaa aineistoa, joka on kerätty DigiTala-tutkimusprojektissa. Analysoitu aineisto sisälsi 53 spontaania puhenäytettä lukiolaisilta, jotka puhuvat suomea toisena kielenä. Lisäksi jokaisen puhenäytteen sujuvuus ja yleinen taitotaso oli arvioitu. Puhenäytteisiin annotoitiin hiljaiset ja täytetyt tauot, korjaukset ja toistot sekä yksittäiset sanat. Annotoitujen intervallien kestoista laskettiin useita foneettisia sujuvuuspiirteitä jokaiselle puhenäytteelle. Foneettisten sujuvuuspiirteiden vaikutusta ihmisarvioihin tutkittiin lineaaristen regressiomallien avulla. Puhenopeus ennusti yhden selittävän muuttujan malleissa sekä sujuvuus- että taitotasoarvioita parhaiten. Tämän lisäksi artikulaationopeus, pitkien hiljaisten taukojen osuus, pitkien hiljaisten taukojen keskimääräinen kesto, yhtenäisten puhejaksojen välisten keskeytysten keskimääräinen kesto ja lyhyiden hiljaisten taukojen suhteellinen lukumäärä olivat tilastollisesti merkitseviä ennustajia yhden selittävän muuttujan malleissa. Useamman selittävän muuttujan mallit paransivat aiempien mallien selitysvoimaa sekä sujuvuus- että taitotasoarvioissa: artikulaationopeuden ja pitkien hiljaisten taukojen osuuden yhdistelmä ennusti sujuvuusarvioita parhaiten, ja puhenopeuden ja lyhyiden hiljaisten taukojen keskimääräisen keston yhdistelmä taitotasoarvioita. Puheen havaittuun sujuvuuteen vaikuttaa usein yhdistelmä erilaisia sujuvuuspiirteitä, vaikka yksittäisten piirteiden vaikutukset voivat olla keskenään erilaisia. Tutkielman tulokset lisäävät tietoa L2-suomen foneettisesta sujuvuudesta, ja ne ovat tarpeellisia niin kielenoppijoille, -opettajille kuin puheen automaattisten arviointityökalujen kehittäjille

Encouraging ESL Teachers to Empower Their Students to Read

In the US, thousands of international students are studying, or are preparing to study, at institutions of higher education. Unfortunately, the below satisfactory English skills of these students are a concern worldwide. One of the most critical factors affecting their academic progress is their reading skills. It is widely accepted that a successful student in higher education must be able to read and comprehend assigned readings quickly. However, reading speed and comprehension pose a significant obstacle for ESL students who are pursuing these goals. How can ESL teachers assist their students at the high beginning, intermediate or advanced levels in improving their reading skills? The answer might be easier than they think: extensive reading. Extensive reading, or reading easy text for enjoyment and understanding of the general idea, has often been overlooked in ESL classrooms and curriculum development (Krashen, 2004). The function of this project is to encourage students in their reading practice. If students knew the benefits that reading for pleasure would have on their language skills, they would dedicate much more time to reading. It is the hope that this power point presentation will encourage ESL teachers to instill a feeling of capability, motivation, and excitement in the ESL student toward reading, so that they will be driven to read more, understand more, and thus be their best selves in completing their education and contributing to the world around them