Learning to read better. Is there a difference between native and non-native speakers?

To me the best way to learn to read better is to read more. Listening to what you are going to read can help. An efficient method for learning vocabulary can help. But mostly learners need to read more, whether native speakers or not. I really do not see much of a difference in terms of what needs to be done. Just read more!!! But this is not a majority view among teachers. Here is an exchange from the teachers forum where I sometimes comment just to annoy the others. My comments in italics.

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from a teacher:

I rarely teach ESL reading literacy (RL) because of my students needing (and wanting) to learn how to decode words. Most often, three learning goals pertain in developing L2 RL: actually learning to hear and produce phonemes that do not exist in their L1;  2) encoding many unfamiliar words in their L2 and sometimes L1, too; and 3) learning the Latin alphabet along with the highly complex English spelling system.  

These three goals, particularly the first two, are, in my limited experience in these settings, what mainly and very importantly, distinguish L1 from L2 adult RL development.

That said, I am currently working with two Cambodian students one-on-one, both with "solid elementary" non-academic Khmer RL. One decodes "quite well" but still struggles with reading comprehension; she understands  much better when I read to her due to her advanced aural comprehension skills. She is now attending Maui CC remedial classes not designed with ESL learners in mind while I help her fill the "gaps."   The other repeatedly attends "beginning" adult ed. ESL classes, follows the oral interactions well, but is helpless when it comes to working with the textbook being used in class and for homework. She and I are currently working with Joan Knights' "Starting Over" literacy program and children's books designed for K-1. I will also develop .ppt slides thanks to initially Hugo's input.

I believe that the affective realm within which we interact is a very positive one. Our relationships are close, we know quite a bit about our respective personal histories (both the good and not so good), and both students are well aware of their learning needs and accept them without any overt resultant signs of self-degradation. We all look forward to our sessions.

The two Cambodian students  would have quite possibly been labeled as LD or placed into special ed. had they been schooled in the U.S. as children.  The more advanced of the two has developed a far greater capacity to focus in a sustained manner,  and my sense is that her remarkably heightened intrinsic interest over time in the subject areas we are working on (language arts, U.S. and Cambodian current affairs,  and math) has gotten the better of what some "experts" might have labeled as ADD, perhaps even ADHD.  The other student is very even-keeled.

I would be very interested in your experiences, including your teaching approaches and materials you work with, specifically with adult ESL students who arrived here as young adults or later and whose RL is very limited at best and who present you with persistent, even seemingly obstinate, pedagogic challenges.

My response:

My experience is that the fastest track to success is to provide the learner with a large selection of material which consists of audio and text. This material should be not too difficult for the learner. The learner can listen before reading, while reading and even after reading and then listen and read again, and again. The learner must be able to choose content of interest to the learner. This cycle will take care of all three goals, unless the learner has a reading disability of some kind.

This is my experience and is in line with the view of Stephen Krashen Does Intensive Decoding Instruction Contribute to Reading Comprehension?. The only difference is that Krashen often overlooks the importance of listening as a part of learning to read.

Teacher's response:

My point was to highlight what I regard to be key differences between L1 & L2 RL development: in the case of L2, AURAL phonemic productive and receptive discrimination; the need to ENcode many everyday words that are not known, in contrast to L1 speakers;   to a lesser degree, learning the Latin alphabet for learners who know another writing system or none at all.

I often have my more  literate students (GLE 3+) listen to audio books prior to reading them. The need to tap into their sphere of interest is most important, as you indicate.

Another teacher:

I think you’re right about these key differences. Have you read the CAELA Network article “How Should Adult ESL Reading Instruction Differ from ABE Reading Instruction?”? It highlights some of these differences and cites some of the research done on this topic. http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs/readingdif.html

Comments

[John Fotheringham]

I agree that L1 and L2 literacy have more in common than not (or rather, "Should"). The only difference is that native speaking children begin reading after already learning to speak. This leads to a paradox for adults: most already know how to read in their native language (and perhaps somewhat in their L2) and can therefore apply reading as another channel for meaningful input. But as you mentioned, this leads most people to spend too much time on reading, especially in the beginning.

This leads to a few major problems:

1) Relying on (and getting more comfortable) with the written word. This leads people to spend too much time with a nose in a book instead of listening to native speakers via podcasts on their iPod, watching YouTube or the regular tube, sitting with and listening to native speaker friends, or eavesdropping on strangers at Starbucks...

2) Fossilized pronunciation mistakes because one practices saying things in their head over and and over again how they THINK a word should be said, not the way it actually is. This of course happens to us native speakers, too, but usually for less frequent words. I didn't know until university, for example, that cacaphony is pronounced /kə 'ka fəni/ (if they don't display properly, the 'e' letters here are supposed to be upside down e's called Schwa's). I read this word probably 15 times before then; I had just never heard it said.

Interestingly, this is also how some words take on new pronunciations in foreign languages they are borrowed into...

[mamute]

Steve,

I've been reading English every day and a lot of text ranging from newspapers (CNN, BBC) to technical papers and computer related texts (I work with computers).

In the beginner, I have to consult a dictionary all the time, a lot of new words. I have never had any formal English class, except a very basic at elementary school. I'm learning it everyday, however, when I read your post I realise that I am very comfortable in reading, specially because I could figure out most of the grammar, sentences constructions and words meaning, I can read fast and understand most of the text, some times I found a word that I don't know, but as I can understand the text context, I usually skip it. I realise that I am not adding new words to my vocabulary any more, and that's because I am understanding pretty well the text. Do I have to force myself to spent more time with the text and understand 100% of it? It's boring when you have to stop reading and go to a dictionary, see some meanings of that word, which is suitable for the context, and if you don't use the word in the future you can lost it in your head.

I will take an example, I did one new lesson on Lingq, and I marked about 15 new words. After reading/listening three times I decided to write a composer. I tried to use those new words, but most of them I didn't remember very well. I used one new word, soaked, and I think this verb will be part of me now.. but in the past, as I knew almost nothing, in the end of the day I have a lot of new words, sentences constructions experience, etc

Do you have any tip for that kind of situation? I really want to improve my English, but I fell myself comfortable with the knowledge that I have and I really want to became more fluent.

As usual, sorry abouy my English mistakes.

Regards, mamute

[Steve Kaufmann]

Mamute,

A few comments.

You should listen until you understand 80% of the text. You should move on to new material as soon as you are bored. Some content, because of the subject matter, or the voice is more interesting and more pleasant to listen to. Stay with that kind of content longer.

Do not worry about the words you forget. Do not worry about words you can only recognize and cannot use. Eventually more and more of them will stick and become active. You cannot rush things. Just enjoy the language without pressure.