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Year One Children's Literacy Behaviours and Perceptions of Literacy Learning in the Classroom and Reading Recovery Contexts

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Year One Children's Literacy Behaviours and Perceptions of Literacy Learning in the Classroom and Reading Recovery Contexts Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 1-1-2002 Year one children's literacy behaviours and perceptions of literacy learning in the classroom and reading recovery contexts Fiona Callaghan Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Callaghan, F. (2002). Year one children's literacy behaviours and perceptions of literacy learning in the classroom and reading recovery contexts. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/740 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/740 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. USE OF THESIS The Use of Thesis statement is not included in this version of the thesis. Year One Children's Literacy Behaviours and Perceptions of Literacy Learning in the Classroom and Reading Recovery Contexts Fiona Callaghan Dip. Teach. Prim., B.Ed. A Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Education At the faculty of Community Services, Education and Socia! Sciences Edith Cowan University December, 2002 Year One Children's Literacy Behaviours and Perceptions of Literary Learning in the Classroom and Reading Recovery Contexts Fiona Callaghan Dip.T. Prim. B.Ed. School of Education December, 2002 ABSTRACT This study investigates the ways in which four Year One children engage in the literacy events of their regular and Reading Recovery classrooms. It explores how these children perceived their beginning reading instruction and possible relationships between the children's perceptions and the ways in which they 'did' literacy in each setting. The study draws on research in beginning reading instruction from both a psychological and socio-cultural perspective, as well as research into withdrawal programs for children experiencing difficulty in learning to read and the Reading Recovery program itself. A case study approach was used in this study and data collection methods included videoetaped observations of the children in their two classrooms, interviews and examination of artefacts. Observation data was categorised into two main groups of reading and writing behaviours and literacy related behaviours. Results showed similarities in the children's reading and writing behaviours across the two settings, with some differences noted in their literacy-related behaviours from one setting to the other. The differences were particularly marked in the children's dispositions to literacy learning, with two of the children showing a more active learning stance in Reading Recovery than in the classroom setting. These results are interpreted in light of previous research literature on classroom learning, continuities and discontinuities between classroom and withdrawal settings, and the effectiveness of the Reading Recovery program. It is suggested that while the withdrawal reading program may assist chiluren to develop their reading and writing skills it may not necessarily de··:,:!,:;µ in children an active learning stance and a positive disposition for literacy learning. The c;tudy points towards the need for both classroom and withdrawal teachers to work collab,')ratively to carefully monitor the individual reading and writing behaviours, literacy learning behaviours and learning stances of at-risk Year One children. Declaration I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: (i) incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education~ (ii) contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text; or (iii) contain any defamatory material. 2 Acknowledgement I wish to acknowledge my supervisors, Dr Marion Milton for setting me on course and Dr Mary Rohl for her untiring assistance in the completion of this thesis. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One Introduction 8 Background 8 Significance 14 Purpose of the Study 17 Research Questions 18 Chapter Two Literature Review 19 Theories of Reading and Beginning Literacy 19 Instruction Pedagogy of the Literacy Environment 31 Children Who Have Difficulty in Early Literacy Leaming 36 Withdrawal Programs for Reading Instruction 38 The Reading Recovery Program 41 Criticism of Reading Recovery 46 Summary 49 Chapter Three Methodology 51 Research Site 51 Research Participants 51 The Four Children 52 4 Research Method 55 Data Collection 61 Data Analysis 64 Ethical Considerations 67 Limitations 68 Time line of the Research Program 69 Chapter Four Reading Recovery and Classroom Settings 70 Description of the Two Settings 70 Classroom 70 Reading Recovery 77 Some Differences Between the Classroom and Reading 84 Recovery Contexts Chapter Five Case Studies of the Four Children 86 Tyson 86 Brad 96 Jesse 107 Robert 115 Chapter Six Results 124 Research Question One 124 5 Research Question Two 14 7 Discussion I t54 Research Question Three 174 Discussion of Perceptions in the Classroom Setting 177 Discussion of Perceptions in the Reading Recovery Setting 180 Summary 181 Chapter Seven Discussion 183 Summary of Findings 183 Issues 184 Conclusion 193 Implications for Educational Practice 194 Directions for Future Research 195 References 196 List of Tables 206 6 Appendices 3a Observation Survey and Bruinsma Reading Questionnaire 208 3b Student Worksheets 222 3c Running Records 227 Jd Observation Pro Forma 235 3e Student Consent Form 236 3f Teacher Consent Form 237 3g School Principal Consent Form L.38 4a "Stone Soup" Transcript 240 4b "Stone Soup" Student Worksheet 245 7 CHAPTER ONE Introduction This chapter provides a background to the study explaining its significance, purpose and the questions it aims to answer. This research study aimed to investigate a) how poor readers in Year One engage in the literacy events of their classroom and the Reading Recovery withdrawal room, b) how they perceive their beginning reading instruction in both the classroom and Reading Recovery withdrawal room and c) possible relationships between the children's perceptions and the ways they 'do' literacy in each setting. Child centred interpretations of learning to read and write are particularly important in the context of the instructional methods provided for beginning literacy learners. In order to provide effective instructional contexts for beginning readers, it is suggested that educators need to know how these children experience the literacy learning programs to which they are exposed (Dahl & Freppon, 1998). In the case of children who are not making anticipated progress and who are receiving supplementary reading education in a withdrawal setting, it is crucial that reading instruction be closely aligned with children's developing knowledge and skills. Withdrawal reading programs often do not take into account the reading instruction of the regular classroom and it is hypothesised that this incongruence of instruction may lead to confusion for children who may already have a poor understanding of what reading is all about. Background It is generally accepted that most children will be well on their way to successful literacy acquisition by the end of Year One. However, some children experience difficulty in their attempts to read and write and at some stage during Year One are deemed "at risk" for literacy failure. Some of these children may be less able to attend 8 to instruction or may lack familiarity with the kinds of social interaction that occurs in mauy classrooms (Spiegel, 1992). Some may come from homes that have different literacy experi,!nces to those valued by the school. Studies of schoolmg and literacy show what appears to be a strong relationship between socio-economic status and school achievement, suggesting a difference between literacy practices in low socio­ economic homes and school literacy practices (Freebody, Ludwig & Gunn, 1995). Other factors that appear to predict children's success in literacy are their perceptions of literacy, in terms of what they believe and understand reading to be, and the methods used to teach it. There is great controversy over how to best teach reading to beginning readers in order that difficulties with literacy learning can be minimised. Much of this controversy ha:., centred around the place of teaching the alphabetic code and phonemic awareness, that is, awareness of the individual sounds in words. Arguments have tended to polari!!e around two hroad schools of thought: one stresses the importance of the sequential and systematic teaching of letter-sound correspondences and is commonly known as a skills approach; the other stresses teaching reading as a. meaning-making process and sees the alphabetic code as just one of a wide range of important information sources. This is commonly known as a whole language approach. Researchers of beginning reading instruction, for example, Adams and Bruck, 1995; Beck and Juel, 1995, Spiegel, 1992; Snow, Bums and Griffin, 1998, have called for a more balanced approach to literacy instruction where phonics and whole language are seen as complementary.
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