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Reading Comprehension Skills of Latin American Students in Columbus, Ohio

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Reading Comprehension Skills of Latin American Students in Columbus, Ohio READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN COLUMBUS, OHIO A sociolinguistic investigation of English as a second language in the classroom Masterarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts (MA) an der Karl-Franzens Universität Graz vorgelegt von Julia PETRITSCH am Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik Begutachterin: Penz Hermine Ao.Univ.-Prof. Mag.Dr.phil. Graz, 2015 Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 5 Second Language Acquisition Theory ....................................................................................... 8 The Scope of SLA .................................................................................................................. 8 The Role of Context in SLA ................................................................................................. 10 The Development of Terminology and Key Concepts in SLA ............................................ 12 Instructed SLA ...................................................................................................................... 15 The Interaction Approach ................................................................................................. 17 Universal Grammar (UG) in the Classroom ..................................................................... 20 Individual Differences in the Classroom .......................................................................... 22 Second Language (L2) Reading Comprehension Theory ........................................................ 28 A Sociolinguistic Approach to Reading Comprehension ..................................................... 30 Interactive and Compensatory Processing ............................................................................ 31 Guessing as a Psycholinguistic Reading Strategy ................................................................ 33 Creating Mental Images through Reading ........................................................................ 35 Reading Intervention Strategies ............................................................................................... 39 The Reading Apprenticeship Approach ............................................................................... 39 ESL Instruction in Central Ohio ............................................................................................... 41 Delaware City Schools ESL Program .................................................................................. 44 Research Methodology ............................................................................................................. 48 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................... 48 Findings of the Interviews ........................................................................................................ 51 Reading Comprehension Assessment of ESL Students ........................................................... 56 Participants of the Assessment .......................................................................................... 56 Assessment Research Objectives .......................................................................................... 57 Linguistic Areas Assessed ................................................................................................ 59 Results of the Assessment ........................................................................................................ 62 Questionnaire ........................................................................................................................ 63 Reading Comprehension Tasks ............................................................................................ 65 TASK 1 ............................................................................................................................. 65 TASK 2 ............................................................................................................................. 67 TASK 3 ............................................................................................................................. 68 TASK 4 ............................................................................................................................. 69 1 TASK 5 ............................................................................................................................. 70 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 72 Online Sources ...................................................................................................................... 80 Images ............................................................................................................................... 82 Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 83 Transcription of Personal Interviews .................................................................................... 83 ESL Teacher ‘ET001’ ....................................................................................................... 83 School Psychologist ‘SP002’ ............................................................................................ 87 ESL Teacher ‘ET003’ ....................................................................................................... 90 Spanish Teacher ‘ST004’ .................................................................................................. 92 School Psychologist ‘SP005’ ............................................................................................ 94 Questionnaire ........................................................................................................................ 96 Reading Comprehension Assessment ................................................................................... 98 TASK 1 ............................................................................................................................. 98 TASK 2 ............................................................................................................................. 99 TASK 3 ........................................................................................................................... 100 TASK 4 ........................................................................................................................... 101 TASK 5 ........................................................................................................................... 102 2 Abstract This master’s thesis examines the learning issues of the Latin American English as a second language (ESL) students in Columbus, Ohio, from a sociolinguistic point of view. It investigates how the standards of the school system, the assessment methods and the immigrant environment influence ESL learning. The paper is divided in two parts. The first part gives an overview of second language acquisition (SLA) theory with a focus on instructed second language acquisition and reading comprehension theory. Next to the cognitive and social aspects of SLA, the thesis discusses individual differences in SLA, the Interaction Approach and Universal Grammar (UG) in the classroom. The theory also explains the processes behind reading and suggests reading intervention strategies like the Reading Apprenticeship Approach. The second part of the thesis elaborates the problems of ESL instruction in Ohio, which incorporates a study about the reading comprehension skills of an ESL class by means of a criteria referenced assessment. The main point of interest in the present thesis is to determine the influence of ‘teaching for testing’ as opposed to ‘teaching for learning’. The number of immigrant students in US classrooms has increased dramatically over the last three decades. In Ohio, ninety-five percent of Spanish native speakers are not able to follow the content classes of the core curriculum. The parents know hardly any English and are therefore unable to support their children. The school system, however, does not prioritize foreign language learning. ESL classes are not valued in the curriculum, the time for the students is very limited and their exposure to English varies immensely. Testing schedules and the pressure to fit into society get more rigid every year. The Ohio Board of Education exaggerates with language assessments to monitor the English limited proficiency (ELP) students’ language progress. The ESL lessons are constrained by preparation for these language assessments. This paper evaluates the issues of ESL instruction with qualitative research methods. The study consists of interviews, a questionnaire and a criteria referenced reading comprehension assessment. Five school members and sixteen ESL students of an 8th grade ESL class of the Delaware City Schools participated in the study. Interviews with school teachers and psychologists provide background information about the ESL programs in Ohio, reveal the ESL students’ reading comprehension weaknesses and give insights into the Latino culture. The questionnaire collects information about the student’s language
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