Why do we read?
We read for different reasons, and our expectations of texts differ accordingly.
In school, much of the reading we ask learners to do is in pursuit of information.
Some of this we expect them to absorb as knowledge.
Other parts we hope will go toward developing their understanding.
We would do well to consider the context in which learners meet texts and how this differs from our own experience of them.
Take, for example, a geography textbook.
For us, as adults and teachers, such a book has much with which we are familiar.
This includes:
- Geographical concepts and information
- The layout (which is similar in general to textbook layouts and specifically to those used by geography textbooks)
- The pedagogical functions
- The use of a contents page and an index
For learners, the textbook is encountered for the first time.
They see it as something that is being introduced to their world.
We see it as something already part of our world.
This is a fact easily forgotten.
You or I might flick back and forth through a textbook with ease. Skimming the pages for information we know is there, for a purpose we’ve already identified.
This could be the planning of a lesson, for example, or the creation of a worksheet.
Whatever it is, the chances are that we are using the text as a supplement to our own minds and doing so in a way that displays mastery.
A learner using the same textbook would most likely find themselves faced with a mass of novel information, presented in a way they would be able to follow, though perhaps not explain.
A perceptive learner may be able to pick up on the reasons behind a certain layout or the rationale informing the choice of pictures, activities and text.
For many learners, however, this analysis is hard to come by. Not least because of the great gulf between their life experience and that possessed by a person who writes such books.
For us, as adults and teachers, the leap is not so great (if, indeed, there is any leap at all).
We can formulate the point as a rule:
- ‘When giving learners texts to use, try to put yourself in their shoes and think about how they are receiving them.’
In the case of EAL learners, we need to go further.
These learners have the additional difficulty of decoding a language with which they may have little familiarity.
Even if they are further along in their language-learning journey, lots of texts used in lessons contain abstract, academic and technical vocabulary.
It is likely many of these words will be new to your EAL learners.
Trying to conceive of how a situation like that might feel is the first step toward giving those learners the kind of reading support from which they will benefit.
The Classroom is Full of Different Texts
Moving away from the example of textbooks, we might point to the variety of texts that a learner will be expected to read in a classroom.
This includes writing:
- On slides and worksheets
- On the walls (usually in the form of displays and rules)
- In planners
- In the books of other learners
- In reference books like dictionaries
- On registers
- On doors (indicating, for example, the name of the teacher whose room it is)
- On computer screens
To skilled language users like you and I, this range of written media isn’t even apparent.
We just see the words and instantly decode them, using our fluency and experience.
As well as being adept at understanding and using English orally and in writing, we are aware of the conventions surrounding the physical manifestation of words.
So, for example, we understand what a register is and why it has names written in it.
An EAL learner, who saw their name projected on a board as part of a list, with marks set down next to it, might be puzzled.
Without knowing the context of the writing that they are reading, they may be confused about what’s going on.
It is important to speak explicitly about the different texts a learner might come across in the classroom.
Ascertain through questioning whether EAL learners understand what they are for and the rules governing their construction and use.
If they lack clarity, make it clear for them.
This helps them to contextualise what they read.
It could be within a framework of other texts, or in relation to the role such texts play in the classroom.
For example, an EAL learner might join your class having come from a schooling system where indiscipline is dealt with quite differently to what you are used to.
Let us say, hypothetically, that the learner is unused to seeing rules written up and stuck on walls.
It will be for you to describe the context in which these rules ought to be read.
You will need to point out that:
- Rules play a major part in your classroom and the school.
- It is felt that everyone should be made aware of the rules.
- The rules are referred to when necessary. Hence it is useful to have a set close at hand.
- By having the rules clearly visible, it helps reinforce their power and the fact they are for everybody.
- Rule-following is promoted by the visibility of the rules. This is seen as a good thing and, ultimately, encourages an internalisation of the positive behaviours that rule-following promotes.
All of this is implicit.
It needs to be brought out and made clear for EAL learners if they are to contextualise the rules-on-the-wall as other learners do.
Some of this they will pick up simply by being in the classroom and observing what is happening.
But you can speed things up and make life easier for your EAL learners by addressing different texts directly.
From the General to the Specific
Taking our view from the general to the specific, we can think briefly about the different levels that exist within a single text.
Three that are of particular importance are the levels of:
- Words
- Sentences
- Meaning
These operate independently of each other, while also being bound together.
To read successfully – that is, to look at words and to take knowledge and understanding away from them – we must first be able to identify the meaning of most of the words contained within a text.
Some, perhaps, we can gloss over, working out what we think their meaning is from an analysis of their position in a sentence or their relationship to other words that we already know.
However, we need to be able to decode most of what we read, otherwise we can’t identify the meaning each individual word is meant to convey.
If we are at ease with the words themselves, then we need to be able to analyse how they have been placed in relation to one another.
This we can refer to as the sentence level.
Sentences are made up of groups of individual words.
The meaning they convey comes from the words that go to make them up.
The juxtaposition of words in a sentence also contributes to its meaning:
- Hill up the go.
- Go up the hill.
Being able to discriminate between sentences that convey meaning and those which do not is an indication of one’s reading skills.
So too is the understanding of how a sentence’s meaning can be dependent on that which follows:
- Go up the hill.
- It was the last thing he ever said to me.
- By the time I got back down the hill, he was gone.
In most pieces of text, a series of sentences are put together, each carrying meaning that is independent as well as contextual.
By this we mean that any sentence could be taken out of the text, read on its own, and decoded for meaning, but that the specific meaning intended by the author comes also from that sentence’s relationship to the sentences that surround it.
Following on from word and sentence level is the more general level of meaning.
This refers to the overall meaning – or meanings – of a text. The interpretation the reader makes (which may or may not marry up with the author’s intentions).
Let us look at an example.
If a case reached the Supreme Court, the judges sitting there would need to make a ruling, usually on a particular point of law.
This point would be dependent on the piece of text that either was the law, or from which the law had come.
Clearly, there would be a difference in them analysing the meaning of individual words in the text, analysing the meaning of specific sentences, and analysing the overall meaning intended or imputed.
At the level of words, they may seek to clarify how a word such as ‘intended’ should be interpreted.
At the level of sentences, they may need to specify what a sentence such as ‘Any unlawful gain which may have been made through the action above mentioned ought to be confiscated’ should be taken to mean.
And, at the level of meaning, they would need to interpret the ‘spirit of the law’ and how it fits in with wider notions of jurisprudence.
Different Textual Levels and Your EAL Learners
Being aware of the different levels at which reading operates will help you to understand better the positions in which your EAL learners find themselves.
It will make it easier for you to help them develop their abilities.
It will also help you to avoid assumptions that might unwittingly stymie their progress or cause you to misjudge the efficacy of what you are doing.
Knowing, for example, that an ability to decode individual words does not by necessity lead to an ability to decode successive sentences helps avoid a misconception that otherwise might create problems.
Texts Must be Written
All texts that a learner will read must first be written.
An author needs to attend to the levels of word, sentence and meaning if they are to communicate accurately that which they hope to convey.
Even a set of classroom rules require these considerations.
We must ask questions like:
- Do any of the rules conflict with one another?
- Do the individual rules make sense?
- Could any of the rules be taken to have a different interpretation?
In addition, the wider meaning of the rules must be made clear.
This is usually done by writing the rules in a list, often numbered, with each rule separated out to confer independent authority and importance.
A title may categorise or group the rules, showing their shared connection.
The colours and font may accord with a particular purpose chosen by the teacher.
For example, a teacher who wishes to diminish the authoritarian element common to classroom rules may write them in Comic Sans MS.
Doing this demonstrates an attention to the level of meaning.
What happens when we ask learners to write?
When asking learners to create written work, we expect them to think about word level, sentence level and the level of meaning.
It is good to talk to them about these.
Doing so gives them a set of analytical tools they can use to help make writing easier.
EAL learners may benefit from discussions and support about how to analyse and reflect on their own work.
This makes it easier for them to identify whether they have achieved what they set out to do and how to make improvements where necessary.
Perhaps the greatest difficulty learners encounter when writing is getting going and then keeping going.
Writing is a technology.
It must be learned and practiced. Proficiency takes time.
Writing and Motivation
Unlike speech, which is a natural function of the human body, writing is an extension. Something added. Learned and passed on through culture.
Learners who are used to being able to communicate as and when they wish (by speaking) can easily become frustrated and demotivated when faced with the demands of writing.
Finding ways to sustain motivation and counteract some of the negative emotions writing can engender is a task common to all teachers.
Learners who are at an earlier stage of language development than their peers, including EAL learners, are particularly vulnerable to these setbacks.
Being alive to this gives the teacher a chance to pre-empt problems.
How lessons are structured, the choice of activities, learner groupings and seating plans can all help avoid situations where learners feel put off by writing or incapable of doing what has been asked of them.
The key is to set learners up for success.
Linked to this point is the issue of what the writing you ask learners to do is for.
You might like to think about the reasons behind each piece of written work you set.
Ask yourself what the primary goal is.
It could be:
- To give learners an opportunity to communicate their thoughts on a topic.
- To provide the teacher with material which they can assess.
- To show knowledge and understanding (or lack thereof).
- To practice some aspect of writing.
- To work independently.
- To construct knowledge.
- To prepare for an activity.
- To engage with recently acquired knowledge.
Identifying the purpose behind written tasks helps ensure you are clear on what you are using them for.
This makes it easier to help your learners.
Having something specific on which to focus is better than operating under a nebulous conception of ‘doing some writing’.
I have sought to draw your attention to the fact that reading and writing are not as straightforward as they might first appear and that this is especially true for EAL learners. In the EAL Knowledge Base, and in my EAL Toolkit resource, you’ll find a selection of strategies you can use to support your EAL learners with the development of their skills.
