Entry #3: Oral Language and the Reading Process

Oral language development:  it is a topic with which I have had many experiences in recent weeks.  It seems that in every class, we are asked to examine the manner in which students develop oral language.  The first reading assignment for this class, in fact, summarized the development of oral language acquisition.  I was beginning to feel that I was becoming an expert on this topic; that is, until I read Chapter 1 from the Freeman text, which states that nobody, not even noted linguist Noam Chomsky, truly knows exactly how oral language develops.  In fact, Freeman states that many researchers, although eager to explore this topic, become quickly overwhelmed when studying the language acquisition rate of children in their second year of life and beyond.  This is because, during this time, children are learning new words at the rate of two words per second.  At that point, researchers simply cannot keep up with the data analysis!

One thing researchers are certain of, though, is that oral language development is a systematic process that each human goes through.  The belief of many developmental, sociological, neurological, and linguistic scholars is that it begins as an innate ability and systematically develops over time through exposure and experience along with some explicit instruction.  In infancy, children begin to express themselves verbally through the use of babbling.  As they mature, this babbling gives way to one-word utterances, then progresses to two-word sentences.  These two-word sentences are rich with meaning, although minimally spoken.  As children learn and experiment with more sophisticated syntax and grammatical patterns, they employ their own speech and the speech of other, more competent adults to educate themselves on proper grammar and effective communication of ideas.  During school, children learn the grammatical names for the parts of the complex sentences they have experientially learned to speak, making their knowledge of language even more comprehensive.

Reading instruction progresses in much the same manner.  As very young children, humans experience written text in a way similar to the "babbling" demonstrated by infant speech:  pointing to pictures and text in a book and attempting to read it.  These children do not understand what message is being conveyed by the text, they merely know, as parents model when reading to them, that the text is meaningful.  They may even begin to move their fingers in the direction of the print while babbling and emulating the storytelling they hear their parents reciting during read-alouds.  This early print awareness gives way to retellings of repeatedly read stories; well-loved books read numerous times to children begin to worm their way into their cognition and they are able to tell the story without really reading the words.  This is somewhat similar to the two-word sentence stage of oral language:  The reading is not quite detailed enough to be accurate, yet the meaning is deeply present.  Finally, after many exposures and explicit instruction in phonics, children learn to read:  word by word, sentence by sentence.  Just as through multiple exposures and instruction in speech lead to articulation, experience with text and direct instruction lead to reading.

Although there are similarities between the progression of both oral language and reading development, there is two main differences.  First, it is widely believed by linguistic researchers that the ability to learn language, any language regardless of modality, is innately bred.  That is to say, all humans are born with some neurological and/or psychological ability to learn the basics of language.  This does not seem to be the case with reading.  In fact, some children are born with learning disabilities that impede their understanding of the written word and need interventions in order to learn it.  Second, it takes quite some time to learn to read, in most cases, years.  Oral language, however, is learned rapidly and continues to build throughout life. 

Entry #2: My Experience as a Student of Writing

Interestingly enough, in the last two classes I have participated in through Regis, I have been asked to reflect on my experience as a student of writing. I have to admit, I found it quite odd.  Nobody had ever asked me to reflect on my experiences as a student; conversely, I was mostly asked to reflect on my practice as a teacher.  It was unchartered territory to analyze my literacy growth from the position of a young learner.  I can now see why the Regis instructors assigned this task.  In doing so, I have learned an extensive amount about how to teach writing...and how not to. 

You see, as a young student, my writing instruction was almost nonexistent.  I was merely given a topic, then told to write without any inspiration or instruction.  Later, when my paper was returned to me with copious red marks, corrections, and directives, I felt disheartened.  I also felt like an automaton.  As long as I fixed the things the teacher felt needed to be fixed, I would get a good grade.  I didn't have to think at all, just merely copy the teacher's carefully applied revisions and I was done!!  Then, as an older student, I was given templates with which to write detailed literary analyses and compose lengthy research papers.  Again, no instruction on how to use the template was given, nor was I guided on how to use other forms of writing (i.e. note-taking, outlining, paraphrasing) to begin to organize my thoughts as I prepared to write. 

Any quality instruction on writing was provided by my own experiences with books, by reading the work of published authors and thinking, "Ooo!  I love that sentence!  I'm trying to emulate that next time!"  By reading all the works of a particular author and recognizing his or her style, the craft and the syntax that made the text uniquely theirs.  By getting goosebumps after reading a sentence or paragraphy that moved me, and thinking I wanted to be able to do that too.  I realized, through my experience as a literature lover, that the best teacher of writing was writing itself, whether it be writing I enjoy from another author or by writing I compose as an inspired member of a literate community.  It is for that reason that I feel I am a competent writing teacher now:  I understand what inspires a writer, and I understand that burning urge to put pencil to paper and create.  I also understand the constriction and frustration experienced when given a prompt with which to write to...the very nature of writer's block, to me, is being blocked in by a narrow, uninteresting prompt.  And I understand the power of the red pencil; it's ability to either break a young writer's spirit or it's potential to be a teaching tool when coupled with thoughtful conversation with a more competent peer or teacher.

And I know my students feel the same way.  I know this because I have taught writing to students in both manners:  as a beginning teacher, the structured, yet uninstructional way in which I was taught; as a more seasoned teacher, the more literary, Writer's Workshop manner in which I wish I were taught.  When I teach using the Writer's Workshop pedagogy, I get amazing work from students; impassioned, imagery-rich prose and poetry that sometimes gives me chills.   I get groans of disappointment when I tell my class it is time to end our writing session for the day.  I get inspiration to write my own pieces from the work they share.  I see writers. 

Entry #1: Teacher-to-Teacher Philosophy Discussion

As some of my colleagues know, I am married to a kindergarten teacher; in my opinion, the best kindergarten teacher in the district.  His students consistently demonstrate above average literacy skills as assessed by standardized tests and bodies of classroom evidence.  It is rare that a student is on an ILP at the end of a year spent with him.  He has helped me so much in my quest to become an effective literacy teacher, always at the ready with new strategies for me to try and a nonjudgmental ear for me to fill with my struggles and successes.  Therefore, when the opportunity to have a philosophical discussion about literacy instruction arose, I immediately knew which teacher I was going to talk with:  my phenomenal husband and mentor, Shane.

I teach fifth grade, which is fundamentally different than kindergarten in the area of literacy instruction.  We upper grade teachers tend to focus more on the instruction of vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.  However, because I teach the fifth graders who struggle greatly in reading (two years or more below grade level), Shane's expertise in the area of phonics, phonemic awareness, and language acquisition has definitely helped me to meet the instructional needs of these students in ways I never have before.  I now find myself teaching phoneme manipulation and rudimentary aspects of phonics because these students so desperately need these skills in order to find success in reading.  In that way, my philosophy of literacy instruction has been forever altered:  I now see that, in order for students to become competent readers, they need direct instruction in all five components of reading, regardless of their age. 

This is also the core philosophy of my husband; furthermore, he believes that a comprehensive literacy program must also include whole language aspects as well as a focus on oral language development.  He believes that students must be immersed in literature from day one of school. Students must be read to, read with, and encouraged to engage in reading behaviors from the moment they walk in the door in order to fully develop a love of literature.  He believes students must first see the value of the written word before they will "buy into" the explicit instruction he will provide during the year.  A focus on oral language is key also, Shane states.  If children do not enter his classroom with a strong language background, whether they are ELLs or from a language-deprived household, Shane will provide this for them.  He accomplishes this through consistent social interaction, modeling appropriate speech and reading behavior, and through constant conversations. 

This is not to say that Shane spends most of his instructional time developing these literacy and oral language behaviors.  He believes in striking a balance between whole language and systematic, scaffolded, fast-paced reading instruction in all five components.  He believes in providing multiple exposures each day, and he does so in such an engaging and fast-paced manner that students receive much more than the recommended number of repetitions without realizing it!  Shane also firmly believes in scaffolding; his approach follows the To, With, By framework recommended by noted reading experts.  His modeling is deliberate, as he "thinks aloud" to demonstrate comprehension strategies until they can do this independently and his read alouds also model appropriate thinking skills for his students as they listen.

Shane's belief that social interaction is a must for oral language development as well as strengthening reading skills is evident in his thoughtful use of centers.  Each student participates in centers daily, providing the social interaction and multiple repetitions he believes will give them the best literacy instruction in the shortest time.  The students are also encouraged to play with words, by participating in repeated choral readings of poetry and reader's theater.  It is his belief that this will strengthen their phonemic awareness as they experience rhymes and chants. 

I could certainly continue to elaborate on Shane's philosophy of education, as he is inspiring to me and to so many others who have come to observe him.  However, I will conclude by saying that by discussing his educational philosophy with me, he has now inspired me to go into my classroom tomorrow and adopt some of his methods for engagement and scaffolding!