Reading Interventions for the Improvement of the Reading Performances of Bilingual and Bi-Dialectal Children

By Dr. Afra Johnson

The book explores the remedial pedagogy applied during intervention designed to improve the students metacognitive processes of learning new English-language knowledge. Todays globalization and technology on social behaviors demand that school-age students acquire reading skills by the use of audio-visual practices. The linguistic integrations during the intervention processes combined with direct instruction produced an individualized awareness of improvements in comprehension. Each student cognitively processed the audio input and visual text. My findings were related to the cultural practices of ESOL and ELL students to counteract the mismatch between home and school language frameworks. This type of technique encourages students to use the concepts of the English language related to what they hear, read, and speak within and outside of the school environment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504955409

Dr. Afra Johnson

Dr. Afra Johnson is a former reading educator, contributing eleven years of teaching service in the Broward County Schools of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Devoted to examining why reading problems persisted for years in the school district, she decided to examine the abilities of her students to apply examples of linguistic knowledge, supported by direct instruction and audio-visual cognitive phenomena. She applied her technique for several years, resulting in improved standardized test scores, and conducted her research in 2010 at the Parkway Middle School of the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Students participated in a quasi-experimental reading class, where neurophysiological mechanisms and intervention practices were conducted.

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© 2015 Dr. Afra Johnson. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 10/27/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-5541-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-5540-9 (e)

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Contents

Abstract

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Introduction

Statement Of The Problem

Purpose Of The Study

Significance Of The Study

School Context And Demographics

Research Objective

Definition Of Terms

Research Question And Hypotheses

Limitations Of The Study

Intended Audience

Overview Of Study

Participants

Chapter 2 Review Of Related Literature

Introduction

Literacy

Achievement Gap

Cultural Factors

Problems Facing Broward County Schools

Reading Education

Reading Difficulty For The Adolescent Learner

African American And Black Immigrant Second Language Learners

Haitian Immigrants In Public Education

Social Context

Research Study Intervention

Theoretical Framework And Metacognition Of Event-Based Sentence Comprehension

Research–Based Strategies

Research Studies

English Speakers Of Other Languages

Chapter 3 Methodology

Design And Methodology For Experimental Research

Assessment

Research Subjects (Participants)

Consent

Data Collection Instrumentation

Data Collection Procedures

Data Analysis Procedures

Human Subjects Protection

Intervention Description

Chapter 4 Results

Introduction

Data Analysis

Summary Of Data Analysis

Research Hypotheses Results

Chapter 5 Conclusions, Discussion, And Recommendations For Future Research

Recalling The Literature

Summarizing The Findings

Limitations Of The Study

Recommendations For Future Research

References

Appendices

Appendix A Letter Of Introduction For The Experimental Group

Appendix B Control Group Parent’s Informed Consent Form

Appendix C Announcement To Conduct Research

Appendix D Letter Of Approval And Support From The Principal

Appendix E Letter Of Approval From The Cooperating Teacher Of The

Appendix F Florida Department Of Education

Tables

1. Fcat 2009 Eighth Grade Student Performance Results

2. Fcat: Parkway Middle School Grade 8 Fcat 2009

3. Intervention Implementation Chart

4. Reading Level Grade Scores By Group

5. Analysis Of Reading Grade Level Scores

6. Grade Levels And Raw Score Percentages Of Pre-Test And Post-Test Of Target Groups

Figures

Figure 1. Change In Reading Grade Level Scores By Group. Note: Time 1 = Pre-Test;

Figure 2. (Above) Grouped Data, Plotted By Case. Experimental Group (Top Box Only).

Abstract

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the effects of reading interventions for bi-lingual and bi-dialectal Broward County School District middle school children using research-based strategies combined with meta-cognitive and meta-comprehension frameworks. The experimental study reports findings on the effects of an 8-week intervention providing daily 55-minute sessions to middle school students with reading difficulties (n=10) compared with similar students who did not receive the intervention (n=15). The study compares the outcomes of experimental intervention for at-risk eighth graders in an urban setting where a majority of the students are Haitian-American, second language learners with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Results favored the causal (treatment) group and indicated a statistically significant difference between the standard deviation of 1.65 for the experimental group (n=10) and control group (n=15) standard deviation of 1.64. The mean average post-test reading score for the experimental group was 7.37 and for the control group was 5.87. Statistically significant differences were noted between the two groups. Future needs for educational supplemental programs using experimental constructs for at-risk students are discussed.

Acknowledgments

I especially thank my sister Ruthette Babb and her husband Greg Babb; my Mom, family, friends and my entire doctoral committee for their help and encouragement throughout the years until this endeavor was finished. A special thanks to Grace Howell Elissa Rudolph and Jeffrey Swain for their expertise and consultations that contributed towards the completion of the study. I thank God for the strength and perseverance to complete this study and for walking with me the entire time. Any questions please write me at [e-mail] .

Chapter 1

Introduction

The ability to read means everything in school because it is the foundation for all future learning in all subjects. Reading—the fundamental ability to decode and interpret language for meaning—is at the core of a student’s ability to grasp subjects (Jacobs, 2008). Reading is not just a school-level skill but a life skill that will ultimately determine the caliber of life and the level of equality one experiences as a citizen in the United States (Páez, 2008). According to Dieker and Little (2005, p. 276), Reading is typically used to master content at the secondary level and using the skill of reading to learn content is critical as more and more states implement subject area tests of high school graduates. Moreover, a deficit in reading skills between white and monitory populations in public education has been at the nexus of the achievement gap, one of the most intractable problems in education over the past four or five decades (Benner, Nelson, Stage & Ralson, 2011; Comber & Nixon, 2011; Lindo, 2006).

Among adolescent learners, reading is a particularly acute problem (Jacobs, 2008). There is a national concern that adolescents are progressing through school with critically deficient skills in reading, according to Jacobs (2008), who claims that functional illiteracy may be as high as 13% in the general population as but as high as 40% among minority youth in America. This is alarming. Joseph (2008, p. 42) states that Only 28% of students in grade 8 and 34% of students in grade 12 achieve proficient reading standards … . Moreover, many of the secondary instructors who encounter these students are unprepared – to be interpreted by her as untrained –to deal with students who come into their classes reading as much as two to three grade levels below where they should (Joseph, 2008; Páez, 2008).

If reading has endured as a problem for native born speakers of English, it poses even more complex problems for students who are not native speakers of English and whose primary home language is that of their immigrant parents (Luke, Dooley, & Woods, 2011; Páez, 2008). For immigrant children, the transition into American culture is a multifaceted experience that includes social, emotional, cultural and academic adjustments that sometimes leads to success, but more often than not to spiraling failure (Nassaji, 2011). Why? A significant problem in reading is that children making the transition to the American education system are learning English, which is the basis of our educational model, as a second language while learning subject matter (McNamara, 2011).

Statement of the Problem

There are increasing numbers of students within the school-aged population in America who are black and, sometimes, bilingual/bi-dialectal. Comber and Nixon (2011) argue that these students are failing to master reading and standardized tests, exhibiting high underachievement as compared to their non-minority counterparts. The problem examined in this research is one that has existed for more than two decades in South Florida prior to the FCAT testing era. The high number of students in middle school failing reading mastery has several components contributing to its existence over the years: semantic knowledge (i.e., knowing the meaning of words) syntactic knowledge (i.e., the structure of sentences), paragraphing (i.e., the proper sequence of sentences), phonemic awareness and the pronunciation of words (Comber & Nixon, 2011). In essence this population lacks foundational language skills dating back to elementary school (Comber & Nixon, 2011).

Other components of the problem are socio-economic, lack of parental support structures in English in many of the homes, the lack of cultural sensitivity and practices of teachers in public school settings with this particular population of students (Berman, 2006). The research was intended to analyze why underachievement in middle school occurs and should determine which interventions are most effective to counteract underachievement and low success rates in reading for black students, both African-American and those who are black and bilingual/bi-dialectal.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this Project Demonstrating Excellence was to develop a successful reading intervention curriculum to improve the reading skills of at-risk bilingual or bi-dialectal students in order to improve their academic performance in the classroom and their performance on state mandated standardized tests. At-risk bilingual and bi-dialectal students’ higher achievement potential is contingent upon integrating components of educational settings, linguistic theory and effective pedagogy (DeBruin, Thiede, Camp, & Redford, 2011). Linguistic theory was used to begin the process of developing a reading intervention program that successfully served their needs of students and led to improved academic performance.

Significance of the Study

The significance of this study is that it targets bilingual and bi-dialectal students who are part of a Haitian-subculture within American schools and recognizes that addressing their needs with sensitivity to their cultural differences is important in helping them become better readers and in increasing their performance both in the classroom and in standardized testing (Lindo, 2006; Mancilla, Kiefer, Biancarosa, Christodoulou,