Struggling Readers - Essay Example

Struggling readers Struggling reader Some proficient readers may take the ability to read with proficiency for granted, but learning to read with proficiency is a long-term developmental process that involves many interventions and contributions of various kinds (Clark, 2004). This is geared towards personal developmental needs. Struggling readers are those individuals who have trouble in grasping the relation of the spoken and written language. These include decoding, comprehension and retention. The key questions that are frequently asked about struggling readers is the nature or the cause of reading difficulties, how to assess reading difficulties, remedy for struggling readers, and the extent to which struggling readers can be remediated. Struggling readers experience problems in multiple areas. It is important to compare students suspected to have reading difficulties with others in order to clearly identify a child who is struggling to read. Why all the efforts to help struggling readers? Experts in entirely all disciplines are continually searching for the most effective methods to master the necessary skills in order to succeed, reading skills are not an exception. Children are introduced to many things at a tender age to increase the chances of mastering skills early enough that boosts the chances of being successful. The stage a child should begin learning to read has been a prevalent question in most people especially parents. Reading difficulties may at any stage and this calls for early intervention measures. This paper seeks to explore on reading difficulties, their causes and possible interventions. Identification of struggling readers is very important. Most struggling readers can only be helped if early interventions are made through the development of early reading skills. Delays in the identification of such readers results in a delay in the provision of appropriate and effective reading instruction. Assessment of learners can easily identify struggling learners. Such an assessment may involve text reading in combination with other aspects as student’s performance on measures like word reading and automatic word recognition. Assessment of a students knowledge on the alphabets, phonemic awareness, processing of phonologies, vocabulary reading and reading fluency are key in the identification of struggling readers. Early identification prevents persistence of reading problems making the problem more complex and lowering reading related attitudes and motivation. Word level processing skills form of identification emphasis on reading accuracy, which restricts focus resulting in a limited identification of reading problems (Block, 2004). Struggling readers can be divided into subgroups based on personal differences. Word level difficulties are one subgroup. Readers in this category have termed to have developmental dyslexia. This category possess poor decoding skills despite having adequate intelligent and the provision of an opportunity to learn. This is a complex condition based on neurological conditions. In this subgroup, evidence indicates most early struggling readers are a result of experiential and instructional inadequacies as opposed to cognitive deficits associated with neuro-developmental influences. In addition, developmental dyslexia is linked to phonological processing deficits. In most cases, developmental dyslexia benefits children on phonological cues but not semantic cues. This is because such readers understand words that they experience difficulties retrieving (Alvermann, 2001). A comprehension difficulty is the second subgroup whereby struggling readers seem to show specific comprehension difficulties. Most poor comprehenders exhibit accurate and fluent speech strengths in terms of phonological processing when reading with fluency. Such individuals focus on comprehension becoming weak in metacognition skills. In this subgroup, problems in comprehension are related to weaknesses in syntactic, conceptual, inferential, and organizational language elements. Students with comprehension difficulties make inferences poorly and cannot integrate text information. Such learners embrace superficial reading style engaging in little constructive processes when reading. Combined word level and comprehension problems are the third sub category. Deficiencies in oral language and reading difficulties are linked. Leaders with speech impairment in language exhibit semantic weaknesses. Therefore, an ongoing process in language instruction is necessary for such students. According to Alvermann (2001), culture plays an important role in determining who becomes a reader and who does not. It is therefore logical to say that most often, our identity as readers is decided for most of us. Such labels as avid readers, struggling readers, and slow readers make us aware about ourselves and others who we share common characteristics. Culture entails the values, beliefs, routines, and artefacts of a people in which meaning of things is derived from. This makes it a strong tool through which most people acquire essential life skills as working knowledge in their lives. Therefore, culture teaches people on what is valuable and worth working for and what is not. Culture can disable some of its members because it tends to treat some of its people differently. Struggling readers can be described as a product of our culture, which fails to treat its people equally but rather classifies them. Children learn reading skills as a means of acquiring knowledge on different fields and understanding the world they live in. Therefore, the ability to read proficiently is very important and is a central skill to success. Acquiring reading skills is sequential as new skills build on the mastery of the earlier learned skills (Alvermann, 2001). For instance, decoding is followed by comprehension of the meaning of words and sentences. Recent research evidences some biological origins of struggling readers. It is worth noting that, struggling readers become disengaged from literacy leading to loss of motivation, inadequate social interactions, and they lack competence in cognition. Phonemic awareness is an important element of reading and is such a powerful indicator of success in reading (Alvermann, 2001). This refers to the smallest unit of sound in a given language. This is what a child learns to speak before he or she learns the alphabets. An awareness of phonemic refers to the potential of a child to here the sounds of a language, be in a position to manipulate them in the mind and reproduce them well using the mouth. The ability of a child to recognize a sound he or she hears is a very important step in struggling readers. A child can master many phonemic awareness skills. This is a great tool in the evaluation of a child in phonemic awareness skills. According to (Block, 2004), decoding is the most basic stage in reading. The recognition of letters and the sounds they represent is a key step in reading. The ability of a child to map letters and the sound they represent helps them decipher whole words. Comprehension or gaining understanding is the second step in learning to read. This element in reading is dependent on an individual’s ability to decode and master words that are recognizable immediately without necessarily sounding them out. Another very important objective in learning to read is retention; this is remembering what one read. This ability is highly dependent on the mastery of decoding and comprehension. However, organizing and summarizing the content read is important for retention purposes. The relationship between the different elements in reading proficiency correlates to a set of categories that are the basis for classifying the ability levels in reading determining who is a slow reader, avid reader, and readers experiencing difficulties. Preventing reading difficulties in young children is recommended in order to provide effective reading instruction to children in their early years. Among the wide-ranging issues addressed that ought to be put into consideration are the components of effective reading instruction, resources complementing effective instruction, and the more general need for high-quality preschool and kindergarten environments. These include interventions for children at risk and the challenges facing students with persistent reading difficulties in a given language. In addition, it is fundamental to give attention to teacher preparation as an important ingredient for high-quality instruction. Other considerations are school organization factors such as the class size and student teacher ratio. It is a fact that most reading difficulties can be prevented and the number of struggling readers reduced; however, progress in this area requires continuing research and better dissemination of current information related to effective reading instruction in all perspectives of learning a language. I would also recommend a review of the current methods employed in the teaching of reading in schools in an attempt to move towards the implementation of strategies that are effective. This will create more self-awareness among learners and self-motivation in learning to read. In addition, children should be shown how to exercise mental imagery while reading. This strategy increases the comprehension levels while at the same time enhances relating of earlier experiences. Every student individual needs ought to be put into consideration and the intervention programs designed to suit these needs. Struggling readers commonly use inefficient methods that the further use in an inflexible manner and most of the times are unaware of the effective strategies used by proficient readers. An understanding of these issues helps in making significant gains in reading comprehension (Anderson & Roit, 1993). Struggling readers present unique challenges their teachers. An understanding of how children learn at different rates as a result of environmental factors is very important in readiness to dealing with struggling readers. Struggling readers particularly need daily teacher directed instructions on the specific reading methods. Student interactions with text passages may linked with their identities socially especially how they perceive themselves as readers and the way they would want to be perceived by others. A negative image about oneself is likely to reduce the level of engagement with text by readers. However, some struggling readers may experience comprehension difficulties they are not aware of. This problem can only be solved through direct instruction and guidance from the teacher. In helping a struggling reader, the self-esteem of the reader is very important in determining how quickly he or she improves. Struggling readers with a positive view about themselves will always try comprehending text. On the other hand, those with negative image they do not believe in themselves and therefore compound the problems encountered in reading (Block, 2004). Teachers handling such readers must supply them with a wide range of strategies from which they can choose to elevate their comprehension levels. The extent to which struggling readers interact with text is highly determined by their self-esteem. This may have a strong influence over their behaviours in reading. Struggling readers who fail to recognize their comprehension difficulties may take too long to accept the need to be given specific strategies in helping them understand a text. Teachers must therefore appreciate and recognize such readers to accord them extra help appropriately. In addition, considerations such as the reader’s identity, culture, beliefs and values and how they affect the manner they approach a text is significant for the teacher. This enables adoption of appropriate measures to handle the reader with ease and allow effective learning of a particular language. It is also less expensive when literacy needs are addressed early on. By so doing the onset of serious problems in reading are mitigated before they entrench. Success in helping struggling readers is determined by a combination of the learner’s beliefs about themselves as readers, other students, and the teacher. A student may perceive himself a good reader if he or she comprehends a text and does well on assignments. However, those who experience difficulties consistently may grade themselves as being poor because of inability to read from a text. There are many relevant questions that are appropriate in struggling readers’ inquiry: How can teachers be helped to become more aware of readers identities? How can teachers interact with learners once they have such information more effectively? Such questions can enrich further research in developing more appropriate methods and strategies aimed at helping the struggling reader. In addition, an environment that supports both the learner and the teacher can be cultivated effectively (Alexander, 1997). Provision of the necessary resources and encouraging student interaction also boosts the ability of a struggling reader to master language skills and comprehend more coherently. In conclusion, successful readers possess positive experiences with books, words, and language from early years of life. Nurturing a child’s early love of reading is an important element that may yield outcomes that can be measured for many years creating reading fluency and proficiency. This investment is a worthwhile activity for both the immediate results and long-term benefits of creating successful life-long readers and learners. An deeper understanding on the aspects of a reading a particular child experiences difficulties is very important in an attempt to come up with appropriate and well targeted intervention measures that can be effective in helping struggling readers. The intervention should be all-rounded to ensure all the elements that contribute to struggling reader’s success are incorporated. This will prevent programs focusing heavily for instance on word level of reading which can lead to relatively fluent readers who cannot comprehend what they read. Intervention programs need to focus beyond word processing reading level in order to achieve meaningful improvements in struggling readers. Identification of the various components in reading a language that lead to reading difficulties in students not enhances instruction implementation but also makes the learning process more effective. Readers’ identities vary from one background to another according to their cultures and so does their behaviours in interaction with text. Exposure to text in an early age enhances the chances of mastering a language and gaining language proficiency. References Alvermann, D. (2001). Reading adolescents reading identities: Looking back to see ahead. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 44(8), 676-690. Alexander, P. A. (1997). Mapping the multidimensional nature of domain learning: The interplay of cognitive, motivational, and strategic forces. In M. L. Maehr & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10). Greenwich, CT: JAI. Anderson, V., & Roit, M. (1993). Planning and implementing collaborative strategy instruction for delayed readers in grades 6-10. The Elementary School Journal, 94(2), 121-137. Block, C. C. (2004). Teaching comprehension: The comprehension process approach. Boston: Pearson. Clark, K. F., & Graves, M. F. (2004). Scaffolding students’ comprehension of text. The Reading Teacher, 58, 570-580. Read More