The Inability to Understand the Text Being Read - Assignment Example

Running Head: literacy Literacy Teacher’s ID Introduction Literacy is an ability to read, understand and comprehend a written text and establish knowledge of the context and having an ability to communicate it with others. Numeracy, on the other hand, is another critical skill which involves using mathematical skills in education as well as in daily life surrounding domestic and professional settings. Due to immense importance of these two aspects in educational as well as professional life, necessary measures are required to be taken in order to ensure that teachers as well as students are well versed with the necessary concepts involving these two areas. Where students are likely to benefit from these skills as it improves their general literacy and help them have better quality f education, teachers are also required to develop them, as they are fundamental for providing quality education and also enhance their performance levels. In addition to that, the scope of developing literacy and numeracy in adults has also increased which tends to bring more responsibility to educators. 2. Description of an Issue One of the important areas surrounding poor literacy skills is inability to understand the text being read. Where reading itself is a fundamental skill that is being developed from the inception of education, ability to gain knowledge of context in multiple frames is rather difficult to develop. This issue is further accompanied by inability to perform academic research and also filter out relevant sources to develop necessary understanding. The problem further enhances due to presence of multiple and non-reliable data available on web and out-of-date library resources. Also, ability to identify scholarly and academically relevant sources to support education has a critical value for present day students. Last element of this issue is to deliver the knowledge in writing. This skills required development of sound grammar as well as extensive vocabulary. With limited reading being performed and lesser attention given this area, students find it difficult to communicate what they know well which not only affects their grades but also their self-confidence. Another dimension of the issue being discussed is to have suitable knowledge of numerical data and relevant mathematical concepts. The problem increases when there are word problems as deducing meaning out of written text and converting it into numeric data and further applying appropriate methods and procedures meant for problem solving. Hence, in order to develop numeric skills, it is essential that a student is able to derive correct meaning out of written text, retain information about mathematical concepts being taught earlier, retrieve that information when relevant problem needs solving and also perform critical analysis of procedures and results in order to ensure validity. Given problem takes a critical outlook when it comes to students having English as a second language. Such students tend to take longer as they would convert data being given to them in the native language mentally (which increases time required for problem solving) and the right meaning often gets lost in the translation). Therefore, it is essential that there is a different strategy followed by and meant for such students. 3. Analysis Being a student with English as a second language, my fundamental concern is to develop sound knowledge of language, sentence structure, adequate grammar knowledge and suitable vocabulary. The reason for having these literacies is to enhance my academic performance as my future education and career is dependent on the grades that I would be getting now. Furthermore, the knowledge and primary concepts that are developed in Schools are later on used in College and University level education at an advanced level. Poor foundation in school life can have a negative impact on future education as well. Secondly, developing these literacies is further important in order function well in my daily life. Having poor language skills has a tendency of adversely affecting one’s social life. Thirdly, being able to deliver what I know and think is directly related to my self-confidence and also on my performance in extracurricular activities. Since I personally have interest in activities like art performances and debates etc., having a sound ability to use these literacies is highly significant for me. In addition to that, building numeracy skills is also dependent on the skills set mentioned above. Most of the problems that we study in Mathematics, Physics and Statistics are in the form of word problems. Although I am able to understand these word problems, however the amount of information i.e. translation, relevant formulae and techniques, become too much too handle. Therefore, building reading and writing become more important. Numeracy skills, on independent basis, are also very important. They are used in daily life. Also, I assist my parents in family budgeting and bookkeeping, therefore developing knowledge of primary concepts like percentages and developing mental addition-subtraction skills is very important. 4. Theoretical Support Comprehension is an important element of reading activity. In order to develop suitable understanding of the context, there are several research-based methods that can assist students in developing right understanding of the subject matter. Some of these strategies are comprehension monitoring, cooperative learning, graphic organizers, question answering, story structure, question generating, summarization and multiple strategies employed at the same time (Babbitt, 2002; Schwenger, 2010). Although these strategies are more relevant to teaching however they can also be used in self-learning. Using literature that is supported by visuals or generating questions by one’s self and seeking assistance from secondary academic sources can not only assist in developing understanding but also enhance vocabulary. Another important strategy that can assist in reading is PQ4R which is an acronym for preview, question, read, reflect, recite and review (Logsdon, 2013). Developing alliances with other students for group activities can also assist in developing this skill. Also forming collaborations with other students can also help as research indicates that students who work in group try harder to achieve results in order to avoid failure to their peers (Tsay & Brady, 2010). Another important literacy skill that is required to be developed is writing ability. In order to improve writing skills, it is important to have suitable knowledge of words, sentence structure and punctuation. Once their theoretical knowledge has been developed, students to develop this skill can use self-regulatory tools. Writing strategy comprises of generating ideas followed by organizing and revising them. Once the background work has been performed, one can start writing for a specific purpose e.g. essay, report etc. Generating ideas can be done through rapid writing, setting the context and then adding content to the basic structure. For this purpose, concept mapping can also be used (Negari, 2011). In the second phase, the ideas generating can be organized accordingly to support main idea and further adding details. Third phase comprises of reorganizing, asking questions about suitability of the content and proof reading it (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2005). Cooperative learning can also assist in achieving desired level of writing skills. This phenomenon is designed on the premise that language has an interactive nature developed through the combination of structural and functional views. Therefore, forming groups for writing tasks can further help in developing these skills (Mandal, 2009). Same skills are a prerequisite for numeracy skills as well. Therefore, once oral and written expression’ proficiency has been achieved, techniques lie using real-life examples and technology assistance can also help (Mosely et al., 1999).Also, for mental addition and subtraction, mental sequencing method can be learned. 5. Action Plan In the light of theoretical analysis performed above, there will be several strategies that I would be using in order increase my reading comprehension, writing and numeracy skills. For increasing vocabulary and gaining understanding of sentence structures and punctuations, ample reading will be performed by using PQ4R model. Therefore, before actually beginning the reading of the whole text, preview will be performed by reading first and last pages or paragraphs. Once a basic imagery has been developed, further reading will be performed with the help of external tools like web and dictionary. Also, question generating and group reading will be performed for further assistance and gaining better understanding. For writing, basic regime for writing will be used by performing brain storming which involves generating ideas relevant to the main theme. Once that is performed, these ideas will be organized in supporting themes and relevant evidences will be obtained to support the text by secondary sources involving print as well as web-based resources. Extra exercises can be performed with the help of teachers. Also, work sheets available on web can be used for understanding basic of grammatical concepts and punctuations. Forming simple sentences and then using advanced exercises will further support this exercise. Lastly, practice for numeracy skills will be performed with the help of extra word problems involving real-life scenarios like GST calculations, discounts, wholesale prices etc. Also, mental mapping will be performed for increasing proficiency in mental calculations. References Babbitt, P. (2002). Scaffolding: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension skills. Retrieved from http://www.phschool.com/eteach/language_arts/2002_12/essay.html Logsdon, A. (2013). Strategy Improves Reading Comprehension. Retrieved from http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/instructionalmaterials/a/pq4rstrategy.htm Schwnger, B. (2010). Academic Literacies: Strategies to Strengthen Reading comprehension. Retrieved from http://tlcommunityunitec.ning.com/profiles/blogs/academic-literacies-strategies Mandal, R.R. (2009). Cooperative learning strategies to enhance writing skills. The Modern Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 94-102. Ontario Ministry of Education. (2005). Think Literacy: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12. Negari, G.M. (2011). A study on strategy instruction and EFL learners’ writing skills. International Journal of English Linguistics, 1(2), 299-307. Moseley, D. et al. (1999). Ways Forward with ICT: Effective Pedagogy Using Information and Communications Technology for Literacy and Numeracy in Primary Schools. Read More