Investigating a Case Study of a Literacy Learner - Essay Example

?Investigating a Case Study of a Literacy Learner Sarah’s Learning Profile From the transcript of the interview, it was evident that Sarah loves to learn and sees it as a stepping stone in reaching her dreams. Coming from Nigeria, she shared that she did not have much learning opportunities to equip her with the skills she needs to be a nurse, which is her ultimate goal in life. Asked about her educational background, she gave confusing answers as to what level she finished school, because she mentioned something about earning a certificate to be a primary school teacher. She kept saying “grade 2 teacher”, and it was unclear if she meant she can only teach second grade or “grade 2” was a level of skill in Nigeria. Sarah understands that learning the English language well will open many doors for her. Being a second language, she admits difficulty in mastering it because back home, she uses her native language which is Yoruba. Her parents are illiterate people and she does not speak English to them. She adjusts her language to the people she relates to. If her friends understand English, then she speaks to them in English, but if not, then she resorts to her native language. She enrolled in the current class to further her skills in the English language. She knows that her vocabulary skills will improve with reading books and if there are words she does not understand, then she refers to a dictionary to check its meaning and how it should be pronounced. Her use of language can sometimes be unclear due to the run-on sentences she attempts to express. Her listener can get lost in comprehending what she means. Sometimes, she contradicts herself. She said “I don’t borrow any story book. I borrow my English, vocabulary yes”. It might be confusion on her part on the proper use of the English language, as she may be trying to translate what she wants to say from her native language. She admits, “I try for example I try to speak more than the way I am to have more knowledge in English to improve in order to further my education because for any step I want to take English is desiring me for that.”. Although to her listener, she may seem to say the say things in the same sentence, one needs to consider that it may be the way she emphasizes a point in her native Yoruba. To English speakers, it may sound too wordy and somehow nonsensical, but to Sarah it might make perfect sense. . Still, her interview provides much information on her yearning to improve herself, to reach her dream of becoming a nurse. It also reflects on how she treats people. From her explanation of her work experience, she enables people to be independent and not to be stagnant, and she would do anything to help them. She is indeed a lifelong learner and encourages others to be the same. Her overwhelming desire to optimize her potentials makes her move towards her goals, and she tries to overcome potential impediments such as work or busy schedules. The motivation to learn is affected by the reinforcements to learning namely intrinsic motivation or the inner drive to learn which leads to personal fulfillment; extrinsic motivation, which consists of rewards such as high grades or a prize for performing well; social reinforcement, an example of which is praise and approval from significant persons in an individual's life; and achievement, or the attaining of the learning goal. Having an interplay of the four kinds of reinforcement is the most effective way to motivate a learner to pursue more knowledge and acquire more skills (Stoll, L., Fink, D. & Earl, L., 2003). From the interview, Sarah’s main motivation is to be a nurse so she can continue enabling others. Her journey to learning is more intrinsically motivated. Even how she assesses her improvement is intrinsic, as she said, “You know that when you love something you have to put all your effort because you are looking to achieve something on it, you have to put your effort how difficult it is you have to continue. When it’s not difficult I know that I’m improving”. Adult learners have a deep need to direct their own learning, possessing a pride and learning style that suits their own personalities. As people mature, individual differences increase with age. Accepting these assumptions of how adults learn, Carl Rogers (1969), a humanistic psychologist further details the process of humanistic learning. He claims that the learner is personally involved in a holistic way. His or her feelings and cognitive aspects are deep into the learning experience. Even when the learning stimulus comes from an external source, the sense of discovery, of reaching out, of grasping and comprehending comes from within. Rogers also emphasizes that learning makes a difference in the behavior, attitudes, even the personality of the learner. Several grammatical and vocabulary errors have been observed in the interview with Sarah. Although she tries hard to express her thoughts, and one might say they can be profound thoughts, her spoken language reveals her deficiencies in the English language. It is hoped that her zeal for learning and attitude towards work will more than compensate for such deficiency, so that she can really be proficient in English, and use it as a tool to help her reach her dreams. 2. Analysis of Sarah’s Skills in Reading and Writing a. Reading: Sarah’s summary of the reading read like she was telling the story herself, in her own manner as an English as a Second Language speaker. Her reading is filled with miscues or incorrect guesses. These are manifestations of her attempt to find meaning in the text and are not ordinary errors in reading. She misnamed the character, Nathan to Natalie. She also had difficulty sticking to a particular gender pronoun, referring to the male waiter as “she” or “the lady”. Sarah also attempted to rephrase the cliche that was read in the text. From the original in the text, "Any germ that doesn't kill you, just makes you stronger," Sarah tried to read it and ended p saying " so far it doesn’t kill the germ doesn’t kill made them strong”, which makes absolutely no sense at all. Sarah goes on to add that the friends were joking adding details that were not necessarily in the original reading: “But with all the joke they are joking David wasn’t pleased. He just watching the waiterer the way she’s doing and they even try to correct the waiter but the lady doesn’t stick to the correction.” This was not part of the original reading, and Sarah changed the waiter’s (she misspelled as waiterer) gender from male to female, as she was using feminine terms to refer to him. David did not really correct the waiter’s misbehaviour, but that was how Sarah interpreted the situation. Sarah mentioned that “David was not pleased” twice even if it was not said in the reading. It was how she interpreted David’s emotion in the text. She tried to find a way to show how upset the three friends were with the service they got from the waiter. Another miscue is to whom the waiter gave the bill to. In the original text, the waiter gave the bill to David, but Sarah said that the bill went to Moses. She also insisted that David kept complaining about the service , when he has already stopped. She also misread who left the 32 pence tip (she misspelled as “trip”). Sarah thought it was Moses who tipped the waiter, but actually, it was David. Analyzing Sarah’s reading with Miscue analysis will provide more information about her familiarity with the content of the text being read. Goodman (1969) coined the term ‘miscue analysis’ from three ‘cueing’ systems he thought were behind the reading process. One is the Grapho/phonic system which links the relationship of letters to sound systems. An example is mistaking the word ‘waist’ for ‘wrist’ or in Sarah’s case, reading ‘tip’ as ‘trip’. The miscued words look almost identical in length and shape to the original, and the miscue does not change the meaning significantly. Another system is the Syntactic or the miscues in the syntax/ grammar system of the text. For example, Sarah’s erratic rephrasing of the cliche "Any germ that doesn't kill you, just makes you stronger," to " so far it doesn’t kill the germ doesn’t kill made them strong” Her miscue had a totally different, if not senseless meaning. Lastly, the Semantic system involves the meaning of the words. As an example, the original text read: “younger people today were not taught the proper ways to serve food to guests.” When Sarah gave her version, it came out as: “the young waiterer of nowadays they didn’t do all these things, look the way they are serving or something like that”. This suggested that Sarah already translated the original text to her own interpretation, with the “young people” referred to as the “young waiterer”. Goodman argued that not every departure from the text is a bad sign for the reader. The miscue pattern may imply reader’s strengths as well as their weaknesses. Reconciling the miscues with the explanations of the learner as to why he or she made errors can clarify what really goes on when s/he reads the text (DfES, n.d.). Although the original text and Sarah’s reading interpretation may have several similarities, she is not entirely accurate with the details and chronology of events. This means she needs to slow down on her reading to give her mind enough time to digest the meaning and absorb the details so when she gets to read it according to her own interpretation, she becomes more faithful to the original text. Some assessment tools have been developed in miscue analysis including a legend for marking the miscues using various symbols for substitution of words, omission, correction, hesitation in reading some words, etc. These can all be organized in a chart for miscue analysis indicating the kind of miscue, and if is grapho/phonic, semantic or syntactic. The DfES (n.d.) chart (p. 11) gives explanations on the miscues committed by literacy learners. For example, if the miscues are far from the original then the learner may have poor grapho/phonic skills and is not using the context to predict. Or if the learner corrects him/herself of an error, it means s/he is aware of the meaning of the text. However, if corrections are done too often, s/he may be reading too fast and is cued by the shape of the words before understanding them (DfES, n.d.). b. Writing: One of Sarah’s writing tasks was to write an invitation to a friend of hers to watch a favourite band play. She was asked to write 3 or 4 sentences with the details of when and where the band will be playing, what the band is like, how she and her friend will get there and how much the tickets cost. She is also to write in complete sentences using joining words (e.g. and, as, but, or, etc.). Sarah’s invitation to her friend, Ruth, changed a lot of the text. She added some details such as the performer is her Christian brother whom Ruth knows from their church, and that he will play her favourite music. She also mentioned that he is” launching his second music edition”, perhaps meaning an album launch. She included the date and place of the concert and went on to give details of how she and her friend will get there. She had errors in grammar in saying “I just want to inform you about one of my christian brother whom you know in my church want to play my favourite music.” It should be: “I just want to inform you that my Christian brother from church whom you may already know, will play some of our favourite tunes on…..”. This way, the cause for inviting her friend is clear because she, too, is involved in the interest in the music to be played. It will veer away from just stating the fact that he will play her favourite music. Another error is in the use of the preposition “to your house”. It should read: The place is not far from your house. She also generously offered to pay for the tickets for both of them worth ?50 by saying “Don’t worry about it, I will be responsible for it.” Although she still had some errors in writing, Sarah was able to include all the necessary details prescribed by the exercise. In some ways, Sarah showed her creativity in thinking up of ideas to embellish her letter but still needs to brush up on her grammar. The other writing sample was for a notice for found keys to be placed at the notice board. She is tasked to include when and where she found the keys, how many keys there are, the size of the keys and what the keyring looks like. She is to write 3 to 4 complete sentences about the keys using joining words or conjunctions (and, as, but, or, etc.). Sarah wrote that she found “four sets of keys” when she only found 1 set with four keys. Her Subject-Verb agreement also needs improvement, as she wrote: “Two of them is big and there is two small one” which should read: “Two of the keys are big while two of them are small”. She continues her erratic statement in saying “The small one is bronze and the big one is gold” because there is more than one small one and more than one big one, so she should indicate them in plural form. Strengths and Weaknesses Sarah, with the level of literacy is at Entry 2 has actually a good enough grasp of the English language, but still needs a lot of polishing. From the miscue analysis of her reading skills, Sarah reads with determination to comprehend the text and reads it in her own words according to how she understood it. In the following example from her own words: “David pinpoint the way the waiterers are walking in the restaurant the way he served them and the way she hold the glass and everything and the lady dip his hands, the thumb and the finger inside the glasses and David wasn’t pleased with the way the waiterer is serving them.” It can be observed that Sarah has a tendency to be confused with gender pronouns; subject-verb agreement, and erratic delivery of read or heard English words, spelling, and replacing words with other words she deems correct. Her miscues come under all three cueing systems developed by Goodman (1969). She also needs to expand her vocabulary and keep from speaking or writing elongated sentences. With writing, she can be more independent, although needs to be supervised for corrections before presenting the final draft. Sarah’s pleasant disposition towards learning will help her reach her goal in no time. Relatively, she can be left on her own in her reading and writing skills outside the classroom, as she is on her toes when she interacts with people of various backgrounds and English skill levels. In the classroom, though, she has the benefit of her teacher’s guidance and dynamic teaching strategies. 3. Learning Priorities for Sarah Sarah’s miscues may stem from poor predictive skills in comprehension. She can go on to assume what she believes is being conveyed in the message and can be careless with details. Her understanding of the text is greatly influenced by her own context. Hence, this should be considered in planning learning activities for her. Being a foreign language learner, Sarah needs to know the complexities of the English language including its grammatical rules and spellings. She needs to be more immersed in the English language and try to express her experiences in the English language. Coming from her first language, she can still have nuances of her native Yoruba language. Suggested Learning Activities based on Language Learning Theories Theories in language and literacy learning are mostly based on the foundation learning of very young children whose emergent literacy usually begins in early childhood. For Sarah, though, it may also be applicable, as she is considered a young child in terms of learning the English language. Educators use different approaches to help children become literate. There are divergent approaches that offer sensible principles that have worked on their students. One approach is the whole language approach, which emphasize a holistic, meaning-based and context-based approach in linking printed text with spoken language. Little attention is paid to specific or isolated skills and limited emphasis is placed on the role of focused practice. Language and literacy are viewed as integrated systems, and specific components of language such as sounds of each letter are not learned in isolation (Norris & Hoffman, 1993). In contrast, proponents of the Phonetic approach, which emphasizes phonological awareness training, value the provision of specific and focused opportunities to practice segmenting words into phonemes, blending phonemes into words and learning to rhyme. Although the whole language approach and the phonetic approach seem to be opposing camps, there is good reason to suggest an integration of both for more effective literacy development. Watkins & Bunce (1996) explains that the process of literacy acquisition happens with natural, meaningful experiences with print and reading while at the same time, phonological awareness should be achieved because it contributes to learning how to read. Thus, integrating both whole language and phonological awareness perspectives is logical in promoting literacy proficiency. Watkins & Bunce calls this integrated model Natural literacy. Much research has been dedicated to understand how people become literate. Each person has a literacy identity or “the sum total of what he or she already knows and can do.” (Anstey & Bull, 2006). This includes the socio-cultural processes and knowledge of the learner. Life experiences provide people with a gamut of resources about literacy and literate practices, contributing to their overall identity. These different domains or identities are collectively known as discourse worlds and suggest that learners draw on two in particular to make meaning, the lifeworld (i.e., everything that exists outside school) and the school-based world. The distinction between the two is that the lifeworld represents real world experiences, and school experiences represent contrived experiences in the academic setting. It is essential that teachers show their learners how to know and use their literacy identities because what learners know, understand and can do with texts depend on being aware of the resources available to them – the knowledge and experiences they have. When learners realize that they do not have the precise ones they need, then they can use what they have, combining whatever elements to suit the tasks at hand. The knowledge and experiences Sarah has will greatly influence her prediction skills in comprehending what she reads. Consciously or not, the strategy of Activating the Known is used by educators most of the time. Keeping learners hooked to a story by unfolding it a chapter or an event at a time engages their predicting mode (Calkins, 1997). Such a strategy has been proven effective from very young children in preschool to older ones in high school. It is likely that it will also be effective with Sarah. With regards to her grammar, spelling, vocabulary, etc., Oprea (2010) recommends to teachers of English as a Foreign Language to teach productive skills of speaking and writing in accordance to British and American English standards. However, with students’ receptive skills of reading and listening, they should be exposed to a wide variety of the English language so that they learn more about different cultures with a global perspective. McShane (2005) gives practical tips for adult learners to learn how to transfer their reading skills to practical life contexts and tasks. Teachers of these learners should provide the instruction they need. For example, in teaching basic reading skill development, a structured sequential approach should be used. Commercial materials introducing basic concepts and skills may be used instead of a textbook for practice activities or reading text with new vocabulary for them. It is best to use authentic materials such as magazines, novels, poetry and articles or researching topics of interest. Later on, skills instruction should be integrated with real-world learning. Reading a manual with an audio clip, for example should be read while the audio clip is played. Another option is for the learner to read the text aloud and then later, ask him to retell it in his own words. Vocabulary is expanded when reading the text and noting down difficult words to look up later. These words may be printed and added to the “word wall” so the learner has control when to study the words on the word wall, including how it looks from an outsider’s point of view. Literacy-rich experiences should abound in class. These may be processed within the group while reading stories discussing the story. There is much hope for Sarah to improve in her learning of the English language. She believes that it is key to fulfilling her dream of being a nurse. With the able assistance of her teacher, she is well on her way to reaching her goal. References Anstey, M. & Bull, G. (2006) From Teaching and Learning Multiliteracies: Changing Times, Changing Literacies. International Reading Association Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (n.d.) Miscue Analysis, DfES. Goodman, K. (1969). "Analysis of oral reading miscues: Applied psycholinguistics". In F. Gollasch (Ed.) Language and literacy: The selected writings of Kenneth Goodman (pp. 123–134). Vol. I. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Mc Shane, Susan, (2005) Applying Research In Reading Instruction For Adults First Steps For Teachers. National Institute for Literacy Norris, J., & Hoffman, P. (1993). Whole Language Intervention for School-age Children. San Diego: Singular Press. Oprea, H. (2010) World Englishes and standards, Retrieved on March 24, 2013 from http://hoprea.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/world-englishes-and-standards/ Rogers, C.R.. (1969). Freedom To Learn: A View Of What Education Might Become. Columbus, Oh, Charles E. Merrill. Stoll, L., Fink, D. And Earl, L. (2003) It’s About Learning (And It’s About Time): What’s In It For Schools? London, Routledge falmer Watkins, R. V., Bunce, B. H. (1996), “Natural literacy: Theory and practice for preschool intervention programs”, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, Summer96, Vol. 16, Issue 2 Read More