Does the pre-reading strategy
of choral reading, transfer
effectively to support new
language learners, in their
reading and pronunciation
of French?
Choral reading for beginning L2 learners
• to develop word recognition, in terms of
correct pronunciation, and oral fluency
• creates opportunities for early learners ‘ears’
to develop accent
Rationale
Choral reading is
• widely used and effective pre-reading
strategy in Shared Reading approach
• reading aloud together
• whole class - teacher and students
• enlarged text / books / poems
• non-threatening
• encourages participation and risk-taking
• supports all students, no matter what their
ability
• teacher sets the pace, and models
pronunciation, rhythm, intonation and fluency
• effectiveness lies in the way that the more
able students ‘carry along’ less able students,
when reading aloud, so that those who can
not read the text well, can participate as
though they can
• text that is unknown initially, becomes known,
with repeated exposure and practice.
Attributes of choral reading make it interesting
to investigate as a strategy to use in the L2
classroom because:
• text of a second language, especially French,
can be unfamiliar, just as text is unfamiliar to
a beginning reader
• spelling of words may not necessarily indicate
how they should be said or pronounced
Data Collection Tools & Method
4 students - Y7 Y8
pre - intervention;
• recorded reading a passage of 135 words of
unseen text, on unfamiliar topic
• timed for fluency
• word count for correct pronunciation
Intervention;
• 4 weeks of implementing the choral reading
strategy, using a variety of texts, e.g teacher
made enlarged books, related to the topic
Post-intervention;
• recorded reading a passage of unseen text,
on unfamiliar topic
• timed for fluency
• word count for correct pronunciation
Relevant Research
Ellis (2005)
• Principal 6; successful instructed language
learning requires extensive L2 input
- books, stories and poems are an effective
method of input, as they contain rich
language, and motivate learning by capturing
students’ imagination
Ellis (2005)
• Principal 1; instruction needs to ensure that
learners develop a rich repertoire of
formulaic expressions
- books offer whole phrases and expressions,
that can be learnt, in an authentic context
- formulaic expressions can be taught
meaningfully, via stories and poems
Ministry of Education (2003)
• Shared Reading (Shared Book) approach
recommended as an effective literacy
practise for teachers, for early readers as
well as independent readers
• teacher reads along with the students,
modelling pronunciation, rhythm, intonation
and fluency
• utilises enlarged books and poems, which
the whole class or group can see and read
together
•
•
•
•
Shared reading
provides a supportive instructional setting
encourages a high level of participation and
interaction, no matter what the students’
ability
exposes students to a wide range of texts,
and language
supports them in reading harder texts, with
more unfamiliar vocabulary and structures.
Elley (1991)
• reviewed 9 studies of book-based second
language learning programmes
• compared to other more structured and
sequential learning methods, the use of
books, and more specifically, the ‘shared
book’ experience was most successful for
language acquisition.
• whole language’ approach, where the
teacher and students were immersed in
meaningful text together, led to high
motivation and significant incidental learning.
McCauley & McCauley (1992)
• used choral reading to promote second
language learning for over 20 years
• a successful and advantageous approach for
language learners
• allows all students in a class to participate,
no matter what their level of ability, in a lively,
performance-based, yet non-threatening
environment, where there can be no fear of
failure.
• stories and poems are read many times, to
develop oral fluency
• contain language (vocabulary and structures)
that can often be slightly beyond what the
learners have already been exposed to
• attributes of choral reading, align with
principles which enhance second language
acquisition
Data Summary & Analysis
• Time taken to read passage
St 1
St 2
St 3
St 4
Pre
1:48
2:19
1:29
1:23
Post
1:44
3:20
1:29
1:20
• oral fluency was increased in 2 out of 4 students,
with another student remaining the same
Data Summary & Analysis
• Number of words read with correct
pronunciation
St 1
St 2
St 3
St 4
Pre
86
65
80
94
Post
97
95
111
119
+ 11
+ 30
+ 31
+ 25
Difference
• pronunciation improved also with all students
increasing the number of words
pronounced correctly
Conclusion
• choral reading approach was enormously
successful in this class of beginning L2
learners.
• motivation high, for this performance task of
reading aloud together
• students gained in confidence, and improved
in their oral fluency and pronunciation
•
students kept pace well with enlarged books
Conclusion
• students were presented with more
vocabulary and structure than that which they
had already been exposed to
• added bonus was that they also frequently
referred back to the enlarged books, to find
structures and vocabulary for their writing,
often working together in a group or pair,
exploring and discussing the text together,
and working out how to manipulate it to suit
their purpose
Constraints
• lack of enlarged stories and books in L2
(French), that were available to be used for
this research - teacher made, students able
to add pages
• time was also a constraint - short lessons of
approximately 25 minutes, often left little time
for reading together
Next Steps
• some time set aside for reading together, in
as many lessons as possible, if not every
lesson
• re-evaluating the school timetable for 2009,
for longer lessons
• develop more stories - students to add pages
or create books
• develop a collection of enlarged illustrated
poems
References
•
Elley, Warwick B. (1991). Acquiring literacy in a second language: the
effect of book-based programs. Language Learning, 41:3, 375-411.
•
Ellis, R. (2005). General principals for successful instructed learning Principle 6. In Instructed Second Language Acquisition; A Literature
Review (pp 39-40). Wellington: Research Division, Ministry of
Education
•
Ellis, R. (2005). General principals for successful instructed learning Principle 1. In Instructed Second Language Acquisition; A Literature
Review (pp 39-40). Wellington: Research Division, Ministry of
Education.
•
McCauley, D. & McCauley, J (1992). Using choral reading to promote
language learning for ESL students. The Reading Teacher, 45:7, 526533
•
Ministry of Education. (2003). Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1 to
4. Wellington: Learning Media