Literacy Development of
Second Language Learners
Developed by:
Laurie Weaver
Judith Márquez
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Activity
First, read the paragraph on the
following slide to yourself.
 Next, with a partner discuss the
paragraph. Make a list of the five most
important words/terms from the
paragraph.
 Share your ideas with the class .

Activity
Let’s try another paragraph.
 First, read the paragraph on the
following slide to yourself.
 Next, with a partner discuss the
paragraph. Make a list of the five most
important words/terms from the
paragraph.
 Share your ideas with the class.

La historia de Texas

La historia de Texas es la historia de su
tierra y sus habitantes. Durante miles
de años, la tierra fue la razón por la que
vinieron a Texas sus primeros
pobladores. Desde la época de los
primeros tejanos, las personas han
cultivado la tierra. Algunas veces han
luchado por ella.

From: La historia de Texas, Harcourt Brace, 1997
Strategies
Was one of the paragraphs easier to
read? If so, which one? Why?
 What strategies did you use to help you
comprehend what you were reading?

Strategies

For the Spanish paragraph, you might
have used some of the following
strategies:
– Looked for words you knew
– Looked for words that resembled English
words
– Asked a Spanish speaker for help
Discussion

Discuss with a partner:
How do you think your experiences with
reading the two paragraphs compare to
the experiences of second language
learners in US schools?
How long?

How long does it take to develop grade
level reading ability in a second
language?
– Tell your partner your opinion and explain
why.
How long?

Research indicates that on average the ability
to read at grade level in a second language
(L2) develops in 4 to 10 years (Thomas &
Collier, 1996)
 Some factors which affect the time needed
include: literacy in the first language (L1) and
age on arrival to the US
– Older students who are reading on grade level in
their L1 tend to need less time to become
proficient readers in their L2
Challenges to Reading in a
Second Language (L2)

Imagine yourself trying to read
something written in a language in
which you are not proficient. For
example, if you studied French in high
school, think about what the challenges
would be for you to read a text in
French. Make a list of the challenges.
Then compare your list with the
information on the next three slides.
Challenges to Reading in a
Second Language (L2)
High number of unknown vocabulary
words
 Use of idiomatic expressions
 Lack of necessary background
information


From: Robert Jimenez (2002), Fostering the literacy
development of Latino students
Challenges to Reading in a
Second Language (L2)

There are several different types of L2
readers-each poses a challenge
– Readers who have L1 literacy but no L2 oral
language
– Readers who have no L1 literacy and are
receiving initial literacy instruction in their L2
– Readers who have L1 literacy but that literacy is
very different from English literacy (i.e. Have
literacy skills in Japanese but are now learning to
read in English)
Challenges to Reading in a
Second Language (L2)

Some L1 knowledge transfers to the L2 but
some does not
– For example, word order may be different
(adjective after the noun instead of before)
– Directionality may be different (native language
reading may be from right to left instead of left to
right)
– Phonemes may be different (for example, “e”
represents different sounds in Spanish and
English
– From: Elizabeth Bernhardt, 2003, Challenges to reading research
from a multilingual world
Literacy Instruction

It can be challenging to learn to read in
an L2, but it can be done. There are
five essential components to reading
instruction. What do you think they are?
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Phonemic
Awareness
Develop students’ phonemic awareness
 Phonemic awareness is the ability to
identify and manipulate phonemes in
spoken language.

– Phonemes are the smallest units making
up spoken language
• English has 41 phonemes
• Spanish has 23 phonemes
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Phonemic
Awareness

Considerations
– Some phonemes may not be present in the
L1, which may make it difficult for the
student to distinguish and pronounce that
phoneme
– Students need to hear English to develop
English phonemic awareness
• Songs, rhymes, poetry and word play all help
develop phonemic awareness
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Phonics

Develop students’ ability to use phonics
to decode text
– Phonics refers to the relationship between
phonemes and graphemes (the letters and
spellings that represent the phonemes in
written language)
– Remember, phonemic awareness and
phonics are NOT the same thing
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Phonics
Phonemic awareness refers to speech
that is heard and spoken. For example,
it is the ability to hear a word and state
a rhyming word. It is the ability to hear
a word and make the word’s initial and
ending sounds.
 Phonics refers to the written symbol that
represents the phoneme (sound).

Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Phonics

Considerations
– Students may have learned to read in their L1.
Some of the relationships transfer from L1 to L2.
Some of the letter/phoneme correspondences
may be different between their L1 and L2
– Students may have learned to read in a language
that uses symbols that represent morphemes
(meaning units) or syllables rather than phonemes
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Phonics

Considerations
– Second language learners need a lot of
experiences with not only hearing
language but also seeing what that
language looks like in written form
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Vocabulary
Develop students’ L2 vocabulary
 Vocabulary refers to knowledge about
the meanings of words
 Readers cannot understand what they
are reading if they do not understand
the majority of the words in the text

Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Vocabulary

Considerations
– Vocabulary is developed by:
•
•
•
•
Conversations with adults
Listening to adults reading aloud
Reading on one’s own
Learning strategies for figuring out the
meanings of unknown words
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Fluency
Develop students’ reading fluency
 Fluency is the ability to read words
accurately and quickly

– Fluent readers recognize words and
comprehend them simultaneously
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Fluency

Considerations
– When possible, it helps second language
learners to learn to read in their L1 first
– Second language learners need to hear
many books read aloud to them to help
develop their fluency in their L2
– In addition, reading along with books on
tape will help students develop their L2
reading skills
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Fluency

Considerations
– Extensive independent reading of materials
at or just below the reading level will also
help second language readers develop
fluency in their L2
Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Reading
Comprehension
Develop students’ reading
comprehension strategies
 Comprehension is an interactive
process between the reader and the
text

Five Essential Components of
Reading Instruction: Reading
Comprehension

Considerations
– Native language literacy skills transfer to English.
For example, once a student knows how to use
context to determine the meaning of a word, that
strategy can be used in any language in which he
is reading
– Students need to learn text previewing skills
because this helps comprehension
– From: Antunez, Beth (2002), English language learners and the
five essential components of reading instruction,
www.readingrockets.org/article/341
Activity

You have just been hired as the librarian at a
school that has a high number of second
language learners. Using the information
from this slide, develop a five point action
plan that describes what the library will do to
help develop your school’s students’ second
language literacy.
 You may work with a partner on this activity.