Motivation to Read Amongst Esol

¶ … Motivation to Read amongst ESOL Students

Discuss the cause of the problem.

According to Ernst-Slavit, Moore and Maloneya (2002), there are about three million language minority students attending school in the United States who are in the process of learning English as a Second Language (ESOL). In addition, about 42% of all public school classes have at least one ESOL student (Ernst-Slavit et al., 2002). Many ESOL students may be quite different from other learners with respect to their background, skills, and past experiences; in addition, some ESOL students may have attended school on a regular basis prior to arriving in the U.S., providing them with the literacy skills and content knowledge they need to study other languages (Ernst-Slavit et al., 2002). By sharp contrast, other ESOL learners may lack even basic literacy skills, making the need for individualized services all the more important. Therefore, it is important for most educators to have a working knowledge of ESOL principles and current best practice models.

B.

Describe the instructional context in which your research would take place.

The instruction context of the research envisioned herein would take place in a primary public school ESOL classroom setting.

C.

Develop three questions related to the problem that you would like to answer or explore through your research.

1. What are some of the common problems and constraints to teaching ESOL students today?

2. What are the most effective methods for introducing new ESOL students to English?

3. How can ESOL educators motivate their students to read more?

D.

Select one of the questions identified in part C ("How can ESOL educators motivate their students to read more?") and complete a literature search by doing the following:

1.

List seven key words that are representative of the problem to guide your information search.

a) Vocabulary

b) ESOL

c) Motivate/Motivation

d) Reading

e) Comprehension

f) Classroom

g) Strategies

2.

List two resources that you will use to find your information.

a) Questia.

b) EBSCO Host.

3.

List two additional key words or source searches you added to retrieve more results after your initial search.

"Lack of motivation"

"Vocabulary instruction"

4.

Identify which key words yielded the most useful searches. The results of this step are presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Search Results: Questia vs. EBSCO (Peer-Reviewed Sources Only)

Questia

EBSCO

Various permutations of key word searches resulting in relevant sources

18

15

E.

Develop an annotated bibliography for five sources identified in your search. Do the following for each source:

Ernest-Slavit, G., Moore, M. & Maloney, C. (2002)..Changing lives: Teaching English and literature to ESL Students to enhance learning for ESL students. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 46(2), 116-118.

Description of the focus of the source

Primarily for ESOL practitioners in general, but particularly useful for novice teachers concerning strategies that enhance the learning process for English as a Second Language students in secondary classrooms.

Usefulness of the source

The study by Ernst-Slavit et al. was deemed highly useful for many busy ESOL educators who may be faced with providing individualized services to just a handful or even a single ESOL student in their classroom. Indeed, their step-by-step presentation concerning the predictable phases of vocabulary acquisition over time underscores the fact that fluency-building is an iterative process that continually builds on what vocabulary has been learned before.

Limitations of the source

Authors emphasize that it is important to recognize the different ESOL students will have a unique skill set that will both constraint their ability to learn English, as well as facilitate its acquisition, making the need to focus on the students' strengths an essential component of the ESOL curriculum.

Description of the intended audience

Primary school ESOL educators.

Authors' conclusions

Authors conclude that positive results take time.

Reaction to the source

The authors presented a well developed and cohesive approach to analyzing the manner in which young people learn a foreign language.

Kartal, G. (2006). Working with an imperfect medium: Speech recognition technology in reading practice. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 15(3), 303-305.

Description of the focus of the source

The focus of this study was the read-aloud behaviors of learners who were assigned an experimental computer-based program that used speech recognition software for reading practice that provided novice students with immediate feedback.

Usefulness of the source

The useful of this source was primarily for classroom ESOL teachers using speech-recognition applications.

Limitations of the source

Many ESOL classrooms may not feature speech-recognition software, making this study purely speculative for these educators.

Description of the intended audience

Primary school ESOL teachers.

Authors' conclusions

Although speech-recognition software has become more accurate in its interpretation of speech, the technology remains imperfect for ESOL purposes but still contributes to vocabulary acquisition.

Reaction to the source

This study prompted me to think about different ways of promoting vocabulary acquisition using other computing approaches.

Boyd, M. & Devennie, M.K. (2009). Student voices and teacher choices: Selecting chapter book read-alouds. Childhood Education, 85(3), 148-150.

Description of the focus of the source

The potential of read-aloud sessions using chapter books to engage student interest and motivate young people to read.

Usefulness of the source

This source was considered moderately useful for all primary teachers and especially useful for ESOL teachers seeking to motivate their primary school students to read more.

Limitations of the source

Not generalizable beyond primary school.

Description of the intended audience

Primary school teachers.

Authors' conclusions

Chapter books can provide the impetus needed to interest young readers.

Reaction to the source

The first-hand accounts and empirical observations of the third-grade teachers in the study concerning their students' improved reading habits were encouraging.

What to do when English language learners join your classroom. (2010, May/June). American

Teacher, 94(6), 4.

Description of the focus of the source

The focus of this article by the editors of American Teacher concerns classrooms that gain English language learners.

Usefulness of the source

Because many teachers may find themselves with a single ESOL student, this analysis was considered highly useful. Authors present a series of steps that can be followed by any teacher to promote vocabulary acquisition by ESOL students.