Reading Aloud to Bilingual Students

328 Pages·2014·1.2 MB·English

Reading Aloud to Bilingual Students:
Examining the Interaction Patterns
Between Pre-service Elementary
Teachers and Bilingual Children in the
Context of Small Group Read Alouds in
Maintstream Classroom Settings
Author: Sarah Marie Ngo
Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2528
This work is posted on eScholarship@BC,
Boston College University Libraries.
Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2012
Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
BOSTON COLLEGE
Lynch School of Education

Department of
Teacher Education, Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction

Program of
Curriculum and Instruction

READING ALOUD TO BILINGUAL STUDENTS: EXAMINING THE
INTERACTION PATTERNS BETWEEN PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY
TEACHERS AND BILINGUAL CHILDREN IN THE CONTEXT OF SMALL GROUP
READ ALOUDS IN MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM SETTINGS.

Dissertation
by

SARAH MARIE NGO

submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

May 2012
© Copyright by Sarah Marie Ngo
2012
ABSTRACT

READING ALOUD TO BILINGUAL STUDENTS: EXAMINING THE
INTERACTION PATTERNS BETWEEN PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY
TEACHERS AND BILINGUAL CHILDREN IN THE CONTEXT OF SMALL GROUP
READ ALOUDS IN MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM SETTINGS.
.

Author: Sarah Marie Ngo

Advisor: Curt Dudley-Marling, Ph.D.

Federal legislation now requires that all children participate in large-scale,
statewide assessments in English in an effort to increase accountability and bolster
student achievement (Abedi, Hofstetter, & Lord, 2004; Hass, 2002). Students labeled as
“English language learners” (ELLs) consistently score dramatically lower on English
language and literacy assessments than their native speaking peers (Au & Raphael, 2000;
National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011). Additionally, most mainstream
teachers are not adequately prepared to meet the linguistic challenges that ELLs face in
classroom settings (Lucas & Villegas, 2011).
Reading aloud to bilingual students, specifically using components of a shared
reading model (Holdaway, 1979), potentially provides an avenue for meaningful
language and literacy development. While a corpus of research exists about reading aloud
with English-speaking students, there has been limited research on its use with bilingual
students in classroom settings. Drawing on a sociocultural theoretical framework (Gee,
1996; Vygotsky, 1978), the Output Hypothesis of second language acquisition (Swain,
1985), ethnographic perspectives (Heath & Street, 2008), action research (Stringer, 1999)
and discourse analysis (Bloome et al., 2008), this qualitative study examined the practice
of four pre-service elementary teachers reading aloud English texts (fiction, expository,
and poetry) to small groups of bilingual students across four grade levels. The research
was conducted to study pre-service teachers’ language and literacy teaching practices and
pre-service teacher-bilingual student interaction patterns in read aloud contexts to better
understand their potential for bilingual student language and literacy learning.
Additionally, the study provided beginning teachers with professional development
geared towards helping pre-service teachers to meet the unique language and literacy
needs of bilingual students.
It was found that pre-service teachers consistently strived to develop students’
word knowledge and support text comprehension. In doing so, teachers utilized a variety
of teaching practices and linguistic patterns of interaction during read alouds which
varied across teachers. The argument is made that these various teacher moves and
discourse patterns led to qualitatively different types of interactions and affordances for
bilingual student learning. Implications for mainstream classroom teachers and teacher
education programs are provided.
i

Acknowledgements

To Dr. Curt Dudley-Marling, who has guided me through the dissertation process. Thank
you for all your help and support. I appreciated your prompt and thorough responses to
all of my questions and concerns. Most importantly, thank you for your patience and
understanding as I attempted to balance my dissertation and family life.

To Dr. Maria Brisk who served as a reader on my committee. Your insightful feedback
and knowledge about my dissertation topic were extremely helpful.

To Dr. Patrick McQuillian who served as a reader on my committee. I appreciated all
your feedback and willingness to discuss my on-going progress and career aspirations
whenever necessary.

To Dr. Annie Homza who provided me with tremendous learning opportunities while
working together on the Read Aloud Project. Your guidance, intellect, and friendship
have been invaluable to me during my graduate work.

To Lisa Andries D’Souza- your friendship is one of the best things that came out of our
doctoral program. I always looked forward to my phone breaks with you during my
writing. Thanks for lending a listening ear and helping to keep me grounded. Your on-
going friendship and encouragement helped pull me through this long and challenging
journey.

To my parents, Jan and Larry, for their unwavering faith in my abilities and extraordinary
support. Your unconditional love has been instrumental in all my life achievements. To
my siblings, Lisa, Theresa, and Tony, you have always been supportive, understanding,
and encouraging despite my flaws. To my grandparents, Paul and Regina, who have
modeled hard work and love and devotion to family. To my Aunt Chrissy for your much
needed advice and steadfast encouragement through this process.

To Oma and Opa for all your love and support. Oma’s continued passion for education
and children is an inspiration.

To “my girls” (Madeline and Annalise) for bringing such love, joy, and happiness to my
life! You brought me so many welcomed breaks from “mommy’s works and meetings.”

To Jeffie for providing such wonderful care for Maddie and Annalise while I worked. I
appreciate that they were able to spend many happy hours reading, playing, exploring,
and drawing with you while I was working on my dissertation.

To my husband, Peter, my best friend and strongest supporter. Thank you for all of your
love, kindness, and most importantly, patience. Your steadfast encouragement when I hit
the point where finishing seemed nearly impossible was paramount to my success. Your
ii

careful proofreading, insight, and willingness to listen and discuss my on-going setbacks
and progress were invaluable through this process. You made many sacrifices over the
past several years that enabled me to accomplish this lifetime goal. I’ll never be able to
put into words all that you are to our family!

My thoughts are with my nana and pap pap as I complete my dissertation. I wish you
were here to celebrate this achievement with me. I know you were watching over me as I
met this monumental challenge. I dedicate this to you.
iii

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ........................................................................................1
Introduction and Background ........................................................................................1
The Problem ...................................................................................................................4
Rationale and Purpose of the Present Study ................................................................10
CHAPTER TWO: Review of the Literature Related to Reading Aloud ...................22
Major Reviews of the Literature on Reading Aloud in Classroom Settings................24
Summary and Critique of Major Reviews of the Literature on Reading
Aloud in Classroom Settings .................................................................................28
The Reader Component in Read Alouds .....................................................................30
Book Reading as a Means of Improving Students’ Vocabulary Skills ..................30
Summary and Critique of Book Reading as a Means of Improving
Students’ Vocabulary Skills ...................................................................................35
Other Book Reading Studies Focused on Children’s Language and
Literacy Development ............................................................................................38
Summary and Critique of Other Book Reading Studies Focused on
Children’s Language and Literacy Development ..................................................42
Review of Reader-Listener Interactional Patterns During Book Reading .............45
Summary and Critique of Reader-Listener Interactional Patterns During
Book Reading.........................................................................................................54
The Listener Component in Read Alouds ....................................................................55
Children’s Age and/or Familiarity with Book Reading .........................................57
Individual Child Characteristics ............................................................................59
Whether the Text had been Read Repeatedly to Children .....................................62
Summary and Critique of the Listener Component in Read Alouds .....................63
The Text Component in Read Alouds .........................................................................65
Summary and Critique of the Text Component in Read Alouds ...........................71
Conclusion and Connection to Current Study .............................................................74
Sociocultural Theoretical Framework..........................................................................75
Sociocultural Perspectives on Language, Learning, and Literacy Development ..77
Sociocultural Theory of Literacy Acquisition .......................................................82
Sociocultural Implications for Instruction .............................................................85
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Sociocultural Framework: Connection to the Current Study ................................86
The Output Hypothesis of Second Language Acquisition ...........................................88
CHAPTER THREE: Methodology ...............................................................................92
Ethnography ...........................................................................................................92
Discourse Analysis.................................................................................................95
Action Research .....................................................................................................97
Identification and Selection of Participants .................................................................98
Human Subjects Review Process .........................................................................101
Description of Sample................................................................................................101
Pre-service Teachers ............................................................................................101
Bilingual Students ................................................................................................103
Site .............................................................................................................................106
Pre-service Teachers’ Prior Teaching and Educational Experiences ........................106
Study Design ..............................................................................................................109
Time Frame ..........................................................................................................109
Group Configuration ............................................................................................110
Repeated Readings ...............................................................................................112
Description of Read Alouds .................................................................................112
Texts .....................................................................................................................114
Professional Development Meetings with Pre-service Teachers .........................118
Data Collection ..........................................................................................................122
Observations ........................................................................................................122
Book Reading Fieldnotes .....................................................................................123
Conceptual Memos ..............................................................................................124
Student Generated Writing ..................................................................................124
Reports from Bi-weekly Meetings with Pre-service Teachers ............................124
Data Analysis .............................................................................................................125
Integrity of the Study .................................................................................................131
Positionality .........................................................................................................131
Reflexivity............................................................................................................132
Validity ................................................................................................................133
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CHAPTER FOUR: Developing Word Knowledge Pre-Service Teacher Practices .136
Sociocultural Theory of Language Development ......................................................137
Which Words were Introduced and Reviewed ..........................................................138
Tier Two and Three Words Directly Related to the Plot, Theme, or Main
Idea of Texts ........................................................................................................141
Tier Three Content Words in Non-fiction Texts ..................................................144
Reviewing Words in Read Aloud Sessions that were Previously Introduced
in the Regular Classroom Setting ........................................................................145
Student Word Inquiries ........................................................................................147
Summary and Conclusion of Pre-service Teacher Word Choices .......................148
When Words were Introduced and Reviewed ...........................................................149
Summary and Review of When Words were Introduced and Reviewed .............154
Types of Word Introductions and Reviews ...............................................................155
Providing Student Friendly Definitions ...............................................................157
Providing Dictionary Definitions .........................................................................161
Providing Synonyms ............................................................................................162
Providing Definitions Tied Closely to the Text ...................................................164
The Use of Teacher Message Parallelism ............................................................167
Students Choosing and Defining Their Own Words ...........................................169
Summary and Conclusion of Types of Word Introductions and Reviews...........172
Instructional Strategies to Augment Word Introductions and Reviews.....................174
The Use of Word Cards or Sheets ........................................................................175
The Use of Learning Connections .......................................................................178
The Use of Text Illustrations ...............................................................................184
The Use of Gestures .............................................................................................187
Summary and Discussion of Instructional Strategies to Augment Word
Introductions and Reviews ...................................................................................190
CHAPTER FIVE: Pre-Service Teachers’ Interaction Patterns During Read
Alouds..............................................................................................................................194
The IRE with Repetition of Students’ Answers Pattern of Interaction ......................197
The “IRE Plus” Teacher Expansions Pattern of Interaction ......................................205
The “IRE Plus” Teacher Word Elicitations Pattern of Interaction ............................206
Summary and Discussion of IRE Patterns of Interaction ..........................................210