Cultural Aspects Can Affect Comprehension

There are many books that teachers assume students will understand because there are common elements that most students see everyday; however, English Language Learners' prior experiences may have been substandard or interrupted, so reading texts that assume certain prior knowledge becomes difficult. The cultural differences for some English Language Learners (ELLs) can result in a lack of background knowledge and thus loss of comprehension. 


For example, the book Julius: The Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes has many examples of cultural differences that may inhibit comprehension for English Language Learners. One part in the story that may be hard to understand is the "uncooperative chair" that Lilly has to sit in when she is being mean to her baby brother. Many children may not know this term, or they may not know what taking a "time-out" is because of cultural differences. This can be taught to English Language Learners by acting this concept out. Another section of the book that may confuse ELLs is when Lilly says, "If [my baby brother] was a food, he'd be a raisin." This food may not be well-known in different cultures or it may not be known as disgusting as it is in most American cultures, so this comparison could cause confusion. In order to build background knowledge of raisins, have the students try them and vote as a class on their popularity. Another cultural difference that may be hard to understand is that the family in the book is having a celebration for the baby after he is born. Not all cultures have parties for events like these. This concept can be clarified through a brief discussion. Last, the book mentions lullabies. This vocabulary term may be unfamiliar to some students, especially because lullabies are not sung in all parts of the world. Once again, the class could quickly act out what this term means so there is not a culture difference affecting comprehension.


There is another book that has a few examples of cultural differences: The Little White Owl by Tracey Corderoy and Jane Chapman. There are many words and phrases in the English language that have multiple meanings. In the book, the little owl "didn't mind" that he was all alone. Mind can mean a brain or can mean bothered by something. The book also says that they could "pass the time", which some students could take literally as handing a clock to the person next to them. Pre-teaching these multiple meaning words can better comprehension. The other elements in this book seemed easily comprehensible because of the pictures, so I chose another book to analyze.


Another book with some cultural differences that may be hard to comprehend without further instruction is Gingerbread Boy by Jan Brett. One element in this story that may be better understood with further instruction is understanding what gingerbread and gingerbread houses are. What better way to explain this than to taste it? As the students are creating their ginger masterpieces, explain that this is a tradition that many people take part in in the United States. Another concept that is hard to understand when learning a new language is the vocabulary in this book such as "licking his chops".  Because chops has multiple meanings (cuts, cut of meat, lips), this part would be hard to understand. The  best way to help English Language Learners would be to pre-teach the vocabulary with a non-linguistic representation and review the words during the story. 


Overall, teachers should be aware that there are some cultural differences in literature that may be hard for English Language Learners to understand. It is our job to find a way (or many ways) to explain these foreign concepts. While teaching and explaining these ideas to English Language Learners, all other learners will also be deepening their understanding.

Reading Unfamiliar Languages

When reading a text in an unfamiliar language, there are a few strategies that I used. The first strategy that I used was to find words that looked similar to the English language. For example, I assumed that the German word "einmal" meant animal. After struggling to find any more familiar words in the first paragraph, I began to use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words. Apparently, "einmal" doesn't even mean animal. It means man. Slowly but surely, I made meaning of the first sentence, but I gave up on the rest of the paragraph and the rest of the story because it was frustrating.

What does this mean when teaching students who are learning English? First of all, I need to know more Spanish so that I can talk about words that look similar to each other. Also, I need to be able to define more English words in Spanish so that my students can better understand each lesson. I also feel that non-linguistic representations such as pictures or gestures are necessary for students to comprehend, which means that I need to provide more of these non-linguistic representations in my classroom. I also need to understand that students who are learning English can become easily frustrated when encountering many unfamiliar words. Overall, as a teacher of English Language Learners, I need to apply more strategies in the classroom to not only help the English Language Learners in my classroom, but all learners.

Oral Language Connection to Reading

The importance of oral language as being a predictor for successful reading is supported by research. Children need to have a strong grasp on oral language prior to learning the beginnings of reading. They need to know what words mean before they can understand what text means. The more that oral vocabulary is developed early on, the easier the connection to print will be.  "Readers learn a set of skills that allows them to make a connection between the black marks on the page and words in their oral vocabulary" (Freeman, 2004, p. 24). If the oral vocabulary is not developed, there will be a struggle to understand print.

Writing Instruction

One of the posters hanging up in my second grade classroom explained the writing process. I was one of those students who noticed everything, so I remember this poster; however, I don't think my teacher ever pointed it out to the rest of the students. Most of my classrooms throughout public school followed no specific approach to writing instruction. In fact, I don't remember being taught any writing.  We were expected to produce good writing without being taught specific skills. This means there wasn't direct instruction of varying sentences, adding verb or noun modifiers, planning, or incorporating similes. We wrote a draft, edited the piece, revised (without instruction on how to do this), and published. Although this is not the ideal approach to writing, this is what I remember. I remember no formal writing instruction, just assignments that were due. I remember worksheets that focused on a certain language skill, which lends itself to the traditional learning view according to Freeman (2004). I remember the red ink smeared across my supposed final copies that was meant to "help" me, which is also the traditional teacher's attitude toward errors (Freeman, 2004). We studied rules and grammar, and the most dreaded practice of all: diagramming sentences. The traditional learning method overall says that students are aware of what they are learning (Freeman, 2004); however, I was not aware what I was learning nor the rationale behind it, which is more like the acquisition view. From what I remember, I had teachers that followed neither the traditional learning view nor the acquisition learning view. Maybe it was a mix of both, or maybe it was a lack of proper instruction.

Philosophy on Teaching Literacy

Children learn a language by using the language. This is the philosophy of a teacher at Evans International Elementary School. Throughout the day, this teacher actively involves children with the English language. This is done through activities, discussions, and games. Whenever possible, the teacher allows the students to take over the talking rather than being led by the teacher, creating a student-centered learning environment.

This teacher also believes that cooperative learning is essential to language acquisition. Students learn from each other, not from lecture. Collaboration allows students to discuss ideas and concepts more often than a whole-class approach. Students will learn communication skills as they work together as a team. Because the students in the classroom are involved in conversations through activities, discussions, and games more throughout the day, the language acquisition will increase.

This teacher believes that literacy is truly the focus in her classroom. Academic success in all subject areas stems from literacy achievement; therefore, this teacher ties every subject back to literacy. This strong focus in literacy in all subjects allows her to maximize student success in not only literacy, but all subject areas.