Research in English: The Big Picture

10-second review: Institutions, including schools, have failed to keep up with the pace of technology and communication in the process of globalization.

Title: "The Relationship of Reading ICT to Opportunity Structure: An Object of Study?" P Freebody and M Hornibrook. Reading Research Quarterly (July/ August/ September 2005), 371 -376.

Quote: "Perhaps the most striking characteristic of the end of the twentieth century is the tension between this accelerating process of globalization and the inability of both public institutions and the collective behavior of human beings to come to terms with it." (Hobsbawm, 1994, p. 15)

Quote: "But for him to conclude that 'the most striking characteristic of the end of the twentieth century' was not the civilian body counts, but rather the lag between, on the one hand, the technological and communicational features of the globalized world, and on the other, the practices, skills and dispositions of institutions, is extraordinary—a telling conclusion for educators in general, with especially glaring implications...for literacy educators."

Comment: This article is an example of researchers' ability to frame the question clearly but to provide only disappointing answers. So I present my readers with the question: How do we as educators transform teaching English to make maximum use of technology and communication as part of the process of globalization? RayS.

Research In English: Why Don't Teachers Use the Findings of Research in English?

10-second review: There is no clear connection to practice.

Title: "In the Press to Scale Up, What is at Risk"" A McGill-Franzen. Reading Research Quarterly (July/ August/ September 2005), 366 - 369.

Quote: "...as Reinking and Bradley (2004) noted, inductive, naturalistic research is as likely to be ignored by educators as is experimental research, unless there is a clear connection to practice. According to these researchers, a methodological gap exists between naturalistic and experimental research on the one hand, and research that improves instruction on the other hand."

Comment: Stands to reason. The teacher's purpose in reading research is to find out what works. Another problem is research that is unreadable. RayS.

Research in English: Parents and Young Children Reading Together

10-seond review: How do parents deal with miscues [misread words] as children begin to read themselves?

Title: "Developmental Changes in Parents' Use of Miscue Feedback during Shared Book Reading." J Mansell, et al. Reading Research Quarterly (July/ August/ September 2005), 294 - 317.

Purpose of the Research

Quote: "The focus of the current research was to study the nature of book reading during primary grades

when children begin to take on the reader role."

How Was the Research Carried Out?

Quote: "Parents of normally developing beginning readers were audio taped in their homes reading books

with their children in kindergarten, first grade and second grade."

How Did Parents Deal with Miscues?

Quote: "Parent responses to miscues were coded as either ignoring the miscue, encouragement to try the word again, grapho-phonemic clues, context clues, or supplying the word. Clues parents gave prior to a child's attempting to read a word were also coded."

Comment: How parents dealt with miscues was, in my opinion, the useful part of this research study. RayS.

Research in English: Naming Speed and Reading

10-second review: Ability to name familiar colors, objects, digits and letters predicts reading success and should be included in assessment batteries of tests.

Title: "Naming Speed and Reading: From Prediction to Instruction." J.R. Kirby, et al. Reading Research Quarterly (July/ August/ September 2010), pp. 341-362.

Quote: "Reading is complex, and so it should not be surprising that the factors contributing to reading success or failure are multiple. Our purpose in this article is to review the evidence regarding one such factor known as naming speed or Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN)...." P. 341.

Quote: "Briefly, naming speed refers to how quickly an individual can pronounce the name of a set of familiar stimuli: For example, a student may be shown a page of 50 color patches (e.g., red, green, yellow, blue, black) presented in semi-random order and asked to name them as quickly as possible. The four types of stimuli that have been used most often are colors, objects, digits and letters." P. 341.

Quote: "In conclusion a great deal has been learned about naming speed and its relation to reading, and a great deal remains to be learned. Research has firmly established that naming speed is an important predictor of many facets of reading.... There is thus a strong case for it to be included in early assessment batteries. There is not yet a strong case for instruction to improve naming speed, but there is a case for developing ways to help students with slow naming speed." P. 356.

Research in English: Vocabulary Practices in Pre-K and K classes

10-second review: Divides practices during read-aloud times and during non-read-aloud times in class periods. Suggests that the most important time for extensive growth in vocabulary is in non-read-aloud times. Children with high vocabulary backgrounds seem to benefit more from vocabulary instruction than children with low vocabulary backgrounds.

Title: "Vocabulary Practices in Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms." R Silverman and JD Crandell. Reading Research Quarterly (July/ August/ September 2010), 318-340.

Summary: Four of the five vocabulary practices were most productive: acting out and illustrating words; applying words in new contexts; defining words explicitly during "rich" conversation; reinforcing vocabulary by focusing on the letters, especially beginning letters, making up the words. Children with already high vocabulary backgrounds seem to benefit more from this instruction than students with low vocabulary backgrounds.

Quote: "Early vocabulary consistently predicts children's later reading achievement.... Thus, finding ways to promote the vocabulary development of young children appears to be important.... Research has shown that young children learn words from interacting with adults.. .direct instruction of vocabulary words.. .and combining vocabulary instruction practices...."

Comment: To me the most interesting finding is that children with already rich vocabulary backgrounds benefit more from instruction and children with poor vocabulary backgrounds who become better but do not benefit as much in comparison with those who have rich vocabulary backgrounds. The rich get richer. The more you know, the more you grow. RayS.

Research in English: Measuring Oral Fluency and Comprehension in Grades 2 - 6.

10-second review: I chose to define the problem of measuring fluency and comprehension.

Title: “Oral Reading Fluency Assessment: Issues of Construct, Criterion and Consequential Validity.” SW Valencia, et al. Reading Research Quarterly (July/ August/ September 2010), 270 -291.

Quote: “In an effort to address assessment requirements, many schools, districts and states have turned to a simple measure to assess reading performance. With a long history of research and use in special education, this measure involves having students read aloud from brief passages drawn from materials used in the classroom provided in commercial testing kits, or developed independently…. The student reads for 1 minute as the teacher records errors, which produces a score reported as words correct per minute (wcpm).”

Quote: “Over time, results of this approach to measuring oral reading have been used for a variety of purposes, including screening to identify students academically at risk, placement in remedial and special education programs, monitoring students progress, improving instructional programs, and predicting performance on high-stakes assessments….”

Quote: “Most recently, measures using wcpm have also been associated with the assessment of oral reading fluency, one of the core strands identified in the NRP report.”

[And what is this simple, one-minute test supposed to measure? RayS.]

Quote: “Although definitions of oral reading fluency vary, it generally has been defined as the ability to read text quickly, accurately, with proper phrasing and expression, thereby reflecting the ability to simultaneously decode and comprehend.”

Comment: All that in one minute. Well, why wouldn’t people like such a simple one-minute test? The people who wrote this article challenge its validity. Think about the complex uses this test of oral reading and fluency has been used for. All that in one minute. A simple solution for a complex problem.

In my opinion, this approach to measuring fluency measures only words called correctly, minus words called incorrectly and leaves an awful lot of power in the judgments of the tester. RayS.

Research in English: Problems in Comprehension and Strategy

10-second review: Teaching students to understand the various structures of expository texts.

Title: “Web-based Tutoring of the Structure Strategy with or without Elaborated Feedback or Choice for Fifth- and Seventh-grade Readers.” BJF Meyer, et al. Reading Research Quarterly (January /February/ March 2010), 62 – 92.

Quote: “The National Reading :Panel…identified text comprehension as a critical goal. After the primary grades, students increasingly are expected to learn from expository texts in social studies and science…. Comprehension from such texts is critical for academic success…. But many students have problems with reading comprehension. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2007) reported that approximately one-third of fourth-grade students and one-fourth of eighth-grade students could not read at the basic level required to understand what they read. Just one-third read at or above proficient levels.” P. 62.

Quote: “The Structure Strategy focuses on common patterns used by authors to organize expository texts and to convey main ideas…. The Structure Strategy explicitly teaches learners to follow the logical structure through…use of knowledge about text structures….” P. 63.

Example of the main idea from the comparison text structure:. ………. And ………. (two or more ideas) were compared on ………., ………. And ………. . For example: Killer whales and blue whales were compared on size, color, and life span.

Example of the main idea from the problem and solution structure: The problem is ………., and the solution is ………. . For example: The ;problem is seven endangered whale species and the solution is a whale sanctuary in the Antarctic Ocean.

Comment: I have selected ideas from this research that describe the problem and examples of the strategy. I frankly became lost in verbiage and the jargon of educational research. Still, the idea is intriguing. The problem is comprehension. The strategy is explicit teaching of the text structures of expository writing. The examples are from the comparison text structure and the problem-solution text structure. For more information on the authors’ methods of teaching the structure of expository text and the results of their research, consult the article.

I don’t apologize for quitting reading this research. Beyond the beginning quotes that I have cited, the article becomes absolutely unreadable. It’s writing like this research study that is the reason most teachers don’t bother to read educational research. I say it’s the writing, that is the problem, not dumb teachers. Some experts in the teaching of writing have labeled such writing “gobbledygook.” RayS.

Research in English: Knowledge of the Alphabet and Reading

10-second review: What’s the best way to teach young children the alphabet? Why is the alphabet important in learning to read? How does knowledge of the alphabet relate to learning read?

Title: “Developing Early Literacy Skills: A Meta-Analysis of Alphabet Learning and Instruction.” SB Piasta and RK Wagner. Reading Research Quarterly (January/February/March 2010), 3 – 38.

Summary: “Alphabet knowledge is a hallmark of early literacy and facilitating its development has become a primary objective of pre-school instruction and intervention.” “Children’s knowledge of letter names and sounds is the best predictor of their later reading and spelling abilities.” “Pre-school and kindergarten students with poor knowledge of letter names and sounds are more likely to struggle with learning to read and be classified as having reading disabilities.” “However, little agreement exists about how to promote the development of alphabet knowledge effectively.” “We found minimal evidence [Italics mine, RayS.] of transfer of alphabet instruction to early phonological, reading or spelling skills.”

Comment: In short, knowledge of the alphabet is important in learning to read. Little agreement exists on how to teach the alphabet. Little evidence of transfer to phonological, reading or spelling skills. What’s that mean? We know the alphabet is important in learning to read. We don’t know how to teach it effectively. And we don’t know how it relates to learning to read. RayS.

. Research in English: Whao Are the Best Teachers?

10-second review: The 2009 Presidential Address delivered at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 22, 2009 by Kylene Beers.

Title: “Sailing Over the Edge: Navigating the Uncharted Waters of A World Gone Flat.” Kylene Beers. Research in the Teaching of English (February 2010), 340-352.

Quote: “In public schools, teachers take students as they are, respect all as they are, and promise to teach all, as they are. It might be the plaque on the Statue of Liberty that says, ‘Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ But it is public schools that live that message daily.”

Quote: “…we must remember that the best teachers are thoughtful, creative, independent thinkers—not passive, restrained script followers; the best teachers teach from a cornucopia of pedagogy, choosing the right instructional strategy for each student; the best teachers value the probing question from the curious—even angry—student far more than the right answer from the passive one. The best teachers demand that each child receive the best education, and the best teachers have never needed a mandate to leave no child behind. The best teachers, like good leaders, have the courage to overcome obstacles, the courage to sail into the unknown….”

Comment: A bit idealistic, I guess, but worth reminding ourselves why we are teachers. RayS.

Research in English: Identity Through Writing with Online Groups

10-second review: While these three English language learners (ELLs) struggled academically because of their unfamiliarity with English, they developed their identities and their writing skills through online writing groups.

Title: “Announcing the Alan C. Purves Award Winner (Volume 43).” Rebecca Black. “Online Fan Fiction, Global Identities, and Imagination.” Research in the Teaching of English (May 2009). Reviewed in Research in the Teaching of English (February 2010), 338-339.

Quote: “Rebecca Black introduces us to Nanako, Cherry-Chan and Grace and the complex ways that these young women self-identified as online writers…constructed an online identity, recontextualized culture and media through familiar story lines, and participated in shared experiences with fellow writers in an online community.”

Comment: All right, I don’t understand much of this from the brief description of the activities involved. What I do take from this is that the teacher is not necessarily the only audience for students learning to write and children can learn to write by writing with online writing groups. RayS.

Research in English: A Study in Academic Voice

10-second review: By specifying audience, teachers found 6^th-grade students attempting to assume an academic voice.

Title: “Developing Academic Identities: Persuasive Writing as a Tool to Strengthen Emergent Academic Identities.” PM Carbone and MF Orellano. Research in the Teaching of English (February 2010), pp. 292-316.

Summary: It is important to help students recognize their use of features of academic voice and help them to build on them.

Comment: I guess this means that the teacher identifies for students their use of formal standard English and encourages them to continue to add its features. RayS.

Research in English: Impoverished Students Respond to a Story about Hard Times

10-second review: “When nine-year-old Jade was asked to write in her journal in response to the prompt, ‘What are some signs of hard times?’ she had plenty to say. From first line to last, Jade filled her paper with experiences….”

Title: “What ‘Hard Times’ means: Mandated Curriculum, Class-privileged Assumptions and the Lives of Poor Children.” E Dutro. Research in the Teaching of English (February 2010), 255-291.

Summary: When the topic of poverty was introduced in a basal reader story, impoverished third-grade children responded with heart-wrenching stories of their own experiences on the topic.

Comment: A story can release in readers emotional responses of experiences related to the theme of the story. In other words, a story is not just a story. It has personal meaning to children in similar circumstances. This particular story was about “hard times.” Students responded in their reading journals about their personal hard times.

I’m not quite sure what this research means except that stories don’t stop with asking questions about main idea, inference and vocabulary. RayS.

Research in English: Cultural Differences in Assessment

10-second review: Need to learn what culturally different students understand when they respond to assessment items in reading.

Title: “Culture and Consequences: The Canaries in the Coal Mine.” S Murphy. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2007), 228-44.

Quote: “These examples show that there are many ways that the congruence between intended message and understood message can be disrupted. Because children’s responses to test items are most often neatly categorized as ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ and because seemingly precise and ‘objective’ numbers are calculated from them, we may be lulled into a false sense of certainty about what those responses mean. Meaning is always culturally and contextually, dependent, and it can only be investigated by asking questions of those who are taking it.”

Comment: Even mainstream American students, those who are not culturally different, can help us understand how our use of the English language does not match the understanding of test-takers. We need to ask. RayS.

Research in English: Research Brief.

10-second review: Writing plans and writing scores.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” R. Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2007), 188-227.

Writing plans and scores. Investigates writing plan qualities and its relationship to the subsequent writing scores. Finds that higher quality writing plans are associated with higher writing scores. C Chai (2006), p. 221. 

Research in English: Research Briefs.

10-second review: Online study habits. The state of writing. Freshman college writing to writing in history and engineering.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” R. Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2007), 188-227.

Online study habits: Suggests the need for more explicit instruction in online study habits to ensure success in online writing courses. W. West, et al. p. 217 (2006). [Comment: What do online study habits consist of? RayS.]

The State of Writing: Based on NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) writing data. Writing quality from 1978 to 2002 is relatively stable. Longer writing (beyond 3 pages) results in higher writing achievement. Writing involving analysis and interpretation as opposed to summary and story writing [Narrative writing? RayS.] is related to writing achievement. Few family members review students’ writing. Learning to employ prewriting activities is associated positively with writing achievement. AN Applebee and JA Langer. P. 220 (2006)

Freshman college writing course to writing in history and engineering courses. Tracks the writing development of a college student from a first-year composition course to writing in history and engineering major courses to post-college writing. Finds that the student had difficulty transferring generic writing practices in the first-year writing course to specific disciplinary contexts. A. Beaufort. P. 221 (2007). 

Research in English: Research Briefs.

10-second review: Early authors program. Struggling first-grade readers. Interest in reading.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” R Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November2007), 188-227.

Summaries:

Early Authors Program in which pre-school students, their teachers and families create texts about themselves and the important things in their lives. Suggests that programs that engage and empower young students who are likely to experience school-related difficulties may have profound effects on their long-term academic success. J Berhard, et al. p. 208 (2006). [Comment: Sounds like a natural for language experience in which children dictate stories on a topic and try to read them back. RayS.]

Struggling first-grade readers: Data demonstrated that tutoring was more effective than small-group instruction for teaching reading to struggling readers. LC Ehri, et al. p. 209 (2007).

Interest in reading and the computer: The researchers found that students who used computers more frequently to write reports or stories and to look up information also tended to show greater interest in reading JD  House p. 205 (2007).

Comment: Stands to reason. Most of what students would find in looking up information on the computer has to be read. RayS.

Research in English: Brief Findings.

10-second review: Test-taking vs. reading instruction. Out-of-school programs. Instruction for adults reading at third-and fourth-grade levels.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” R. Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2007), 188-227.

Summaries:

Test-taking vs. reading instruction: Argues that academic achievement and meaningful school experiences may suffer if test-preparation activities overtake reading instruction. L Valli and M Chambliss. P. 202 (2007).

Out-of –school programs: Suggests that future studies systematically document the characteristics of out-of-school-time programs and their implementation.  PA Lauer, et al. p. 205 (2006).

Reading instruction for adults: Supports the need for more studies on whether strategies that have been empirically validated with children produce similar effect in adults. BD Winn, et al. p. 207 (2006)

Research in English: Brief Findings in Research

10-second review: Authentic Literacy activities. Explicit instruction in literary devices. Creative writing.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.”R Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2007), 188-227.

Summaries:

Authentic literacy activities: Developed an authentic rating sheet, and categorized the level of authenticity of numerous literacy activities. For example, an activity in which students generated questions based on hands-on experience, and then read informational texts to find answers to the questions, was rated high in authenticity. Suggests all teachers find ways to incorporate more authentic texts and purposes into their classroom instruction. NK Doke, et al. p. 122 (2006).

Explicit instruction in literary devices: Finds that learning to analyze literary devices in reading…fosters reflection about their own writing and awareness of how their narratives were constructed. R Cordon. P. 197 (2007).

Creative writing: Argues that in order to support children’s creative development as writers, teachers need opportunities to engage creatively as writers themselves. T Cremin. P. 201 (2006).