STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING READING AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES TO STUDENTS WITH OR WITHOUT LEARNING DISABILITIES

Dr. Marcia K. Henry has assembled an exceptionally helpful, and free of charge, online service to assist educators in reading and English language instruction for students in upper school and in remedial education classes in high school and college. At http://alternativeed.sjsu.edu/mod13.html, educators can find her module entitled, "Strategies for Enhancing Decoding, Spelling and Vocabulary Instruction." She presents that module in different printable formats (pdf, word, html) for sessions with time allotments.

Her technique springs from the recognition that because over 90% of English words have Anglo-Saxon, Latin, or Greek origins, students should study etymology (the history and origin of a word) in order to discover how it affects present-day written English. In addition to etymology, however, the module also incorporates principles of phonology (the study of the sounds of a language) and morphology (the study of the units of meaning in words).

The purpose of the module is to offer instructors a strategy for assisting students, many of whom may have mastered the basics of decoding, spelling, and vocabulary, in continuing to improve their verbal and written skills. Henry sees this as crucial for students because, following Langer (please see Module 13), even good readers often have difficulty interpreting and analyzing text in more than superficial ways. Then, citing Berninger as well as Moats (please see Module 13), Henry states that, in order to comprehend text fully, students must be able to decode accurately and fluently. Yet, because reading instruction is often thought of as an elementary school subject, many secondary teachers are unprepared to teach the more advanced language structures. Henry divides the module into two themes and twelve sessions, each with an in-depth daily schedule, followed by a post-knowledge survey.

The first theme, "Preparation," comprises the first three sessions. Each of the first three sessions provides student with an overview and/or review of key components of the following instruction. The first session shows students how the origins of an overwhelming majority of contemporary English words continue to influence their structures. Then, the second session provides students with a brief history of written English. Finally, the third session surveys the fundamentals of the lesson and the instructional format.

The second theme, "Instructional Strategies," comprises the remaining nine sessions (numbers 4-12). Within this theme, there are three distinct sub-themes present which correspond to the three major sources of word origin influence in the modern English language (Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and Greek) Henry previously identified. In the first of these sub-themes, sessions 4-6 treat, respectively, the Anglo-Saxon layer of language (letter-sound correspondence), Anglo-Saxon syllable patterns, and Anglo-Saxon morpheme (the smallest unit of meaning within a word) patterns. In the second of these sub-themes, sessions 7 and 8 provide students with the Latin layer of language (letter-sound correspondence and syllable patterns) and Latin morpheme patterns. Next, session 9 focuses on chameleon prefixes (those which change the last letter of the prefix to match the beginning letter of the root word). Completing the treatment of the three major sources of word origin influence, sessions 10 and 11 concern the Greek layer of language (letter-sound correspondence and syllable patterns) and Greek combining forms. Concluding the second theme, in session 12, students practice reading and spelling long content area words. Finally, a post-knowledge survey concludes the module.

The extremely important contribution Henry makes is that her module provides instructors with the means to keep student reading, verbal and written abilities growing beyond the point where they have stalled, or perhaps, never developed. Further, while many students depend on grammar and spell check, in a few cases where students may not have practiced for long periods of time, their language skills may have begun to decline. Equipped with these advanced skills, however, students will be able to comprehend texts on a much higher level than previously, having acquired the necessary tools to perform more advanced language decoding. Students also will become more proficient in verbal and written expression. Henry demonstrates a profound knowledge of language and language instruction, and this welcome module is an extremely valuable tool for educators of students with and without learning differences.

Marcia K. Henry, Ph.D., has forty years of experience as an educator of mainstream, special education and developmental students, as well as providing teacher training related to the teaching of reading and related language arts. She is the author of teaching materials for integrated decoding and spelling instruction, and was a professor of Special Education at San Jose State University where she directed the Center for Educational Research on Dyslexia. She taught as a Fulbright Lecturer/Research Scholar in Norway, and serves on the editorial board of Dyslexia and Annals of Dyslexia, the journals of The British Dyslexia Association and The International Dyslexia Association, respectively. She is Past President of the International Dyslexia Association, and is a frequent speaker at regional, national and international conferences. Her speeches and writings reflect her interest and experience in the development of intervention strategies for students with learning differences. She is the author of many valuable texts. Please click here to read the review of her most recent text, Unlocking Literacy: Effective Decoding & Spelling Instruction, in the last issue of Visions on Learning Differences, for additional information.