Reading Performance Gap Reduction Among English Language Learners

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Table of Contents

Introduction and Background
Literature Review
Conclusion
References

Introduction and Background

Reading comprehension is a significant skill that learners should acquire to achieve a high level of academic performance. However, some of the students may encounter challenges associated with this skill; the majority of individuals experiencing difficulties are English language learners (ELLs). The primary objective of this literature review is to analyze how improvement in students’ comprehension skills and academic vocabulary can lead to a decrease in the academic reading gap among ELLs. To achieve this goal, the analysis addresses several articles on the issue, discussing their main points and ideas.

The paper presents two research questions and the background information on the reading performance gap, along with the significance of the analysis. Then, it features scholarly articles and governmental reports on reading comprehension statistics and the effectiveness of the graphic organizer’s strategy and the vocabulary learning strategy, outlining their possible disadvantages as well. The literature review concludes by identifying the gaps in existing evidence and addressing the possible contributions of the report.

There is a significant need for the elimination of the reading performance gap among ELLs. Currently, there are almost 5 million ELLs studying in the USA, constituting more than 9.5% of all students in the country (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). The number of ELLs has decreased significantly within the past decades, as in 2000, less than 4 million such students were registered. In addition, more than nine states report that the percentage of ELLs in public schools is 10% or higher (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). It is possible to suggest that the number will continue to grow.

Despite many years of instructional and assessment-related changes to improve reading instructions in American public schools, many ELLs’ reading comprehension scores remain low (August, McCardle, & Shanahan, 2014). Many ELLs lack language skills that are essential for their academic future and can deprive them of an opportunity to continue quality education. Several factors and challenges may be associated with ELLs’ reading performance. For example, these students may have a decreased capacity to develop reading literacy and skills as compared to their peers, who have English as their first language.

To avoid the adverse outcomes of challenges ELLs encounter from the perspectives of reading, teachers can implement reading comprehension and vocabulary learning strategies. Consequently, the two major issues that this report addresses are the methods that can reduce the reading performance gap among students, including graphic organizers and vocabulary learning strategies.

Problem Statement

The problem of the study is that the reading performance gap is an acute issue today, as there is a significant difference in ELLs’ and non-ELLs’ achievements. At the same time, educators, working with ELLs, may lack the necessary proficiency and knowledge along with poor professional experiences, which may also result in the increased reading performance gap (Gan & Yang, 2018). Thus, it is crucial to outline the strategies that can mitigate this issue and reduce the performance gap among students.

Significance of the Study

Currently, the reading performance gap is a serious concern among ELLs as compared with non-ELL students. Quirk and Beem (2012) report that the statistical data showing a poor level of reading fluency and reading comprehension are significantly related to ELLs. In addition, students that are not fluent in English may be unaware of the decreased level of their proficiency. For instance, the study by Martinez and Murphy (2011) reveals that ELLs may overestimate their understanding of the texts written in the target language, especially if those contain multiword expressions, and show poor results at guessing the meaning of these expressions.

One part of this study will be designed research focused primarily on how to develop efficient reading comprehension through graphic organizers. The primary basis of the research is the assumption that the implementation of graphic organizers strategies can motivate sentence understanding, concept stimulation, and new material storage. The focus of another part of the study is vocabulary learning, the improvement of which has been an effective method for identifying potential complications of reading comprehension, particularly in ELL readers.

Literature Review

For many decades, the differences between ELLs’ and non-ELLs’ academic performance have been studied. The section presented above reveals that ELLs encounter challenges associated with reading. This literature review will answer the following questions: How can the use of the graphic organizer’s strategy decrease the academic reading gap among ELLs? How can the improvement of academic vocabulary learning decrease the academic reading gap among ELLs? These questions were selected because the findings of the literature review can outline the strategies educators can utilize to reduce the reading performance gap among ELLs. In addition, the expected result of the evaluation of the literature is the comparison of the effectiveness of graphic organizers and vocabulary learning strategies.

Reading Performance Gap

Reading is one of the most significant skills ELLs and non-ELLs may have, as it can be the driver of their academic success. Küçükoğlu (2013) defines it as the reader’s ability to understand words and decode text, as well as construct its meaning. Landi, Frost, Mencl, Sandak, and Pugh (2013) report that the primary goal of reading is the comprehension of the material, which allows for the successful processing of the information at all levels. Küçükoğlu (2013) adds that individuals should be able to visualize the information they are acquiring during the process of reading. The author adds that reading fluency, and vocabulary learning should be considered the key elements of reading instructions, which is a vital factor for reducing the existing reading performance gap.

The study by Landi et al. (2013) reveals that students can achieve successful reading comprehension on several levels. On the first one, individuals should show accurate word processing, including decoding of speech sounds, letters, and words. This level of reading comprehension implies that students are yet unable to comprise sentences effectively but can distinguish between words and letters without mistakes. On the next level, students should be able to form sentences and understand the syntax of the English language (Landi et al., 2013). To achieve this level of comprehension, learners should have a relatively good command of the language and understand how to express basic ideas without difficulties. Finally, on the highest level, learners should know how to connect sentences and paragraphs (Landi et al., 2013). It means that they should be able to retell stories and present well-connected arguments.

Evidently, ELLs encounter challenges associated with reading comprehension more often than their non-ELL peers; many current studies on the topic support this claim. For instance, Francis et al. (2019) show that more than 75% of ELLs studying in the US speak Spanish as their first language. Around 70% of Spanish-speaking fourth-grade learners show poor reading skills; their capacities are often below the basic level.

These findings reveal that non-ELL students do not encounter the same challenges associated with reading as their ELL peers because reading in a first language is significantly easier for individuals than utilizing the second language. The following fact supports this conclusion, as only less than 30% non-ELLs encounter challenges associated with reading comprehension in fourth grade (Francis et al., 2019). It means that ELLs encounter challenges associated with reading more than two times as often as non-ELLs. The study by Francis et al. (2019) also reveals that the reading performance gap may persist up until 12th grade.

The study by Olson, Matuchniak, Chung, Stumpf, and Farkas (2017) also addresses the academic performance gap between ELLs and non-ELLs. The authors report that a poor understanding of cognitive strategies is the primary reason students encounter challenges in reading. They note that effective reading comprehension implies the ability to summarize, analyze, predict, and question the given information, as well as generate, access, and use it (Olson et al., 2017). The authors add that educators should implement address the sociocognitive aspects of reading and the challenges associated with this skill to enhance individuals’ performance and reduce the existing gap between ELLs’ and non-ELLs’ skills.

Effectiveness of the Graphic Organizers Strategy

The graphic organizer strategy has been an effective cognitive strategy used to emphasize the key concept in a text. Graphic organizers can be present in the forms of diagrams, webbing, matrixes, flowcharts, and concept mapping (Vásquez & Coudin, 2018). The wide range of available options is beneficial for learners and educators because it is possible to try different approaches and experiments to improve students’ reading skills. Teachers can utilize graphic organizers to aid the selection of significant information and illustrate how data can be structured effectively (Roehling, Hebert, Nelson, and Bohaty, 2017). These tools are easy to use, and schoolers can utilize them without educators’ continuous assistance, which is also beneficial for their learning process.

One of the studies discussing the effectiveness of graphic organizers is the work by Vásquez and Coudin (2018). The authors report that instructors can use these tools to help learners to identify the links between ideas and concepts through a visual format. The primary cause of the effectiveness of graphic organizers is their relation to connectivism, the theory of cognitive processing. The core idea of connectivism is that students learn better when they have an opportunity to strengthen associations between stimuli and responses as opposed to learning from rules or restructuring (Vásquez & Coudin, 2018).

Graphic organizers can help learners to focus on important data and, consequently, improve their overall understanding of the full text. If instructors utilize such a strategy appropriately, students can learn to summarize and interpret pieces of literature correctly and identify relationships between different parts of information (Vásquez & Coudin, 2018). To increase the effectiveness of such a strategy, teachers should focus on verbalizing relationships between the concepts, connect new information to previous knowledge, and reinforce structural analysis and decoding in ELLs. Evidently, educators should pay attention to students’ progress and ensure that graphic organizers help them to understand the information better.

The study by Roman, Jones, Basaraba, and Hironaka (2016) also reveals the significance of the graphic organizer’s strategy in eliminating the academic reading gap among learners. The authors present the example of how teachers can utilize these tools to divide information into conceptually important segments and identify the explicit logical connectives. In addition, Roman et al. (2016) acknowledge the potential challenges associated with reading comprehension, including linguistic and conceptual ones, such as the preconceived notions learners may have. The authors do not report whether teachers can eliminate these challenges entirely at some point in the educational process.

Another study discussing the effectiveness of the implementation of the graphic organizer’s strategy is the work by Praveen and Rajan (2013). The authors note that these tools are the pictures or models that educators can utilize to help students process textual information. They add that graphic organizers have useful functions that may be particularly effective in reducing the reading performance gap between ELLs and non-ELLs (Praveen & Rajan, 2013). These features can assist learners in structuring the information to understand it better, putting it into categories, outlining the main idea and the supporting details of the texts, constructing the meaning of complex words, understanding the context, and identifying possible perceptual and conceptual errors.

The study by Praveen and Rajan (2013) provides several examples of graphic organizers based on their categories and possible application methods. It shows that graphic organizers have many forms; educators can select the most effective ones based on the types of activities in the classroom and the purposes of the lesson. The authors add that these tools can also be a part of instructional strategies that teachers can utilize to analyze students’ ongoing comprehension or perform as a summative activity (Praveen & Rajan, 2013).

The article concludes that graphic organizers can promote strategic reading competence, successful classification of the content, and the ability to distinguish between significant and insignificant information in students. Thus, the authors agree that graphic organizers can eliminate the reading performance gap among ELLs.

The study addresses a significant feature of graphic organizers that is not present in other works on the issue. Praveen and Rajan (2013) report that there are differences in the effectiveness of graphic organizers based on their types. Specifically, readymade graphic organizers may result in a lack of motivation among students. The possible reason for such an effect is that learners may view these tools as templates or handout materials that educators often use during the classes. In contrast, allowing students to create their own organizers can ensure the development of their thinking skills and enhance their motivation to learn (Praveen & Rajan, 2013). As a result, such an approach can improve individuals’ reading comprehension.

Effectiveness of the Vocabulary Learning Strategy

Vocabulary learning is a fundamental part of English language learning, especially among ELLs. The vocabulary learning methods teachers can utilize include Contextual Clues, Dictionary (English-English) Strategy, and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) (Ali, Mukundan, Baki, and Ayub, 2012). Several studies suggest the effectiveness of the vocabulary learning strategy. For instance, the research by August et al. (2014) shows that previewing key vocabulary through analyzing context-reach sentences and words’ definitions along with questioning learners throughout the reading can improve their understanding of the texts’ meaning.

The authors add that there are various possible approaches to the vocabulary learning strategy. For instance, instructors may help students to learn words through storybook reading, immersing learners in language-rich environments, and directly teaching individual words (August et al., 2014). In addition, educators can utilize students’ first language as a basis for English vocabulary development. It is vital to note that teachers implement some of the strategies August et al. (2014) discuss on a daily basis. For instance, students studying in the US already live in English language-rich environments, which means that they are more likely to acquire more strong language skills. However, it is evident that additional measures are crucial for ensuring that educators can decrease the reading performance gap.

Another study that addresses the possible benefits and disadvantages of vocabulary learning strategies is the work by Ali et al. (2012). The authors report that learning vocabulary through dictionaries, including bilingual ones, or the analysis of the context can improve students’ knowledge of different meanings of polysemic words, thus, decreasing the academic gap among ELLs. The utilization of the Contextual Clues technique also shows effectiveness in helping individuals to process sentences that they are reading.

Finally, Ali et al. (2012) report that teachers can use computers as supporting tools for vocabulary learning, as their implementation is associated with more positive learning attitudes compared to conventional methods. This study is the only one selected for the literature review that discusses the significance of the implementation of technology. In their work, the authors also suggest that educators should combine several vocabulary learning strategies to help students achieve better results (Ali et al., 2012).

Notably, the study shows that some of the most common approaches to vocabulary learning may be ineffective. For instance, the authors note that the use of the Contextual Clues tool may result in mistakes in students’ determination of clues (Ali et al., 2012). The possible reason for it is that students may lack the necessary language skills and knowledge about American culture to understand the clues correctly; moreover, some types of such tools may be designed not for ELLs specifically, which means that the results of their implementation are unpredictable. In addition, the utilization of dictionaries as methods of enhancing vocabulary in class may be challenging, too, as learners may refuse to carry them to schools because of their size (Ali et al., 2012).

Although educators can eliminate this problem by asking students to leave their dictionaries at school, it is crucial to ensure that the vocabulary learning method is not associated with additional difficulties for individuals.

The work by Zhang, Lin, Zhang, and Choi (2017) also addresses the effectiveness of the vocabulary learning strategy. The authors have conducted two surveys and analyzed ELLs’ motivation toward vocabulary learning along with their vocabulary learning strategy and language skills. The findings of the study are notable, as Zhang et al. (2017) conclude that vocabulary learning strategies play a mediating role in motivating ELLs to acquire language skills. The authors analyze the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on vocabulary knowledge and conclude that the former is highly significant for improving students’ reading performance.

Zhang et al. (2017) note that educators should consider vocabulary learning a proactive process that requires a student to be motivated to study new words and use cognitive and meta-cognitive learning strategies. They conclude that the effective transformation from learning objectives to improved reading performance is associated with individuals’ motivation.

Critique and Common Threads

The literature review reveals that the implementation and utilization of both the graphic organizer’s strategy and the vocabulary learning strategy can reduce the reading performance gap among ELLs and non-ELLs. The use of graphic organizers is effective because they can improve the process of cognition in students, helping them to strengthen the associations between the text and the images or concepts they may have in their minds (Kansızoğlu, 2017).

As a result, ELL students may manage some of the most significant challenges they encounter, which is the decoding and interpretation of the information from texts. All studies selected for this paper conclude that the segmentation of the learned data and its division is one of the most significant functions of graphic organizers, which can lead to positive results in students’ reading performance.

Another vital finding of the literature review from the perspective of graphic organizers strategy is that educators may try different types of these tools to analyze, which of them can have the most significant results and reduce the reading performance gap effectively. One of the possible conflicting results of the literature review is that the majority of studies claim graphic organizers to be effective, while the work by Praveen and Rajan (2013) shows that teachers should select these tools carefully and avoid providing readymade ones to ELL students.

The majority of findings of the literature review regarding vocabulary learning strategies also suggest that the utilization of such tools is effective in the reduction of the reading performance gap. The majority of studies on vocabulary learning strategies present quantitative research methods based on surveys, questionnaires, and reports of teachers and ELL students. Works selected for the review reveal that educators should choose vocabulary learning carefully, as not all of them may have a positive impact on students’ performance.

The authors of the studies agree that it is crucial for instructors to use different approaches and teach vocabulary through dictionaries, contextual clues, or vocabulary-rich environments while noting that some of these strategies may be ineffective if implemented inappropriately (Alghamdi and Al Ahmed, 2018). Notably, the research shows that vocabulary strategies are not the primary factors contributing to the elimination of the reading performance gap. Instead, students should have a high level of motivation to learn new words to succeed.

It is possible to conclude that all of the selected studies provide high-quality evidence on the topic. Overall, graphic organizers seem to be more effective in reducing the reading performance gap among ELLs compared to vocabulary learning approaches the reports to feature. The primary cause of it is that they are not related to students’ motivation and do not require learners to have a desire to acquire knowledge. Second, as mentioned above, there are many types of these tools educators may use, which means that if the implementation of one type of organizer does not show significant results, teachers can utilize another one to see if it is more effective for ELLs.

As for vocabulary learning strategies, their implementation may potentially be associated with challenges because they may require significant dedication from teachers because they may be more difficult to implement (Siddiqua, 2016). In addition, existing studies report a limited number of vocabulary learning strategies compared to graphic organizers ones. Thus, the latter show higher effectiveness in minimizing the reading performance gap among ELLs.

Gaps in the Literature

It is vital to discuss the gaps in the existing literature on reading performance and the challenges ELLs encounter regarding this issue. First, there is a lack of statistical data on differences in reading performance and the gap between the achievements of ELLs and non-ELLs. There is a limited number of peer-reviewed articles addressing the topic; government reports are the sources providing most of the information available on the current gap in reading performance. Second, the studies on the topic do not seem to address vocabulary learning strategies in detail. Most of the selected works discuss the same approaches to vocabulary acquirement, including the utilization of dictionaries, while noting that such strategies may be ineffective.

However, this problem may be associated with the fact that there are not many effective approaches to vocabulary enhancement available. Third, the authors addressing graphic organizers and vocabulary learning strategies, do not discuss their disadvantages in detail. They outline the significance of motivation but do not feature the information about the results of poor motivation in ELLs. Finally, another gap in the existing literature is the lack of recent studies on the topic. The majority of information on strategies is available from sources that are more than five years old, which means that currently, the issue is understudied. Notably, the research on the literature shows that there is sufficient data on other types of performance gaps among ELLs, which means that reading is an especially understudied skill.

Contribution of the Study

The study of the issue offers additional scholarship on the topic because it addresses the causes of challenges ELLs may encounter and discusses the possible approaches teachers may implement to eliminate them. This literature review assesses the possible contribution of reading comprehension and vocabulary learning strategies to improve ELL students’ reading achievement by analyzing existing evidence. At the same time, the present literature review can guide future studies as it outlines the gaps in the existing literature, showing that there is a lack of information on the differences between ELLs’ and Novell’s performance.

The report shows that possible modified curriculum and instruction changes are necessary for the elimination of ELLs’ reading performance gaps; the alterations must focus on the improvement of existing teaching approaches. Future research should deliver more potential strategies for how teachers can assess and improve the efficiency of the reading materials, as well as what graphic organizers and vocabulary learning strategies are the most effective ones from the perspectives of the reduction of the reading performance gap.

Instructors can use the findings of this literature review to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies they implement in the classroom. For instance, they may shift their focus from vocabulary learning strategies to graphic organizers ones to minimize the reading performance gap among ELLs more rapidly. In addition, the literature review offers useful information on the particular types of these approaches that educators can utilize while outlining the outcomes of their inappropriate implementation. Thus, this report can contribute to the minimization of teaches’ errors regarding the use of graphic organizers and vocabulary learning strategies.

Conclusion

This literature review has addressed the challenges influencing students’ performance, including a decreased capacity to develop reading literacy skills among ELLs and the lack of knowledge their instructors may show. The report shows that the utilization of effective reading strategies, including graphic organizers and vocabulary learning ones, can potentially reduce the reading performance gap among these students.

The literature review answers the research questions and reveals that the utilization of the graphic organizer’s strategy can eliminate the reading performance gap because it can help students to decode and interpret the information, structure the texts effectively, and understand the texts better. In addition, such an approach can allow individuals to organize the data into categories and identify the meaning of complex words.

Moreover, the report shows that the vocabulary learning strategy is effective too because it can improve students’ of the texts through analyzing context-reach sentences and words’ definitions. Notably, the literature review shows that some of the most common approaches to improving ELLs’ reading skills, including the Contextual Clues, are ineffective. In addition, one of the possible disadvantages of vocabulary learning strategies is that it requires a high level of motivation among students; otherwise, its usefulness in the minimization of the reading performance gap may be decreased. In summary, educators can utilize both graphic organizers and vocabulary learning strategies, as these approaches show excellent results in improving learners’ reading performance.

References

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Ali, Z., Mukundan, J., Baki, R., & Ayub, A. F. M. (2012). Second language learners’ attitudes towards the methods of learning vocabulary. English Language Teaching, 5(4), 24-36.

August, D., McCardle, P., & Shanahan, T. (2014). Developing literacy in English language learners: Findings from a review of the experimental research. School Psychology Review, 43(4), 490-498.

Francis, D. J., Rojas, R., Gusewski, S., Santi, K. L., Khalaf, S., Hiebert, L., & Bunta, F. (2019). Speaking and reading in two languages: On the identification of reading and language disabilities in Spanish‐speaking English learners. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2019(166), 15-41.

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Siddiqua, A. (2016). Challenges of teaching English vocabulary at the higher secondary level in Bangladesh. The Journal of EFL Education and Research, 1(1). Web.

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Zhang, Y., Lin, C. H., Zhang, D., & Choi, Y. (2017). Motivation, strategy, and English as a foreign language vocabulary learning: A structural equation modelling study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 87(1), 57-74.

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