Assessing the reading and writing of EAL/D students: issues and implications
conference contribution
posted on 2012-01-01, 00:00authored byJ Miller, Anne Keary, J Windle
This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a study on literacy strategies for learners in established English as an Additional Language (EAL) classes in Years 7-10 in three Victorian secondary schools. The paper draws on baseline reading and writing assessment results (N=45).
The findings showed that within a single classroom, around 70% of students were operating at well below their high school year level, and that teachers faced a six-year spread of literacy levels in each class. At the lower levels, students were weak in both reading and writing. At higher levels, students were stronger in reading than in writing.
The reading assessments have several implications for teaching. They point to a need for instruction in decoding skills, especially semantic and syntactic cueing systems. Because decoding is necessary but not sufficient for comprehension of academic texts, knowledge about vocabulary, grammar and genre needs to be embedded in the curriculum in a systematic way for literacy development to be maximised. The study also shows how ongoing formative assessment is required to ground literacy pedagogy.
History
Event
ACTA International Conference (2012 : Cairns, Queensland)
Pagination
1 - 15
Publisher
ACTA
Location
Cairns, Queensland
Place of publication
Sydney, NSW
Start date
2012-07-03
End date
2012-07-05
ISSN
1030-8385
Language
eng
Publication classification
E2 Full written paper - non-refereed / Abstract reviewed
Copyright notice
2012, ACTA
Editor/Contributor(s)
R Jackson
Title of proceedings
ACTA 2012 : TESOL as a global trade – ethics, equity and ecology : Proceedings of the ACTA 2012 conference : TESOL in Context Special Edition S3