Chapter 4 Journal

Catherine Hoover

ESOL Endorsement Class-Linguistics

Journal 3- Review of Chapter 4

January 17, 2013

Review of Chapter 4

Implications from Phonology for Teaching Reading and Teaching a Second Language

            Phonology is the study of sounds used by speakers of a particular language. Phonology plays a role in both written language and second language development.  The word recognition view of reading is a teaching model that places an emphasis on learning phonics rules and word identification.  In this view, phonemic awareness can be taught outside the context of meaningful reading and is essential in order to recode texts. Linguistics and researchers who work from a sociopsycholinguistic view have different teaching methodologies. From the sociopsycholinguistic view, the educator believes that children do not need to be consciously aware of phonemes to read and to produce writing. Instead, they believe that students who are exposed to meaningful reading become better readers naturally. 

Linguistic considerations for  developing proficiency in second language learners are that students can develop language skills through various methods and then use this knowledge to develop a second language.  These methods focus on meaning construction in communication. While attempting to communicate, students subconsciously develop phonology.  Phonology is too complex to divide into skills to be taught and learned.  The first linguistic factor is that English phonemes occur in varied forms called allophones.  The second linguistic factor is that there are different dialects in different regions.  The third factor is that phonemes can vary greatly across languages. 

There are about 39 phonemes in the English language. These sounds make a difference in the meaning of words. Depending on the context, they are not always pronounced the same way. In addition, phonemes undergo changes in sounds depending on their position in a word and the words around them.  Phonemes are groups of sounds called phones. The phones that make up phonemes are groups of allophones. 

There are different allophones of the letter k depending on where the tongue is place during pronunciation. Phonemes assimilate to neighboring sounds. We produce the different sounds of the letters k and c in the words, “keep cool” by different tongue placements.  This has to be completed on a subconscious level in our brain because we produce eight phonemes per second.  If we had to consciously think about tongue placement, we could not produce the phonemes quickly enough to speak effectively.

Even more complicated are allophones of the letter t of which there are six.  All six allophones involve physical differences involving the tongue, alveolar ridge, and aspirations.  When t starts the syllable, an extra puff air, called an aspiration, is released which is not done when the t is at the end of a syllable.  Also, when the t is at the end of the syllable, air is partially blocked in the glottal region.  This process of blocking air in the throat is called preglottalization.  The third allophone of t is produced by a glottal stop.  The d allophone is called a flap flaps against the back of the front teeth.  In the next allophone, the air is stopped with the tongue pressing against the alveolar ridge releasing a /r/ sound.  The final allophone of t is only produced when none of the conditions for the first five allophones is present.  When a speaker (who may be learning a new language) is paying attention to all of these physical differences, they can become overloaded with information. 

Dialect differences may also be problematic for second language learners.  Dialects vary according to regions and social class.  Dialect differences are not as important in the sociopsycholinguistic or language acquisition view.  Second language learners will most likely acquire the same dialect as their instructor because students will simply acquire the dialect they hear most often.  Dialects are more problematic from the word recognition point of view.  The difficulties surface in exercises or tests of phonetic awareness.  For some speakers of English, the vowel sounds in caught and cot are the same.  If a child’s background does not include both of these phonemes, they may have trouble with tests involving these sounds. 

Language differences are the third linguistic factor to consider when evaluating teaching approaches as each language have their own inventory of sounds.  The problems caused by differences can be minimized when focusing on meaning construction because students can use background knowledge to make meaning.  However, tests that focus on sounds themselves may cause problems for speakers of other languages because these speakers may have already developed phonemic awareness in their first language. 

There are three additional concerns include with the word recognition view. Proponents of this view use contextualized phonemic exercises such as songs and poems to increase phonetic awareness.  With the focus on phonemes, these exercises can become abstract.  Another concern is tests including nonsense words used by some educators with the word recognition approach. The focus on sounds, not meanings, may confuse students who are trying to make sense of nonsense.  The greatest concern with exercises and tests of phonemic awareness is that time is taken away from independent reading resulting in fewer opportunities to acquire written and second language. 

In conclusion, in the word recognition view, children are expected to develop phonemic awareness which is the ability to perceive phonemes and use this to learn phonics rules.  Then, students will apply the rules to recode language.  Phonetic awareness is defined differently in the sociopsycholinguistic view where phonics is believed to be an acquired ability that allows people to distinguish between words.  When students come to school and are read to, they will develop graphophonic cues or the knowledge of sounds.  This knowledge is developed subconsciously when the focus is on meanings, not sounds.  This subconscious approach also applies to written and second language acquisition.

Reflection- Chapter 4

In reading Chapter 4, I learned how important it is to be aware of phonemes, dialect differences, and differences in languages and the problems they can cause when teaching ELL students.  Learning the sounds of English is too complicated to learn by rote memorization.   Students need to be engaged in meaningful conversations, topics of interest, and discussions of the material studied to acquire Language 2 proficiency.  Students must attend to meanings, not sounds of words, to learn to read efficiently. Students can use meanings and prior knowledge to distinguish the difference between “I saw a mouse” and “I saw a house.”  Students will use context clues to help them construct meanings.  They do this by listening to meanings not sounds. 

When instructing my third grade class, one of the most difficult tasks is to teach students to use context clues to find the meaning of unknown words.  This may be because the students are focused on pronunciation of words and not the meaning of words.   I tell them to look at all the words in the sentence to help determine meaning.   

Also, before reading Chapter 4, I never realized just how complicated language differences can be and how they can affect learners as they attempt to acquire a second language.  Now that I understand the complexity of languages, I recognize how sociospycholinquistic teaching practices (that focus on meaning) are superior to other word recognition views since it is impossible to memorize all of the sounds, spellings, and phonics of any language.

Refine-Chapter 4

            Journals and notebooks such as dialogue journals are a conversation between the teacher and the student. They are especially helpful with English language learners. Students can write about topics that interest them and proceed at their own level and pace. They have a place to express their thoughts and ideas. Also, in a journal, students can keep track of their progress throughout the year. 

            Giving students the opportunity to participate in a group activity is helpful for second language learners because it gives students a chance to learn from their peers. Also, students can develop a sense of comfort and support from working with others (Zainuddin, Yahya, Morales-Jones & Ariza, 2007)

.  Also, group discussions helps provide students with language and content understanding.  In this activity, groups are responsible for summarizing different parts of a text.  Then, they share their summary with the class.  Each student has a role in producing a response and reporting it to the class. One student acts as the scribe or writer of the material.  One student is the reporter and reads the material to the class.  There is a manager who oversees the activity.  Others students can disseminate information and tell the recorder what to write.

            Writing activities where students write responses to thought-provoking pictures can also be used for second language development. The teacher should guide the students’ writing responses from simple to complex.  Students first respond (to a picture) using a list of words.  Then students can choose an idea to write about.  Next, students fold their papers into 4 sections using a Frayer model.  Students add one sentence at a time to each of the 4 sections of their papers. 

            Content- based language learning activities where students learn new language at the same time as subject matter is being taught are important in second language acquisition.  Students can play games using content vocabulary cards to learn new vocabulary.  There are several ways vocabulary cards can be used.  Students can play matching or “guess my word” games to reinforce vocabulary words. Students can also make vocabulary/picture cards.

            Because language is not taught in isolation, the focus of second language development should be on something meaningful such as academic content. (Zainuddin, Yahya, Morales-Jones & Ariza, 2007)  Classroom activities should be designed for students to have meaningful conversations and topics of interest.

Citations

Zainuddin, H., Yahya, N., Morales-Jones, C. A., & Ariza, E. N. (2007). Fundamentals of teaching english to speakers of other languages in k-12 mainstream classrooms. (2 ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Essential linguistics, what you need to know to teach reading, esl, spelling, phonics, and grammar. Portsmouth: Heinemann Educational Books.