Bridging Two Worlds: Reading Comprehension, Figurative Language Instruction, and the English-Language Learner

Abstract

The authors discuss the challenges encountered by English‐language learners (ELLs) as they attempt to interpret the figurative language of their new cultures. Providing ELL students with explicit instruction in interpreting figurative language—a bridge to reading comprehension—is a significant goal for teachers who design instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse populations. The article includes an account of classroom observations of Alejandro, a Spanish‐speaking ELL tenth grader, as his reading teacher scaffolds his understanding of figurative expressions using explicit instructional techniques. A detailed account of this student's background is given as well as a description of the instructional strategies that were implemented. This teacher's work with Alejandro provides insight on the efficacy of direct strategy instruction in figurative‐language interpretation for ELLs. In addition, the theoretical basis for figurative‐language instruction is delineated.

Enhancing EFL Freshman Students' Reading Skills with Inspirational Quotes

“…Effectiveness of the reading instruction with inspirational quotes is supported by the results of prior studies in which the students practiced reading with similar types of genres such as proverbs, adage, figurative language, idioms and metonyms [1,3,4,5,6,2,7,8,9,10,11,12].…”

“…Since many students struggle to comprehend and interpret the figurative language that they encounter in a text even at the proverb or adage level, a second line of research focused on teaching figurative language to students such as: How figurative language interpretation instruction is a necessary component of the reading comprehension curriculum, particularly for at-risk students and how the assessment and instructional design process for figurative language can be implemented [7]; how to decipher language ambiguities that students encounter inside and outside the classroom, and how to understand ambiguous language and humor [8]; resolving figurative expressions while reading unknown idioms and metaphors and the effect of context on reading patterns and identification of word meaning [9]; the effect of sentence structure on figurative-language processing [10]; reading comprehension and figurative language instruction to Turkishspeaking fifth grade students learning English [11]; and symbolism as a complex, interpretive problem in reading, understanding and teaching of literary texts [12].…”

Developing Idiomatic Competence in the ESOL Classroom: A Pragmatic Account

“…In the meantime, however, the goal should be for teachers to begin critically examining their context of teaching; their beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes about idiom teaching; and, finally, their assumptions about how learners can best study and learn idioms naturally. It is further argued that, for ELLs to develop the idiomatic competence envisaged here, they will need, at a minimum, access to authentic, multimodal idiomatic input; structured opportunities to produce output exemplifying idiomatic use; and keen understanding of, and proficiency in, using idioms both effectively and efficiently in everyday communicative contexts, and as the need arises (Holmes & Moulton, ; Palmer & Brooks, ; Palmer, Shackelford, Miller, & Leclere, ). A summary of the most expressive insights discussed heretofore is provided in Table .…”

East Asian students' negotiation of silence in a university intensive English reading class: An examination of cross-cultural transition within a Project-Oriented CALL approach

“…Dynamic interactions, however, will conflict with East Asian students' previous less interactive classroom experiences from the EFL context overseas. Therefore, teachers' understanding of ESL students' multilayered cross-cultural classroom experiences and their ability to respond to these experiences in a more active manner can promote students' involvement in the classroom interaction (Liu, 2002;Palmer, Shackelford, Miller, and Leclere, 2006;Yoon, 2008). Again, another vignette from the same term paper I mentioned above provides an example of cultural differences in communication in the ESL classroom:…”