Using Audiotaped Books to Extend Classroom Literacy Instruction into the Homes of Second-Language Learners

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether home-based repeated reading with an audio model is a significant supplement to the literacy instructional program of second-language learners. It was hypothesized that beginning firstgrade readers who spoke English as a second language would benefit from having daily access to repeated reading in their home environment. To provide this access, books that had been shared in school were given to students for daily home use. After home rereading routines were established, students were then given a tape recorder and audiotapes to accompany these books. This enabled students to hear the English storybook as they followed along looking at the printed text. Of specific interest in this study was the effect of repeated reading with an auditory model on first-grade students' reading fluency and self-monitoring behavior. Also of interest was the effect of this school/home reading activity on student reading motivation and behavior. This 19-week study employed a single-subject reversal design (ABA) with multiple baselines across individuals. Home-based repeated reading of books (A/Baseline) was compared to the home reading of books with audiotapes (B/Intervention). The study involved a single subject and four replications. Results from this study indicate that all five participating second-language learners received substantial benefit from the opportunity to practice reading books 535 536 Journal of Reading Behaviorwith audiotapes at home. It appears that the support provided by the audiotapes enabled students to fluently read increasingly more difficult texts.Data from the 1990 U.S. Census indicate that 9 million immigrant youth enrolled in U.S. public schools over the last decade. Most often they are poor and many are survivors of war, civil strife, or economic depression. Recent immigrants come from extremely diverse cultures. Asian/Pacific Islander presence in the United States increased more than 100% from 1980 to 1990, and Hispanic populations went up by more than 50% during that same period. According to the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE), in some of this country's largest school districts, about one of every three students is classified as a language-minority student. If school enrollment reflects population projections, the 1990 U.S. Census reveals that this figure may increase to one of every two students by the year 2000. Many of these recent immigrants lack communication skills in English and therefore have difficulty participating in school activities, particularly those related to literacy learning. The educational future of these second-language learners may well be "at risk." Since reading provides essential access to gaining information and developing independence in learning, designing educational environments which support the literacy learning of culturally and linguistically diverse students must be a high priority (Gersten & Jimenez, 1994;O'Flahavan, 1994).Traditionally, second-language learners have been taught sepa...

Fluency: A review of developmental and remedial practices.

“…These studies can be robust (Neuman & McCormick, 1995), but we find the reliance on this design in an entire body of research to be problematic. Also, in a number of studies in which progress could be compared with a norm, students' progress fell below what would be expected (e.g., Blum et al, 1995;Chomsky, 1978).…”

“…Thus, her students, although ahead of where they started, were even further behind their classmates. Similarly, in Blum et al's (1995) study, although all children made significant progress, only one of the five participating children progressed beyond the preprimer level during the 19 weeks of the study. Neither result would be the accelerated progress needed by children who are behind their classmates in reading (Clay, 1993).…”

Examining the Influence of Using Audiobooks on the Improvement of Sound Recognition and Sound Production of Iranian EFL Learners

“…In the literature there are some studies that found audiobooks useful for the language teaching-learning processes (Blum et al, 1995;Koskinen et al, 2000). Among the studies which back up the usefulness of audiobooks for language learning-teaching purposes, O'Day (2002), noted several specific ways that audiobooks help learners, including improving reading comprehension level, serving students as a model of fluent text reading and increased vocabulary acquisition and word recognition among students.…”

“…Based on these studies, it is possible to claim that audiobooks create additional opportunities for language learners to hear the pronunciation of the words both on segmental and prosodic levels. While these studies suggest possible positive effects, the majority of the studies focused mainly on the relationship between audiobooks and reading skills (Blum et al, 1995;Golonka et al, 2012;Serafini, 2004;Whittingham at al., 2012). Most notably, researchers claim that audiobooks have positive effects on learners' capabilities of reading fluently, comprehending better and feelings more enthusiastic about engaging in reading (Nalder & Elley, 2003;Carbo, 1996).…”

“…In addition to being used by disadvantaged individuals, they can also be used for some educational purposes and considered as a technical support for improving students' reading comprehension, listening comprehension, critical thinking and pronunciation in particular. Therefore the use of audiobooks and their benefits in language teaching have been the subject of many research studies (Blum, Koskinen, Tennant, Parker, Straub, & Curry, 1995;Koskinen, et al, 2000;Nalder & Elley, 2003). These studies mostly focused on the use of audiobooks as a language tool for teaching reading skill, reading comprehension or reading strategies (Turker, 2010;Whittingham, Huffman, Christensen, & McAllister, 2012).…”