Decoding Unfamiliar Text

Have you ever tried to read a text in another language?  

Reading a novel written in Spanish was a very unpleasant experience, but a very important one.  The frustration I experienced during this activity allowed me to develop even more empathy for the English Language Learners in my classroom.  For this activity I located a Spanish novel called La Regenta by Leopoldo Alas.  The full version of this text can be found at: http://www.donquijote.org/spanishlanguage/literature/library/laregenta/. 

What was the text about?

I gathered from the picture and title that this text was about a woman.  I predicted that this story would be about her life.  I thought since many Spanish words are similar to English words that I would be able to gather some meaning from the text.  However, I could not have been more wrong.  I was shocked at how little of the text I could understand. 

What did I do to make meaning?

In order to make meaning of the text I started with a small section. I tried to use background knowledge.  I thought of words our Spanish teacher has used on the announcements, or during conversations with students.  I was able to guess the meanings of a few words based on this limited knowledge, but other than that I was completely lost.  I kept rereading the text hoping something would come to me, but I continued to be overwhelmed.  Ultimately, I realized I had very few strategies for comprehending the text.  I did not know the meanings of the words, so I thought of giving up.  I thought to myself that there was no way to make meaning of the text if I knew none of the words.  Then, I decided to try to look for patterns in the sentences to determine syntax and word meaning.  I think I determined which words were transitions, nouns, and adjectives based on syntax, but I still had no idea what they meant.  In order to understand what I was reading I had to scale back to the word level.  I finally resorted to using a translator to look up individual word meanings.  I then combined that knowledge with my knowledge of syntax to try to understand the story.  This process was labor-intensive, and not very efficient.

Strategies Used to Make Meaning

• Use background knowledge.
• Focus on a small section first.
• Reread text.
• Use relationship between English and Spanish to determine word meaning.
• Examine syntax for clues.
• Use a dictionary to look up unknown words.

What did I learn from this experience?

Not only did I develop more compassion for ELL students, but I was able to have a first-hand experience that illustrated the need of scaffolding.  I have always learned about the importance of providing scaffolding, but I never experienced the need of scaffolding until this activity.  I kept thinking to myself that if there would have been appropriate scaffolding in place that I might be able to get some meaning out of the text.  I graduated with an ESOL endorsement, and learned the importance of scaffolding instruction for ELL students.  However, I never knew what it felt like to learn a new language.  Now, I know the frustration that comes along with reading in a foreign language without the appropriate level of scaffolding.  In the future, I will be thoughtful of what my students go through when learning a new language.

What are the implications to teachers?

• Teachers must provide appropriate scaffolding for students so that it is possible for them to comprehend the text.  Scaffolding instruction before, during, and after reading is crucial to success.  Actively engaging students in this process is also important (Irjuo, n.d.). 
• Teachers should provide nonverbal support for reading (Irjuo, n.d.).  Pictures, diagrams, real objects, gestures, and graphic organizers help students understand a passage (Irjuo, n.d.). 
•  Teachers should not give students the same activities as everyone else.  Teachers need to implement a curriculum at a language level that is accessible to ELLs (Irjuo, n.d.).  Also teachers should give more time for students to decode and comprehend texts.
• Teachers should plan interactive activities around reading and interpreting texts.  Sharing ideas, comparing perspectives, and coming to agreement are ways for students to process language, which leads to reading comprehension (Irjuo, n.d.). 

References

Irujo, S. (n.d.). What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners? Retrieved May 7, 2015.